This post may contain affiliate links. Please read our disclosure policy.
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
Chicken Enchilada Casserole Recipe
Ingredients
- 4 1/2 cups shredded chicken
- 1 28 oz. can green enchilada sauce
- 1 cup sour cream
- 9-10 corn tortillas cut into 1-2 inch squared
- 4 cups shredded Monterey Jack cheese
- toppings: cilantro, avocados, tomatoes optional
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375°.
- Grease a 9×13 casserole dish and layer half of the: chicken, sour cream, tortilla cubes, sauce, and cheese. Repeat these layers once more and 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 an additional ingredients including: cilantro, avocados and tomatoes.
Video
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
I decided to make this recently & was so impressed with the flavor!! Mexican food is my very favorite & this dish is amazing & so easy. I just served chips & salsa with it but next time I want to make cilantro lime rice for the side 🙂
Tried this last week, and it was a hit! Will add some green chiles in the layers, and maybe some olives on top as well. Quick and easy and delish!
I’m so glad to hear that! Those additions would be delicious. Thanks for giving the recipe a try!
Very tasty! I used onion, onion, and jalapeño with the chicken and seasoned with cumin, ground oregano, paprika, onion, and garlic powder. Only had 2 cups Monterey Jack so I used 2 cups mozzarella. Also used light sour cream and low carb corn tortillas. Didn’t impact taste-still super delicious and easy!
Garlic****sorry put onion twice 🤦🏻♀️
Thanks for sharing what you did! So glad you enjoyed the dish!
So delicious!!!
This was delicious out of the oven . I’m wondering if I made a mistake by freezing the leftovers. Can I thaw and reheat? Potluck on Wednesday,thanks!
Super easy and fast and we love this!!! Store bought shredded jack or colby jack works fine. Only concern with this amazing dinner is choosing the right canned green enchilada sauce. We have our fav but beware all brands are not equal.
Added tip. I throw a large boneless chicken breast in pot to boil with a couple bay leaves, onion, carrots, salt and black pepper. Bring to boil. Cook 10 mins or so just till chicken is still slightly pink in the center. Creates an amazing fresh chicken broth that makes an easy base for cilantro lime rice. I use what’s handy, instant 5 minute rice, dried cilantro, butter, 1 or 2 tbls of lemon or lime juice and a 1 or 2 tbls of the extra enchilada sauce to taste . Easy to add canned black chili beans as another side or instead add few black beans to the rice. AMAZING!!
Agreed! Not all green enchilada sauce is created equal. 🙂 haha! Thanks for sharing what you do and with the rice too. Sounds tasty! So glad you enjoy the enchilada recipe.
Really want to make this recipe but nutrition facts are WAY off…unless I’m missing something huge here. But you’re putting a pound of cheese in there (alone 1970 calories) and 4.5 cups of chicken AND a cup of full fat sour cream. My total is showing around 570 calories per serving (6 total) with 33g of fat.
Not a big deal but misleading and I’m glad I double checked (counting macros) Are you using full fat sour cream and cheese?
Thanks for the feedback. We’ll look more into this and make any corrections. Yes, we used full fat of both, but you could certainly substitute for low fat or fat free options!
Another great recipe. My family loved it. The only thing I added was black olives. Also made Spanish rice another family favorite.
Ooh black olives would be a yummy addition. Thanks for sharing!!
About to make this for dinner tonight. Thinking of adding onions. THOUGHTS….
Ps. Your Mexican rice recipe is the best!!!!
If you like onions, I’d say go for it. Wish I liked them! So glad you like the rice, too! Thank you so much!
I would like a recipe for corn tortillas. Maybe you have already given out one and I missed it.
Thank you
I am sorry, I do not have a recipe for homemade corn tortillas. Have you looked on Pinterest?