We have been having a lot of success with the prepared “take and bake” meals from Sam’s Club so we decided to try another one, the Hatch Chile Chicken Enchiladas.
Let me save you some time and hassle by telling you in advance that these enchiladas are edible but certainly not worth purchasing. Stick with me and we will cover:
Cooking Instructions
The cooking instructions for the enchiladas were pretty mangled on the label that came with the tray I purchased so I had to look them up on the Sam’s Club website.
The instructions are:
- Preheat your oven to 350F.
- Remove the plastic lid.
- Cover the foil pan tightly with aluminum foil.
- Place the foil tray on a baking sheet.
- Bake the enchiladas for 30 minutes.
- Remove the aluminum foil and bake for another 10 minutes.
- Let the enchiladas cool slightly and serve.
Unfortunately there are some locations that are selling this meal in a plastic tray instead of a foil pan. If you have bought one in the plastic tray you must first remove all of the food from the tray into an oven safe container.
It is a shame that Sam’s Club is saving a few pennies by moving to plastic trays. This ruins the simplicity and beauty of “take and bake” meals.
We followed the cooking instructions provided and the enchiladas came out fine.
Why We Don’t Like These Enchiladas
We had these enchiladas with a simple side salad and were completely underwhelmed.
The seasoning was bland.
There was absolutely ZERO flavor from the Hatch chilis. I doubt there were any chilis whatsoever in this meal. The meal was a tasteless cream sauce full of what felt like empty calories.
If you are into bland, tasteless food then you will love these enchiladas. In retrospect, these might be great if you are trying to feed a picky five year old. That’s a silver lining I guess.
These enchiladas pale in comparison to the Chicken Enchiladas from Costco in every single way.
We were hoping that this dish would be as good as the Sam’s Club Chicken Alfredo but it wasn’t even close.
After we had these for dinner I was wishing that I had gone to Costco instead and picked up a tray of stuffed peppers.
Nutrition and Calories
I hated these enchiladas even more after I read the nutrition label. A single serving is 1/2 of an enchilada and has the following nutritional information:
- Calories: 450
- Fat: 29g (37% DV)
- Saturated Fat: 16g (80% DV)
- Cholesterol: 125mg (42% DV)
- Sodium: 1430mg (62% DV)
- Carbohydrates: 19g (7% DV)
- Protein: 29g
Holy crap!
If a single serving of something has 80% of my daily value of Saturated Fat and 62% of my Daily Value for Sodium then I at least want it to be enjoyable!
How Many People with the Enchiladas Serve?
There are three enchiladas per pan and you can split them in half lengthwise to make six servings.
You will be able to easily feed six people with this tray as nobody will be wanting a second serving.
Make sure you have plenty of side dishes and be prepared to order some Chinese takeout.
We have bought these and found them excellent!
One of my most favorite entrees they make!!
I like them as well.
Too bad you were disappointed, I guess lesson learned for you…
One of our go to fast meals. We have found them really flavorful and a nice change from the traditional enchiladas.
I’ve always loved these. They are quick and very tasty.
I haven’t tried Costco’s so I cannot compare between the two; but I enjoy these and can definitely taste the hatch chili’s, which I thought was just the right amount for flavoring.
We had them last night. We cooked ours (in the metal pan it came in) on the smoker. One of the most enjoyable take and bake meals Sam’s Club sells! We can’t wait to have them again!
I totally agree!
We had a last minute game night and bought these for the group and everyone LOVED them. Sorry, yours wasn’t good 🙁
I am delighted that yours were better than mine!
Looks like an endorsement for COSTCO to me. I have served these to various family members and they all loved them as so do I.
I found your blog while searching for a copycat recipe because we liked them so much we wanted to try to replicate when we are away with family too far away from a Sam’s Club. We liked these way better than Costco’s by a long shot. Also, the plastic trays were because of a world wide aluminum shortage and Costco was doing the same thing for a while earlier this year when this was first published. If your going to knock the retailer, at least maybe do some research?
I absolutely love the enchiladas from samsclub. There is definitely something wrong with your tastebuds if you don’t enjoy them.
And the plastic trays are “ovenable”