This easy Chicken Enchilada Casserole is a cheesy, flavorful, comforting, family-friendly meal that’s easy enough to make on a weeknight! Added bonus: it’s perfect to make-ahead and freezes beautifully.
Table of Contents
- This recipe is…
- Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Chicken Enchilada Casserole Ingredients
- Recipe Variations and Modifications
- Video
- How to Make This Chicken Enchilada Casserole
- Recipe Tip
- How to Serve
- How to Store and Reheat
- Frequently Asked Questions
- More Favorite Casserole Recipes
- Easy Chicken Enchilada Casserole Recipe
- Recipe Contributors
This recipe is…
Chicken enchilada casserole is one of those dishes that really brings me back to childhood. It was one of my mom’s go-to dishes, which was absolutely fine with us because we loved it so much! The beauty of enchilada casserole is that you get all of the flavor of enchiladas without the work. If you’ve never made enchiladas before – it can be a long process that involves dipping tortillas in hot oil, rolling them around cheese and chicken and hoping they don’t tear, then topping with sauce and cheese and baking.
Instead of going through all of that work (and mess) this chicken enchilada casserole is made lasagna-style! You’ll layer the sauce, add tortillas, chicken, cheese, more sauce, and repeat. For a fun little spin on the traditional casserole, we also topped it with diced avocado, a sour cream lime sauce, and cilantro. That’s the stuff of Tex-Mex dreams!
We love a good casserole over here. If you do too, be sure to check out our Chicken Bacon Ranch Casserole, BBQ Chicken Casserole, King Ranch Chicken Casserole, and Chicken Divan Casserole recipes.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- It’s not fussy – as mentioned above, this recipe is as easy as they come. Traditional rolled enchiladas can be pretty time consuming to make, but this enchilada casserole checks all the flavor boxes without the fuss!
- It’s family-friendly – who doesn’t love the bold Tex Mex flavors here?! This casserole is one that the whole family will ask for more of.
Chicken Enchilada Casserole Ingredients
You’ll make your own enchilada sauce for this dish, so be sure to add those ingredients to your list, plus the chicken, tortillas, and cheese. Find ingredient notes (including substitutions and swaps) below.
- Shredded chicken – keep things super simple by shredding a rotisserie chicken for this recipe, or, if you have chicken breasts or thighs on hand already, simply cook and shred about 2 pounds of that instead following one of these easy methods: slow cooker shredded chicken, Instant Pot shredded chicken, or shredded chicken from frozen in the Instant Pot.
- Enchilada sauce – while this recipe calls for a handful of ingredients to make homemade enchilada sauce (and it’s worth the extra effort if you have the couple of minutes it takes to pull it together), you can absolutely buy your favorite store-bought sauce instead, if you’d like.
A full ingredient list with exact amounts can be found in the recipe card below.
Recipe Variations and Modifications
- Change the sauce – salsa verde or a classic Tex-Mex chili gravy are both great options, as is a store-bought enchilada sauce, if you’d prefer.
- Use a different protein – feel free to use any shredded meat you love here! You can absolutely sub the shredded chicken for shredded pork or shredded beef.
- Add beans – mixing a can of black beans in with the chicken would be a wonderful addition.
- Add veggies – if you want to get your daily serving of veggies in with this casserole, you can easily add in some spinach, diced bell peppers, onions, or even shredded zucchini!
- Make it dairy-free – to make this recipe dairy-free, simply sub the regular sour cream for a non-dairy alternative. You can also skip the sour cream drizzle altogether!
- Make it grain-free – to make this recipe grain-free, simply use grain-free Siete tortillas instead of corn.
- Make it gluten-free – as long as you’re making this recipe with corn tortillas (vs. flour), this recipe is gluten-free.
Video
How to Make This Chicken Enchilada Casserole
This recipe is incredibly easy! Follow along below for the full how-to.
Step 1: While you can use a pre-made enchilada sauce, this one comes together super fast with pantry staples and adds tons of flavor. You’ll simply add some tomato paste, tomato sauce, chicken broth, and spices to a bowl and whisk to combine.
Step 2: To start assembly, spoon a bit of the enchilada sauce on the bottom of the dish.
Step 3: Next, break the corn tortillas in half, and spread 10 tortilla halves across the bottom of the dish to cover it.
Step 4: Next, layer on the chicken, then the shredded cheese, then repeat the layers (enchilada sauce, tortillas, shredded chicken, and cheese) to finish. Once assembled, bake the enchilada casserole at 350°F for 30 minutes, until the cheese is browned and bubbling.
Step 5: While the enchilada is baking, add the sour cream and lime juice to a small bowl, and whisk until well combined.
Step 6: Top the finished enchilada casserole with avocado, cilantro, and the sour cream sauce, and dig in!
Recipe Tip
If you have a busy week ahead, consider making this recipe over the weekend and just reheating on the night-of.
This is also a great recipe to make ahead and stock your freezer with. It’s reheats from the freezer beautifully – just pop it in a 350°F oven, covered, for 45 minutes, then uncover it and continue baking for another 15 minutes, or until fully warmed through.
This casserole all makes for an incredible meal train dinner. Pair it with a simple arugula salad and a batch of chewy chocolate chip cookies to round the meal out.
How to Serve
This chicken enchilada casserole is delicious and complete as-is, but if you want to round it out with a green veggie, you can’t go wrong with this lemon arugula salad or, for something festive and different, this Mexican street corn and kale slaw.
How to Store and Reheat
Store your leftover chicken enchilada casserole either in the casserole dish (covered with a lid or aluminum foil) or in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days.
To reheat, simply pop the casserole back into the oven until warmed through, or microwave one serving at a time for about 1 minute, until warm.
Frequently Asked Questions
You can definitely use salsa instead of enchilada sauce here. You may lose a little bit of that signature “enchilada” flavor without the enchilada sauce, but it’ll still be really flavorful and delicious.
Sure! This enchilada casserole can be made with either corn or flour tortillas – you pick whichever you like best. Do note that flour tortillas tend to get a little bit soggier than corn tortillas, but the end product is still really delicious.
This may surprise you (because restaurant enchiladas are often not the healthiest choice), but if you can tolerate dairy, this recipe is actually a pretty balanced, well-rounded meal. With corn tortillas, shredded chicken, and cheese, you’ll get a healthy dose of carbohydrates, protein, and healthy fats.
More Favorite Casserole Recipes
Easy Chicken Enchilada Casserole
Ingredients
- 2, 8- ounce cans tomato sauce
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1 ½ cups chicken broth
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- 2 tablespoons chili powder
- 2 teaspoons cumin
- 2 teaspoons oregano
- ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
- 4 cups shredded chicken*, or about 2 pounds chicken breast, cooked and shredded
- 10 corn tortillas, torn in half
- 4 cups shredded Mexican blend cheese
- ½ cup sour cream
- ¼ cup lime juice
- 1 large avocado, diced, for garnish
- ¼ cup fresh chopped cilantro, for garnish
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F.
- Whisk together the tomato sauce, tomato paste, chicken broth, salt, chili powder, cumin, oregano, and pepper, until smooth.
- Spread ½ cup enchilada sauce in the bottom of a 3-quart, 9×13 inch pan, then layer 6 tortilla halves over the sauce, until it is fully covered. Layer 2 cups shredded chicken over the tortillas, then pour over 1 cup of enchilada sauce, and 2 cups shredded cheese.
- Repeat step 3 to build the next layer, using up the rest of the tortillas, enchilada sauce, and cheese, then bake the casserole at 350°F for 30 minutes, until the top is browned and bubbling. Remove the casserole from the oven and let cool.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the lime juice and sour cream, then drizzle it over the casserole. Garnish with the avocado and cilantro, then serve!
Recipe Notes
Nutrition
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Made this tonight and it was so easy and delicious. I had everything in the pantry to make this and used Siete almond flour tortillas. My hubby loved this! Definitely keeping in the rotation. Thank you!
Awesome!! That makes us so happy! Thanks for sharing, Corrina!
Hi amber! First of all, I love your recipes. Everything I’ve ever tried has been amazing. Do you think it would be ok to use canned chicken as long as I shred it in the food processor? I just have a ton of it that I got free from Costco when I joined and want to use it for something.
Aren’t they all so delicious?! Yes, canned chicken will work!!
We just finished devouring this dish! It was better than I thought! Didn’t have sour cream, so I used the top solid part of a can of coconut milk, it was perfection and it really brought out the flavors. This recipe is a keeper!
Great sub for sour cream!! We’re so glad you loved it, Laura!
This tasted restaurant style, it was sooo good! Definitely will be a repeat recipe in my home!
So glad to hear that, Amber! Thanks for sharing!
These are on regular repeat in my home! Quick, easy, and DELICIOUS! If you haven’t made these yet, what are you waiting for??
YAY…SO yummy!!
Loved this recipe! We did use flour tortillas rather than corn, and it turned out great. We served it with sour cream. I think next time we may add veggies. The enchilada sauce was amazing. We had a little leftover and used the rest on chipotle bowls the next day!
My kids loved this and ate it all up! Tastes just like enchiladas! So good and fast too!!
Is it okay to replace corn tortillas w grain free tortillas like siete chick pea or almond flour? Thanks!
Absolutely!
Where have you been all of my life!!!!!!
This recipe was fantastic, so easy to make and plenty for my large family. The only difficulty for me was attempting to convert to metric (I’m in Australia). But really…. who measures chilli powder and lime juice?? The more the merrier I say!!! The kids did run for glasses of water a few times but they didn’t stop eating. We can’t wait to try more recipes. There are so many to choose from which cater for my Coeliac daughter.
Thanks heaps!!
I would like to freeze this! Do you cook it first And then put into the freezer or leave it uncooked and freeze it?
Hi! Has anyone tried assembling this ahead of time and putting in the fridge until ready to bake?
You can absolutely do that! I’d recommend baking an extra 5-10 minutes to make sure it is warmed through.
What size tortilla shells did you use?
Our whole family really enjoyed this! We’re big fans of Mexican flavors and even our change averse 3 year old enjoyed this and the sour cream and lime drizzle!
Quick question though, our kiddo found the recipe for the enchilada sauce too spicy, which was quite shocking given how much he likes other spicy food and big flavors! Would you recommend simply halving the chili powder next time? Or would it be necessary to tweak the amount of chicken stock/other herbs and spices too?
Thanks again for such a great, easy recipe!
So glad y’all liked it! My first thought is what kind of chili powder you used? A generic chili powder like this one shouldn’t be spicy, but chipotle and ancho chili powders are on the spicier side. If you’re using a generic and it is still too spicy, I’d cut the amount in half.
Dan’s idea of heavenly yumminess!
This looks amazing, thank you for sharing! I’m wondering if you’ve ever made this and frozen it, and, if so, what your recommendations are for reheating? I’m trying to prepare for a new baby (congrats on baby #2 for you!) and would love to be able to have this as a healthy meal we can just pop in the oven to reheat when I don’t feel like cooking right after baby is born 🙂
Hi Allison, we’d recommend reheating in a 350 F oven, covered for about 50 minutes, then removing the cover and baking for an additional 10-15 minutes until the cheese is browned.
Easy and delicious! First time making my own enchilada sauce and I had no idea it was that simple (and tasty!)
This will be on regular rotation. Thanks for sharing!