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?
- 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 made these tonight and OMG they are delicious
Wonderful recipe! I added some corn to the meat/cheese mix and it was a nice added flavor. Will make it again!
I made these today and used Tortilla Land ready to cook tortillas. It adds about 10 minutes to the cook time but the flavor difference of fresh tortillas is a game changer. The recipe itself is great. Use fresh tortillas right off the griddle and it’s better than a Mexican restaurant.
Have you ever made these the day ahead? Or have you ever frozen a pan of this?
Made these last night and the only change was adding another can of green chilis to the filling. Soooo good! It is one of the easiest to make and delicious enchiladas I’ve ever had.
Hi! Can you use corn tortillas in place of the flour?! These are delicious!!
I don’t see why not. Of course, you’d need to heat them up first so they don’t tear while trying to roll them 🙂
These were amazing! Quick and easy. I used cornstarch rather than flour was the only change. Excellent!
Thanks so much Bernadette!
Can you prepare this recipe in advance and freeze it?
Technically yes – the only difficult part with homemade cream sauces is they can separate when reheated. So no guarantees…
Best enchiladas I’ve ever had!!!!! So creamy and delicious! I added a can of green chiles to the chicken as well.
Thanks so much Whitney!
5 Star recipe !!!
my husband and I love this recipe. so good your missing out on a fantastic enchilada recipe if you don’t try it
Thank you so much Ms. C.! So happy to hear that!
I just moved out of my parents house and am not the best at cooking yet, but this recipe was easy and delicious!
I love hearing that Jess! I’m sure you did great! Trust me when I tell you that when I started cooking when I first moved out, it was pretty rough. No internet food blogs – only cookbooks that did not have pictures with every recipe. There were some tragic mistakes that happened LOL
I make this all the time, but had to look up the recipe to know the temp to bake it at.
I just wanted to say I add a can of rinsed black beans to the chicken mixture (Sam’s rotisserie!). My family LOVES it when I do that!
I love black beans so that sounds delicious!
Absolutely fantastic! I’ve never had better (much less made it myself)! The sauce is so simple and creamy. We used the pre-shredded packaged chicken breast from Costco. Thank you so much for posting!
Oh wow – thanks so much Steven! I didn’t even think of the pulled chicken packages at Costco! That chicken is pretty flavorful too. Thanks so much for coming back to review – I really appreciate it!
This is a terrific, easy recipe! Have made it a few times since discovering it. Always comes out perfectly. Thanks for this!
A neighbor just called to ask if she could substitute shrimp for the chicken. I found your shrimp enchilada recipe and sent it to her, but she wants to try it with the chicken recipe, so we’ll see!
Thanks so very much Christine! Shrimp would totally work with this recipe! I hope she loves it as much as you do! Thank you for sharing with her ❤️
Really tasty, I did add 1 cup of the sauce to the chicken mixture along with chopped onions, cilantro, and taco seasoning. It was delicious
Love this recipe! A couple tips for those who might like to try some veggies/heathy version alterations …I add a sautéed red pepper to the chicken mix and a 1/2 onion and three crushed garlic cloves (sautéed) to the sauce. I also use 6 whole wheat tortillas so it’s a bit more nutritious and less bready. Enjoy everyone!
Thanks so much Kara – great tips!
I am preparing this meal twice, for two families in need of a meal. How best do I prepare this for reheat?
I would assemble them in disposable pans but don’t bake. Just cover with foil then refrigerate. When you give it to them, make sure they have the baking temp and time (I usually write it in marker on the aluminum foil) and maybe add about 5 minutes since they’ll be cooking from cold. Hope that helps!
Thank you!!!
Should I prepare completely, or send the sauce and cheese separately?
You could really do it either way to be honest. If you think they’re ok with assembling it themselves, then do that. If they have kids, they might enjoy that. I’m not sure what their situation is but if they’re not getting around very well then I would send it to them already assembled with maybe a side salad or something like that.
Can this be frozen before you bake?
It can but keep in mind cream sauces like to separate when coming from frozen so my advice would be to let it defrost first in the fridge before baking.
I would give this five plus stars. It’s fantastic. I’ve made it three times. I use a rotisserie chicken. It’s always a crowd pleaser! I make it ahead and bake it just before serving. The sauce is so good. I think it would also be great served over chicken and pasta.
Awww thanks so much Debbie! Thanks so very much for taking the time to comment!!
Ok question!! I have leftover sauce. Long story involving my dogs getting to my chicken. Thankfully I had a little left.
Anyways I have about half if the aauce left. Can I freeze the sauce? Or should I put in fridge and then get more chicken?
I don’t see why not! You just have to be careful warming up cream based sauces as they can separate if you heat them up too quickly. So a slow warm up would be recommended.
Excellent base! The only reason I didn’t give it a five star is that it was not flavorful enough for me. The second time I made it I skipped the adobo seasoning and added a packet Ortega low salt of taco seasoning to the chicken mixture with some water and heated thoroughly to thicken. After placing the chicken mixture on the tortilla, I added mild Ortega taco sauce. I don’t know much about the adobe seasoning…. There are two types one with a green cap and one with a red cap. Which one do you use and how much do you typically put into your meat mixture? Thanks for the great recipe…my family enjoys Mexican food!
The only difference between the red cap and green cap is red cap has red pepper in it and the green cap has cumin. So if you like cumin then you could certainly use the green cap. Hope that helps!
Wow! This was amazing! I did change it up a little bit because I picked up 2 lb container of white queso with diced green chiles from Costco and had to use it! So, I added a 1/4 c. to the sour cream mix and 1/4 c. To the chicken. I slow cooked the chicken in homemade adobo seasoning and chicken broth. It was incredible. Thank you for this wonderful recipe!
Woo hoo! Love hearing that – thank you!
That costco queso is soooo delicious! Just made this recipe tonight…adjusted the flavor of the sauce to our liking with extra garlic, onion powder & lowry’s then added queso fresco cheese inside the enchiladas. Would have saved lots of time with the queso sauce! Although…we hardly ever have leftovers
I have never tried their queso! It’s about 2 1/2 hours away from my house so I don’t get out there too much. I’ll look for it next time!
This was (as always) excellent! BTW, for those commenters who have been concerned about spice levels, let me say first that I completely understand your reservations. I have to watch spice and heat levels also, and down here in Texas, I’m constantly running into people who say, “Oh, that’s not hot!” while I’m choking down flames and getting super annoyed. I’m Southern, not Texan, after all — capsaicin and I don’t get along well.
Therefore, let me say for those concerned, I can confidently say this is not at all spicy. The adobo just has a good flavor to it, and there are different types of adobo as well. You can get a blend without black pepper if you prefer, for example, which is the spiciest thing in it. Mild canned green chiles have no more heat than bell peppers — they just have a different flavor.
Verdict: If you fix this, you’ll enjoy an excellent meal without breathing flames or a rebelling stomach. 🙂
Always love your comments Elizabeth – ha! I wish I could pin it to the top of the comments. 🙂 thanks so very much!
I lol’d at your “choking down flames” comment because I can SOOOOO relate to people telling you that it’s not hot and then there is nothing around to put the fire out. Capsaicin doesn’t agree with me either.
I live in N.W.Ohio and I have friends that believe the hotter the better and not me, sister. After the tongue goes numb you can’t taste anything anymore. I like to taste food and the different flavor profiles in a dish.
One thing I discovered about Adobo seasoning is that it is very salty. I have a giant red cap container of it and I barely use it because of that, it’s kind of like Lawry’s, but saltier. I have gotten used to using Diamond Crystal coarse kosher salt because it’s not nearly as salty as Morton’s so there’s a little leeway if you’re heavy handed like me.
I will try this one Brandie since you have helped me double my butt size with all of your delicious dessert recipes, lol.
Now don’t go blaming me for big butts! LOL And yes, salt is very subjective. I find the older I get the more things can taste saltier or overly sweet and I think that is just old age – ha! I find the younger people in my household like things that I would consider salty and way too sweet so it is definitely not a one size fits all across the board. You can see in the comments here where people didn’t think it had enough seasoning and salt or it wasn’t spicy enough and I think that’s where it’s important to know your own limits as well as what you and your family like. It also depends on the chicken you use here so I would caution people with that. If you use a store-bought rotisserie chicken, it is going to already come with its own seasoning as opposed to chicken you prepare yourself and can adjust the seasoning to your preference. So I guess my advice to everyone is just make it – see what you think – then adjust to your personal preferences. One recipe does not fit all – like clothing. LOL
Could you leave out the green chilis and adobo sauce if you don’t spicy?
I’m super sensitive to spice. I have really bad acid reflux and I will say the canned green chilies are not spicy at all! But you could certainly leave them out.
Made this for dinner. I couldn’t find adabo seasoning so I found a recipe on the internet. Per the internet recipe I didn’t need to add salt and pepper. I felt the adabo seasoning was enough. After reading reviews about the tortillas being soggy.I decided to add 1/2 c of sauce to the chicken and pour the rest of the sauce over the enchiladas. The enchiladas came out perfect ! Thank You so much for a great recipe ! Mom gave it a D for delicious !
So happy to hear that Kat! Thanks so much for taking the time to come back and leave a review!