While this engaged daughter of mine has been home from college this summer, she has complained way too many times about how often we have chicken for dinner. You’d think that after being away at college and cooking for herself, she would be grateful for any form of dinner her mommy puts on the table. Not so much.
So just for the above mentioned betrothed daughter, I prepared chicken in a form I knew she would adore….enchiladas with a creamy, cheesy sauce. No complaining tonight for sure!
But guess who didn’t show for dinner tonight?!? You got it! Where was she? With that good looking, standing-much-too-close-to-my-daughter young man pictured above. I guess I better get used to it.
Creamy Chicken Enchilada Casserole
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Total Time: 35 minutes
- Yield: 12 servings 1x
Description
Easy dinner recipe idea that is kid friendly and so delicious! Loaded with chicken, avocados, green chilis and cheese.
Ingredients
Sauce
- 1 Tb butter
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 Tb flour
- 1 to 1 1/2 C chicken broth
- 2 tsp cumin
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp pepper
- 1/2 C chopped cilantro
- 1 C salsa verde
- 1/2 C sour cream
- 3 C cooked and shredded chicken
- 2 large avocados, chopped
- 2 C shredded cheese
- 18 corn tortillas (or small flour can also be used)
Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees and lightly spray a 9×13 casserole pan with nonstick spray.
2. In a medium pan, melt the butter over medium heat then add the garlic to saute for 1 minute. Sprinkle the flour over the butter and whisk to combine. Cook for 1 minute. While whisking, pour in 1 C of chicken broth and allow it to come to a simmer. Add any additional broth if the sauce is too thick. It should be the consistency of gravy. Allow it to come to a simmer again to check the thickness once more. Remove from the heat and add the remaining ingredients for the sauce and mix until all combined.
3. Spread a small amount of the sauce on the bottom of the pan, about 1/2 C. Lay down six tortillas on top of the sauce then add half of the chicken, avocado and 1/3 of the cheese. Drizzle a bit of sauce over the top. Repeat once more. Top the whole dish with 6 more tortillas the spread the remaining sauce over the top and sprinkle on the remaining cheese. Bake for 20-25 minutes until the cheese is bubbling.
Wow! Lovely photos of the kids … what fun times you are in for with wedding planning and all! Have fun with it!
As for that delish casserole … I’m liking the idea of all that gooey cheesy chicken! What a treat!
How exciting to have an engaged daughter. Enjoy the wedding planning. My eldest is getting married in September. Beautiful photos.
Any thoughts on how well this would freeze? It looks and sounds fabulous, but-sadly-I’m the only person in our house who willingly eats avacado…
Valerie- I think it would freeze quite well once it has baked fully. Maybe you can make a smaller version as well in a bread pan or smaller casserole!
I made this today. Before adding the salsa I made a mini casserole for my toddler and it tasted delish. This will be added to our menu!
I made this for dinner last night, hubby and I loved it! I used less tortillas but tearing them in half and butting them up next to each other rather than overlapping them. I want to add more cheese next time, and sliced olives. I also sprinkled a bit of green onion on top. Going on our menu!
Would you be able to make this the day before or earlier in the the day? And refrigerate it and then bake it?
Absolutely!
WE LOVE THIS! I posted a comment after making this recipe for the first time, back on 9/3/13, now I would like to post an update. I make it for hubby and I every week or two, it is a constant on our menu! I always use a rotisserie chicken from the grocery store, I just tear it all up so I get both light and dark meats. I use about 9-12 tortillas. I tear them up to butt up against each other instead of overlapping. I still use a little more cheese, and put sliced olives on top, if I have them. Because the prep time is super long compared to my other menu items, I am going to make a few “freezer kits” to lessen the prep time when I have it on the menu. I will pull apart the rotisserie chicken and bag. I will make a few batches of the sauce and containerize. Then I will put the items together in a “kit” and mark them in the freezer, thawing the day before. Thanks again for sharing your version, I much prefer this “casserole” version to rolling the tortillas. 🙂
Thanks so much for sharing Julie! Freezer kits are an amazing idea.
I’m 16 years old and i am a nanny and making food for 4 kids is tough as a 16 until I found this recipe it’s easy to make and tastes amazing and the kids love it and plus it’s healthy thank you! Better than some Mac and cheese I say.
So glad you like it! Good luck with the nanny job 🙂 -Carole
I will double the sauce next time!
Sounds like a good idea if you like it really saucy!
I feel for you, my oldest complains about us eating chicken a lot also. Pork doesn’t agree with hubby, I’m not a fish fan unless it’s sushi, and beef is expensive, so chicken it is most of the time. I am defiantly going to do this in my new casserole crock! Thanks!
Come back and let me know what you think Tracy!
Will do! You can’t blame the boy too much for stealing her heart, shes a beautiful girl. Congrats!
Looks great — but what type of flour are you using in the sauce to make this gluten free?
Hi Deb! Just use your favorite gluten free flour blend -Carole
Whenever I make mexican casseroles the tortillas get soggy. How do I prevent this? Do your corn tortillas get soggy? It is like they turn to mush.
I find that flour tortillas definitely get more soggy than the corn ones do. The sauce for this casserole is pretty thick so I think they turn out perfectly!
Made this according to the recipe and it was excellent! Thank you!
You are very welcome Lisa! Thanks for coming back and leaving your review 🙂