How to Make Chicken Enchilada Casserole – A Step-by-Step Guide

How To Make Chicken Enchiladas

• We start our enchiladas with garlic, red bell pepper, and yellow onion. Pulse them in a food processor instead of just cutting them up and cooking them down in a pan. This will make sure that all of your vegetables are chopped up finely and evenly.
• Cumin: There are already a lot of flavors here, so just add a little cumin to season the vegetables.
• The Sauce: This recipe for homemade enchilada sauce is a great way to make it. Putting it together only takes twenty minutes and really makes these enchiladas taste extra good. But if you’re in a hurry, you can use store-bought instead.
• Crushed Tomatoes: Our sauce is smooth, and a can of crushed tomatoes gives these enchiladas an extra tangy and sweet taste.
• Chicken: I cook and shred the chicken breasts ahead of time to make these enchiladas even easier. This is a great meal to make ahead of time. Once the chicken is done cooking, put it in a container that won’t let air in and put it in the fridge until you’re ready to use it, up to 5 days. Read our guide on how to shred chicken to learn everything you need to know.
• Cilantro: Adding fresh cilantro is always a good idea, and it works great here. It adds flavor to our chicken filling and looks great on top.
• Cheese: I like to mix cheddar and Monterey Jack cheeses in this dish. You can use either one, but two kinds of cheese make the dish taste twice as good. I really think that shredding your cheese right before using it will give it the best melty texture.
• Tortillas: I like corn tortillas better than flour tortillas because they taste better and are more traditional. You can use flour tortillas instead if you’d like. No matter what kind of tortillas you use, make sure to warm them up a bit before you fill them. This will bring the tortillas together and make them easier to roll.
• Toppings: I like to serve these enchiladas with fresh cilantro, lime, and sour cream, but feel free to try other things. You can add sliced avocado to make it creamier or your favorite hot sauce to make it spicier.

After preheating our oven, we’ll first cook down our veggies. After coarsely chopping your garlic, bell pepper, and onion, add them to a food processor and pulse until finely chopped.

Once finely chopped, set aside while you heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onion-pepper-garlic mixture and cook until softened (making sure to stir occasionally). Add the cumin and give it a stir to fully coat the veggies, then cook until fragrant—only about 1 minute more.

You can then add the crushed tomatoes and either homemade (my favorite) or store-bought enchilada sauce to the pan. Cook over medium-low heat. Stir the sauce mixture while cooking until it’s warm, then set aside ¾ cup to put on top of the enchiladas later.

Now we can work on our filling. In a bowl, combine the chicken, cilantro, half of the cheddar, half of the Monterey Jack, and 1 cup of the sauce mixture. Toss everything together to fully combine, then season to taste with salt.

Don’t worry—we aren’t forgetting about what’s left of the sauce. Spread what’s remaining of the sauce in the bottom of your baking dish. Now we can move onto my favorite part: filling the tortillas. It’s important to slightly warm your tortillas before rolling them because we don’t want any of them to break. Put about ⅔ cup of the chicken mixture in the middle of the tortilla. Roll it up and place it seam-side down on top of the sauce in the baking dish.

Then, repeat with the remaining filling and tortillas, placing them next to each tortilla to form a row along the length of the dish. Once your row is complete, spread your reserved sauce mixture on top of the tortillas, then add your remaining cups of cheese.

Now, we can bake! Add them to the oven, and bake the enchiladas until the cheese is bubbling and melted. Once melty and incredible, top them however you please! I love fresh cilantro, sour cream, and lime wedges, but you do you.

The full list of ingredients and instructions can be found in the recipe below.

• All about enchiladas. Enchiladas started out as a Mexican street food: just rolled tortillas dipped in chili sauce. As Mexican immigrants, known as Tejanos, came to Texas, they brought their food traditions with them. Over time, they changed them to make Tex-Mex food that we love today. While these enchiladas aren’t quite Tex-Mex, they are still in the middle. If you ask anyone, they might not be authentic, but they’re quick, easy, filling, and tasty.
• Filling variations. If you want more than just these classic chicken enchiladas, we have a lot more for you. For those who don’t want chicken, our vegetarian or green chili white bean enchiladas are great options. If you’d rather have meat, you can also try our beef enchiladas.

CHICKEN ENCHILADA CASSEROLE: Quick, Easy and Absolutely Delicious!!!!

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