Our Green Chicken Enchiladas are a simple, delicious chicken enchilada recipe that uses homemade green enchilada sauce! Made with real, simple ingredients and oh so good!
The Best Green Chicken Enchilada Recipe
Chicken enchiladas are a family favorite around here and we love switching it up with a green enchilada sauce – especially when we make the time for homemade sauce. It is so good and really brings those enchiladas to the next level! You have to add these to your weekly meal plan. A great quick & easy option for weeknight dinner!
Looking for More Enchilada Recipes?
If you love these flavors as much as we do, you definitely need to try our Quinoa Enchilada Bake!
What You Will Need
- olive oil – a drizzle in the pan to sauté up the onion and garlic
- yellow onion – you could really use any type of onion here, but I prefer a yellow onion.
- garlic – because you always have to have a little garlic!
- boneless skinless chicken breast (cooked & shredded) – making shredded chicken breast is super easy, learn how to shred chicken! Or just pick-up some shredded rotisserie chicken at your local grocery store.
- canned green chiles – a small can of green chiles adds lots of flavor.
- kosher salt & pepper – always gotta season with some kosher salt and pepper!
- black beans – you can sub in refried beans (or you can omit them, but then you might want to up the amount of chicken you are using).
- cream cheese – you can use regular or dairy-free. We love Kite Hill’s Plain Cream Cheese!
- tortillas of your choice – feel free to use flour tortillas, corn tortillas, or even gluten-free tortillas.
- green sauce – we highly recommend homemade enchilada sauce (or a Siete store-bought option is great too!)
- shredded cheese – feel free to use what sounds good to you – regular or dairy-free!
- topping options: cilantro, red onion, and/or a little sour cream (regular or dairy-free)
How To Make Green Chicken Enchiladas
The first steps to making this easy recipe are to sauté up the onion and garlic over medium heat, add the cooked chicken and green chiles.
Spread some cream cheese in the middle of a tortilla and add the other fillings (black beans & chicken mixture). Tightly roll the tortilla around the fillings and place in a prepared baking dish. Continue this process with the enchilada filling until the casserole dish is filled.
Pour the green enchilada sauce over the top of the enchiladas.
Then top with generous amounts of cheese! Bake at 350 degrees F for about 20 minutes.
Can I Prep Enchiladas Ahead of Time?
Yes! If you are making the homemade green enchilada sauce, you can easily make that ahead of time and store it in the fridge. You can also prep the chicken filling and keep that in the fridge until you are ready to roll-up your enchiladas! Having everything ready to go makes these SO simple. OR fully assemble the pan of enchiladas, cover with plastic wrap or aluminum foil and store in the fridge or freezer until ready to bake for a quick weeknight dinner!
Add any of your favorite toppings and enjoy!
Storage & Freezer
Any cooked leftover enchiladas can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up about 5 days. You can also store enchiladas in the freezer for up to 3 months!
Best Ways To Serve Green Chicken Enchiladas
Highly recommend topping these easy chicken enchiladas with all of your favorite toppings! We love fresh cilantro, sour cream, and a little diced red onion. You could also add some fresh tomatoes, black olives, homemade guacamole, diced avocado, etc. We also have some delicious salsa rice that could be served on as a side dish, if you want one.
Recipe FAQs
- What is green enchilada sauce made of? The main players in our amazing homemade Green Enchilada Sauce recipe are roasted tomatillos, an Anaheim pepper, jalapeño, garlic, and white onion. These are blended together with some spices, lime juice, green chiles, etc. to make a delicious sauce that really levels up your enchiladas!
- Can I spice up these green enchiladas? Absolutely, if spice is your thing, you can definitely amp up these classic enchiladas! Simply cut up a jalapeño and add it to the skillet with the shredded chicken, onion, and green chile mixture.
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Other Recipes You Might Like
Salsa Verde Chicken
Healthy Chicken Enchiladas
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Green Chicken Enchilada Recipe
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Total Time: 40 minutes
- Yield: 7 servings 1x
- Category: Dinner/Entree
- Method: Oven + Stove Top
- Cuisine: Mexican-Inspired
Description
A simple, delicious Green Chicken Enchilada recipe that uses homemade green enchilada sauce to make a tasty dinner!
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 1/2 cup yellow onion, diced
- 1 tablespoon garlic, minced
- 2 large (3 medium) skinless, boneless chicken breasts, (cooked and shredded)
- 1 (4.5oz) can green chiles
- kosher salt and ground black pepper
- 1 (15oz) can black beans, drained and rinsed (or a 15oz can refried beans)
- 1 (8oz) container Kite Hill Plain Cream Cheese (optional)
- Approx. 7 large tortillas of your choice
- 2 cups green enchilada sauce (homemade or store-bought)
- 2–3 cups shredded cheese (regular or dairy-free) (more if you want)
- Toppings: cilantro, red onion, sour cream (regular or dairy-free)
Instructions
- Prep: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a 9×13 baking dish with nonstick cooking spray.
- Make Filling: Bring a cast iron skillet to medium-high heat. Coat bottom of the pan with a little olive oil. Add garlic and onion, let cook for a few minutes, stirring fairly constantly. Add chicken and green chiles. Stir and let warm through, about 5-7 minutes.
- Fill & Roll: Take one tortilla at a time and add chicken filling to the center along with some black beans and cream cheese (if using) and then roll up. Place filled tortilla in the prepared pan and push up tight against one side. Continue filling tortillas with the chicken mixture and placing them in the pan.
- Sauce + Cheese: Once the pan is filled, pour the enchilada sauce over top. Sprinkle with cheese.
- Bake: Place in the preheated oven (middle rack, uncovered) for 20-30 minutes or until cheese is melted and enchilada sauce is a little bubbly.
- Cool & Serve: Remove and let cool a few minutes. Serve with your favorite toppings: fresh cilantro, diced red onion, sour cream.
Notes
- Tortillas: we love using Siete tortillas, but feel free to use whatever works best for you!
- Enchilada Sauce: We love our homemade Green Enchilada Sauce recipe and for store-bought we love the Siete brand, they have a great green or red enchilada sauce!
- Make them spicy: add in some jalapeño to the chicken, onion and green Chile mixture, if you want to spice it up more!
- Make Ahead: to prep these ahead of time I would recommend making the enchilada sauce (if you are making your own) and then just prep the filling for the tortillas (chicken, onions, green chiles, etc). Then throw everything together before popping in the oven.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 6oz
- Calories: 257
- Sugar: 3.5 g
- Sodium: 612.8 mg
- Fat: 14.2 g
- Carbohydrates: 16.6 g
- Protein: 15.9 g
- Cholesterol: 58.7 mg
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