Creamy Chicken Enchilada Casserole comes together super quick and is crazy delicious! This casserole is super kid friendly because it is loaded with chicken, avocados, green chilis, and cheese. If you love chicken enchiladas with white sauce, then this is even better because you don’t have to waste all that time rolling up each individual enchilada!
See that gorgeous young woman in these pictures? She is my oldest. See that young man much too close to my oldest? He has stolen her heart.
Yep, my baby girl is engaged and I’m still trying to wrap my mind and emotions around it all. I was the photographer for this engagement photo shoot last week and it was all a bit too real for me. The wedding isn’t until May so I am hoping that it won’t feel so “out-of-body” by then.
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.
Tonight, those of us who still care about being a member of the Jones clan and showed up for dinner got to devour this amazing Creamy Chicken Enchilada Casserole! My original plan was to make individually rolled up enchiladas, but when my corn tortillas all fell apart when rolling them, it quickly became a casserole 🙂 Feel free to use flour tortillas if that is your preference, but with my gluten intolerance, it has to be corn.
Easy dinner recipe idea that is kid friendly and so delicious! Loaded with chicken, avocados, green chilis and cheese.
Total Time:35 minutes
Yield:12 servings 1x
Ingredients
Scale
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.
Author:Carole Jones
Prep Time:15 minutes
Cook Time:20 minutes
Nutrition
Serving Size:1/12th
Calories:146
Sugar:3g
Sodium:370mg
Fat:14g
Saturated Fat:6g
Unsaturated Fat:4g
Trans Fat:0g
Carbohydrates:20g
Fiber:4g
Protein:9g
Cholesterol:29mg
Carole Jones
Carole Jones is an Arizona-based cookbook author & food blogger. She's authored The 30 Minute Cooking From Frozen Cookbook and the self-published Take 5: Chicken e-cookbook. For the past 15 years, Carole has shared her culinary adventures cooking and baking for her six brutally honest children here on My Kitchen Escapades. Hot, crusty bread is Carole's love language, but her two adorable grandchildren are a close second. Yes, second. Don't judge.
28 comments
Susan Lindquist
13 years ago
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!
Minnesota Prairie Roots
13 years ago
How exciting to have an engaged daughter. Enjoy the wedding planning. My eldest is getting married in September. Beautiful photos.
Valerie
13 years ago
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…
Carole
13 years ago
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!
Erica Aoun
13 years ago
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!
Julie Bycott
13 years ago
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!
Anonymous
13 years ago
Would you be able to make this the day before or earlier in the the day? And refrigerate it and then bake it?
Carole
13 years ago
Absolutely!
Julie Bycott
12 years ago
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. 🙂
Carole
12 years ago
Thanks so much for sharing Julie! Freezer kits are an amazing idea.
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28 comments
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.