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
Authentic, no. Your enchiladas are not. The tortillas need to be fried.
Hello. Here at Isabel Eats we like to provide a variety of different recipes, including authentic ones and more tex-mix based recipes. Recipes on the website that are truly authentic to Isabel’s family recipes are claimed to be such and this recipe was not. This recipe has more tex-me based flavors and we apologize if there was any confusion. You are correct in that the authentic process to making enchiladas includes frying the tortilla and dipping it into the enchilada sauce, and that process is included in the instructions on the other authentic recipes on the site if you wanted to check those out!
These enchiladas were wonderful! Also used your recipes for the homemade enchilada sauce and shredded chicken. My boys loved it, and they are picky about their Mexican favorites. 😊
Made these tonight for my parents, and we really enjoyed them, except for one thing–they stuck to the baking dish! I didn’t see any instructions to spray the pan before adding the tortilla rolls. Did I miss something? Other than that it’s a great recipe, thanks!
Hi Christine! If you spoon a little bit of enchilada sauce on the bottom of the dish before placing the enchiladas, that should help it not stick.
What size Tortillas do you use?
Hi Diane! This recipe uses 8-inch tortillas.
Super simple to make as I was teaching my 7 yr old.
Recipe was super simple as I was teaching my 7 yr old son to make them. And I would rate it a 5 in flavor but I’m sure it would be better with better enchilada sauce. I used a new canned sauce and it wasn’t very good. Not the recipes fault
What a quick and simple recipe!! I made these tonight with your homemade enchilada sauce and they were delicious! My husband said “this is the most delicious thing I have eaten in a while!”
Very nice …
and really – this is a very , very good base
Plan .. ** just great the way you write this out ..
But it definitely allows your creativity to run off !!
Shredded steak , or beef .. adding cheese and beans – if you have a vegetarian around .. just loaded cheese are great .. as well as thinly , very thinly
sliced zucchini & yellow squash ..
** I kind of stole that one from my veggie Lasagna…
But you are exactly right on point here ..
As long as you have tortillas , cheese , enchilada sauce . Oh and an oven lol’😂
You can totally explore your imagination..
Because what you have here is
” what I call – dummy proof !”
Make this recipe, some refried beans – acting like lava ! Rice if you like that as well .. I guess I’m just thinking..
Who doesn’t love homemade
enchiladas !? They’re awesome !
Thank you so much Sammy!
i can never have canned enchilada sauce again!! your red and green enchilada sauces are amazing! really made my enchiladas awesome, and your directions are so easy, even i can do it!! thank you! you are definitely my favorite go to chef for authentic mexican cuisine:)
Thank you, Jodi!
Yum! Would definitely make these again. They were a big hit with the family! Made the homemade sauce too, glad I did.
I love these! First time making them last night, and I think they turned out wonderfully. Topped the dish with sliced green onion.
I did my own shredded chicken and I have a little tip for you actually. After you boil it and it’s cooked through, pull out of water and allow to cool. Then take it and put it into your mixer to break it apart. No need for forks and frustration. Let your mixer do all the work. (Do it on a slow speed or it might turn to paste.)
Thank you for the Enchilada recipe!
Hi Shannon! We’re glad you enjoyed this recipe, and thanks for sharing your tip! We’ll definitely try it next time.
Love it! Definitely make the sauce!
In this recipe is it corn or flour tortillas?
Hi Bev! We used corn tortillas for this recipe, but flour works well too!
I added a can of black beans & some chopped roasted poblano peppers to the filling. I had a can of hatch pepper enchilada sauce. Made the shredded chicken just as you described. Yum! Thank you.
That sounds delicious! Thank you for sharing.
Wonderful easy recipe I use for Wednesday night youth dinner at church. The kids love then….so do the adults Thanks
Made it as instructed except that in order to yield the amount of sauce needed I added about an additional 1/2 Cup of broth. Flavors are awesome with the homemade sauce recipe .
Any tips on making this ahead for later in the week? Should I assemble then freeze? Assemble, bake and freeze?
Thanks in advance : )
Hi Katie! I recommend assemble, bake, and then freeze!
Amazing! Thank you!
These were a big hit with my family. They really loved the flavour and my daughter was thrilled because there weren’t any pepper in it. I had some time so I did everything from scratch. Even doing that it was incredibly easy.
Awesome! My husband said it was so much better than the ones at the local Mexican restaurants near us. All he ever orders are enchiladas. He loved them and went back for a second helping. Thank you for this easy recipe.