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Cheesy white chicken enchiladas are so creamy with just the right amount of green chili spice. They’re simple and delicious!
White chicken enchiladas are a different take on our classic Chicken Enchiladas or Creamy Chicken Enchiladas, but just as delicious!
We Love White Queso Sauce!
We love enchilada recipes at our house and have several favorites that frequently make our weekly dinner menu! Our classic Cheese Enchiladas are a go-to, but we also love Chicken Enchiladas.
These creamy white chicken enchiladas are a yummy variation. It uses Queso Blanco as the sauce and the flavor is out-of-this-world tasty.
Why we love them:
- The sauce! You will love this cheesy sauce, it’s practically drinkable.
- Perfect for sharing. If you love Mexican food as we do, you will LOVE this cheesy dinner dish. It makes a great Mexican weeknight dinner and freezes well – perfect for sharing!
- All around simple. The straightforward instructions and simple ingredients make this recipe easy to whip up.
Ingredients
- shredded chicken – Have Shredded Cooked Chicken for quick dinners. Slow cooker chicken breasts, shred, cool. Divide it into 1-cup portions and store in the freezer. Or use this Baked Chicken or purchase a rotisserie chicken to shred.
- shredded Colby Jack cheese – If desired, replace the Colby Jack cheese with mild cheddar cheese, Monterey Jack cheese, pepper jack cheese, or a Mexican cheese blend.
- garlic salt with parsley flakes
- black pepper
- fresh cilantro
- flour tortillas – I used Flour Tortillas, but you can use corn tortillas as well. Since corn tortillas are smaller you may need to use more of them.
- unsalted butter
- all-purpose flour
- chicken broth
- diced green chiles- for a spicer dish add in diced jalapenos
- garlic salt
- chili powder
- ground cumin- optional
- shredded white sharp cheddar cheese
- sour cream
Quick Prep Dinner
- PREP. Preheat oven to 350°F. Lightly grease a 9×13 baking dish and set aside.
- FILLING. In a medium bowl, combine the filling.
- Spoon ¼ – ⅓ cup of chicken mixture onto the center of each tortilla and roll up. Place, seam side down, in prepared baking dish.
- SAUCE. Make the sauce by melting butter in a medium saucepan over medium-low heat. Whisk in flour until bubbly.
- Add broth and stir until well combined. Mix in green chilies, garlic salt, chili powder, and cumin.
- Add 1 cup cheese and sour cream and mix until smooth.
- ASSEMBLE. Pour queso sauce over the tortillas in the baking dish and sprinkle the top with the remaining shredded cheese.
- BAKE for 20 minutes.
Toppings
Some favorite toppings for easy white chicken enchiladas include:
- sour cream
- avocado or Guacamole
- Pico de Gallo or Tomatillo Salsa
- jalapenos, cilantro, or green onions
Recipe Tips
- Easy clean-up. To prevent enchiladas from sticking to the bottom of the baking dish, spray it lightly with cooking spray or line the pan with parchment paper.
- Avoid leaking. To keep the filling inside the tortillas avoid overstuffing. Also, placing the tortillas seam-side down will help keep them from unrolling.
- Soggy enchiladas are produced when they either have too much sauce or have been allowed to marinate in the sauce before baking. Add the recommended amount of sauce right before baking.
- Baking the enchiladas uncovered will also help keep them from getting soggy. If the enchiladas are browning too quickly, tent a piece of foil over the dish during the last few minutes of cooking time.
Storing Tips
- Make ahead of time. Keep the enchiladas covered in the refrigerator for 24 hours before baking them. To keep them from getting soggy, store the white enchilada sauce in a separate container and add it right before baking.
- Freeze ahead of time. Prepare the enchiladas as directed, wrap the entire tray with plastic wrap and again with aluminum foil. Freeze for up to 3 months.
- Note that after freezing, the texture of the white sauce may not be quite as creamy as when it is baked freshly made. It’s still quite yummy and a favorite freezer meal of ours.
- Thaw them overnight in the fridge then remove the plastic and foil and bake for 25 minutes.
- To cook from 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 or until they are cooked through.
- STORE. Cover and store leftover enchiladas in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. Small servings can be reheated in the microwave or larger portions in the oven.
For More Mexican Food:
White Chicken Enchiladas Recipe
Cheesy white chicken enchiladas are so creamy with just the right amount of green chili spice. They're simple and delicious!
Ingredients
- 2 cups cooked shredded chicken
- 2 cups shredded Colby Jack cheese
- garlic salt with parsley flakes
- pepper
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
- 10 (8-inch) flour tortillas, soft taco size
White Queso Sauce
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 1½ cups chicken broth
- 1 (4-ounce) can diced green chilies
- 1 teaspoon garlic salt
- dash chili powder
- ¼ teaspoon ground cumin, optional
- 1 ½ cups shredded white sharp cheddar cheese, divided
- 8 ounces sour cream
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Lightly grease a 9×13 baking dish and set aside.
- In a medium bowl, combine shredded chicken, shredded cheese, garlic salt, pepper, chopped cilantro, and mix.
- Spoon ¼ – ⅓ cup of chicken mixture onto the center of each tortilla and roll up. Place in prepared baking dish.
- Make the sauce by melting butter in a medium pot over medium-low heat. Whisk in flour until bubbly.
- Add broth and stir until well combined. Add green chilies, garlic salt, chili powder, and cumin.
- Add 1 cup cheese and sour cream and mix until smooth.
- Pour queso sauce over the tortillas in the baking dish and top with the remaining shredded cheese. Bake for 20 minutes.
Video
Nutrition
Serving: 1g, Calories: 490kcal, Carbohydrates: 6g, Protein: 29g, Fat: 39g, Saturated Fat: 21g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g, Monounsaturated Fat: 9g, Trans Fat: 0.2g, Cholesterol: 139mg, Sodium: 1097mg, Potassium: 224mg, Fiber: 0.1g, Sugar: 2g, Vitamin A: 1101IU, Vitamin C: 0.4mg, Calcium: 518mg, Iron: 1mg
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
This is such a great chicken enchiladas recipe! I was looking for a recipe that didn’t have cream of chicken soup and this is it. The sauce is amazing and we continue to these as everyone loves them!
I just made this for our family and shared some with an elderly neighbor-Yum! Everyone love it-thank yo for such an easy and delicious recipe
These were the yummiest weeknight meal! My family ate the whole thing. Can’t wait to make these again!
The sauce was EVERYTHING so creamy and perfectly spiced! I plan to make this often!
How much pepper and garlic salt in the chicken mixture?
We were pleasantly surprised by this twist traditional chicken enchiladas . So yummy! Thanks for the recipe.
In the ingredients, it lists sour cream for the queso sauce, but in the directions, it doesn’t say to put in anywhere. Is this just an optional topping? thank you
Thanks for catching that. We updated the recipe and added the sour cream, so the recipe card should be all up to date with the sour cream being added in step 6.