These Weeknight Enchiladas Verdes are made with chicken and covered in an easy salsa verde sauce. Baked to perfection, they make a great dinner and tasty leftovers that everyone will be excited to eat!
Enchiladas are easily one of the most popular Mexican dishes in my house!
Though there are many variations involving the filling, the cheese, the tortillas, the toppings and the spice/heat level, the one thing that sets enchiladas apart from your regular old taco or burrito is that it’s covered, or in my case, smothered in an enchilada sauce!
If you like enchiladas with lots of sauce, these Enchiladas Verdes won’t disappoint!
What Makes These Enchiladas Verdes Great
- These chicken enchiladas verde are baked, great for dinner and make tasty leftovers.
- They’re made with simple ingredients. Seasoned baked chicken in corn tortillas, covered with sauce and cheese. So easy!
- They’re a classic Mexican dish that’s super flavorful!
Ingredients you’ll need
First up, let’s go over what you’ll need.
- Chicken – This recipe has instructions on how to cook it for yourself using either chicken breast or thighs, but you can also just snag a rotisserie chicken at the store if you need to save a little time.
- Tortillas – I used store-bought yellow corn tortillas, but you can use any type of tortillas you prefer! Corn, flour, low carb, paleo-friendly, they all work in this recipe! If you want to make your own, check out these recipes Corn Tortillas, Flour Tortillas and Paleo Tortillas.
- Salsa Verde – I highly recommend making your own salsa verde. It’s just so easy and versatile, once you make it, you’ll wonder where it’s been your whole life! This recipe uses my easy Easy Salsa Verde recipe but if you’re short on time, you can use your favorite store-bought brand of salsa verde. My personal favorite is the Herdez brand.
- Cheese – Lots of it! This recipe uses a Mexican shredded cheese blend that includes Monterey Jack, Cheddar and other cheeses. But if you’ve only got cheddar or mozzarella in your fridge, that works, too.
Once you’ve got all your ingredients ready to go, just spoon some chicken into the each tortilla, roll them up into little tacos and place them a baking dish seam side down. Cover the tortillas with the salsa verde, top with cheese and bake!
Tips for the best Enchiladas Verdes
- Warm up the tortillas before stuffing and rolling them. I like placing them on a plate, covering them with a damp paper towel and heating them in the microwave for about 30 seconds. The damp towel will create some steam which will help the tortillas from drying out.
- Be careful not to overstuff the tortillas. Otherwise the tortillas will unroll or even rip.
- Try to cover the enchiladas as much as possible with the salsa verde. Any parts that aren’t covered with sauce (or cheese) will likely turn out crispy and/or hard.
- If the cheese starts to get too brown on top before it’s ready to be taken out, just carefully place foil on top of the baking dish for the remaining cook time to stop the browning.
Recipe Variations
- Use a different protein: While this recipe calls for chicken, you could also use cooked turkey or pork instead (a perfect use for any carnitas you have leftover).
- Make it vegetarian: You can easily make this dish vegetarian by replacing the chicken with beans. Just stuff the enchiladas with the beans, cheese and some chopped spinach, then finish according to the rest of the recipe!
- Make it spicy: Add a little cayenne pepper or some chopped jalapeno peppers or serrano peppers to the chicken to get a little more heat!
- Don’t have salsa verde? You could substitute in this green enchilada sauce or authentic enchilada sauce instead.
I like to top my enchiladas with some chopped cilantro, green onions and tomatoes. Not only does it look pretty, but I’m obsessed with cilantro!
Serving Suggestions
- Easy Refried Beans
- Authentic Mexican Rice
- Arroz Verde (Green Rice)
- Cilantro Lime Rice
- Mexican Cauliflower Rice
- Mexican Pickled Jalapeno
I hope you love this recipe – be sure to give it a review below! To get more easy Mexican recipes delivered straight to your inbox, sign up for my weekly email newsletter. You can also follow Isabel Eats on Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest!
INGREDIENTS
For the chicken
- 1 pound boneless skinless chicken breasts or thighs
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 teaspoons ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/2 teaspoon coarse kosher salt
- juice of 1/2 lime (about 1 tablespoon)
For the enchiladas
- 1 1/2 cups Easy Salsa Verde recipe (or store bought salsa verde)
- 12 corn tortillas (soft flour tortillas can also be used)
- 2 cups shredded Mexican cheese blend
- optional toppings: diced tomatoes, chopped cilantro, chopped green onions, sour cream
INSTRUCTIONS
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Cover a large baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
- Slice chicken breast or thighs into thin strips. In a medium bowl, combine sliced chicken, olive oil, cumin, oregano, onion powder, salt and lime juice.
- Place seasoned chicken onto prepared baking sheet and bake in oven for 10 to 12 minutes, or until chicken is no longer pink and fully cooked through.
- Place corn tortillas on a plate and cover them with a damp paper towel. Warm tortillas in the microwave for 30 seconds to soften them up and make them pliable.
- In a 2 or 3 quart baking dish, begin to assemble the enchiladas. Spoon some of the baked chicken into a warm tortilla. Roll it up and place in the baking dish, seam side down. Continue until all tortillas have been filled.
- Pour the salsa verde evenly on top of the enchiladas. Top with shredded cheese.
- Bake for 20 minutes or until cheese starts to bubble.
- Serve with diced tomatoes, cilantro and green onions.
Olga says
So good ! My family loved it! Even my 3 year old ( picky eater) loved it. Thank you for this recipe.
Isabel says
Thanks, Olga! I’m so happy you and your family liked it 🙂
Joann says
I roasted two good sized chicken breasts and shredded it and mixed some of the salsa verde with it since I had so much if it. Then put a spoonful of refried beans on the tortilla then the chicken and rolled it up as directed. AWESOME!!!
Marti Lyle says
I made the sauce a day ahead and this came together quickly and tasted fantastic. I used a mixture of colby jack and cheddar and added some ground cumin and onion powder to the cheese because I did not have the Mexican cheese. Thanks for the recipe.
Isabel says
Thanks, Marti. I’m so glad you liked it! 🙂 Salsa verde is one of my favorite sauces. It’s so flavorful and easy to make!
DK says
Easy and delicious!!
Sarah Glass says
On my way to the store now to get everything i need! I can’t wait for the finished product! I’ll make sure to let you know how they are 🙂 Can i post pictures here?
Isabel says
Yay! I hope you love it. Instagram or Facebook are the best for sharing 🙂 If you tag me, I’d love to feature your photo on my story!
Kathryn Spencer says
Isabel-
These enchiladas are amazing and a favorite at my house! I use rotisserie chicken. After shredding the chicken I add a little chicken broth and then the oil and spices. They are so quick and easy and good enough for company! Great recipe! Thanks for sharing!
Kathryn
Isabel says
Kathryn, I’m so happy to hear that you and your family love these enchiladas! 🙂 It’s one of my favorites, too. I mean, anything with salsa verde is amazing, right?! I love using rotisserie chicken, too, especially when I’m short on time. It’s a life saver.
Mayra says
Shared this one with ny daughter but I’m also going to give it a shot. I’ll let you know how it turns out.
Isabel says
I hope you two love it!
Margie says
I made the green chili enchilidas with the your recipe for the salsa they were delicious that salsa was the excellent will definitely make them again..my husband loved them. Thank you so much..
Isabel says
I’m so happy you and your husband liked the recipe! Isn’t that salsa amazing?! You’re so welcome 🙂
Kaylee M says
Do you know any of the nutrition facts?
Isabel says
Hi Kaylee, I just added the calories to the nutrition facts. For more detailed nutrition info, I recommend adding the recipe to a food app like MyFitnessPal.
Linda says
Can you make these ahead and refrigerate over night?
Isabel says
Absolutely! I would suggest making the enchiladas and storing the sauce separately. When you’re ready to eat, just pout on some of the enchilada sauce. That way, the tortillas won’t get too soggy.
Cindy says
Ok,so if I already have cooked chicken,it seems I would stir need to add some seasoning,so what do you suggest? Thanks
Isabel says
Hey Cindy, great question! Since it’s already cooked, I would actually just make sure that’s it’s seasoned nicely with salt and pepper and that’s it. The salsa verde will give the dish enough flavor, so you should be good.
Lexy says
This is probably a silly question, and maybe I just completely missed where you stated this but I am making these tonight… Do you cook the chicken first and then add seasoning and put in over just to warm or do you add seasoning to uncooked chicken and then cook in oven?
Isabel says
Hey Lexy, that’s not a silly question at all! So you want to cook the chicken first. If you follow steps 1-4 in the instructions, that tells you how to do it. First, preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Then slice your raw chicken breast into thin strips. I did this because it really cuts down on the cooking time, but if you prefer to cook your chicken breasts whole and then shred them afterwards, that’s works too. Mix the chicken breast with the oil and seasonings and bake it in the oven for 12 minutes or so. OR, if you happen to already have shredded chicken in the fridge from leftovers or from a rotisserie chicken, you can just preheat your oven to 350 degrees and skip to step 5. Does that make sense?
Kimberly @ Berly's Kitchen says
Isabel, your chicken enchilada sound delicious and the pictures are beautiful! I want to come back and check out your homemade salsa verde. That’s one thing I’ve never been able to make with much confidence. Can’t wait to give these a try. 🙂
Isabel says
Thanks so much, Kimberly! The salsa is soooo easy to make. I hope you love it!
Natalija Cameron says
So happy to have come across your blog. Love the recipes. ?
Isabel says
Thank you so much!
Francis Jose Orozco, OP says
I’m going to try this the next time I cook for the friars and I’ll let you know.
Have you thought about doing anything inspired by the hen in a pumpkin?
Isabel says
Let me know how they like it!
And no, nothing with a hen in a pumpkin, haha 🙂 <3 Gordon Ramsey
Jolene Heggelund says
I just made these,YUMMY! A great recipe,thank-you!
Isabel says
Yay! I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
Michele says
What size tortillas?
Isabel says
Hi, Michele. These are the exact corn tortillas I used – http://www.missionmenus.com/en/products/view/mission-super-size-yellow-corn-10ct. Not quite sure what size they are, it doesn’t say but most corn tortillas are one size. If you’re using flour tortillas, you would use the smaller, fajita size as opposed to the burrito size. Hope that helps!
Patyi says
A lot of chili verde is made with pork….but then i am sure chicken is fine…just saying. If u use pork, then get a piece of shoulder and cook it with some water for a few hrs until tender. Love your recipe. Thx
Isabel says
Patyi, absolutely! My mom makes chile verde with pork all the time. In fact, that’s on my list of recipes to make! Thanks for the comment and all the love 🙂
Tracy says
Does this freeze well?
Isabel says
I’ve never tried freezing them myself so I’m not quite sure, but I definitely think it’s worth a shot! Here are some suggestions on how I would freeze them. Let them cool completely. Once cooled, cover them completely with aluminum foil and squeeze out as much air as possible by pinching in the sides. I would reheat them by putting them in a 350 degree oven for 10 to 15 minutes, or until they’re completely heated throughout. Again, I’ve never tried freezing them so let me know if you do and how it works out for you! Here’s an article that has some good info about freezing enchiladas – http://www.savvyeat.com/freeze-enchiladas/
Kay Sauer says
The recipe doesn’t say how much lime juice to use. I want to try the recipe but need to know the amount of lime juice to use?
Isabel says
Kay, thanks for asking! I just realized I missed that in the ingredient list. I’ve updated the post so it’s in there now. I used the juice of 1/2 a lime, about 1 1/2 tablespoons.
Karly says
Ahhhhh these have me drooling. A lot. Like, a lot a lot. They look SO good and cheesy and yummy and holy cow, is it taco Tuesday yet!? I can’t wait to try these!
Isabel says
Thanks, Karly! They’re as delicious as they look! Hope you enjoy!