Chicken enchilada casserole is a family favorite meal that is so easy to make. Chicken, enchilada sauce and cheese are baked until it’s all golden brown and delicious.
It can be made with your favorite type of chicken, or even ground beef if you prefer. This Chicken Enchilada Casserole recipe is everything you love about Chicken Enchiladas without the work!
Contents
🌟 Foolproof Chicken Enchilada Casserole
This recipe is based on the America's test kitchen enchiladas recipe. They test their recipes 30-70 times and have at-home testers that make sure the recipes are easy to follow and understand. So you know their recipes are foolproof.
But here's the catch...
We're making a super easy chicken enchilada casserole version. So, I took their recipe and modified it to improve the homemade Mexican flavor and turn this into a foolproof casserole recipe.
🍽 What you need
This is a fairly simple recipe that has a lot of versatility. You can almost consider this a base recipe and change it up to your taste.
Let’s make a list of what you need to buy at the farmers market (if possible, since produce is a lot fresher there and it is great to support local farmers. If not, any supermarket will do in a pinch).
If you can find fresh green chiles (the hot kind), use these to elevate the dish. If you can’t find fresh hot chiles or you rather use canned ones, you can.
Grab a whole bunch of cilantro, chicken breasts or rotisserie chicken, avocados, tomato, and your favorite Mexican cheese.
If you are not familiar with the Mexican cheeses, here is a list of the most popular ones, according to their melting properties.
- Oaxaca: 10 points melting, 10+ elasticity
- Manchego: 10 points melting, 9 points elasticity
- Monterrey Jack: 9 points melting, 7 points elasticity
Remember, cheese is "all ok", so it is good to keep some of your favorites handy.
You will also need a large skillet to cook the chicken and a casserole dish for baking. A great place to stock your own kitchen with top products and reviews.
🔪 How to make
I removed the tortillas and added some extra cheese. You can add additional ingredients depending on what you like in your enchiladas, like avocado, green onions, lettuce, tomato, whatever your little heart desires.
Chicken
- Cook the chicken
- Shred the chicken
- Rotisserie chicken
Beef
- Ground beef
- Shredded beef or leftover roast beef
Step 1
Shred the cheese and place it in the bottom of the casserole dish. Remember, the order DOES affect the final dish.
Step 2
Now add your shredded chicken and peppers and your pre-cooked vegetables.
Step 3
Add the enchilada sauce to cover. Top everything with lots of your favorite cheese. You can add it shredded or cut slices and distribute them evenly.
Step 4
Set it in the oven at low temperature and covered with aluminum foil for about 10 min.
Step 5
Remove foil to melt and brown cheese a bit for another 3 to 5 min. and voila. Mexican enchiladas of the day! Be careful when removing from the oven.
Step 6
Now slice some avocados, green onions, and chopped cilantro to garnish.
Step 7
Once on the table, add a small bowl of sour cream to pour over your enchiladas. A delicious addition!
Cooking Tips
This recipe is pretty quick and easy to cook, though it does require a bit of prep time for the chicken. You can save a bit of time by using shredded rotisserie chicken for step 3 of the recipe. It will save you quite a bit of time.
How does this help?
If you use already cooked chicken, you can essentially eliminate step 3, but you may want to bake the dish a bit longer since you will be using cold chicken.
If you got your chicken fresh from the market, cook it thoroughly in the enchilada sauce. If you bought any extra vegetables to add, cook them slightly, and set apart.
The same applied to ground beef or leftover roast beef. Give the beef time to simmer in and absorb the enchilada sauce.
⭐ Best Store-bought Enchilada Sauces
When it comes to enchiladas, the sauce is paramount. This single ingredient is the soul of all enchiladas. Here are the two best store-bought enchilada sauces!
Red Enchilada Sauce
The BEST red enchilada sauce is Rosarita enchilada sauce. This red tomato-based enchilada sauce dominates the kitchen and is loved by all. An authentic enchilada sauce with a hint of spice (mild heat) and is bold, zesty, and exactly what you'd expect.
Green Sauce
The BEST green enchilada sauce is Old El Paso's mild green enchilada sauce. This green tomato enchilada sauce beats other notable brands like Las Palmas and La Victoria. At the end of the day, this sauce has an authentic taste, with just a touch of heat, and packed with flavor.
Whatever enchilada sauce you choose, these proven red and green enchilada sauces have you covered.
🍳 Related Enchilada Recipes
Save one of these amazing enchilada recipes for dinner!
- Sour Cream Chicken Enchiladas
- America's test kitchen enchiladas
- Instant Pot Beef Enchiladas
- Instant Pot Enchilada Soup
👪 Serving Size
This chicken enchilada casserole makes 5 servings and feeds 4 people. Given this is a casserole dish and super easy, you could double or triple this recipe for a crowd.
So without further ado, below is the recipe. You won't even miss the tortilla!
Love this recipe? Please leave a 5-star 🌟rating in the recipe card below and/or a review in the comments section further down the page.
Try one of my quick, easy, and affordable dinner recipes for your next family meal! And if you have any questions, I'm here to help!
📋 Recipe
Chicken Enchilada Casserole
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups enchilada sauce - store bought or from scratch
- 1 cup finely crumbled queso fresco or feta cheese
- 1 can (4 oz) green chiles (chopped)
- ½ cup minced fresh cilantro
- Olive oil spray - or you can use olive oil in a little bowl with a brush
- 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
- Salt & pepper
- Lime wedges - optional
- Sour cream - optional
Meat Options (pick one)
- 1 pound boneless chicken breasts - skinless, trimmed, and pounded if necessary
- 1 pound ground beef - or leftover roast beef
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Pat chicken dry and season with salt and pepper.
- Combine the chicken and enchilada sauce in a medium saucepan & simmer for 10-15 minutes over medium-low heat. Then flip the chicken over, cover and cook for an additional 10-15 minutes until chicken reaches 160-165 degrees with an instant-read thermometer.
- Remove chicken from pan and shred into bite-sized pieces. Combine shredded chicken, the enchilada sauce, queso fresco, chiles and cilantro in a bowl. Add salt and pepper if desired.
- Spray a square casserole dish with olive oil (or use a brush) and coat the entire bottom and sides.
- Evenly spread 1 cup of shredded cheddar cheese on the bottom of the dish. Add the chicken mixture, then add the other cup of cheddar cheese on top. Cover with foil and bake for about 10 minutes. Remove foil and bake an additional 3 to 5 minutes to melt the cheese.
- Serve with optional lime wedges and optional sour cream.
Notes
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Bridget Woodwardbr
Very easy and versatile! I put it over corn tortillas with avacado. I will add black beans next time and even cook it in the crockpot!