Green Chili Chicken Enchiladas
Green Chili Chicken Enchiladas are a flavorful and easy meal the whole family will love. Corn tortillas are stuffed with chicken, cheese and sour cream and topped with a quick homemade green chili enchilada sauce.
Enchiladas are a household favorite in my family. There are so many different variations, and they are the perfect comfort food all year round. We alway make extra for lunch the next day, and feel free to make a double batch and put half away in the freezer for another day.
You can use a canned green chili sauce if you want. But I highly recommend you give this recipe a try. In only about 10 minutes you can create a simple but flavorful homemade green chile enchilada sauce that has simple ingredients and is kid friendly.
Try these other great recipes for your next dinner:
Ingredients you need:
I love this recipe because it only requires a few ingredients:
- Corn Tortillas – I like to use the soft white corn tortillas. You could also use flour tortillas, but the flavor is best with the corn.
- Cooked Chicken – feel free to use rotisserie chicken, leftover grilled or smoked chicken, or cook some up really quick before you start.
- Shredded Cheese – I prefer using monterey jack cheese for this recipe, but you could also use colby jack, pepperjack, or cheddar. Just make sure you avoid the pre-shredded bags because they are often coated with preservatives that make the cheese melt funny.
- Green Chiles – This is the perfect use of fresh hatch green chiles! When they aren’t in season, pick up a few cans of mild diced chiles.
- Sour Cream – I like full fat for this recipe.
- Spices – You need cumin, garlic powder, onion powder, and salt and pepper for this recipe. These give the enchiladas great flavor without making them spicy.
- Chicken Stock – you could also substitute vegetable broth or water if you really need to.
- Olive Oil
- Flour
- Green Onions
How to make this green chili enchilada recipe
This easy enchilada recipe is perfect for weeknights! For the full directions, please make sure you scroll down to the recipe card below.
Make the homemade green chili enchilada sauce.
- In a blender or food processor, blend the green chilies until smooth. Set aside.
- In a medium sized saucepan over medium heat, add the vegetable oil and allow it to warm up a minute.
- Add the flour to the oil and stir it to create a thick paste.
- Stir in the cumin, minced garlic, and onion powder.
- Slowly pour in the chicken stock, a few tablespoons at a time. Make sure all the chicken stock is incorporated into the flour mixture, creating a thick paste, before you add in the next small portion of stock. Continue adding small amounts of stock and stirring completely until all the stock has been added.
- Add the pureed chiles to the sauce.
- Allow to heat over medium heat, stirring very frequently, for 1 minute.
- Taste and season with a pinch of salt if needed.
Prepare the filling.
- Cook the chicken. I like to grill my chicken, seasoned with salt and pepper, for 7 minutes per side until it reaches an internal temperature of 165 F. You can also broil it for 6 minutes per side. You can also use shredded rotisserie chicken from the store. Cut the chicken into small pieces and let it set aside while you prepare the rest of the filling.
- In a large bowl, combine the cooked chicken, half of the shredded monterey jack cheese, sour cream, sliced green onions, and salt and pepper. Mix to combine and set aside.
Assemble the enchiladas.
- Preheat the oven to 350 F.
- Spray a 9×13 baking pan with cooking spray.
- Arrange two large plates with rims or flat bowls on the counter with the bowl of filling and the prepared baking pan beside.
- In one of the plates, add 1 cup of the prepared green chili sauce.
- Take one corn tortilla and dip it into the sauce to soften. You want to dip both sides of the tortilla, but it doesn’t need to be soaked. Don’t skip this part! This is a great way to soften the tortillas to help them roll better without breaking, and helps impart more green chili flavor into the enchiladas.
- Place the tortilla on the empty plate and place a few tablespoons of filling down the center of the tortilla.
- Fold one edge of the tortilla over the filling and roll up. You do not need to fold the edges in, just let them stay open.
- Carefully place the rolled enchilada into the prepared baking dish.
- Continue with the rest of the tortillas. You should be able to make between 10 and 12 enchiladas depending on how full you fill them.
- Pour the remainder of the enchilada sauce over the top of the rolled tortillas in the baking pan.
- Top with the remaining shredded cheese.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 18-20 minute, until the cheese is melted and the sauce is bubbly.
- Enjoy!
Prepping ahead of time
These enchiladas are a great meal prep recipe! I prefer to prep this recipe in stages and assemble and bake when you are ready.
- Make the sauce and store it in an airtight container in the fridge.
- Grill or cook the chicken and shred, and store it in an airtight container in the fridge.
- Shred the cheese and store it in an airtight container in the fridge.
You can also assemble the enchiladas and cover them with foil and refrigerate for up to 24 hours in advance.
You can also freeze these chili chicken enchiladas! I like to assemble them in a disposable pan and cover tightly with foil. Don’t forget to label them! Then place it in a freezer storage bag to help keep air out. The enchiladas will be good for several months this way. To bake, allow to thaw in the fridge overnight and then bake for about 20-25 minutes.
How to serve this to your family
This is a great meal to serve to families. The enchiladas are flavorful but not spicy, and are a great meal that isn’t hard to make. To round out the meal, serve these with seasoned black beans and arroz verde. Serve some cocadas for dessert, too!
You could also serve these chicken enchiladas with more sour cream and diced avocados on top.
Winner Winner, Chicken Dinner! Try these other easy chicken recipes:
- Chicken chili with apples
- Easy chicken tikka masala
- Orange Chicken
- Roasted walnut and rosemary chicken strips
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Green Chili Chicken Enchiladas
Equipment
Ingredients
Green Chile Enchilada Sauce
- 8 ounces diced green chiles mild
- 2 Tablespoons vegetable oil
- 2 Tablespoons all purpose flour
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- ¼ teaspoon onion powder
- 1 cup chicken stock
- ¼ teaspoon salt
Enchiladas
- 1 lb chicken breast cooked
- 3 cups shredded Monterey jack cheese divided
- 1 cup sour cream
- 2 green onions minced
- 2 garlic cloves minced
- salt and pepper to taste
- 12 white corn tortillas
Instructions
Make the homemade green chili enchilada sauce.
- In a blender or food processor, blend the green chilies until smooth. Set aside.
- In a medium sized saucepan over medium heat, add the vegetable oil and allow it to warm up a minute.
- Add the flour to the oil and stir it to create a thick paste.
- Stir in the cumin, minced garlic, and onion powder.
- Slowly pour in the chicken stock, a few tablespoons at a time.
- Make sure all the chicken stock is incorporated into the flour mixture, creating a thick paste, before you add in the next small portion of stock. Continue adding small amounts of stock and stirring completely until all the stock has been added.
- Add the pureed chiles to the sauce.
- Allow to heat over medium heat, stirring very frequently, for 1 minute.
- Taste and season with a pinch of salt if needed.
Prepare the filling.
- Cook the chicken. I like to grill my chicken, seasoned with salt and pepper, for 7 minutes per side until it reaches an internal temperature of 165 F. You can also broil it for 6 minutes per side. You can also use shredded rotisserie chicken from the store. Cut the chicken into small pieces and let it set aside while you prepare the rest of the filling.
- In a large bowl, combine the cooked chicken, half of the shredded monterey jack cheese, sour cream, sliced green onions, minced garlic, and salt and pepper. Mix to combine and set aside.
Assemble the enchiladas.
- Preheat the oven to 350 F.
- Spray a 9×13 baking pan with cooking spray.
- Arrange two large plates with rims or flat bowls on the counter with the bowl of filling and the prepared baking pan beside.
- In one of the plates, add 1 cup of the prepared green chili sauce.
- Take one corn tortilla and dip it into the sauce to soften. You want to dip both sides of the tortilla, but it doesn’t need to be soaked.
- Place the tortilla on the empty plate and place a few tablespoons of filling down the center of the tortilla.
- Fold one edge of the tortilla over the filling and roll up. You do not need to fold the edges in, just let them stay open.
- Carefully place the rolled enchilada into the prepared baking dish.
- Continue with the rest of the tortillas. You should be able to make about 12 enchiladas depending on how full you fill them.
- Pour the remainder of the enchilada sauce over the top of the rolled tortillas in the baking pan.
- Top with the remaining shredded cheese.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 18-20 minute, until the cheese is melted and the sauce is bubbly.
- Enjoy!
The homemade green chile sauce is AMAZING! I will never buy store bought sauce again!!
I Just tried this recipe and my family loved it. It was so easy and the flavors were fantastic.
I love the recipe for Green Chili Chicken Enchiladas because it is an easy to cook meal. I cook it with ghee instead of using vegetable oil, as ghee is a better oil for me for its nutrition and gild flavor. I use cow ghee instead of vegetable oil in my baking recipes.
So good! My family loved these.
We had leftover carnitas meat that I wanted to turn into enchiladas. I needed a base for a homemade enchilada sauce and came across your recipe – I’m so glad I did! I tweaked it just slightly by adding the sour cream to the sauce at the end instead. It was delicious and exactly what I was hoping for! The directions were easy to follow and it made a quick dinner on a busy night!