This sour cream chicken enchiladas recipe is absolutely delicious, super easy to prepare in one skillet, and ready to eat in half an hour. It's packed with spicy and sweet flavors from the green chilies and sour cream sauce.
Contents
🌟 Why this recipe works
This one-pot low-carb chicken sour cream enchiladas recipe is one of the best and easiest enchilada dishes to make for any home cook!
The recipe uses staple pantry ingredients, like chicken breast, chilies & spices, dairy products, and the special ingredient cauliflower rice. It's all mixed together for a sublime-tasting sour cream sauce and chicken mixture in one skillet.
Unlike most sour cream chicken enchilada casseroles carb-heavy with corn tortillas or flour tortillas, this recipe is made with cauliflower rice for a healthier, low-carb dinner.
From start to finish, you will be amazed by how easy everything comes together, and it's so quick to make in half an hour. And once the smell of the spicy and sweet aromas hits the room, everyone in the house will be waiting at the dinner table, ready to devour the deliciousness!
Creamy chicken enchiladas are the perfect meal to make during busy weeknights when you're short on cooking time and can easily be made in advance - prepared in a baking dish for convenience.
Don't forget to check out my delicious dorito casserole and my chili lime shredded beef recipe with full of mexican flavors.
🍽 Key Ingredients
Low-carb sour cream chicken enchiladas is a one-pot creamy family-favorite meal that uses staple pantry ingredients like chicken, spices, and cauliflower.
Chicken - Ask your butcher for free-range boneless chicken breasts for a better-tasting mixture. Packaged chicken will also work, but the juices from free-range chicken breasts make a difference to the flavor.
Dairy - I use unsalted butter to make the roux, but you might not need additional salt if you have salted butter. Full fat or light sour cream can be used for the sour cream sauce.
Spices - Apart from oregano and chili powder, you need canned or fresh green chilies to give the dish some spice.
Cauliflower - We're using cauliflower rice in this recipe instead of corn tortillas to mix in with the creamy mixture.
Cheese - The cheese of choice is Colby jack cheese. Buy it in block form and shred your own.
Substitutions
Sour cream
An equal substitution for sour cream that works well in chicken enchiladas that also enhances the chicken flavor and adds creaminess is a can of cream of chicken soup. Plain greek yogurt as a 1:1 replacement will also work.
Cauliflower rice
The perfect substitute for tortillas. And while this not make sense immediately, it will when you try this recipe.
Swaps
Chicken
If you don't have chicken breast on hand, you could swap it for a rotisserie chicken or leftover chicken from last night's dinner.
Cheese
You could substitute the Colby jack cheese for something similar like cheddar cheese, Monterey jack cheese, or Cantal.
Thickening Options
- 3 tablespoons white all purpose flour
- 1.5 tablespoon of corn starch
- 3 teaspoon arrowroot powder
🔪 How to make
Sour cream chicken enchiladas are super easy to make and taste like enchilada heaven. Learn how to make this recipe step-by-step below!
Preparations
1.Tear the cauliflower heads, add them to a food processor, and pulse them until it resembles rice grains. Transfer to a bowl and set aside.
2. Chop the chilies into pieces.
3. Grab your block of cheese and shred it into a bowl, ready for melting later.
Cooking Instructions
Step 1
In a large skillet, heat butter over medium heat until melted. Make a slurry with the thickener of your choice and cold water (mix them and stir until smooth) and add to your skillet.
Step 2
Whisk in chicken broth. Continue stirring until smooth and thickened, around 2-3 minutes. Then, stir chipotle chili powder, salt, oregano, and green chiles into the sauce.
Step 3
Place chicken breasts into the pan. Bring to a simmer, reduce heat to low, cover and cook about 15 minutes or until chicken is cooked through.
Step 4
Remove chicken from pan, leaving the heat on low, and place chicken on a plate to shred into bite-sized pieces.
Step 5
Stir sour cream into the sauce and return chicken to the pan along with the cauliflower.
Step 6
Stir until combined. Cover the pan and simmer for 5 minutes.
Step 7
Top with cheese and simmer until cheese is melted. Serve warm and enjoy it!
💭 Cooking Tips
Thickening
Thickening recipes can be tricky. The easiest way to thicken sauces is to create a slurry or paste. Combine 1 part (flour, cornstarch, arrowroot) with two parts cold water. Once combined, add this to your skillet and continue with the recipe.
For a crispy finish
If you want your cheese top crispy and golden brown, you could set your oven to broil and stick the skillet under for 5 minutes instead of simmering it until melted.
📋 Recipe Variations
There are three sour cream chicken enchiladas variations using the same recipe and equally as delicious.
Sour cream chicken enchiladas with bacon
If you want to give your enchiladas some extra bite and a saltiness, add 8 slices of bacon to the skillet until crispy, then chop it and mix it into the mixture with the cooked chicken.
Chicken enchiladas with cream cheese
One of my go-to variations for sour cream chicken enchiladas is adding a package of cream cheese to the sour cream sauce. Adding cream cheese creates a silky smooth sauce and makes it even creamier. It's amazing!
Chicken enchiladas with breadcrumb topping
Turn your melty cheese top into a crunchy golden brown topping by mixing the shredded cheese with 100 grams of breadcrumbs and sprinkling it over the enchiladas. Broil for 5 minutes until golden brown and enjoy.
🥗 What to serve with
Sour cream chicken enchiladas are pretty filling on their own without the need for additional side dishes, but in case you have extra guests, you may need one or two light, tasty sides to fill the table.
Cauliflower
What I love to do when making this delicious enchilada recipe is to make use of any leftover cauliflower with these low-carb quick and easy recipes: cauliflower rice, cauliflower stuffing, or cauliflower mash. It's the best way to turn any leftover cauliflower into something tasty!
Asparagus
For something with a bit more crunch and saltiness, sautéed asparagus pair very well with almost any main meal imaginable, and they take minutes literally to prepare.
Steamed veggies
Keep in simple with a selection of whatever garden vegetables you have in your pantry and make steamed veggies. Toss them with a drizzle of quality extra virgin olive oil, and you have a healthy side dish.
🙋 Frequently Asked Questions
Can I use tortillas with sour cream chicken enchiladas?
Yes, you can use corn or flour tortillas with sour cream enchiladas. If you don't mind the extra carbs, you can omit the cauliflower from the recipe and roll the tortillas with a small chicken mixture. Layer them in a prepared baking dish and bake them in the oven with the cheese covering for 5 minutes.
🧊 Storing and ♨️ Reheating
Sour cream chicken enchiladas are perfect for making in a hurry and great for storing any leftovers for the following day.
Fridge - Transfer any leftover sour cream chicken enchiladas to an airtight container and keep it refrigerated for up to 3 days. Alternatively, you could just cover the skillet with the leftovers inside with plastic wrap and pop it on the top shelf in the fridge.
Freezer - To freeze cooked enchiladas, place any leftovers in an airtight container and freeze it for up to 5 months. If you want to make sour cream chicken enchiladas for another day, place the chicken and sour cream mixture into a large aluminum baking tray with the cheese on top, and cover with a lid.
Reheating - Reheat any leftovers in a skillet over medium-high heat for 5 - 7 minutes until hot and 8 - 10 minutes for frozen. Alternatively, you could use the microwave on full-power at 1-minute intervals until piping hot.
🍳 Related Mexican Recipes
Try one of these fantastic Mexican recipes for your next lunch, dinner, or taco Tuesday.
My favorites tacos recipes are shredded chicken tacos and my spicy shrimp tacos recipe. SO YUM!
👪 Serving Size
Expect this sour cream chicken enchilada recipe to feed 5 - 6 people. You'll get roughly 6 servings, but someone always ends up eating more.
If you love enchiladas, I have a whole collection of fantastic enchilada recipes you'll love. My best are chicken enchilada casserole, America's test kitchen enchiladas, and my instant pot enchilada soup.
Love this dinner 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
Sour Cream Chicken Enchiladas
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons butter
- 6 teaspoons water
- 2 cups chicken broth
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ⅛ teaspoon chipotle chili powder
- ¼ teaspoon oregano
- 4 ounces chopped green chiles
- 3 whole boneless skinless chicken breast halves
- 1 cup sour cream
- 3 cups riced cauliflower - frozen
- 2 cups colby-jack cheese grated
Thickening (pick one)
- 3 Tablespoons Flour
- 1.5 Tablespoons Corn Starch
- 3 Teaspoons Arrowroot Powder
Instructions
- In a large skillet, heat butter over medium heat until melted.
- Make a slurry with the thickening ingredient and cold water (mix them and stir until smooth) and add to your skillet.
- Whisk in chicken broth. Continue stirring until smooth and thickened - around 2-3 minutes.
- Stir chipotle chili powder, salt, oregano, and green chiles into the sauce and place chicken breasts into the pan. Bring to a simmer, reduce heat to low, cover and cook about 15 minutes or until chicken is cooked through.
- Remove chicken from pan, leaving the heat on low, and place chicken on a plate to shred into bite-sized pieces.
- Stir sour cream into the sauce and return chicken to the pan along with the cauliflower.
- Stir until combined. Cover the pan and simmer for 5 minutes.
- Top with cheese and simmer until cheese is melted.
- Serve.
Notes
- Chicken Bacon Ranch Casserole - June 26, 2022
- Sheet Pan Shrimp - June 23, 2022
- Chicken Brussels Sprouts Casserole - June 22, 2022
Sharon
I made this a few weeks ago. Good flavor but it was more like a stew. Last night I decided to try a chicken pot pie biscuit topping. So I grabbed a container and divided into 2 ramekins. I put the biscuit topping on and threw them in then oven. Turned out great! I have one container left in the freezer and am looking forward to making this again.
730 Sage Street
Thanks, Sharon, this makes sense. Arrowroot is the key to thickening this dish, and I'd treat it the same as flour or cornstarch. There is never an exact set amount, start with the recommended amount of 3 tsp, check consistency, and add more if required. Since this is only step 2 and early in the recipe, it is pretty easy to gauge.
Love the Chicken Pot Pie idea! Anytime we can pull off 2-3 nice meals with one recipe is a win.
Suzanne
This looks amazing, and my husband is going to love something new other than plain old 'chicken taco salad.' I can't wait to try this.
Suzanne
730 Sage Street
Thanks Suzanne, this recipe is super popular. Hope you and your husband enjoy it.
Jodi
Can you use xatham gum vs arrowroot?
730 Sage Street
Absolutely, replace at 1:1 and use the same instructions as arrowroot.
Corinna
What does it mean when you say 3 whole chicken breast halves?
730 Sage Street
Hi Corinna, most packages of Chicken are typically halves. This means each piece comes from either side of the breastbone on a full breast.
Alli
Cooked my chicken in the crockpot, shredded & mixed w/ the riced cauliflower & spread in a 9 X 13 dish. Cooked the sauce, poured over chicken & cauliflower & topped w/ cheese. Baked until cheese melted & topped w/ dices jalapenos! Delicious!
Kim
So happy to hear that you enjoyed it!
Corinna
Did you add anything to the crockpot w/ chicken and how long did you cook it?
Tammy
Can this be frozen?
Kim
That's a great question! I think it can be frozen but you would have to cook it through step 7, then let it cool, then freeze it. When you reheat, you would add the cheese per step 8.
Amy
Could I Xantham gum instead of arrow root?
Kim
If it is a thickener, I would think so. I have never used it!
Sarah
Yes, but the xanthum gum might go a bit further than the arrow root. Maybe use 1/2.
Sally Hartman
Couldn’t get arrowroot powder. Tried almond flour and it was still too runny. I added pace chunky picante and let it simmer uncovered until it thickened.........ABSOLUTELY FABULOUS!!!!!!!
Kim
Yay, thank you for the feedback and great idea about adding picante!
Haley
What’s arrowroot powder? Can I omit that? We live in the boonies and I doubt I can find that anywhere local.
Kim
The arrowroot helps thicken the sauce, so you may want to adjust the broth a little bit to account for the lack of thickener.
Jen
Flavor was fantastic, but it ended up a little runny. I decided to serve it in a bowl and call it chicken enchilada chili! Next time I think I will cut the broth in half.
Vanessa
Made this creamy chicken enchilada dish & it was AWESOOOOOME! My kids loved it too! I used 1 can of Rotel tomatoes & chili’s & it came out fabulous!
Kim
yay! So glad you enjoyed it!