Spice up your evening with this hot and cheesy, Sour Cream Chicken Enchilada Casserole. Torn corn tortillas, cooked chicken, and shredded cheese get folded into a luscious sour cream sauce flavored with salsa verde.
This enchilada casserole is one you can whip it up in a flash—and make an extra to freeze.
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This Sour Cream Chicken Enchilada Casserole is a quicker version of rolled chicken enchiladas. Instead of filling corn tortillas with a chicken and cheese filling, the tortillas are torn into bite-sized pieces and mixed with the sour cream sauce and filling ingredients. It’s all loaded into a pan, topped with more cheese and baked. So good!
Why Make This
It’s simple. With just a handful of simple ingredients, this chicken enchilada casserole is fuss-free. Most of the ingredients you can buy already prepped so it’s just a matter of assembling them into a casserole.
It’s hearty. Loaded with chunks of chicken, tangy cheese, corn tortillas, and a rich sour cream sauce, this dish is stick-to-yer-ribs kind of fare. No one will leave the table hungry.
It’s super quick. Prep time is just 15 minutes which gives you plenty of time to put your feet up and relax with a cool drink while the casserole bakes in the oven.
Ingredients
One of the things I love about this recipe is that all the ingredients are real food: chicken, cheese, sour cream, salsa, tortillas, onions, olives, and spices.
In contrast to my Creamy Chicken Enchilada Casserole that calls for cream of chicken soup, this enchilada bake features a sauce made of sour cream and salsa verde. So good!
This is the same magic sour cream sauce you’ve seen in some of my other recipes: Cilantro Chicken Rice Bowls, Creamy Chicken Salsa Verde, and my very favorite Poblano Chile Enchiladas. It’s so easy to make and yet packs so much flavor into dishes.
Here’s what you’ll need:
sour cream – I always use full fat sour cream, so I can’t verify that other varieties will work.
salsa verde – I use either Herdez or the Hatch Valley Salsa at Trader Joe’s as I think they have the best flavors and no sugar. Recently, I’ve found that the smaller 7-ounce Herdez cans are cheaper per ounce than the larger glass jar, so that’s what I’ve been buying.
taco seasoning mix – I make my own taco seasoning mix as it’s more affordable. Be sure to use chile powder that is just ground chiles, not a “chili powder” with salt and other ingredients added. That will make your taco seasoning mix too salty.
corn tortillas – Traditionally, enchiladas are made with corn tortillas. In my opinion, this is the best way and what I use in enchiladas as well as enchilada casserole. (Flour tortillas tend to get very gummy when sauced.) There are lots of opinions on which tortilla is better, though. Do what you will.
cooked, cubed chicken – You can cook your own chicken or use a rotisserie chicken. The cost of the chicken is comparable to a whole chicken uncooked—and they taste great! Plus, the work is done for me. You can also use cooked turkey if that’s what you have on hand.
cheddar cheese – Feel free to use jack or pepper jack if that’s what you have.
onion – You can use brown or white onion as well as green onions or shallots. Remember to shop your kitchen whenever possible.
black olives – Olives are one of those fun things, but also count as expensive ingredients you can avoid. If you have them, use them. If not, they can easily be omitted.
cilantro – This fresh herb adds a nice southwest touch, but you can omit it as well if you don’t like it or don’t have any.
Step-by-Step Instructions
1. In a large mixing bowl, place the sour cream, salsa, and taco seasoning.
2. Whisk the sauce ingredients well to combine.
3. Add the tortilla pieces, chicken, 2 cups of cheese, and the onion to the bowl of sauce.
4. Stir well to combine.
5. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9×13-inch pan with nonstick cooking spray.
6. Spoon the mixture into the prepared pan, spreading it to distribute it evenly in the pan.
7. Top the casserole with the remaining 1 cup cheese.
8. Scatter the black olives over the surface of the dish. Bake for 30 minutes or until hot and bubbly. Sprinkle cilantro over top before serving, if desired.
Storing leftovers
Promptly store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator, for up to 3 days. They’re really good with eggs for breakfast the next day.
To avoid leftovers: divide the recipe into two or three baking dishes. Bake one and freeze the other(s) for a future meal.
Freezing instructions
Once you’ve got the ingredients set up, assembly happens in just minutes. It makes sense to prepare 2-3 pans of it so that you can freeze extras for later. It’s so nice to pull a bubbly hot casserole from the oven on busy nights!
To freeze the casserole: use cold ingredients and assemble as the recipe instructs. Instead of baking, cover, label, and freeze the dish. Store in the freezer for up to two months.
To prepare individually frozen portions of the enchilada bake, use 1-cup Soupercubes. Once frozen, you can pop the frozen casseroles out of the mold and store them in an airtight freezer bag or other container.
To serve: Thaw overnight and bake as directed.
FAQs
This sour cream chicken enchilada casserole is delicious served with pico de gallo, salad, beans, rice, or Mexican food dishes, such as tamales, tacos, or chimichangas.
You can easily add this dish to a Mexican food buffet for an easy dinner that allows your diners to mix and match the elements they like best.
You can bake this recipe in a standard 9×13-inch baking dish or in single-serve gratin dishes.
I also prepare it in these plastic meal prep dishes. Packed this way, enchiladas and enchilada casserole make for a great meal prep. The only difference is that to bake, you’ll need to cook the dish in the microwave instead of the oven. To cook a single serving in the microwave, cover loosely and heat for 2 to 3 minutes until hot.
Sour Cream Chicken Enchilada Casserole is a fantastic dish to freeze. It comes together quickly so making more than one batch is super simple. Chill the dish completely before wrapping well and storing in the freezer. You can also divide the recipe into smaller containers for single-serve portions.
Recipe costs
Knowing how much it costs you to prepare a recipe can help you decide if it’s the type of recipe to make regularly or one you might want to save for special occasions. Let’s crunch some numbers and see how this recipe pencils out.
- sour cream – $2.00
- salsa verde – $1.50
- taco seasoning – $0.15
- tortillas – $0.72
- chicken – $0.99
- cheese – $1.50
- onion – $0.38
- olives – $0.25
- cilantro – $0.10
Shopped at a mid-range supermarket at non-sale prices, this chicken enchilada bake costs $7.59 or 63 cents per serving.
Conversely, the one similar commercially frozen product available costs $4.99!
How to save even more:
Here are some of the strategies I use to make this recipe more economical:
- Stock up on ingredients when they are on sale. For instance, when I see a great price on sour cream, I’ll buy 4-5 containers, depending on their expiration dates.
- Use a whole chicken! Cooking a whole chicken (or buying one that Costco roasted for you) can be more economical than buying chicken pieces. Plus, you can use the carcass to make homemade stock. You can easily make this Sour Cream Chicken Enchilada Casserole with turkey when the whole birds go on sale in the fall.
- Make your own taco seasoning. It only takes a few minutes and it’s much cheaper than those little packets. Tastes better, too.
- Omit the pricier ingredients. While delicious, you can live without the olives or even the chicken. This makes a delicious vegetarian dish, similar to my Chile And Cheese Enchilada Casserole.
More Great Chicken Recipes
Tell us what you think!
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Sour Cream Chicken Enchilada Casserole Recipe
Equipment
- cutting board
- chef's knife
- large mixing bowl
- wire whisk
- 9×13-inch baking dish
Ingredients
- 1 16-ounce container sour cream
- 1 12-ounce jar salsa verde
- 1 tablespoon taco seasoning mix
- 12 corn tortillas torn into bite-sized pieces
- 2 cup chicken (cooked and cubed)
- 12 oz cheddar cheese (shredded) can also use jack, pepper jack cheese, or a mixture (3 cups)
- ½ onion chopped for ½ cup
- ¼ cup sliced black olives
- 2 tablespoon fresh cilantro (chopped)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9×13-inch pan with nonstick cooking spray.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the sour cream, salsa, and taco seasoning. Stir in the tortilla pieces, chicken, 2 cups of cheese, and the onion. Stir well to combine.
- Spoon the mixture into the prepared pan. Top with the remaining cheese and black olives. Bake for 30 minutes or until hot and bubbly. Sprinkle cilantro over top before serving.
- The casserole can be frozen or refrigerated, prior to baking. Add a few minutes to the cooking time to allot for a cold pan.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
This post was originally published on August 20, 2016. It has been updated for content and clarity.
Angela
Made this for dinner tonight. Only thing I did differently was sprinkle a handful of crushed tortilla chips over the top to give it a little crunch. Everyone loved it and we’ll definitely be having this regularly!
Jessica Fisher
Yay! So glad to hear you enjoyed it!
Marie
Well, mine will be super cheesy tonight. Got it all mixed and realized I had not reserved cheese for top! Hmm…..another cup for the top…..we love cheese! I didn’t have fresh cilantro so put a tablespoon of dried right in the mixture. It’s smelling yummy!
Jessica Fisher
Sounds great. I love extra cheese!
Susan
Can you substitute flour tortilla’s in place of corn ones?
Jessica Fisher
I don’t recommend it. Personally, flour tortillas get really gummy in the sauce.
Janice Wiseman
Hi Jessica,
I’m so sorry to be a pest, I did see the salsa you were talking about at Trader Joe’s and one of the employees said it was super hot/spicy and makes your eyes water. I don’t think that would work for the group I’m making it for but I wanted your take on it since you had used it in this casserole. Thank you for your patience!!!
Jessica Fisher
I’m curious where this TJ’s was! I do not think it’s that spicy. You can use their milder and less expensive salsa verde or Herdez has a nice green salsa as well. The sour cream really tames the flame, but if you’re hesitant, you can use whatever salsa you like, even red. (I like using green because the red salsa + sour cream = pink sauce.)
Sabrina
This recipe came out good. My children added some tortilla chips, which added some more texture too!
Jessica Fisher
So glad you liked it!
Kathleen
I used to love making white enchiladas but then stopped making them because of the canned soup the recipes always used. I made this today but halved the recipe since we are just two of us and my little freezer is stuffed right now. I loved how quick it came together and I think it tastes just like chicken enchiladas with creamy sauce, but with fewer ingredients. I will definitely be making this again.
Jessica Fisher
So glad you enjoyed it!
Janice Wiseman
Hi Jessica,
Looking forward to making your recipe for a Girls Night dinner.
Just want to verify the cheeses… 3 cups total of all the cheeses you listed right? Or did you mean 3 cups of each cheese? Sorry, just want to make sure I get it right.
Thank you!!!
Jessica Fisher
3 cups total should be fine. You can use more if you like it very cheesy.
Laurie
Can any salsa work? I’m the only one who likes verde. Also could this also be made with hamburger?
Jessica Fisher
You can use other salsa but it turns it pink. My kids don’t like verde by itself but they love this casserole.
Courtney C
This was amazing!!! Easy cheap and delicious!! Perfect way to use up those leftover corn tortillas. I didn’t have sour cream so I subbed mayo and used dairy free cheese! It was so good! Will be adding this to my regular rotation! Thanks!!
Jessica Fisher
It’s one of my favorites. I’m so glad you liked it!
Camille
This is amazing! We loved it. It’s going in our regular meal rotation at least once a month. I like that it’s big enough to feed everyone with some for leftovers that I can bring to work for lunch. Another bonus is that it tastes just as fabulous when heated up as leftovers. Yum!
Jessica Fisher
So glad you liked it! It’s one of my favorites, too!
Courtney H
Tried this tonight, but with flour instead of corn (forgot them at the store) and they were still delicious. My husband loved them. Thank you for sharing.
Jessica Fisher
So glad you enjoyed it. Thanks for the great feedback, Courtney.
Robbie
Yum, so good! Hubby and I love salsa verde and the flavors in this went so well together. Thanks for sharing your recipe, we loved it! Also love that it’s freezer-friendly. Big plus for me. 🙂
Jessica Fisher
Yay! So glad you enjoyed it!
Sandi
Have you ever tried throwing in corn tortilla chips (a la lawnmower taco) instead of the soft corn tortillas? For making in bulk, I’m sure the actual tortillas are much more cost effective but for a half-batch or so, I would think the chips would work. I ask since the chips are much more likely to be in stock at my house…
Jessica Fisher
I’ve done the reverse (use tortillas in Lawnmower Taco), so I’m very confident it should work fine. Only difference is salt content, so watch that.
Mindy Barnett
Have you ever tried this with flour tortillas? I’m not big on the corn ones…
Jessica Fisher
I am not personally a big fan of flour tortillas in casseroles, so I have not tried it. However, if you like them in enchiladas, it should be fairly similar, though the tortillas may get a little gummy in the sauce.
Janette
I accidentally bought flour and don’t like the texture. I didn’t want to run back out so I substituted tortilla with Quinoa and Blackbean tortilla chips. It has to be better then flour.
Brooke Kingston
This recipe has become one of our very favorites! I rarely make casseroles because of the often-used “cream-of-something” soup. Like you, we don’t do the canned soup sauces. Men, though, seem to LOVE casseroles. This one was such a giant hit, and I was a real hero with my guys! Easy, delicious, real food dinners like these are why I’ll always read your blogs and buy your cookbooks. Jessica, you keep my kitchen churning out great meals, and you help me keep a smile on my face. THANK YOU!
Jessica Fisher
Comment of the week! Thanks for your encouragement, Brooke! I’m so glad I can help!
Peggy
I made this tonight except with smoked pork butt. My husband smoked 18# of pork butt this past weekend. Of course, we made pulled pork sandwiches with some of it. After pulling the remaining meat from the bone and removing the fat, we chopped it into bite size pieces in order to vacuum seal it and freeze for future meals. While we love pulled pork, I decided to be adventurous and see what else I could create with this delicious smoked pork. I remembered your Chicken Enchilada Casserole recipe and decided to give it a try using pork. And it was OMG good!!! *NOTE: I only used BBQ sauce for the sandwiches. The remainder was just seasoned and smoked. That way the pork is versatile, ready to use for any cuisine! Thanks for your Chicken Enchilada Casserole recipe. It’s my favorite!!!
Jessica Fisher
Sounds great! I will use leftover carnitas this way next time.
Pamela
I made this a week or two ago and everyone loved it! So I made it again yesterday, but TRIPLED it, and it was made easy by Costco proportions. I used one large tub (3 lb) for the sour cream (YAY for not having to measure or have excess!) and one bag of the pre-cooked rotisserie chicken (vacuum bagged in the deli section). Again, no excess chicken to re-wrap. I will be making it in triplicate from this time forward! 🙂
Jessica Fisher
Great strategy! Is the chicken already shredded? I’ve never seen that at my Costco. Will have to look.
Pamela
Yes, it’s already shredded. The pieces are still quite large though so I chop it up even more for my little ones.
Peggy
Thanks, Pamela, for your time-saving short cut! Sounds so easy to triple this recipe when just about everything is precooked and premeasured. Going to be freezing lots of these for future use!!! ???
Jessica Fisher
That is very cool. I’ll look for that next time.
Sue
I made this for dinner this week. It was fabulous! So easy to put together! We will be putting this in our regular rotation!
Jessica Fisher
So glad to hear it!
Erin
This is going on the meal plan for tomorrow night!! So glad to ‘see’ you on periscope again 🙂
Jessica Fisher
I’m actually considering moving to Facebook Live. Are you on Facebook?
Erin
I’m not on Facebook, but I’ve noticed a lot of people going that route. You have to do what’s best for you!
Jessica Fisher
The plus side of Facebook streams is that there aren’t any trolls. That can be really hard to deal with on Periscope.
Alisha
This recipe is pretty much the same ad my rolled recipe but I don’t make it as often as we would all like bc of the time it takes. I never thought of just making it a casserole…. duh! LOL, this would probably work great as a freezer meal also.
Jessica Fisher
Yes, it freezes very well. Make three and stash two!
Aliza Curtis
Great taste! The only negative is that my corn tortillas were so soggy… they didn’t hold up at all and just sort of turned to mush. They’re real tortillas de maíz that were made today so that shouldn’t be the problem … so I have let them get dry or toasted them first??
Jessica Fisher
If you want a firmer texture, use broken tortilla chips instead. Very fresh corn tortillas like you’re describing are delicious for tacos but not so good for a casserole.
Alice E
Two questions, please. Do you have any other suggestions for those who don’t have a Trader Joes close. I would have to go a lot further to shop there. Would the green enchilada sauce work, or should I try a different green salsa? Also, can I just stack the tortillas and cut them into squares? It would be much quicker, it seems. Thanks for all your effort providing suggestions and ideas. I like the idea of not having to roll enchiladas or layer a casserole which is my usual option.
Jessica Fisher
Green enchilada sauce isn’t the same as salsa verde. But, there are quite a few salsa verdes on the market, available at a number of stores. Herdez makes a great one. You should be able to find that in a number of places.
Yes, you can totally stack and cut. Either one works great. This is a very simple way to make “enchiladas”. They’re not as pretty as rolled, but super tasty!