Some time before our crazy spring arrived, I had this bright idea to buy a box of pre-made chicken and cheese chimichangas from Sam’s Club. I had been out all morning and told the kids I’d bring lunch home. I thought the chimichangas sounded fun, ignored all the yucky ingredients on the box, and took it home with me.
To say that was a bad decision would be an understatement. They decidedly did NOT like these frozen chimichangas. I didn’t think they were bad smothered with sour cream and salsa, but they did taste fake and the tortilla themselves had a funky flavor to them. What I really wanted was a REAL chimichanga, you know, those burrito-like objects that are essentially deep-fat fried and glorious? Flour tortillas make magic when they’re bathed in hot oil, but deep fat frying is something that we only pull out two or three times a year for fish or egg rolls (and we may eliminate those soon, we’ll see).
But one day, not too long ago, I was looking for something different to make the kids for lunch. We’d recently had a taco night, and a few leftover variations, but I really, really wanted to turn leftover taco fixings into chimchangas. As I thought about this, I wondered what would happen if I put my fillings in a tortilla, rolled it up, and then brushed the entire exterior with olive oil before baking them. Could this work? Or would the fillings run out all over, or would the tortilla taste like some low-fat cooking spray experiment. (Come on, I KNOW you’ve tried baked egg rolls coated with cooking spray- the texture of those things are nasty!)
I decided to go for it, and I am so glad I did!
I used the largest flour tortillas I could find. I mixed together taco meat, shredded cheddar cheese and a small bit of salsa, and then used this for my fillings. I was very careful to be sparse with the filling, as I didn’t want it bursting out all over while it baked up. I rolled up the tortillas snugly, and then I took them all and brushed them all over with olive oil. All told, I probably used 1 1/2 tablespoons for 8 chimichangas- that’s not a whole lot of oil. I placed the chimichangas on a rack set in a baking sheet. I’m still not sure if the rack was necessary, but I wanted any excess oil to be able to drip off so they didn’t end up greasy and unappealing.
I baked these up at 350ºF for about 20 minutes. They came out golden brown, and a few had started to leak their innards, but very little. For the most part, they were intact. Then we proceeded to taste them.
Amazing! The tortillas had that crispy browned deep-fat fried tortilla flavor, the insides were hot and melty, and they were absolutely delicious. They were a huge hit with the kids too. We had some leftover, so those I put in the fridge, and a few days later pulled out and popped in the toaster oven to warm up for a second lunch. Once again, they were perfect.
A few weeks later I made them again- this time for a dinner meal with the hubs around. These ones were filled with shredded chicken, cheddar cheese, peppers and rice. Once again, a hit all around. More than a hit, actually. Everyone absolutely loved them. I’m still not sure the baking rack is absolutely necessary- if you don’t have one, don’t sweat it, and just bake the chimichangas up in a baking sheet.
Lesson learned. The next time I’m looking at a frozen meal type thing, I should take the trouble to make my own. And now I’m thinking about those baked egg rolls again. Could it be possible for them to turn out delicious if I brushed the exterior of each one with olive oil? Stay tuned…