Chicken Enchiladas
Published on May 03, 2024
Quick Summary
This Easy Chicken Enchilada Recipe is an all-time favorite dinner! Tortillas are filled with shredded chicken, enchilada sauce, and cheese and then smothered with extra enchilada sauce and cheese and baked until bubbly. It’s always a crowd pleaser and the enchiladas freeze well too!
![chicken enchiladas in pan with cheese, avocado, and jalapeño slices.](https://www.twopeasandtheirpod.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Chicken-Enchiladas79619.jpg)
Enchiladas are one of our all-time favorite dinners. We love trying new enchilada recipes. A few favorites include White Chicken Enchiladas, Black Bean Enchiladas, Beef Enchiladas, and our Black Bean & Quinoa Enchilada Bake is a fun one!
These Chicken Enchiladas are definitely a classic. They are one of the BEST dinner recipes out there. They always hit the spot and are always a crowd pleaser!
You really can’t go wrong with a pan of chicken enchiladas. Corn tortillas filled with chicken, lots of cheese, and our homemade enchilada sauce. Basically, the perfect meal! And the best part? They are really easy to make!
Everyone needs this recipe in their regular dinner line up. Kids and adults love chicken enchiladas. They are great for an easy weeknight dinner or good enough to serve to a crowd.
You can make one pan or double the recipe and make two pans! Bonus, the enchiladas are freezer friendly! This is a winning recipe all around!
Table of Contents
Ingredients
The ingredient list is simple!
- Tortillas– we use corn tortillas, yellow or white corn will work! If you prefer flour tortillas, you can use them. See the note in the recipe card.
- Vegetable oil– for pan frying the tortillas a little. This will make it easier to for them to roll up and prevent them from cracking.
- Olive oil or avocado oil– for sautéing the onion.
- Onion– you can’t go wrong with onion in a Mexican dish.
- Chicken– to keep this recipe EASY we use shredded rotisserie chicken. You can use leftover cooked chicken if you have it on hand. Or even leftover turkey, a great recipe for after the holidays.
- Green chiles-we use mild diced green chiles. They add so much flavor!
- Enchilada sauce– we use our homemade enchilada sauce, it’s the best and I promise it’s easy to make. You can even make it in advance and it freezes well too. Of course, you can use store bought red enchilada sauce.
- Cheese– you can use cheddar cheese or Mexican blend cheese!
How to Make Chicken Enchiladas
Let’s make some enchiladas!
- Preheat the oven so it’s hot and ready to go.
- Heat the vegetable oil in a medium skillet over medium-high heat. Working one at a time, fry tortilla, turning once, about 5 to 7 seconds per side, just enough to warm the tortilla. You don’t want the tortillas to get crispy. You just want to barely fry them so they are easier to roll up. This is the trick to prevent them from tearing!
- Transfer the tortilla to paper towel lined plate to drain. Repeat with remaining tortillas.
- In a separate medium skillet, heat the olive oil over medium high heat and cook the onion until translucent, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat. Stir in the shredded chicken, green chiles, and ½ cup of the enchilada sauce.
- Pour a little enchilada sauce into a 9×13-inch baking dish and spread around to lightly coat the bottom of the dish.
- To assemble the enchiladas, lay the tortilla flat on a clean work surface. Fill each tortilla evenly with the shredded chicken mixture and 1 ½ cups of shredded cheese. Roll the tortillas tightly and place in the baking dish, seam side down. We get usually get 10 enchiladas, but you could get a few more or a few less depending on the size of your tortillas. This recipe is flexible, just go with it!
- It’s time to get saucy! Pour the remaining enchilada sauce over the tortillas and top with the remaining the remaining cheese.
- Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until the cheese is melted and bubbly.
Enchilada Toppings
You can serve the enchiladas plain, they will have plenty of flavor, but we always like to add toppings because more is more! Here are some topping ideas!
- Avocado or Guacamole
- Cilantro
- Shredded lettuce
- Jalapeño slices
- Cotija cheese
- Salsa
- Pico de Gallo
- Quick Pickled Red Onions
What to Serve with Chicken Enchiladas
These side dishes pair well with a pan of cheesy chicken enchiladas!
How to Store & Freeze Enchiladas
- Storing: To store leftover enchiladas, place the cooled enchiladas in an airtight container and refrigerate for up to four days. Reheat in the oven or microwave.
- Freezing: To freeze enchiladas, let them cool completely. Place the enchiladas in a freezer safe container or freezer bag and freeze for up to three months. You can freeze an entire pan or individual servings. Reheat in the oven or microwave.
More Enchilada Recipes
- Bean and Cheese Enchiladas
- Beef Enchiladas
- White Chicken Enchiladas
- Corn and Zucchini Enchiladas
- Butternut Squash Enchiladas
- Creamy Spinach and Cheese Enchiladas
- Skillet Chicken Enchiladas
Chicken Enchiladas
Ingredients
- 10 corn tortillas, 6-inch
- 1/3 cup vegetable oil
- 1 tablespoon olive oil or avocado oil
- 1/2 yellow onion, diced
- 2 cups shredded rotisserie chicken
- 4 ounces mild green chiles
- 2 cups enchilada sauce (homemade or store bought)
- 3 cups shredded Mexican blend cheese, divided
- Optional Toppings: sour cream, avocado, cilantro, shredded lettuce, jalapeno slices, cotija cheese, salsa or pico de gallo
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
- Heat vegetable oil in a medium skillet over medium-high heat. Working one at a time, fry tortilla, turning once, about 5 to 7 seconds per side, just enough to warm the tortilla. You don’t want the tortillas to get crispy. Transfer the tortilla to paper towel lined plate to drain. Repeat with remaining tortillas.
- In a separate medium skillet, heat the olive oil over medium high heat and cook the onion until translucent, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat. Stir in the shredded chicken, green chiles, and ½ cup of the enchilada sauce.
- Pour a ⅓ cup of enchilada sauce into a 9×13-inch baking dish and spread around to lightly coat the bottom of the dish.
- To assemble the enchiladas, lay the tortilla flat on a clean work surface. Fill each tortilla evenly with the shredded chicken mixture and 1 ½ cups of the shredded cheese. Roll the tortillas tightly and place in the baking dish, seam side down.
- Pour the remaining enchilada sauce over the tortillas and top with the remaining 1 ½ cups shredded cheese.
- Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until the cheese is melted and bubbly. Remove from oven and serve warm with desired toppings.
Notes
Nutrition
Have you tried this recipe?
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Love your recipes especially the chicken, and salad recipes.
Hi there, wondering how hot the green chillies are? My family prefers no heat but if they’re super mild, we could deal with it. If I were to leave them out would we be missing tons of flavour? I’ve never made enchiladas before and am excited to try these cuz they look deelish!
Make sure you buy MILD green chiles, they aren’t spicy but add great flavor.
Hello. I’ve never made enchiladas but these look delicious. Can you add black beans to the chicken and cheese ones?
Absolutely! Beans are a great addition! Rinse and drain before adding.
Red or green enchilada sauce? I have both.
Both will work, use your favorite!
Dumb question. Do they do well if you make them ahead of time? Say a day before?
Sure! We love leftovers. You can also freeze them.
Do you recommend freezing them before baking? If so, do you bake them frozen or thaw them before baking?
I have froze them before baking and I have froze leftovers, both work great!
1.5 cups of cheese per each enchilada?
1.5 cups divided over all of the enchiladas and then the other 1.5 cups sprinkled on top
Loved your 15 rotisserie chicken recipe post. We just happened to have rotisserie chicken the evening before, and with the leftovers, I made the chicken enchiladas the next night. It was a family hit! The dish was moist, cheesy and I had enough enchilada sauce to cover the entire casseroleโฆ.thanks for including the recipe! Iโve always known you can create 101 cost saving recipes with rotisserie chicken, but thanks for sending 15 great ones to try.
I am so glad it was helpful.
Easy and loved the tip about frying the tortillas! No more broken ones
Yay!
Your recipe calls for 6″ corn tortillas, yet the picture shows the placement of the tortilla into a 9X13 baking dish and it seems to fill the whole width. I’m planning to make these today and wondered if I should get a 10″ tortilla?
I use 6-inch size, but you can use bigger tortillas is you wish. Just divide the filling equally.
A very tasty dish – especially with the homemade enchilada sauce recipe that is linked in this recipe. Easy to prep and really, really good!
I am so glad you enjoyed the enchiladas.
We loved this recipe. It was easy to make and very good.
Yay!