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!
A DELICIOUS CHICKEN ENCHILADA RECIPE
One of my favorite Mexican meals (besides chimichangas) are enchiladas. 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’s the perfect weeknight meal that can be pulled together pretty quickly!
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS (FAQ’S):
*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.
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!
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.
Absolutely! Corn tortillas need to be individually warmed up before rolling or they will tear as you roll them up keep that in mind.
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.
HOW TO MAKE WHITE CHICKEN ENCHILADAS RECIPE:
Preheat oven to 350F degrees. Spray 9×13-inch baking dish with nonstick cooking spray. Add in 1 cup of shredded cheese. Season with salt, pepper and a little Adobo seasoning.
Place chicken mixture in each of the flour tortillas.
Roll them all up and place them in your baking dish. Just squeeze them all in there.
In a medium sauce pan, melt butter. Whisk in flour and let cook and thicken for 1 minute (don’t let it burn.)
Add chicken broth and whisk until smooth.
Stir in sour cream and chiles. Be sure not to let the mixture boil.
Take sauce off the heat and pour it over the enchiladas. Top with remaining shredded 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 slightly browned and bubbly. Serve warm with your favorite sides.
CRAVING MORE RECIPES?
- White Chicken Enchiladas (For Two)
- Cornbread Taco Bake
- Taco Bell Mexican Pizza
- Buffalo Chicken Enchiladas
- Bisquick Chicken Enchilada Bake
- Swiss Chicken Enchiladas
- Creamy Shrimp Enchiladas
- Ground Beef Enchiladas
- White Chicken Enchilada Soup
Originally published: April 2012
Updated photos and republished: March 2024
White Chicken Enchiladas (+Video)
Ingredients
- 2 cups shredded, cooked chicken (can use a store-bought rotisserie chicken)
- 1 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese (or mozzarella)
- salt, pepper, Adobo seasoning, to taste
- 10 flour tortillas (taco size)
- 3 Tablespoons butter
- 3 Tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 2 cups chicken broth
- 1 cup sour cream
- 4 ounce can diced green chiles (do not drain)
- 1 cup shredded Monterey Jack Cheese
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.
- Place chicken mixture into each of the 10 flour 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).
- Add 2 cups chicken broth and whisk until smooth.
- Stir in 1 cup sour cream and 4 ounce can diced green chiles. Be sure not to let the mixture boil.
- Take sauce off the heat and pour it over the 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.
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.
Nutrition
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.
I used green salsa verde instead of the chilis and added a bit of heavy whipping cream to the broth for the sauce – wonderful!
Hello!! Would this recipe be something you could freze to bake later, to be used as a freezer meal?!
My boyfriend and I make these at least once a week; I bet we’ve made them at least 20 times at this point. We’ve tried every variation there is but we always come back to these. The best enchilada recipe. This recipe is the cheese-glue of our relationship, everything that our morals have been built on. Make these enchiladas, you won’t regret it.
Sam – I cannot even tell you how hard I laughed at your comment! It literally made my day to read your note!! So happy you love these and came back to let me know!!
Oh my goodness.. this looks SO delicious and easy!! So glad I found this. I’ve always wanted to try and make these but most recipes look a little complicated for a cook like me (lol) but this I could do!! Cant wait to try next week!!
XO, Katie
I made these enchiladas with both corn & flour tortillas. To soften the corn tortillas, i put them in microwave safe bowl with a loose lid and stack tortillas inside with a damp paper towel between each one then microwave for `1 minute. I did not care much for the flour tortilla ones but the corn was yummmmmy! I also ended up adding a can of green chile enchilada sauce to the sauce because I needed more sauce. Such an easy recipe for someone like me who ejoys eating but dislikes cooking!
I made these enchiladas tonight and my family and I love them!! Even my picky daughter!!! I only added more cheese because who doesn’t love cheese?! Awesome recipe!
Okay, first off, we have never made or eaten enchiladas before. Secondly, we cannot use canned chiles because they are canned and we have a metal allergy in our family. Thirdly, I could not find adobo seasoning. Now that all of that is out of the way, I don’t typically post replies on recipes. I mean to, but I get distracted and forget. Tonight, I am not allowing myself to forget. These were, hands down, our favourite “taco Tuesday” concoction yet! I mixed up some adobo seasoning I found on all recipes, I didn’t use any canned chiles, and we followed the recipe, otherwise, to a T. Wow, these were fabulous!! Thank you so much for the recipe. My husband doesn’t usually rave about meals, even when he enjoys them immensely, but tonight he is. Even our picky eaters loved it and gobbled it up! Thank you again!
I attempted this and realized I’d “messed up” but it ended deliciously any how.
I cooked the chicken in my instant pot with a cup and a half of broth, a teaspoon of cilantro paste, an ⅛ cup lime juice, the chilies, and the salt/pepper and adobo sauce. 20 minutes on high pressure and I barely had to touch it to get it to fall apart. (No, it was not mushy, but I put it in frozen and I had three 2bs of chicken.) Then I strained the chicken over a bowl and used the broth for the sauce.
I also had an invader to my kitchen use up half my sour cream, so I subbed the other half of the 1 cup sour cream as ½ cup of cream cheese.
My husband like a kick so we used a shredded jalapeño /habanero cheese – not nearly as hot as it sounds, but it’s a yummy kick.
I will tell you the resulting enchiladas were absolutely heaven. I have never, ever had better anywhere. And they were so easy to make! 20 mins in the pressure cooker, ten mins NR, 10 mins of prep work and then 15 mins in the oven.
I was able to have the kitchen clean and cookies made while it was steaming and baking. I’m so grateful for this recipe. I would never have thought to try to make this OB my own.
Hi Amber! I love it! Thank you for taking the time to comment! And I love your small changes that really made it your own. Great thinking!
I have made the original recipe and found for us, it was too dry inside so I made a double batch of the sauce, poured half into a bowl and added the 1 cup of cheese to the sauce, mixed until smooth then pour it over the chicken before filling and rolling the enchiladas and it was way better! Try it and you’ll see
Its BOMB!!. Super simple. Super good. Few ingredients with exquisite taste..
Followed exact recipe and it was fabulous!
A new family favorite!
I totally cheated- I bought 6 Taco Bell shredded chicken burrito without avocado ranch sauce ( we don’t like it personally) and layered them in a baking dish and then preceded with your recipe (sauce and cheese plus baking instructions ) – cheater’s way! But oh so yummy!!
Made these last night, absolutely fabulous, everyone loved them the white sauce is wonderful will make these often!!!!
This was very good. Thanks for a delicious recipe. Made it as written, even used your chicken shredding method, (way cool.) We topped the finished dish with fine chopped salad, diced avocado & tomatoes and had refried beans as a side. This will be made again, (and again.) This dish is definitely worthy of serving to company. YUMMO.
When you use Adobo seasoning there is no need for salt.Might want to consider chicken broth with less sodium, too. The taco sized shells are too small which would seem to be no problem, but it was. When I poured the thin sauce over the dish there was way too much of it. If the shells were bigger the dish would have soaked up more of the sauce. I removed over a cup. That helped. Definitely need the bigger shells, and to thicken the sauce. I will try again. But, I will add more flour and maybe more butter to thicken a little. Might try a different Adobo recipe, too. The taste was very good.
Just made this tonight for dinner and it was a hit even with the 3 year old! Thanks so much, we’re saving this one for future delicious dinners.
I ended up roasting my chicken breasts in the oven, sprinkled with chipotle powder, adobo powder, and paprika, as well as the salt, pepper, and oil. Those powders always step up my Mexican dishes!
I made this recipe tonight and it was super delicious and very easy!!. I love recipes that aren’t time consuming. I like both red and white sauce for enchiladas.
My kudos to your roux. I am hit and miss in making good roux. The chicken broth and sour cream were fabulous! Can’t wait to use this roux with other dishes.
Thanks!!
Woo Hoo! Loved reading your comment Tracy! Thank you SO much for coming back to let me know! 🙂
Love the ease of these….and they look delicious!
Afternoon Brandie!
About the red sauce…….. Giada has a lovely recipe for Marinara Sauce.
Now she calls for 32(oz) of canned tomatoes, but I put the same weight in of fresh Roma Tomatoes.
So Good! Roma's are mostly flesh so that you aren't getting the acid. I use the crockpot to make it.
Hope you try it and let me know how it was.
The only thing I would change in this casserole is
the chilies (allergic) and would put in some chopped Roma tomatoes.
Have a Joyful Day :~D
Charlie
These are fantastic and I am so pleased to have found your site. We thoroughly enjoyed these and will make them over and over again. Thanks
Made these enchiladas last night. I wish I could include a picture, as they turned out just as described. Everyone loved them. The part that I appreciated the most, strangely enough, was learning the kitchen aid chicken shredding trick. That was awfully handy, and very effective.
Question- Do you drain the can of green chilies before you pour them into the pot? These look soooo yummy and I can't wait to make them for my hubby!
Ha ha. Edit on my post above. That should have been 'and what can I say but OMG', not 'not OMG'! These are seriously good enchiladas!
I made these last night and what can I say not OMG! My husband asked me to make them again, which he has never done with the other enchilada recipes I've tried in the past. These are much better than the recipes I've tried using the cream of chicken soup! Thanks for sharing.
Made these tonight. They are so delicious! I forgot to buy green chilies so I used salsa in the sauce. Thanks for another awesome recipe.
Danielle