These green chile chicken enchiladas are made with shredded chicken and plenty of cheese, all rolled up in corn tortillas and smothered with green chile sauce. This enchilada recipe is sure to become a family favorite!
Making enchiladas at home is actually quite easy to do! These green chicken enchiladas taste like they came from a restaurant and are the perfect way to use up leftover chicken.
I happen to be an enchilada lover – cheese, beef, chicken, I love ’em all! These green chile chicken enchiladas are ready in less than an hour and are loaded with cheese, chicken and chiles. My family requests this dish constantly, it’s just that good!
How to make green chile chicken enchiladas
These green enchiladas start with cooked, shredded chicken. You can use leftover chicken, a rotisserie chicken, or cook up some fresh chicken breasts. I sometimes put some chicken breasts in the slow cooker with a cup of green salsa, then cook on low for 6 hours and shred the meat.
The chicken is combined with green chiles, spices and and cheese, then rolled up with a little sour cream into the tortillas. I use corn tortillas here because it’s more traditional, but you can absolutely substitute flour tortillas if you prefer.
The tortillas need to be softened before you roll them up, otherwise they’ll break or crack. Some people dip their tortillas in hot oil to soften, but I’ve found the easiest way to do this is to give the tortillas a good steam in the microwave.
After the enchiladas are rolled up, they’re coated in sauce and topped with cheese before they go into the oven. I use store bought green enchilada sauce here, because I find that I simply don’t have the time to make my own sauce most of the time!
You can make these enchiladas as mild or as spicy as you like by selecting a sauce and can of chiles with the heat content that you’re looking for. I use mild sauce and mild chiles because I’m feeding kids, but if you like spicy, switch to a hot enchilada sauce or chiles.
After the enchiladas take a trip through the oven, I top them with a little diced tomato and cilantro for added freshness. I serve these green chile chicken enchiladas with our favorite Mexican rice and beans for an amazingly delicious dinner that my whole family enjoys.
More Mexican favorites
Green Chile Chicken Enchiladas Video
Green Chile Chicken Enchiladas
Ingredients
- 4 cups cooked shredded chicken
- 1 4 ounce can diced green chiles drained
- 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon cumin
- 1/4 teaspoon onion powder
- 3 cups shredded monterey jack cheese divided use
- 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese divided use
- 14 corn tortillas
- 2 10 ounce cans mild green enchilada sauce
- 1 cup sour cream
- salt and pepper to taste
- Optional: chopped fresh cilantro, diced tomatoes
- cooking spray
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Coat a 9"x13" pan with cooking spray.
- In a medium bowl, mix together the monterey jack and cheddar cheeses.
- In a large bowl, mix together the chicken, 1/2 of the cheese, green chilies, garlic powder, cumin, onion powder and salt and pepper to taste.
- Stack the tortillas on a plate and wrap with a damp paper towel. Microwave for 1 minute until tortillas are warm and pliable.
- Lay one of the tortillas on a flat surface and spread approximately 2 teaspoons of sour cream down the center of each tortilla. Add approximately 1/3 cup of the chicken mixture, then tightly roll up the tortilla and place it seam side down in the pan.
- Repeat the process with the remaining tortillas.
- Pour the enchilada sauce over the top of the pan, the top the enchiladas with the remaining cheese.
- Bake for 20 minutes or until cheese is melted. Serve, topped with chopped cilantro and tomatoes if desired.
Notes
- Recipe adapted from Lil' Luna.
- I typically use rotisserie chicken in these enchiladas to make life easier, but leftover chicken also works great!
- I like my enchiladas on the mild side; if you like things spicy, use a can of diced jalapenos instead of the green chiles, or go for a hotter enchilada sauce.
Heidi says
I have been wanting to make chicken enchiladas for a long time…I saw this recipe that looked easy and I had all the ingredients so I thought, why not? My, my, my!! They’re wonderful!! I live in Arizona so I’m pretty particular about enchiladas! Amazing recipe, easy to follow and I’ll be making it again and again! Thank you for sharing!!
Anita says
This recipe made a lot. I may have had more chicken than called for. I want to freeze a second pan. Do I freeze them after baked or before?
Sara says
You can freeze them before they’re baked!
Danielle says
Because of what’s going on I cant find a lot of chicken can i use canned cooked chicken?
Sara says
I think that should work!
Frances says
I made this for dinner and my family loved it. Was really easy to make thanks for the recipe.
Elisabeth C Beard says
Are the tortillas big or small?
Sara says
I use 6 inch tortillas!
Elisaveta David says
I made this and 14 enchiladas came out, how many would be considered a serving? Because one enchilada can’t be 532 cal. and the recipe makes 6 servings.
Sara says
It should be 2 per serving!
Karen KnIght says
Ca n you freeze 1/2 of prepared enchiladas?
Sara says
Yes that’s fine!
Jeff says
Great enchiladas! Easy recipe to follow, will be a new Thanksgiving tradition at our house. Thanks a bunch.
Barb says
Thanks for the recipe, it looks delicious. My son is on a low FODMAP diet. Do you think I could substitute either mayonnaise or Greek yogurt for the 1 cup of Sour cream? If so, do you think one would taste better than the other?
Thank you!
Sara says
I would just omit the sour cream and use a little more cheese!
David says
If you have a food processor try the vegan sour cream recipes. I make one with cashews, water, nutritional yeast, lemon, and sea salt. It keeps in the refrigerator for a good while. Also great on vegetables, and other meals you would use sour cream!
Jenn says
Plain Greek yogurt make a great substitute for sour cream
Mike B says
New Mexico Hatch Green Chili is the best for this recipe!
Lauren says
So good. I used flour tortillas the first time I made these but the tortillas get kind of gummy. So this time I used the white corn tortillas and they held up beautiful ly. Again- so good. Thanks
JC Courtney says
Praise to God!
This is a perfect recipe. Thank You.
Living in small town Colorado, there’s not anywhere that tastes like home in Texas!
I loved Abeulos sour cream chicken enchiladas.
Well, me and the Lord made better ones!
Susan says
Amazing recipe. We skipped the sour cream and didn’t miss it at all.
joyce says
Excellent! I love that you add a little sour cream to each enchilada. I did warm each tortilla in a little oil before filling, otherwise followed recipe as is. This is a keeper!
anna warner says
How do you recommend cooking the shredded chicken to use in these?
Sara says
I roast bone-in skin-on chicken breasts in the oven for 45 minutes, then shred the meat. Or I cook boneless skinless chicken breasts in the crock pot on low for 4-6 hours, then shred the meat.
Sandy says
You can also cook it in the instant pot for 7 minutes with chicken broth, onion and garlic. Yummy!
Debra says
I mix softened cream cheese in place of sour cream…YUMMY!
Holly says
Any chance you wouldn’t mind please letting me know the weight of the diced green chiles after they’ve been drained? We don’t have cans of these in Australia but I can buy something similar in a large jar, so I just need to know what quantity to use. TIA
Sara says
There’s not much liquid in those cans so I’d say about 3 1/2 ounces.
Heather Fields says
Oh myyyyy these are outstanding, mom will flip for this recipe forsure, thank you for sharing it❤❤❤❤❤
Debbie says
Can you use ground beef in place of chicken? Maybe 2 pounds?
Sara says
Yes that would be delicious! 1 1/2 pounds should be enough.
Cathy Munson says
Can you cook these with rice in them I’m gonna try it I’ll let you know
Sara says
Yes rice would be a great addition!
Janice Bright says
Can they be made a day or so ahead and refrigerated until ready to bake?
Sara says
I wouldn’t recommend it as the tortillas will get really soggy.