These simple white chicken enchiladas are creamy, cheesy, and a family favorite recipe! They can even be prepared ahead of time and popped into the oven right before serving.
Simple white chicken enchiladas! These enchiladas are everything good in a foodie’s life. They are creamy and CHEESY and the enchilada recipe that will convince all those flour tortilla lovers that corn tortillas are where it’s at. (Here is looking at you, husband.)
These are “my mom’s enchiladas.” I can’t even count how many times we asked her for white chicken enchiladas growing up. She often made two pans, because this recipe brings out everyone’s inner chubby child so she could share a pan with others.
Besides being easy to throw together — with only a handful of basic ingredients for the actual enchiladas — there are two perks worth mentioning:
- Prep Ahead of Time: These enchiladas can be prepared ahead of time. Earlier in the day, prepare the enchiladas all the way up to and including pouring the cream sauce over the enchiladas. Cover with tin foil or plastic wrap and refrigerate until just before dinner. Remove from the refrigerator and uncover while the oven is preheating. Then bake and serve!
- Leftovers Taste Great: The corn tortillas — unlike flour tortillas — hold up well in the cream sauce. Throw leftovers in the refrigerator for up to three days. The enchiladas reheat very well and taste very nearly just as good as the moment they popped out of the oven.
I mean. Look at that cream. I could swim in it.
What should I serve with white chicken enchiladas?
Lots of toppings! We typically put out little bowls of guacamole or sliced avocado, sour cream or plain greek yogurt, pico de gallo, sliced black olives, sliced green onions, and chopped cilantro.
If you want to serve a side dish (wha? enchiladas hit all the food groups, don’t they?) . . . you could serve it with any of the following options:
- elote-style corn casserole (I’ve made this recipe for elote corn casserole by using fresh corn and substituting cream cheese for the mayo – delicious!)
- black bean corn salsa by pinch of yum
- southwestern salad (minus the tortilla bowls)
- grilled squash or zucchini (slice it 1/4″ thick, lengthwise, coat with olive oil, salt, and pepper and grill until soft)
This recipe was lightly adapted from a recipe in Colorado Cache Cookbook (1978) by the Junior League of Denver.
mikaela | wyldflour
12 Enchiladas
Serves 12
Simple white chicken enchiladas are always a hit! Creamy, cheesy, and served with a buffet of toppings!
25 minPrep Time
25 minCook Time
50 minTotal Time
Save RecipeIngredients
- 2 cups cooked, shredded or chopped chicken
- 1/2 cup (or 4 oz can) chopped green chile
- 3/4 cup salsa of choice
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1 cup vegetable oil (for frying tortillas)
- 12 corn tortillas
- 2 cups heavy cream
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 1/2 cups grated monterey jack cheese, divided
- pico de gallo
- red onion, diced
- avocado or guacamole
- sour cream or greek yogurt
- sliced green onions
- sliced black olives
- cotija cheese
- cilantro
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease a 9"x13" baking dish and set aside.
- Make the Filling! In a medium-sized bowl, stir together chicken, green chile, salsa, spices, and 1/2 cup cheese. If your chicken was unseasoned, then add 1/4 teaspoon salt. Set aside.
- Fry the Tortillas! So that the corn tortillas do not rip when you are rolling them, you will very briefly fry each one. Pour the vegetable oil into a skillet - make sure it is about 1/2" deep. Heat the oil over medium heat and then use tongs to slip each corn tortilla in for 5 seconds per side. Carefully transfer each tortilla to a paper towel-lined plate to cool.
- Assemble! Pour the heavy cream and salt into another medium-sized mixing bowl. Create an assembly line of tortillas, the cream, the filling, and then your greased baking dish. Dip each tortilla into the heavy cream in order to coat the entire tortilla. Lightly slide your fingers down the tortilla to remove excess cream and place the tortilla in the baking dish. Add 3-4 tablespoons of filling, depending on the size of your tortilla. Just make sure you don't overfill it and can still roll it up! Squish the filling out in a line down the middle of the tortilla. Roll the tortilla up tightly and place seam-side down at one edge of the baking dish. Repeat for all of the tortillas and filling! (Depending on the size of your corn tortillas, you may have extra filling. Just scoop it into the sides of the baking dish around the other enchiladas. If you accidentally run out of filling, just fill any remaining tortillas with lots of cheese!) Cover the tortillas with all remaining heavy cream. Sprinkle with 2 cups of cheese.
- Bake! Bake the enchiladas for 25 minutes until the cream is bubbling and cheese is melted. As an optional last step, you can turn the broiler on for 2-3 minutes until the cheese starts to brown. If you do this, watch the enchiladas very closely so they do not burn!)
- Serve the enchiladas with a buffet of toppings and enjoy!
Notes
You can prepare these enchiladas ahead of time! Just complete the recipe up through and including the assembly step. Cover the assembled enchiladas in the baking dish with plastic wrap and chill until you are ready to bake them. Remember to take the enchiladas out of the refrigerator when you begin to preheat the oven and remove the plastic wrap!
Leftover enchiladas heat up excellently!
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