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Creamy White Chicken Enchiladas

This recipe for Creamy White Chicken Enchiladas is made with flour tortillas, shredded chicken, cheese, green chiles and a delicious creamy white sauce!

An Easy Chicken Enchilada Recipe

This is one of those recipes that everyone loves – even picky eaters! It’s not spicy and has a wonderful creamy sauce that really pulls it all together. It is absolutely delicious and a wonderful alternative to those that maybe don’t enjoy the red sauce version. It’s the perfect weeknight meal that can be pulled together pretty quickly!

forkful, chicken enchiladas on a plate with fresh parsley

I have made this recipe so many times. I make it exactly to the recipe. It’s always a hit–even with two picky kiddos. We love it so much, we’ve eaten the leftovers for breakfast!
– Rachel

Frequently Asked Questions:

What is the best way to prepare shredded chicken?

*You can cook chicken for this recipe in a couple of ways. You can roast a couple of chicken breasts in the oven. Just drizzle a bit of olive oil on them and season with salt and pepper and cook for about 35-45 minutes.
*Or you can boil your chicken until cooked.
*Or you could use a store bought rotisserie chicken.
*It just depends on how much time you have to prepare this and what flavor you want from your chicken. The roasted and rotisserie chicken are going to give you the most flavor.
*Once your chicken is cooked, you’ll want to shred it using two forks. Or if you have a stand mixer, using the paddle attachment, put your chicken in the mixing bowl and mix until shredded.

Do you have a more traditional red sauce enchilada recipe?

If you are looking for a more traditional homemade red enchilada sauce, be sure to check out my recipe for Chicken Enchilada with red sauce!

What can I serve with white chicken enchiladas?

Some Crock Pot Refried Beans or one of my personal favorites – my 3-Ingredient Mexican Rice! Or, if you like, just serve with a delicious, leafy green salad.

Could I use corn tortillas instead?

Absolutely! Corn tortillas need to be individually warmed up before rolling or they will tear as you roll them up keep that in mind.

How do you store leftover white chicken enchiladas?

White Chicken Enchiladas can be covered and stored in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. They can be frozen (before being cooked) for up to 3 months. Cover well to protect against freezer burn and make sure the sauce is completely cool before wrapping. When ready to cook, make sure to let it come to room temperature before cooking per directions. You can also store leftovers in the freezer then re-heat in the microwave.

Ingredients Needed: (See Recipe Card Below For The Full Recipe)

  • flour tortillas – this recipe calls for flour tortillas but feel free to use corn tortillas (just heat them up before rolling so they don’t tear.) I used a larger soft taco sized tortillas but you can use smaller and get more out of this recipe.
  • shredded cooked chicken – see my FAQ’s above on different chicken options.
  • Monterey Jack Cheese – use your favorite blend of shredded cheese. This recipe is very easy to customize. If you want to a bit of spice, you can use a Pepper Jack cheese.
  • butter and flour – you will be using these to thicken up the sauce.
  • chicken broth – if you are trying to cut down the sodium, you can use low or no sodium broth.
  • sour cream – if you don’t like sour cream you can use plain Greek yogurt or even softened cream cheese.
  • diced green chiles – this barely adds any spiciness at all but if you cannot have even the tiniest bit of spice then just leave it out.
  • salt, pepper and Adobo seasoning – use any combination of seasoning you prefer. You can even use a homemade taco seasoning.
flour tortillas, shredded cooked chicken, Monterey Jack cheese, butter, flour, chicken broth, sour cream, diced green chiles salt, pepper, Adobo seasoning

How To Make White Chicken Enchiladas Recipe

Preheat oven to 350F degrees. Spray 9×13-inch baking dish with nonstick cooking spray. In a medium-sized bowl, mix together 2 cups shredded chicken with 1 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese. Season with salt, pepper and a little Adobo seasoning.

shredded chicken, shredded cheese, salt, pepper, Adobo seasoning in a medium glass bowl

Place chicken mixture in each of the flour tortillas.

chicken and cheese filling placed into the center of a flour tortilla

Roll them all up and place them in your baking dish. Just squeeze them all in there.

flour tortillas filled with chicken in a baking dish.

In a medium sauce pan, melt butter. Whisk in flour and let cook and thicken for 1 minute (don’t let it burn.)

flour added to melted butter in a medium sauce pan

Add chicken broth and whisk until smooth. 

whisking in chicken broth to butter, flour mixture

Stir in sour cream and chiles. Be sure not to let the mixture boil.

sour cream and green chiles added to broth mixture in a sauce pan

Take sauce off the heat and pour it over the enchiladas. Top with remaining shredded cheese.

pouring white sauce over chicken filled flour tortillas in a dish.

Bake for about 20-25 minutes. If you’d like, you can turn the broiler on high and broil these for a minute or two until cheese is slightly browned and bubbly. Serve warm with your favorite sides.

FINISHED, MELTED CHEESE ON CHICKEN ENCHILADAS in a clear baking dish

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Originally published: April 2012
Updated photos and republished: March 2024

Easy Creamy White Chicken Enchiladas

White Chicken Enchiladas (+Video)

This recipe for creamy White Chicken Enchiladas is made with flour tortillas, shredded chicken, cheese, green chiles and a delicious creamy white sauce!
933 Reviews
Print Pin Rate
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 25 minutes
Total Time: 40 minutes
Servings: 5

Ingredients

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 350F degrees. Spray 9×13-inch baking dish with nonstick cooking spray.
  • In a medium-sized bowl, mix together 2 cups shredded, cooked chicken with 1 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese along with salt, pepper, Adobo seasoning, to taste.
    chicken mixture in a bowl.
  • Place chicken mixture into each of the 10 flour tortillas.
    chicken filling in tortillas.
  • Roll them all up and place them in the prepared baking dish.
  • In a medium sauce pan, melt 3 Tablespoons butter. Whisk in 3 Tablespoons all-purpose flour and let cook and thicken for 1 minute (don't let it burn).
    butter and flour in a saucepan.
  • Add 2 cups chicken broth and whisk until smooth.
    chicken broth added to saucepan.
  • Stir in 1 cup sour cream and 4 ounce can diced green chiles. Be sure not to let the mixture boil.
    creamy white chicken enchilada sauce in a pan.
  • Take sauce off the heat and pour it over the enchiladas.
    white cream sauce on top of rolled up enchiladas.
  • Top with 1 cup shredded Monterey Jack Cheese.
  • Bake for about 20-25 minutes. If you'd like, you can turn the broiler on high and broil these for a minute or two until cheese is slighly browned and bubbly.
    fully baked creamy white chicken enchiladas.

Video

Youtube video

Notes

  • Please refer to my FAQ’s (Frequently Asked Questions) and ingredient list above for other substitutions or for the answers to the most common questions.
  • I have this set for five servings assuming it would be 2 enchiladas per person. 
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: American

Nutrition

Calories: 502kcal | Carbohydrates: 30g | Protein: 25g | Fat: 31g | Sodium: 1044mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 3g

Nutritional Disclaimer

“The Country Cook” is not a dietician or nutritionist, and any nutritional information shared is an estimate. If calorie count and other nutritional values are important to you, we recommend running the ingredients through whichever online nutritional calculator you prefer. Calories and other nutritional values can vary quite a bit depending on which brands were used.

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Recipe Rating




709 Comments

  1. 5 stars
    I added steamed corn to the chicken mix, and I added vegitarian Better Than Bullion to the sauce, AND I let the roux bubble for a minute before I added the chilies and sour cream so it would thicken. Plus I used pepper jack instead of monterey, but it was gorgeous. Smelled like heaven when it’s cooking and tastes like a dream.

  2. Have a question what size tortilla should I use? Ordered taco tortillas from the store, they seem much smaller than the ones you have in the pic. Should I go bigger. Thanks.

    1. Hey Jim! I have an ingredient photo above if it helps you to see what I used. I believe they are 8 inches. Yours will still work. They’ll just be a little smaller so you’ll just be making a few more than shown here 🙂 Just fill up enough of them to fill the baking dish without cramming them in (if that makes sense)

  3. 5 stars
    Excellent recipe and we all really loved it. I think it’s great just the way it is. We can’t handle too much spice anymore (acid reflux these days), I used to eat scotch bonnets and LOVED super spicy food but the reflux can’t handle it LOL! Every recipe is made with SO much spice these days and I understand that is popular and why people love it (because I used to), I just can’t personally do it anymore unfortunately. So it was so nice not to have to tweak a recipe for once and make it as-is and this was perfect and we’ve made it several times.

  4. 5 stars
    Hi Brandie, absolutely loved this recipe the sauce is delicious, but how can I keep the tortillas from being soggy I don’t like that texture I even fried them slightly first hoping to prevent this, should I just add filling without doing that ? Husband loved and didn’t complain at all but the too soft tortillas got me down

  5. 5 stars
    Delicious and so easy to make. Going to serve with a side of red enchilada sauce next time for a little added flavor.

  6. 5 stars
    Made this today and it was so good! Perfect for those of us who can’t do the spicy things anymore. Loved it and I had so many ask for the recipe!

  7. 5 stars
    Wow! What an AMAZING take on an old classic. Perfect for the more sensitive to spice family members, both kids and adults loved it. I used a rotisserie chicken for this dish, like I always do, and it did not disappoint. Highly recommend giving this one a try! I don’t think I’ll be making enchiladas any other way..

  8. 5 stars
    this was great! loved the sauce — was great for dipping my corn chips in also. very tasty and easy to make.