I love how creamy, tangy, and filling these Green Chile Chicken Enchiladas are on a weeknight, so they are a perfect comfort food.
Whether you cook a couple of chicken breasts up quickly in a skillet, or whether you use pre-cooked chicken like rotisserie chicken or canned chicken breasts, this recipe comes together really quickly.
It took me only about 10 minutes to make this quick and tasty homemade green chile sauce for the enchiladas that show you how easy it can be to make. It has a lot more flavor than the canned enchilada sauce that you find in the store, so Apronese highly recommend not skipping it if you can.
Chicken Options
These enchiladas were made by cooking two chicken breasts in a skillet (instructions are included in the recipe below), but you can also use rotisserie chicken or canned chicken breast if you want to make it even simpler.
To make the filling for the enchiladas, you’ll need approximately two cups of chopped chicken that has been cooked and cooled.
Can I Add More Vegetables?
There is no doubt that you can add more vegetables to the enchilada filling if you are interested, but since you will be adding more volume, I would suggest either making more enchiladas (maybe 16 enchiladas) or reducing the meat by half to compensate for the additional vegetables.
Among the vegetables that would be appropriate for this green chile chicken enchiladas are zucchini (sautéed first to remove moisture), spinach (chopped and sautéed, or frozen, then thawed), and frozen corn (thawed).
There are also options that make your meal more balanced, such as adding a bunch of vegetables as your side dish.
Green Chile Chicken Enchiladas: What to Serve with Them
It would be great if you could have one of the many delicious side dishes to go with these enchiladas. Try one of the following:
- Quick Seasoned Black Beans
- Cumin Lime Sweet Roasted Sweet Potatoes
- Cucumber Black Bean Salad
- Sweet Corn Salsa
- Cumin Lime Coleslaw
- Charred Corn and Zucchini Salad
- Warm Corn and Avocado Salad
Do These Enchiladas Have a Spicy Flavour?
This enchilada is a medium-fired dish, but I consider it to be mildly spicy. I used pepper jack cheese, which is very spicy and I also added a little cayenne pepper to the filling. It would be best if you used canned green chiles (used to make the enchilada sauce) that were also quite spicy as well. This would result in your enchiladas being quite spicy.
It is possible to make these enchiladas mild by simply replacing the pepper jack cheese for Monterey Jack cheese, omitting the cayenne pepper in the filling, and using mild canned green chiles if you want to make them mild.
Green Chile Chicken Enchiladas
These green chile chicken enchiladas are dreamy! With a creamy, cheesy chicken filling inside toasted corn tortillas, smothered with a rich homemade sauce, these chicken enchiladas are out of this world delicious!
Author: Beth
Servings: 6 (2 enchiladas each)
Ingredients
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
- As soon as the skillet has reached medium-high heat, heat the tortillas for 30 to 60 seconds on each side, until they are browned on the edges (no oil is needed). You can stack the toasted tortillas to prevent them from drying out by covering them with foil or putting them in an upside down bowl to prevent them from drying out.
- Once the skillet has been heated to medium, add a tablespoon of cooking oil and swirl the oil around so that it coats the surface. Add the chicken breast and cook for about 5-7 minutes on each side, or until it is cooked through and has a temperature of 165oF. After the chicken breast has been cooked, transfer it to a clean cutting board to cool.
- In the meantime, you can make the green chile enchilada sauce by adding both cans of diced green chiles (without the liquid) to a blender. Purée until smooth and serve with enchiladas.
- The cooking oil, flour, cumin, garlic powder, and onion powder should be added to a small sauce pan and combined, stirring and cooking over medium heat until mixture has bubbled up. After the mixture has bubbled up, continue to cook and stir over low heat for 1 minute.
- In the same sauce pot, add the water and pureed green chile and whisk everything together, adding just enough water to moisten the chiles. Once the sauce has came back up to a simmer, stirring frequently, turn off the heat, and season it with salt (about 12 tablespoons). Set aside until it is needed.
- You can begin by preheating the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Make sure the chicken is finely diced and added to the bowl with the sour cream, half of the pepper jack, chopped green onions, garlic powder, cumin, cayenne, salt, pepper and cumin powder. Stir in the remaining ingredients until they are all well combined.
- The enchiladas can be assembled by adding about 1/4 cups of the prepared filling to each tortilla, rolling them closed, and placing them seam-side up in a casserole dish.
- Place the enchiladas on a baking sheet. Pour the green chile enchilada sauce over the enchiladas and top with shredded pepper jack cheese. Bake for 30 minutes, or until the sauce is bubbling around the edges.
*As an alternative, you can also use precooked chicken, if you prefer. The price shown here is for organic chicken breasts.
Nutritional
Serving: 2 enchiladas ・ Calories: 434.9 kcal ・ Carbohydrates: 23.7 g ・ Protein: 29.27 g ・ Fat: 24.67 g ・ Sodium: 958.02 mg ・ Fiber: 4.08 g
The nutritional values shown here are only estimates. Please see our nutrition disclaimer.
Equipment
Our equipment section contains affiliate links to products we use and love. As an Amazon Associate, I can earn commissions on qualifying purchases.
How to Make Green Chile Enchiladas – Step by Step Photos
If you are using a large skillet that is heated over medium-high, add the tortillas to the skillet once hot and toast on each side for 30-60 seconds or until they are brown (no oil necessary).
Place the hot tortillas onto a plate and cover with foil or an upside down bowl to prevent the tortillas from drying out.
In the skillet, reduce the heat to medium and add 12 tablespoons of cooking oil. Stir the oil to coat the pan well.
Add two boneless, skinless chicken breasts, and cook on each side for about 5-7 minutes or until they are fully cooked (165 degrees Fahrenheit internal temperature). Transfer the cooked chicken onto a clean cutting board to cool.
The green chile enchilada sauce can be prepared while the chicken is cooking by puréeing two 4oz. cans of diced green chiles (with the liquid from the cans) in a blender while it is cooking.
I used 2 tablespoons of cooking oil, 2 tablespoons of all-purpose flour, 1 tsp of ground cumin, 1/2 tsp of garlic powder, and /tsp of onion powder.
I cooked these ingredients in a sauce pot and stirred them until it began to bubble. Once bubbling, continue to cook and stir for another minute.
It is then necessary to add 1 cup of water and the pureed green chiles. Whisk well to combine, and then allow the sauce to come back up to a simmer (stirring frequently). Once simmering, the sauce will thicken slightly.
Add salt to taste (approximately 12-teaspoons), and set aside.
Once the chicken has been cooked, finely chop it.
It is a good idea to start preheating the oven to 350°F. Add to a bowl your 12.5 cup sour cream, 4 ounces of shredded pepper jack, 2 sliced green onions, 1/2 tablespoons of garlic powder, 1/2 tablespoons of cayenne, 1/2 tablespoons of cumin, and 1/2 tablespoons of salt, and the chopped chicken. Stir until it is well combined.
Once the chicken filling has been added to each toasted tortilla, roll it closed, then place it in a casserole dish, seam side down, with the chicken enchiladas. Continue assembling the chicken enchiladas by adding about 1 4 cups of filling to each tortilla.
The green chile enchilada sauce should be poured over the enchiladas after they have been prepared.
The remaining 4oz of pepper jack cheese (one cup) should be shredded and sprinkled on top.
For best results, bake the enchiladas for approximately 30 minutes, or until the sauce is bubbling around the edges. (I added chopped cilantro for garnish, but it’s not necessary).
In the blog post above the recipe are suggestions for side dishes you can serve with the recipe.
Chile chicken is always an interesting dish to treat the whole family during the weekend or even on a special occasion. Simply because it is easy to make and combines with many different ingredients.
As Apronese introduced above, chile chicken combined with enchiladas, really delicious and so new, please share this recipe with your friends.
