Chicken and Potato Burritos

I love my Mom's cooking.  Like I've said before, she has a certain throw-things-together-and-see-how-they-taste style of cooking.  Most of our favorite original recipes started out as one thing and evolved into something else.  The chicken veggie spaghetti pie started out as spaghetti pie with meat sauce and somehow got mixed with spicy chicken vegetable soup.



This recipe is no different.  True to Mom's style this recipe began with just some simple hash browns.  She was making breakfast one morning and thought it might be nice to add some chicken to the hash browns.  The only chicken she had on hand was some precooked southwestern flavored chicken so she just added it.  Then she thought, since she already added southwestern seasoned chicken she might as well add some salsa.  And once it was cooked it looked a bit of a mess and she didn't want to serve it in bowls, so we wrapped it up in tortillas with some cheese and the recipe was born.

This is probably my brother's second favorite meal that Mom makes.  He has always loved it and usually eats all of the leftovers.  It is unreasonably easy to make and it will makes 6-7 decent sized burritos.  Unfortunately this is one of those recipes where I don't have exact measurements on anything (because it's really quite subjective... most of the instructions are to taste), but trust me, it is almost impossible to screw it up unless you like, burn it or something.

Some possible changes you could make to the recipe are the addition of corn or beans, sour cream, or fresh salsa, diced tomatoes, onions, or jalapenos.

Chicken and Potato Burritos

2 Tbsp olive oil (we like the red pepper infused olive oil for this but plain works fine too)
1 1/2-2 cups cooked chicken, shredded or chopped

I cooked my own; Mom uses shredded rotisserie chicken.

1 20 oz package Simply Potatoes hash browns

I use the plain shredded hash browns; Mom uses the southwestern style hash browns.

1 jar salsa or taco sauce of your choice (Mom uses salsa, I use taco sauce because it is smooth without chunks of tomato or onion)
1/4-1/2 cup water or chicken broth
2 cups shredded colby jack cheese (or Mexican blend of some kind)
6-8 burrito size tortillas
salt and pepper to taste

Heat the olive oil in a large skillet (Mom uses her wok to cook this) over medium heat.  Add the potatoes and about 1 cup of the salsa.  Stir to combine.  Add enough water or chicken broth to keep the potatoes from sticking to the bottom of the pan.  Bring to a simmer, reduce heat to medium-low, and cover and cook until the potatoes are cooked through.  Stir occasionally while cooking and add water or chicken broth as needed to keep the potatoes from crisping.  You want the potatoes to be soft rather than crispy.

Once the potatoes are cooked through add the chicken and cook covered for about 5-10 minutes, until the chicken is heated through.

Heat some flour tortillas either in the microwave for about 20 seconds or wrapped in foil in the oven for about 3-5 minutes at 350.  Sprinkle each tortilla with some cheese, add a scoop or two of the potato and chicken mixture, and spoon a little more salsa or taco sauce on it.  Roll it up and enjoy!