Creamy, tangy, and filling, these Green Chile Chicken Enchiladas are an awesome comforting weeknight dinner. Whether you cook a couple of chicken breasts up quickly in a skillet, or use pre-cooked chicken like rotisserie chicken or canned chicken breast, this recipe comes together easily. I smothered these chicken enchiladas with a really quick homemade green chile sauce that only takes about 10 minutes to make, and has a LOT more flavor than store bought canned enchilada sauce, so try not to skip it if you can!
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Chicken Options
I cooked up a couple of chicken breasts in a skillet for these enchiladas (instructions included in the recipe below), but you can take a short cut by using rotisserie chicken or canned chicken breast, if you want to make this recipe even easier. You’ll need about 2 cups of chopped cooked and cooled chicken for the enchilada filling.
Can I Add More Vegetables?
Yes, you can add more vegetables to the enchilada filling, if you’d like. Since you’ll be adding more volume, I suggest either making more enchiladas (maybe 16 enchiladas) or reducing the meat by half to make up for the added vegetables. Vegetables that would go good in these green chile chicken enchiladas include: zucchini (sautéed first to remove moisture), spinach (chopped and sautéed or frozen, thawed), or frozen corn (thawed).
I also suggest making some homemade Pico de Gallo to spoon over top for some added color and flavor!
What to Serve with Green Chile Chicken Enchiladas
There are so many great side dishes that would go with these enchiladas. Try one of the following:
Are These Enchiladas Spicy?
I would consider these enchiladas “medium” spicy. I used pepper jack cheese, which has spicy peppers, as well as a little cayenne pepper in the filling. If your canned green chiles (used to make the enchilada sauce) are spicy as well, your enchiladas will be more on the spicy side.
If you want to make these enchiladas mild, simply swap out the pepper jack cheese for Monterey Jack, skip the cayenne pepper in the filling, and make sure you use mild canned green chiles.
Green Chile Chicken Enchiladas
Servings 6 2 enchiladas eachIngredients
Enchiladas
- 12 6-inch corn tortillas ($0.68)
- 1/2 Tbsp cooking oil ($0.02)
- 1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breast* ($6.43)
- 1/2 cup sour cream ($0.22)
- 8 oz. pepper jack cheese, shredded and divided ($1.69)
- 2 green onions, sliced ($0.20)
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder ($0.05)
- 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper ($0.03)
- 1/2 tsp ground cumin ($0.05)
- ½ tsp salt ($0.02)
Green Chile Enchilada Sauce
- 2 4oz. cans diced green chiles ($1.58)
- 2 Tbsp cooking oil ($0.16)
- 2 Tbsp all-purpose flour ($0.02)
- 1 tsp ground cumin ($0.10)
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder ($0.03)
- 1/4 tsp onion powder ($0.02)
- 1 cup water ($0.00)
- 1/2 tsp salt ($0.02)
Instructions
- heat a large skillet over medium-high. Once hot, toast the tortillas for 30-60 seconds on each side, or until browned on the edges (no oil needed). Stack the toasted tortillas on a plate and cover with foil or an upside down bowl to keep them from drying out.
- Turn the heat under the skillet down to medium, add the cooking oil, and swirl to coat the surface. Add the chicken breast and cook for about 5-7 minutes on each side, or until cooked through (165ºF internal temperature). Transfer the chicken breast to a clean cutting board to cool.
- While the chicken is cooking, begin the green chile enchilada sauce. Add both cans of diced green chiles (with liquid) to a blender and purée until smooth.
- Add the cooking oil, flour, cumin, garlic powder, and onion powder to a small sauce pot. Stir and cook over medium, allowing the mixture to come up to a bubble. Once bubbling, continue to cook and stir for 1 minute.
- Carefully add the water and puréed green chiles to the sauce pot and whisk to combine. Allow the sauce to come back up to a simmer, stirring often. Once simmering, turn off the heat, and season with salt (about ½ tsp). Set the sauce aside.
- Begin preheating the oven to 350ºF. Add the sour cream, half of the shredded pepper jack, sliced green onions, garlic powder, cumin, cayenne and salt to a large bowl. Finely dice the chicken, then add it to the bowl with the other ingredients. Stir until everything is well combined.
- Begin assembling the enchiladas. Add about ¼ cup of the prepared filling to the center of each tortilla and then roll it closed. Place the filled tortillas in a casserole dish, seam side down.
- Pour the prepared green chile enchilada sauce over the enchiladas, then top with the remaining shredded pepper jack cheese. Bake in the preheated oven for 30 minutes, or until the sauce is bubbling around the edges. Serve hot.
See how we calculate recipe costs here.
Equipment
- Small Blender
- Nonstick Fry Pans
- Color Cutting Boards
- Chef’s Knife
Notes
Nutrition
Have you tried this recipe?Mention @budgetbytes or tag #budgetbytes on Instagram!Scroll down for the step by step photos!
How to Make Green Chile Enchiladas – Step by Step Photos
Heat a large skillet over medium-high. Once hot, add the tortillas and toast on each side for 30-60 seconds or until browned (no oil needed). Place the toasted tortillas on a plate and cover with foil or an upside down bowl to keep them from drying out.
Turn the heat under the skillet down to medium. Add ½ Tbsp cooking oil to the hot skillet and swirl to coat. Add two boneless, skinless chicken breasts and cook for about 5-7 minutes on each side or until cooked through (165ºF internal temperature). Transfer the cooked chicken to a clean cutting board to cool.
While the chicken is cooking, begin the green chile enchilada sauce. Purée two 4oz. cans of diced green chiles (with the liquid from the can) in a blender.
Add 2 Tbsp cooking oil, 2 Tbsp all-purpose flour, 1 tsp ground cumin, ½ tsp garlic powder, and ½ tsp onion powder to a sauce pot. Cook and stir over medium until it begins to bubble. Once bubbling, continue to cook and stir for one minute.
Add 1 cup water and the puréed green chiles. Whisk to combine, then allow it to come back up to a simmer (stirring frequently). Once simmering it will thicken slightly. Season with salt (about ½ tsp), then set the sauce aside.
Finely chop the cooked chicken.
Begin preheating the oven to 350ºF. Add ½ cup sour cream, 4oz. shredded pepper jack (1 cup), 2 sliced green onions, ½ tsp garlic powder, ¼ tsp cayenne, ½ tsp cumin, ¼ tsp salt, and the chopped chicken to a bowl. Stir to combine.
Begin assembling the chicken enchiladas. Add about ¼ cup of filling to each toasted tortilla, then roll closed. Place the filled tortillas in a casserole dish, seam side down.
Pour the prepared green chile enchilada sauce over the enchiladas.
Top with the remaining 4oz. (1 cup) shredded pepper jack cheese.
Bake the enchiladas in the preheated 350ºF oven for 30 minutes, or until the sauce is bubbling around the edges. (I garnished with chopped cilantro, but it’s not really needed for flavor).
Serve hot! Side dish recommendations in the blog post above the recipe! :)
Very good green chili enchiladas!
Delicious and easy! Only 30 min of prep. We used leftover Thanksgiving turkey and it turned out great.
This might taste good in the end, no better than any other I’ve made, but it took three freaking hours or more to make all the preparations and all the crap! It made a mess of my kitchen, and I would never put this much time and energy into this recipe ever again for a normal housewife! Maybe if it’s once a year recipe for holiday? Yeah, but not ever an everyday or every week or every month recipe ever!!
Love this recipe and have made it many times! I’m wanting to bring it to a friend who is a new parent and wondering if you’d suggest I bake it and bring it hot? Or assemble it and bring it for them to bake (within 12 hours of me assembling)? Would it hold up to wait before baking?
You can def assemble it ahead of time. Just wrap it well and refrigerate. xoxo -Monti
How much shredded cooked turkey do you think I should use to replace the chicken?
1-2 cups should do it. :)
These were delicious. I cooked chicken thighs in the crockpot with green chilies, garlic, onion, and a little salt to use on the insides. The only thing I would recommend is to spread a thin layer of enchilada sauce in the bottom of the dish before making the enchiladas so that the tortillas do not get tough durng cooking!
Another great recipe from Budget Bytes! My whole family loved it. I had some salsa verde and a 7-oz can of green chilis, so I added some of the salsa when I blended the chilis. Other than that, I followed the recipe, and served with some homemade black beans. Our tortillas did get a little hard on the bottom like others mentioned, but it’s so delicious we didn’t really care. I think in other enchilada recipes I’ve made they have you put some of the sauce on the bottom of the pan when assembling. Maybe that helps with that; I can try it next time. I will definitely keep some pre-cooked chicken in the freezer, because that would make this a really fast meal! I love that this recipe isn’t laden with tons of cheese, cream cheese, sour cream, etc., but still has amazing flavor and taste! Thanks again for keeping my family’s taste buds happy.
Absolutely delicious! Can’t wait to make it again!
I really loved this recipe! I’m a college student learning to cook for myself, and this website has been a lifesaver. These enchiladas were nice and filling, and have simple ingredients I can throw in other recipes without having to worry about them going to waste.
That being said, question for you, Beth. The ingredient list says 8oz of cheese. When I first made this recipe, I followed those instructions, assuming you meant the 8oz in a cup, rather than 8oz of weight. However, my second time making this, I scrolled down to the image instructions and saw your addition of 4oz (a cup) for the cheese instructions.
For future reference, how can I tell which type of oz a recipe is referencing? Yours and other recipes, especially if I only have measuring cups rather than a food scale?
I often get ounces and fluid ounces confused myself. Liquid ingredients (like broth or milk) should be measured using a liquid measuring cup, like the one we have listed on our shop page: https://www.budgetbytes.com/shop/. These cups measure in cups, fluid ounces and mL. Dry ingredients, like cheese, should be measured using measuring cups (1/4 cup, 1/3 cup, 1/2 cup, etc). A quick way to figure out how much to use (without a scale) is to check the amount listed on the front, bottom-right side of the container/package. For example, a regular-size block of cheese and a smaller bag of pre-shredded are both typically sold in 8 oz. quantities. If an ingredient needs to be divided in the recipe, we will always list it that way in the ingredients list (like this one).
Most blocks of cheese sold in supermarkets are 8 ounces. Check the label on the package and it will tell you how much it weighs.
And, going forward with your cooking- glass measuring cups are used for liquids, and plastic/metal ones are for dry ingredients.
Beth, follow up from my last post. Only change I made was for looks. Add cilantro based on what I think was shown in the picture. If not all is good everyone loved these.
Beth,
All I can say is 🤩… these enchiladas are AWESOME!! This is my favorite thus far. But I know there will be more. So easy to make as well. Thank you!
Hi Beth, loved this recipe and so many more on your site. I make at least 3-4 a month. I just tried this one and the flavors were great. My kids (3 and 6) ate it up. The only issue I had was the bottom of the tortillas was really hard. So hard you could hardly cut them with a knife. I used corn tortillas and fried them according to the directions. What do you think I did wrong?
Hi, AJ! Glad to hear your family loves the recipe! It’s hard to say exactly what’s going wrong, but here’s a few things to try:
– Your pan might be a little too hot. Try turning it down just a little. (Your stove might run a little hotter than the one in our test kitchen!)
– Also, try frying them a little less, just 30-seconds or so on each side to get some color. Too long, and all the moisture will evaporate and they can get too crispy and tough.
– When resting them, wrap them in a clean dish cloth, that will create a little bit of steam so the tortillas are easier to shape and won’t dry out as much.
– If none of those tips work, I might try a different brand of corn tortillas. Some are just better than others. Also, white corn are typically a bit softer than yellow.
Best, Marion:)
Omg, I doubled this recipe to feed a hungry crowd of teenagers and it was so good! Everyone thought it was delicious. I served it with white rice and seasoned pinto beans. A+!
So delicious! Oh wow! I want to eat these everyday. I could only make 11 enchiladas with the amount of filling, but so nicely seasoned and tasty. Repeats perfectly for my work day lunches. I’m wondering if these would freeze well. And if so, should I freeze before or after I bake?
Either or is fine. Just make sure to wrap them individually. ANd if you do it after cooking, drain the excess liquid and allow it to cool completely before freezing. XOXO -Monti
What do you mean Wrap individually? Like wrap and freeze each enchilada on its own?
I live in Texas and not a fan of any Tex-Mex type of food. However, my daughter made this and I hurt myself by eating way to many. I’d do it again though. I would give it 10 stars.
Thank you Grizelda! xoxo -Monti
It was a delicious recipe me and my family enjoyed it. I’m trying to cook healthier. I really used the calorie and carbohydrate details thank you
Can I make the sauce and filling the day before?
Yes :)