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Cream cheese chicken enchiladas are thick and creamy with a touch of spice. They prep in minutes for a favorite weeknight dish!
Cream cheese chicken enchiladas are a favorite Mexican dish in our house. They are a tasty variation of our Chicken Enchiladas and Creamy Chicken Enchiladas.
A Favorite Family Dish!
We eat a ton of Mexican food at our house! We have it AT LEAST once a week, but realistically it’s more than that. There are just so many delicious dishes, and enchiladas are a go-to.
We love our Red Cheese Enchiladas, but these cream cheese chicken enchiladas are also a top requested enchilada. They are filled with creamy cheese and chicken filling and topped with even more cheese!
We often use Las Palmas green enchilada sauce, but you can make your own enchilada sauce as well. Either way, this creamy, comforting dish is sure to be a hit!
20 Minutes of Prep!
These chicken enchiladas with cream cheese come together quickly for a family favorite dish!
PREP. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly grease a 9×13 baking dish and set aside.
FILLING. In a medium bowl, stir together one package cream cheese, garlic, cumin, salt, pepper, and lime juice. Fold in tomatoes, green chilies, cilantro, 1 cup shredded cheese, and shredded chicken.
ASSEMBLE. Pour a little bit of the enchilada sauce into the bottom of the pan and spread around before adding the enchiladas.
Add ½ cup of the chicken and cheese mixture along the middle of each tortilla and roll up. Place in a prepared baking dish with the seam down.
Pour enchilada sauce over the tortillas and sprinkle with the remaining shredded cheese.
BAKE. Bake for 20 minutes.
Serving suggestions. Serve this cream cheese chicken enchiladas recipe with a side of Cilantro Lime Rice, Spanish Rice, Mexican Street Corn, or Refried Beans.
Ingredient Tips
Start your enchiladas with the perfect ingredients for the best dish.
Chicken. Buy pre-shredded cooked chicken, a rotisserie chicken, or bake some chicken to shred for this enchilada recipe. Pro tip: I like to cook a large batch of chicken in the slow cooker and freeze it in 1-cup portions to be used whenever a recipe calls for it.
Tortillas. I used flour tortillas for this recipe, but corn tortillas may be used as well. Since they tend to be smaller you’ll need to use more of them. Warm tortillas tend to roll better without tearing, especially corn tortillas. Warm them up in the microwave, or briefly fry them.
Cream cheese. Use room-temperature cream cheese so that it mixes in better with the other ingredients. Cream cheese can be replaced with sour cream or Greek yogurt.
Enchilada sauce. The recipe card calls for a jar of green enchilada sauce, but if you have time, using homemade Green Enchilada Sauce makes the dish even more amazing. If you don’t like green sauce, then go ahead and substitute it for Red Enchilada Sauce.
Recipe Tips
Use these simple tips to make the best chicken and cream cheese enchiladas!
- Don’t overfill the tortillas and place them seam side down so that all the filling stays inside.
- Frying the tortillas briefly before rolling them will help keep them from tearing, it also helps the tortillas from soaking up too much enchilada sauce and becoming soggy.
- Bake the enchiladas uncovered to keep them from getting soggy. If the cheese has browned before the enchiladas are done, tent a piece of aluminum foil over the casserole during the last few minutes.
- Don’t add too much sauce to the top of the filled tortillas otherwise, it can cause them to become soggy.
- To help keep the enchiladas from sticking to the bottom of the baking dish spray it lightly with cooking spray.
Storing Info
Make ahead of time. Enchiladas are one of my favorite make-ahead meals. In fact, I often double the recipe – one to eat and one to save for later.
Keep the enchiladas, covered, in the refrigerator for 24 hours before baking them. To keep them from getting soggy, add only half of the enchilada sauce. Save the rest of the sauce and remaining cheese to add right before baking the enchiladas.
FREEZE. Prepare the enchiladas as directed in the recipe, then wrap the entire tray with plastic wrap and again with aluminum foil and freeze for about 3 months. Either thaw them or bake them from frozen.
- Thaw: Thaw them overnight in the fridge then remove plastic and foil and bake for 25 minutes.
- Frozen: Remove the plastic and place the foil back on. Bake for 30 minutes. Remove the foil and bake for an additional 10-15 minutes until they are cooked through.
STORE. Cover and store leftover easy cream cheese chicken enchiladas in the refrigerator for 4 days. Small servings can be reheated in the microwave or larger portions in the oven.
Recipe FAQ
I like using a Mexican cheese blend which includes Monterey Jack, Cheddar, Asadero, and Queso Quesadilla Cheese. You can also use mild cheddar, colby jack, queso blanco, or a spicier pepper jack cheese.
Tortillas tend to tear less when they are warm. You can warm them up in the microwave or fry them briefly in a hot pan.
You can substitute flour tortillas with corn tortillas to make enchiladas. Since they are usually smaller you will want to use more of them. Also to keep the corn tortillas from tearing fry them briefly before rolling them.
For more Enchiladas, Try:
- Beef Enchiladas
- Chicken Enchiladas
- Homey Lime Chicken Enchiladas
- Slow Cooker Enchiladas
- Red Cheese Enchiladas
Cream Cheese Chicken Enchiladas Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 (8-ounce) packages cream cheese softened
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic
- 1 tablespoon cumin
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 1 teaspoon garlic pepper
- ½ cup lime juice
- 1 (15-ounce) can diced tomatoes drained
- 1 (7-ounce) can diced green chiles
- ½ cup chopped fresh cilantro
- 3 cups cooked shredded chicken
- 2 cups shredded Mexican blend cheese or Colby Jack cheese divided
- 10 (8-inch) tortillas soft taco size
- 1 (15-ounce) can green enchilada sauce
- toppings if desired
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly grease a 9×13 baking dish and set aside.
- In a medium bowl, beat together cream cheese, garlic, cumin, salt, pepper, and lime juice. Fold in tomatoes, green chiles, cilantro, 1 cup shredded cheese, and shredded chicken.
- Pour a little bit of the enchilada sauce into the bottom of the pan and spread around before adding the enchiladas.
- Add ½ cup of the chicken mixture along the middle of each tortilla and roll up. Place in a prepared baking dish with the seam down.
- Pour enchilada sauce over the tortillas and sprinkle with the remaining shredded cheese.
- Bake for 20 minutes.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Absolutely amazing. My youngest always says ” I don’t like chicken” . … BUT OMG she just went to town on these!
I am not a person to subscribe or put my email on much of anything….but Lil Luna and 1 one other chef are the only ones I follow and subscribe to. And with good reason!
The very first recipe that got me hooked on like Luna’s publications…. is her crock pot CHICKEN TORTILLA SOUP… which is a family favorite as well!!! Bri
We all loved this dish in my house! It was the perfect easy dinner and so delicious! Definitely adding it to our weekly dinner rotation, thank you!
These were wonderful and creamy. My family loved this, it was a huge hit! I will definitely be adding this recipe to the rotation.
this dish was amazing and my friends loved every second of it! thank you so much for sharing this amazing recipe
I love your recipes but I have a problem. Your ‘Jump to Recipe’ button almost never works. Do others have this problem?
I’d be interested to hear what others say. It works great for us on our end. Sorry to hear it is giving you trouble.
I have to push it 3 or 4 times but it eventually works