Guys, this white chicken enchiladas has to be one of my all-time favorite enchilada recipes EVER! They’re cheesy, saucy, and truly downright divine. All that and they come together quickly enough to work for my midweek dinner rotation.
There’s one reason and one reason only to make enchilada recipes: CHEESE! Piled on top and layered in the tortilla, all that cheesy goodness has everyone rushing to the dinner table. Of course, the enchilada sauce is also scrumptious and savory; and the chicken is perfectly moist. But, c’mon, CHEESE!
Reading: how to make chicken enchiladas with white cheese sauce
If you love this type 0f enchilada, you might want to try my sour cream chicken enchiladas or my creamy seafood shrimp enchiladas.
Let’s cook!
Table of Contents
What I Love About This Recipe
This white chicken enchilada is a fun variation on a beloved classic. Some of my favorite things about this recipe are that it’s:
- Smothered in a rich, tangy homemade sauce
- Quick to prepare
- Loaded with cheesy goodness!
- No Soup
How To Make White Chicken Enchiladas Recipe
My decadently cheesy enchiladas recipe whips up in less than 45 minutes! A double win — delicious and quick.
Start by prepping your baking dish and heating up your oven. In a small bowl, mix the chicken and cheese, then fill the tortillas and place each one seam side down in the pan.
Next, heat up butter on a skillet and cook your flour to start your sauce. Whisk in your broth and cook until bubbling and thick.
Read more: how to make enchiladas sauce from scratch | Family Cuisine
Now, an important step in your sauce: let it cool! Let it sit for at least five minutes, THEN add your sour cream and chiles. If you don’t let it cool, your cream will curdle and leave icky chunks in the sauce. No one wants that!
Pour your cheesy sauce over the wrapped tortillas and sprinkle even more cheese on top. Then let the magic happen in the oven until golden brown!
Chicken Enchiladas With White Sauce Recipe Notes
Few recipes will delight the whole family quite as much as a chicken enchiladas with white sauce. Saucy, cheesy, and rolled up in fun serving sizes, our recipe is sure to please even picky eaters.
White Chicken Enchilada Casserole Ingredient Notes
Here are some important notes for this white chicken enchilada casserole:
Diced chiles – Our recipe calls for mild chilies. If your family likes spicy food, you can substitute hotter chilies instead. Another tasty option is fire-roasted chilies. They should be on the shelf near the other canned peppers at your grocery store.
Chicken – You can cook the chicken according to your favorite method, such as roasting or poaching the breasts. If you’re pressed for time, using a pre-cooked rotisserie chicken from your grocer is a great time-saving shortcut. Honestly, 9 times out of 10, that’s what I use.
Shredded cheese – We love the flavor of Monterey Jack in this dish. It also helps keep the sauce white! If you have a different cheese on hand, feel free to substitute your favorite shredded cheese in this recipe. My son loves when I use Pepper Jack instead of the plain Monterey because it adds another layer of flavor and spice. It might be too spicy for little kiddos though.
Sour cream – We strongly recommend using full-fat sour cream in this recipe. It’s an important factor in the richness of the sauce. Also, low-fat sour cream tends to separate and get runny when heated. You might end up with gloppy enchiladas!
Green onions – Don’t have any green onions? A sprinkle of chopped cilantro on top will add a bright flavor, too.
Tortillas – The recipe calls for using flour tortillas, but if you prefer, you can switch them with corn tortillas. I used fajita sized tortillas.
Read more: how to make peppercorn sauce for steak | Family Cuisine
Seasoning – I didn’t need to add any salt or pepper to this recipe. The chicken broth I used was very flavorful and had a lot of salt already in it. The chicken was also well seasoned and obviously, the cheese had a good amount of salt.
Tools to Make
You’ll need a handful of standard kitchen tools for this recipe:
- A 9×13 baking pan
- A stovetop skillet
- Mixing bowls
- A whisk
The whisk is important! This helps you get the creamiest, dreamiest sauce imaginable.
How Long Can You Keep This In The Fridge?
If you have leftover enchiladas, store them in an airtight container to keep them from drying out. The FDA suggests storing cooked foods in the fridge for 3-4 days for optimal freshness.
Can You Freeze This?
Sour cream can tend to get runny and/or chunky in the freezer. Freezing them will change the texture of the sauce. We suggest freezing the stuffed and rolled enchiladas without the sauce. Then make the white sauce on the day you plan to reheat and eat them.
Easy White Chicken Enchiladas Make Ahead Tips
If you meal prep at the beginning of the week, these can easily be prepared several days in advance. Store the stuffed and rolled enchiladas in a covered baking dish. Keep the white sauce separate until you plan to cook the enchiladas. This will cut down on soggy tortillas.
If you’re making the sauce in advance, it may get a bit too thick when it’s cooled and reheated. This is easy to fix. Add whole milk or chicken stock, one tablespoon at a time, during reheating to achieve your desired thickness. Be sure to stir or whisk thoroughly to maintain the creaminess of the sauce.
Serving Recommendations
What better way to serve my chicken enchiladas than with a whole Mexican feast? My favorite things to serve with this are my Mexican Rice, and my Southwest Salad (my family’s favorite salad! They always eat their veggies when I serve this). All the flavors in the dishes complement each other perfectly and I have a meal on the table that everyone is happy with.
Recipe Variations
What variations can we shakeup in this already perfect dish? Plenty!
- A squirt of honey and a squeeze of citrus will bring you to my honey lime chicken enchiladas.
- Swap your chicken for beef with shredded beef enchiladas.
- Not enough cheese for you? You’re my kind of person! Load it up cheesy chicken enchiladas.
- Want to cut carbs? Toss the tortilla and use this easy to find veggie in zucchini enchilada boats.
- Only a few steps away from enchiladas are casseroles, so let’s go full Midwest with Mexican chicken casserole.
More Mexican Chicken Recipes
Looking for more Mexican chicken recipes? Of course, I got you covered!
Read more: how to eat sardines in mustard sauce | Family Cuisine
- Burrito Bowl
- Fiesta Chicken
- Crockpot Mexican Chicken
- Chicken Posole
- Mexican Chicken Soup
