I was thinking about Deadpool and Wolverine getting ready to hit theaters when I was deciding on dinner last night and I suddenly realized that it was time to make some chimichangas! Deadpool’s love of chimis is well known, and I’m certain that both Wade Wilson and Ryan Reynolds would love my delicious chicken chimichangas, so it’s time to get cooking, folks! Maximum effort!
Deadpool's Chicken Chimichangas
We all know that Deadpool loves his chimichangas. So, in my excitement over the third Deadpool movie, Deadpool and Wolverine, currently in theaters, I had to make some. Plus, I love Chimis as much as Deadpool does! These chimichangas are incredibly delicious, stuffed with not just flavorful chicken but black beans, rice, onions, peppers, and corn for a flavor explosion that might even shut up the merc with a mouth, at least until he asks for more.
Ingredients
- 1 large red onion
- 3 bell peppers, various colors
- 2 Tbsp butter
- 1 15 oz can of corn
- 1 15 oz can of black beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 cup instant rice
- 1 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breast
- 8 burrito sized tortillas
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp cumin powder
- 1 tsp onion powder
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp chil powder
- 1/2 tsp paprika
- extra of all seasonings to taste
- 8 oz cheddar cheese, shredded
- taco sauce (optional)
- sour cream (optional)
- guacamole (optional)
- 1 Tbsp olive oil
Instructions
- in a small bowl mix together 1 tsp garlic powder, 1 tsp cumin, 1 tsp onion powder, 1/2 tsp black pepper, 1/2 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp chili powder, and 1/2 tsp paprika. Coat chicken with spices. This step can be done anywhere from 20 minutes to 24 hours before cooking the chicken. More time spent in the seasoning equals stronger flavor.
- Dice onions into 1/4 inch cubes. Melt butter over medium-low heat. Add onions and season liberally with salt and pepper. Continue cooking, stirring occasionally.
- Dice peppers into 1/4 inch cubes. Add to onions in the pan, stir. Continue to monitor and stir occasionally while cooking the rest of the food. When onions are translucent and peppers are soft (about 20 minutes of cooking), they are ready, turn heat down or off.
- Cook rice according to directions on the package but add seasonings to water as cooking. This part is always a little haphazard for me, I just add to taste. About a quarter teaspoon of each should be more than sufficient, but again, to taste.
- Heat a pan with 1 Tbsp of olive oil over medium high heat. When pan is hot add the seasoned chicken breast to the pan.
- After two minutes, flip the chicken over and sear other side.
- After two more minutes, add 1/2 cup water to the pan, cover with a lid and let cook for 15 minutes.
- Open and drain the corn and black beans. Rinse the black beans to remove the starchy residue from the can. Warm each in the microwave for about one minute each.
- When the chicken is done cooking, remove from the pan and shred while hot.
- Dump water from chicken pan and add enough oil to fully cover the bottom. Heat oil over medium high heat while assembling chimichangas.
- Assembly time! Lay out a burrito sized tortilla on a plate. Add approximately 1/8 of the chicken, rice, beans, corn, peppers and onions. DON'T OVERFILL! Now fold one side of the totilla completely over the mound of food. Fold both ends up (burrito now. looks like an open envelope). Roll the entire burrito towards the open tortilla, keeping the ends tucked in, until it is fully rolled up.
- Place the chimichanga seam side down in the hot oil (very important) and leave until it is a nice golden brown (approximately 2 minutes). Using tongs, flip the chimichanga over 180 °(fried side up) and let brown on that side (again about 2 minutes). Now flip the chimichanga 90° to an unfried side, let brown (2 minutes). And one more time, flip to the final uncooked side and let cook for about two more minutes (might be less as oil is very hot by now).
- Place chimichanga on a plate, cover with 1 oz of cheese, and top with sour cream, taco sauce, and guacamole. Repeat for remaining chimis. Finally enjoy!
Notes
To speed things up, I recommend frying more than one chimi at a time, as many as will fit in your pan.
There will be extras of most of the fillings, great for yummy sides!
With chimichangas, timing is important, just plan better than Deadpool
There are a lot of different parts to this chimichanga recipe, with the peppers, onions, rice, beans, corn, and chicken. Not to mention the frying. But it’s really not that difficult, as long as you do things in the right order. If you don’t flavor the chicken for a long time, no worries, but add the seasonings to that first, then let it sit while you start on the onions. Once they’re in the pan, start the peppers.
Got those together? Get the rice going. Then, it’s time to toss the chicken in the pan. Next, prep the beans and corn. You can even toss them in the microwave together or mix them together. I kept them separate because I have a bodybuilding son who wants to know exactly how much of everything he’s eating, no estimating. But if you’re not that strict, then feel free to mix things up as much as you like.
Remember to stir the onions and peppers at the end of each step, that should be enough to keep them from burning but allow them to cook nicely. Check your rice, and turn off the heat as things finish up.
Once the chicken is done, I have a special secret to make shredding it easy that I’ll share in just a minute. Then just layer your burrito, fry it up, top it, and enjoy! It sounds like a lot, but once you’re moving through it, it’s not hard, I promise. I made these up at the last minute in under half an hour!
A new use for my stand mixer that even Wolverine would approve of
This has got to be the most exciting thing that I’ve learned this year. In complete honesty, I didn’t learn it today; it was about two months ago, but it’s still amazing. I still can’t believe I’ve owned my stand mixer for twenty years and just found a new use for it. Sorry to everyone who doesn’t have a stand mixer, you’ll have to do it the old-fashioned way. But seriously, why don’t you have a stand mixer?! Get one! You will use it for everything!
This method for shredding the chicken super easy. First put the paddle attachment on your stand mixer. Toss the cooked chicken straight from the pan into the mixer. Don’t cool it or anything, then turn the mixer on low. In about thirty seconds, you’ll have a bowl of perfectly shredded meat. Yes, thirty seconds! It’s that fast!
You can do this with all kinds of meat. My son (the bodybuilding one I mentioned) loves to toss whole pork roasts that weigh several pounds in there, and boom, within a minute, he has perfectly shredded meat for his meal prep. It’s the most amazing time-saving tip that I think I’ve ever heard. I wish I would have learned it sooner.
Now maybe you’re one of those smarties who already knew about doing this, if so, then just let me bask in the excitement of my new knowledge. If not, and I’ve taught you something new, you’re welcome. And pass it along. Deadpool’s motto might be “maximum effort,” but I always liked Scrooge McDuck’s motto better: “Work smarter, not harder.”
Careful with the oil when you fry your chimichangas
When it comes time to fry your chimichangas, please, please be careful with the oil. It’s a little bit of a line to walk with how much to put in the pan. Now, you can make the oil deep if you want and are comfortable with that. To be honest, I have a bit of an oil phobia. I have been hit by oil too many times when frying things, and it hurts! So I don’t like using a lot of oil.
And you don’t need to. Chimichangas might be deep-fried traditionally, but it isn’t necessary. A little oil (more than a coating, less than a lake) is all that is really needed. You just have to rotate the burrito. It might take a little more time, but it feels safer to me.
Plus, you don’t waste so much oil. Let’s face it: when you fill that pan up with oil, most of it goes in the trash as soon as you’re done (never, ever in the sink, people!). Very few people bother with saving oil to reuse, which is understandable. Storing old oil to reuse is a hassle, my parents used to do it, and it was messy and difficult. I don’t want to do it; you don’t want to do it. So, use less oil, and you can throw away whatever is left without guilt. I had just enough left in the pan to soak up on a couple of paper towels and toss in the can, totally guilt-free.
Have a surprisingly easy, indulgent dinner tonight before heading to the theater to see Deadpool and Wolverine
These chicken chimichangas are amazing. I can imagine how Deadpool would describe them, but I can’t tell you because this is a PG site, not an R site. Let’s just say that I was making some indecent noises when I was eating them. The best part about this recipe is that they taste so good, but they’re not that challenging to make. It doesn’t take that much time or effort, but the payoff is enormous.
And don’t skimp on all the different toppings (cheese, taco sauce, sour cream, guacamole)! Deadpool has that Disney money now, which means we get to have all the bells and whistles. So make some chimichangas with this recipe tonight and have a party in your mouth (wink, wink)!
Deadpool and Wolverine is currently in theaters! Let us know if you make these delicious chicken chimichangas on social media @mycosmiccircus!
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