Chicken Enchilada Casserole

Chicken Enchilada Casserole is a crowd pleaser!! This simple dinner dish is sure to make it on your weekly dinner rotation.

It’s classic chicken enchiladas in casserole form! This dinner recipe is simple, full of flavor and loved by all. Change it up with your favorite toppings, or try our red sauce + beef version.

Easy Chicken Enchilada Casserole

At our house, we love our green chile chicken enchiladas. We never get tired of having those for dinner. Another dinner we really enjoy is casseroles! So we decided to combine the two for a simple and tasty enchilada casserole.

This recipe is a home run. It is perfect for making ahead, bringing over to a friend’s house, making as a freezer meal, or just eating right out of the oven.

This recipe calls for green enchilada sauce. You should definitely check out our homemade version. It’s so easy to make and tastes amazing!

My favorite store bought brand of green enchilada sauce is Las Palmas—super tasty if you decide to grab some at the store.

How to Make Chicken Enchilada Casserole

PREP. Preheat oven to 375°.

LAYER. Grease a 9×13 casserole dish and layer half of the: shredded chicken, sour cream, tortilla cubes, sauce, and cheese. Repeat these layers once more. Tip: I use the sour cream that comes in a squeeze tube. It makes it so much easier!

BAKE. Bake, covered, for 40 minutes. Uncover and bake an additional 10 minutes making sure to let it rest for about 15 minutes before serving.

Top with additional ingredients including: pico de gallo, fresh cilantro, avocados and tomatoes.

Other toppings you could try:

• guacamole
• cilantro lime rice
• avocado
• salsa
• chopped cilantro
• diced onion
• chopped bell pepper
• black olives
• crushed tortilla chips

Variations

Want to switch up the recipe a little? Try our red sauce enchilada casserole! It’s just as delicious, but with red sauce instead of green sauce. Try changing the ingredients in the dish for different flavor varieties. Here are some examples.

Instead of chicken you could substitute:

• shredded pork
• ground beef
• cut up steak
• shredded turkey
• pinto beans
• black beans

You can also use shredded rotisserie chicken or canned cooked chicken to make this recipe even easier.

Recipe Tips

No soggy casserole! The shredded chicken breasts are the first layer in the baking dish and the enchilada sauce, sour cream and tortilla squares are next. This helps your tortillas not to get as soggy as if they were on the very bottom.

Another tip is to make sure that you are removing the foil and letting your casserole bake for the full 10 minutes uncovered at the end, this will also help to remove some of the excess moisture.

If you are really concerned about a soggy texture, you could also fry the tortillas before cutting them into squares and adding them to the casserole. You can also use corn tortillas or flour tortillas depending on your taste preference, but corn tortillas tend to get less soggy.

Thicken Sauce. Whether you are using homemade or canned enchilada sauce, here are a few tips if you’d like your sauce to be a little thicker:

• Warm sauce over low heat and make a paste of equal parts cornstarch and water, stirring it well. Add this paste to the sauce a little at a time. Stir well, adding more of the cornstarch paste until you reach your desired thickness.
• Again, warm your sauce on the stove and add some flour a little at a time until you’ve reached your desired consistency.

Serving TIPS + RECIPE FAQ

Serve it with… This chicken enchilada casserole is incredibly tasty all on it’s own. But you can definitely serve it with different Mexican Side Dishes. White rice, homemade Spanish rice, or cilantro lime rice are great options.

Can you make this ahead of time? Prepare everything up to cooking time. Instead of putting it into the oven, cover it with plastic wrap and tinfoil. Either freeze or put into the fridge until you’re ready to bake it.

How to freeze? Cover and freeze unbaked casserole. To use, partially thaw in refrigerator overnight. Remove from refrigerator 30 minutes before baking. Preheat oven to 375°. Bake casserole as directed, increasing time as necessary to heat through and for a thermometer inserted in center to read 165°.

How to store? Store any leftover enchilada casserole, keep it in the fridge for up to 3 days.

How to reheat? Put it in a 350 degree oven for 20-30 minutes. Keep it covered with tinfoil while reheating in the oven.

We hope you love this enchilada casserole. If you’d like to try our Beef version with Red enchilada sauce go HERE. It’s also just as delicious!!

For more enchilada recipes, check out:

• Red Cheese Enchiladas
• Beef Enchiladas
• Crockpot Enchilada Soup
• Green Enchilada Pork Chili
• Green Chili Enchilada Dip
• Enchilada Casserole
• Creamy Chicken Enchiladas