One of my absolute favorites, chicken enchilada casserole. With great sauce and a cheese topping. Nothing is better, plus it makes great leftovers. Follow these step-by-step photo instructions for this classic dish.
Introduction
This is a traditional rolled chicken enchilada recipe. With the great taste of the homemade enchilada sauce, it will become a family favorite and is one of the best chicken enchilada recipes.
With the flexibility to make it what you want and use the ingredients you have, it is a great way to use leftover chicken, but I will usually cook chicken just to make this casserole.
My Rating
An easy 5. I could eat this all day, every day. This has been one of my favorite recipes.
🐓The Chicken
Any shredded chicken will do. I sometimes will braise some skinless breast in a spiced-up broth, but really, just plain shredded chicken with some sauce added will be fine.
2 large chicken breasts will make about 4 cups of shredded chicken. If you just bake chicken for this add about 1 cup of my homemade enchilada sauce to the chicken for flavor.
We like lots of meat, so we try to get closer to 6 cups of chicken.
An interesting option is Freezer Burnt Chicken Breasts Rescue - Shredded Mexican.
🥣The Sauce
You could use canned enchilada sauce, but please don't. My enchilada sauce is a wonder, and canned sauce is horrible. Homemade Enchilada Sauce
The Pan Size and Servings
This is easy to cut in half and make in an 8 by 8 or 9 by 9 pan.
As written and the pictures are for a full recipe that needs a 9 by 13-inch large casserole dish. That is 8 servings.
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🖼️Step-by-Step Photo Instructions
Start with about 4-6 cups of shredded chicken. I usually will bake 2-3 medium to large skinless boneless chicken breast then shred. Cook until 165° which will take about 30 to 40 minutes in a 375° oven.
Preheat over to 375° convection. Chop one small onion and add to 1 cup of sour cream.
You will need about 4 cups of enchilada sauce. I prefer homemade but use what you like. Try Homemade Enchilada Sauce.
Set up an assembly line of two dinner plates and the baking pan. Place about ¼ cup enchilada sauce on the first plate. Take the first tortilla and place it on the first plate. Coat both sides lightly with sauce and move to the second plate for assembly.
Place 2 tablespoon of the sour cream/onion mixture in a line about ⅓ in from the left side. Add a generous about of shredded chicken and top with about 2 tablespoon cheese. Starting on the left side, tightly roll the tortilla.
Place the enchiladas seam down in the baking pan. Repeat until done. Adding sauce to the first plate as needed.
Pour all remaining sauce over the pan. Top with any extra onion. Add 8 oz cheese.
Bake until cheese is browned. About 20 minutes.
Top with tomato, lettuce, and sour cream. Or anything else you want.
📖Full Recipe
Chicken Enchilada Casserole
Ingredients
- 4-6 cups shredded chicken - 2-3 chicken breasts
- 4 cups enchilada sauce - homemade preferred
- 1 cup sour cream
- 1 small onion - chopped
- 8 tortillas - 8 inch flour
- 1 pound shredded cheese
Instructions
- Start with about 4-6 cups of shredded chicken. I usually will bake 2-3 medium to large skinless boneless chicken breast then shred. Cook until 165° which will take about 30 to 40 minutes in a 375° oven.
- Preheat over to 375° convection. Chop one small onion and add to 1 cup of sour cream.
- You will need about 4 cups of enchilada sauce. I prefer homemade but use what you like.
- Set up an assembly line of two dinner plates and the baking pan. Place about ¼ cup enchilada sauce on the first plate. Take the first tortilla and place it on the first plate. Coat both sides lightly with sauce and move to the second plate for assembly.
- Place 2 tablespoon of the sour cream/onion mixture in a line about ⅓ in from the left side. Add a generous about of shredded chicken and top with about 2 tablespoon cheese. Starting on the left side, tightly roll the tortilla.
- Place the enchiladas seam down in the baking pan. Repeat until done. Adding sauce to the first plate as needed.
- Pour all remaining sauce over the pan. Top with any extra onion. Add 8 oz cheese.
- Bake until cheese is browned. About 20 minutes.
- Top with tomato, lettuce, and sour cream. Or anything else you want.
My Private Notes
Recipe Notes
Pro Tips:
- This is a large casserole but can easily be cut in half.
- Any shredded chicken will do.
- Use a 9X13 inch casserole for a full recipe and an 8X8 or 9X9 for a half recipe.
- Please try my enchilada sauce linked above. It is the absolute best.
- Good refrigerated for 2-3 days and frozen for 3-4 months.
To adjust the recipe size:
You may adjust the number of servings in this recipe card under servings. This does the math for the ingredients for you. BUT it does NOT adjust the text of the instructions. So you need to do that yourself.
Nutrition Estimate
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Editor's Note: This recipe was published on February 1, 2010. It was my first grand project and resulted in three posts. Updated with expanded options, refreshed photos, and a table of contents to help navigation.
Babbs
Yummy chicken enchiladas.