Chicken and Black Bean Enchiladas 🌯🔥 – Van Style

I love enchiladas, but have always made them in an oven— which I don’t have in the van! 🚫🔥 So, I got creative and leveraged both my induction stove in the van, and my grill. I have to say, they came out fantastic — thanks to my handy cast iron pan that bails me out of a lot of no-oven situations. 🙌🍳

You’ll start by marinading the chicken, and making my favorite pickled red onion. Next, grill the chicken. You can make the sauce, or just open a can—your choice. Put it all together and put it back on the grill to transform it into bubbly goodness. 🧀🔥

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The marinade:

Juice of 1 lime
1/4 cup olive oil 🫒
1 tsp salt 🧂
1/2 tsp pepper 🌶️
1 tsp cumin 🌿
1 tbsp chili powder (I used a combination of chipotle and regular) 🌶️🔥
Dash of cayenne to taste 🌶️🔥
1/2 tsp garlic powder 🧄
1/2 tsp onion powder 🧅

Whisk the above ingredients in a small bowl.

Put 1.5 – 2 pounds of boneless, skinless chicken thighs in a large plastic bag, add the marinade and toss to coat. 🍗 Chill in the fridge for at least 30 minutes, or up to two hours.

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Next, pickle that red onion into yummy goodness. While you’re at it, make extra and use it on everything (well, almost everything).

Thinly slice ½ red onion and put it in a bowl. Cover with 1 tsp sugar and apple cider vinegar and stir. Stick that back in the fridge to get happy.

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Preheat your grill to 400°F.

Next, make the sauce:—if using a can (which is totally respectable) you can skip this step.

The sauce:

3 tbsp olive oil 🫒
¼ cup flour 🌾
Dash of salt – more to taste 🧂
1 tbsp chili powder (again I use a mix of chipotle and regular) 🌶️🔥
1 tsp cumin 🌿
1 tsp garlic powder 🧄
1 tsp dried oregano 🌱
2 tbsp tomato paste 🍅
2 cups veggie or chicken broth (water is fine if that’s all you have) 💧
Splash of vinegar 🍾

Measure out the dry ingredients and mix in a bowl. Heat the oil over medium until good and hot. Add the dry ingredients and whisk for about a minute (your kitchen—or van—will smell amazing). Whisk in the tomato paste, then slowly whisk in the broth (or water).

Raise the heat to medium-high until you have a good, strong simmer, then lower the heat to have a nice simmer for about 5 minutes, stirring frequently. Remove from heat and add the vinegar.

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Grill the chicken thighs for about 4-5 minutes each side, then shred with two forks (or cut it up small). 🍗🔪

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Next, prepare the enchiladas:

If you are using an oven, now would be a good time to preheat it to 400°F.

For this, you will want shredded cheese (I used an 8 oz block of colby jack 🧀), some black beans (rinsed and drained 🥫), and medium-sized corn tortillas 🌽.

Fill each tortilla with some chicken, beans, and cheese. Roll them up and place in a cast iron pan. Mine totally fell apart, but I didn’t let that make me fall apart—just went with it. 🤷‍♂️🤗

Cover with the sauce – ALL OF IT – and lots more shredded cheese. 🧀🔥

Put it in the grill with the lid closed (or oven) and cook for about 20 minutes until bubbly and golden. If you’re lucky enough to have an oven, cook for 20 mins then throw it under the broiler for a couple minutes to get that perfect crispy top. ✨

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Plate the enchiladas with sour cream, cilantro 🌿, and that magical pickled red onion. 🌈🧅

ENJOY! 😋🔥