These Easy Chicken Enchiladas make the best Mexican dinner ever! They’re stuffed with shredded chicken and cheese, topped with an easy red enchilada sauce and baked for 20 minutes. This homemade classic is an all-time family favorite that’s great for easy weeknight meals.
If I had to pick one Mexican recipe to represent me and the food that I grew up eating, it would have to be enchiladas!
I know it’s a bold statement, but it’s true. My parents would make them about once a week, and nobody every complained because they’re just so good!
These easy chicken enchiladas feature corn tortillas stuffed with shredded chicken and cheese, topped with the best enchilada sauce, and even more cheese! They’re baked until the cheese is deliciously melted and bubbly.
Because they’re so easy to make, I make these enchiladas about once a week. They also make a great celebratory dish for Cinco de Mayo!
Chicken Enchilada Ingredients
To make this enchilada recipe, here’s what you need:
- Tortillas: I typically use store-bought corn tortillas, but you could also use flour tortillas if you prefer. If you want to make your own, here’s a recipe for homemade corn tortillas and easy flour tortillas.
- Enchilada Sauce: I highly recommend making your own enchilada sauce if you can! If you’re looking for a quick tex-mex version, here’s an easy enchilada sauce made from chile powder, tomato paste and broth. And here’s my family’s authentic enchilada sauce made from whole dried chiles and Mexican chocolate. Both are easy to make and freezer friendly, which is perfect if you want to make a big batch.
- Shredded Chicken: You can use any leftover shredded chicken you have in the fridge. If you don’t have any, here’s an easy recipe for shredded chicken that you can make right at home. If you don’t have time to make your own, I recommend buying a cooked rotisserie chicken from the grocery store and shredding it at home.
- Shredded Cheese: I typically use the pre-shredded “Mexican-style” cheese that is easily found in most grocery stores. If you’re looking to go super authentic and use real Mexican cheeses, I recommend a mixture of Oaxaca or Asadero.
How to Make Chicken Enchiladas
- Preheat oven to 350ºF.
- In a large bowl, combine cooked shredded chicken with 1/4 cup enchilada sauce. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
- Warm the tortillas in a microwave for 1 minute, flipping the them halfway through until they’re warm and pliable.
- Assemble the enchiladas by filling each tortilla evenly with the shredded chicken mixture and a generous pinch of shredded cheese. Roll them tightly to close and place in a large baking dish seam side down.
- Pour the remaining enchilada sauce over the tortillas and then top them with the remaining cheese.
- Bake for 20 minutes, until cheese is melted and bubbly. Serve.
What to serve with Chicken Enchiladas
To make this a well-rounded meal, here are some sides that would be great served with these chicken enchiladas:
- Authentic Mexican Rice
- Arroz Verde (Green Rice)
- Easy Refried Beans
- Easy Guacamole
- Avocado Salad
- Classic Margarita Recipe
I topped these enchiladas with chopped cilantro and a dollop of sour cream, but you could also garnish them with diced tomatoes, avocado slices, diced onions and some shredded lettuce for a little crunch!
Storing and Freezing Enchiladas
To store enchiladas, place them in an airtight container and refrigerate for up to 4 days.
To freeze enchiladas, let them cool completely in the fridge. Transfer the enchiladas to a freezer safe container or freezer bag and freeze. You can also wrap the enchiladas completely in aluminum foil and freeze.
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups cooked shredded chicken
- 2 cups easy enchilada sauce, divided
- 8 corn or flour tortillas (see note if using flour tortillas)
- 2 1/2 cups shredded Mexican-blend cheese, divided
- salt and pepper, to taste
- optional toppings: diced onions, chopped cilantro, sour cream, shredded lettuce, cotija cheese
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350ºF. In a large bowl, combine the shredded chicken, 1/4 cup enchilada sauce and a generous pinch of salt and pepper. Mix together and taste. Season with more salt and pepper as needed.
- If using corn tortillas: Wrap the tortillas in a damp paper towel and heat them in the microwave for 1 minute, flipping the them halfway through until all of them are warm and pliable.If using flour tortillas: Microwave the tortillas on a plate for 1 minute, flipping them halfway through until all of them are warm and pliable.
- Assemble the enchiladas by filling each tortilla evenly with the shredded chicken mixture and 1 cup of shredded cheese. Roll the tortillas tightly to close and place in large baking dish seam side down.
- Pour the remaining 1 3/4 cup enchilada sauce over the tortillas, top with the remaining 1 1/2 cups shredded cheese, and bake for 20 minutes until the cheese is melted and bubbly.
- Serve immediately and garnish with desired toppings.
Isabel’s Tips:
- For the chicken: You can use any leftover chicken you have in the fridge, use a store-bought rotisserie chicken, or you can make your own shredded chicken at home.
- For the enchilada sauce: I highly recommend making your own using this easy enchilada sauce recipe or this authentic enchilada sauce recipe. If you’re short on time, you can use your favorite store-bought sauce.
- If using flour tortillas: Since flour tortillas are often larger than corn tortillas, you will need an additional 1/2 cup cooked shredded chicken for the filling.
- To store enchiladas, place them in an airtight container and refrigerate for up to 4 days.
- To freeze enchiladas, let them cool completely in the fridge. Transfer the enchiladas to a freezer safe container or freezer bag and freeze. You can also wrap the enchiladas completely in aluminum foil and freeze.
Nutrition Information
Holy crumb!!! Followed recipe from the shredded chicken to the enchilada sauce. Amazing!!!! The homemade sauce was simple yet out of this world delicious!!!!! Mine weren’t very ‘pretty’ because I had leftover filling and threw it on top with the cheese. But the taste was phenomenal. Rivals any I’ve had at a restaurant!! Thank you 😊
I just made this recipe and am eating as I write this comment. I cannot believe how easy and delicious it is! My husband is having a bad day and these enchiladas just made his afternoon. We went to Mexico on our honeymoon and learned how to make enchiladas with salsa verde, but the recipe for the “easy enchilada sauce” was much less laborious and in my opinion, more delicious! (not super into cilantro).
I used all of the white meat from a plain rotisserie chicken (i share the dark meat with the dog) + an 8 oz bag of Mexican blend cheese. Thought the 4 tablespoons of chili powder was great amount of flavor.
I wish you’d lead with the chili powder hint. Four tablespoons was WAY too hot for this white girl! 🥵 Other than that, great recipe.
I made the chicken enchiladas tonight. We just remodeled our kitchen so I’ve been cooking a lot. This was my first time making enchiladas. Thank you for this recipe. Delicious. Next I’ll be making enchiladas suizas! Thank you so much 😊
I used 6 cups of chicken 1 28 ounce Las Palmas mild green sauce and 2 bags of shredded italian cheese and mixed the chicken half the sauce and 3/4 of the che cheese together and out came out great I had enough for 16 enchiladas.
I made these enchiladas using left over traeger chicken, canned green enchilada sauce and monterrey jack cheese. I also added chopped onions and olives on top..
Hi Isabel, I wanted to try a new recipe and found this one. It wasn’t till I was putting all the ingredients out that I realized i had no enchilada sauce. I was happy to see you had a recipe to make it fresh. I had everything needed for the easy recipe, so I made that one. I am so glad i was out of canned sauce! This was the best sauce that my wife and I have had! We are looking forward to trying more of your recipes. Thanks!
You didn’t specify tortilla size
Mine ended up as basically gooey rolls of dough.
Completely humiliated and wasted food.
I made your chicken enchiladas with the homemade enchilada sauce. They turned out very good. Thank you!
First time making this and my husband cant get over how great it is! Thank you for the wonderful recipe it is a hit for my family!
Simple and very satisfying—thank you Isabel!
Most of the time, enchaladas for me are all about the sauce If it has been a long week, though, and I’m too tired to even order take-out, some high-qulity prepared sauce in the pantry is all it takes for me to make this
A little chopped yellow onion in each enchalada and some dried Mexican oregano add some nice depth to the flavor.
Smoked cheddar cheese, if available, is also a nice touch.
I made the shredded chicken from isabel’s recipe. I used canned enchilada sauce but will try her sauce recipe in the future. Otherwise it all went together really quickly. My husband does most of the cooking these days so cooking doesn’t come as easily as the it used to. I really liked the way to warm the tortillas, much better than soft frying! It went together incredibly well and my husband loved them. Thanks so much!
Thank you Isabel for sharing your recipes! I love Mexican food and after living in Texas and California I now live in Pennsylvania that is not known for its Mexican food! I made the chicken enchiladas tonight and they were great! I’ll try you other recipes soon!
Karen
Great enchiladas! Your quick and easy sauce recipe was awesome! Will definitely make this again. Thanks 😊
I used your Easy Enchilada Sauce to make these and they turned out so good, even though I didn’t have enough cheese on hand and had to sub in some cream cheese to the filling so I could reserve some grated cheese for the top. I am going to make this recipe again and again.
My one difficulty is with keeping the corn tortillas together, without cracking either during rolling or baking. This time I tried the microwave method you mentioned, but next time I am going to prepare the tortillas in a hot dry skillet on the stovetop, which is how I do them for tacos, and they never seem to break or crack that way.
I soak the tortillas in the sauce on both sides and then add the filling. I don’t bother with the microwave. It’s a messy process, but you get sauce in every bite and avoid dry tortillas. Easiest way is to soak the amount of tortillas you’ll be using and lay out on wax paper or aluminum foil, wash hands, then add filling and roll them up so it doesn’t turn into a big messy production.
Yummy. I added a little bit of taco season and salsa to chicken too.
Amazing! Added some cream cheese with the chicken and sauce and topped with avocado, sour cream and green onions! Will be making this again soon 🙂