Creamy Chicken Enchilada Casserole comes together quickly, freezes beautifully, and makes for a delicious and hearty main dish. Make a double batch so you can repeat the experience next week!
Dinnertime can be a delicious time.
Or it can be a headache.
Sure, there’s the burger joint around the corner. Or the taco shop down the street. But as nice as take-out is, it gets old after awhile.
You know what doesn’t get old? This Creamy Chicken Enchilada Casserole.
The Creamy Chicken Enchilada Casserole You’ll Want on Repeat
Made with basic staple ingredients, this quick-to-whip-up casserole freezes beautifully and makes for a hearty and flavorful main dish casserole that you’ll want to put on your meal plan on repeat.
What kind of tortillas do you use in enchiladas and enchilada casserole?
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.
What kind of dish should you use to bake enchiladas and enchilada casserole?
You can bake enchiladas and enchilada casserole in a standard 9×13-inch baking dish, or you can prepare them in single-serve gratin dishes.
I also prepare both 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.
Can you freeze enchilada casserole?
Creamy Chicken Enchilada Casserole is a perfect candidate for freezer meals. It mixes up quickly, making it super easy to make a bulk batch.
Can you make enchilada casserole gluten-free?
This version contains gluten in the cream of chicken soup. However, I have an equally easy and delicious, gluten-free option in this Chicken Enchilada Casserole Recipe. Just be sure to read the tortilla and salsa labels to make sure they haven’t hidden gluten in there.
How do you make Creamy Chicken Enchilada Casserole?
One of the beauties of Creamy Chicken Enchilada Casserole — besides how amazing it tastes — is that it comes together super quickly.
- Prepare your ingredients. Cook and chop the chicken. Shred the cheese. Prepare the “Cream of” soup, if you’re using homemade. Tear or cut the tortillas. Measure out the other things.
- Whisk together the soup, sour cream, and milk in a large mixing bowl. Then add the chicken, 1 cup cheese, onion, chiles, jalapeños, and tortillas.
- Stir well to combine.
- Transfer the mixture to a greased 9×13-inch baking dish or single-serve gratin dishes. Sprinkle the top with the remaining 1 cup cheese.
- Bake immediately or cover and refrigerate or freeze.
How to make this dish inexpensively
Here are some of the strategies you can use to make this recipe more economical:
- Stock up on ingredients when they are on sale. When I find regular kitchen staples on sale, I buy a lot. It’s a great way to save money on your groceries without clipping a single coupon. I’m currently using a price book to track prices and that’s saving me money. For this recipe, keeping an eye on the price of cheese, chicken, and sour cream is key. These are higher priced ingredients, so buy them on sale when you can.
- Use fresh jalapenos or green chiles instead of canned. You can even roast and freeze your chiles in advance.
- Make your own cream of soup. Making my own creamed soup with flour, butter, and milk is so simple and easy. Plus, the sauce freezes well, so I can make big batches so I can have some always to hand. You don’t need no stinking cans, man.
Tools I use to make it EASY:
- plastic cutting boards – I have blue boards for veggies and white boards for meat.
- Ergo Chef chef’s knife – I’ve had my set for several years and they work well.
- rubber spatula – I have two of these; I love them so much.
- 9×13 baking dish or gratin dishes
- box grater or food processor for cheese
After you’ve prepared the recipe, would you do me a favor? I’d really appreciate it if you came back and left a starred review. Thanks in advance for your feedback!
If you prepare this recipe, be sure to take a picture and hashtag it #GOODCHEAPEATS. I can't wait to see what you cook up!
Creamy Chicken Enchilada Casserole
Equipment
- one 9x13-inch pan or six gratin dishes
Ingredients
- 2 cup Homemade Cream of Chicken Soup can use 2 cans of cream of chicken soup instead
- 1 cup sour cream
- 1/2 cup milk
- 2 cup chicken (cooked and cubed)
- 8 oz cheddar cheese (shredded) (2 cups) can also use Jack cheese
- 1/2 onion (1/2 cup chopped)
- 1 4-ounce can green chiles (chopped)
- 1 4-ounce can jalapenos (chopped) can also use fresh jalapeno, seeded and chopped
- 12 corn tortillas cut or torn into bite size pieces
Instructions
- Prepare your ingredients. Cook and chop the chicken. Shred the cheese. Prepare the "Cream of" soup, if you're using homemade. Tear or cut the tortillas. Measure out the other things.
- Whisk together the soup and sour cream in a large mixing bowl. Then add the chicken, 1 cup cheese, onion, chiles, jalapeños, and tortillas. Stir well to combine.
- Transfer the mixture to a greased 9x13-inch baking dish or single-serve gratin dishes.
- Bake 1 hour at 350° until hot and bubbly. Adjust baking time for gratin dishes. Check after 30 minutes.
Notes
Nutrition
Katie @ goodLife {eats} says
I realized I still haven’t posted my favorite green chile chicken enchiladas. I’ll have to make those soon because I’ve never photographed them before.
I posted a salsa recipe I made last year when tomatoes were on sale. Hope I can get enough garden tomatoes this year. You can add as much or little spice as you want. Mine can out a little warmer than mild. Next time I’d do it slightly hotter.
Tina L. says
So Jessica’s recipe is your favorite? It does sound good! I’m going to try making it this weekend for my husband and a vegetarian version for me. Thanks Jessica!
Jessica Fisher says
Hope you enjoyed it, Tina!
Kate @ A Simple Walk says
That sounds so good. That would be a nice twist on our usual. I’ll have to try it sometime.
HappyHermit says
My little boy loves spicy food.
Phoebe says
Mmm. That sounds really good!
My kiddos are slowly eating hotter and hotter foods. Especially our 8 year old. Wonder if that has anything to do with him and his father having hot sauce drinking contests?!
Snow White says
That sounds delicious. I love that it doesn’t use canned enchilada sauce! You can get much better flavor that way!
Jenna says
a commenter on my blog said recently, “in the end, most kids eat what their parents eat.” there’s a lot of truth in that. if you offer spicy food, most will learn to appreciate it. eventually. and it helps to start slow. let them experiment with milder spicy foods, and work them up to the heat level of your preference. i posted about spicy popcorn. with this wholesome snack you can gradually increase the amount of spice over time.
great topic for URS!
Alexis says
How would you adapt this recipe to become freezer friendly? I made it for the first time the other night and it was such a hit with my family that I’d like to use it for my MOMS Club freezer meal swap next month. Thanks!
Jessica Fisher says
I wrap and freeze it prior to baking.
Sandy Cooper says
Hi, I tried this tonight with just a few minor tweaks, and it was GREAT! I used tortilla chips, and also put a layer of them crunched up on the top before adding the cheese, because I do love a crunch! I also shredded two jalapeño peppers into the main mixture, because hubby and I both like some spice! The main mixture would also be excellent as a hot dip! Thank you for this easy, yummy recipe!
Jessica Fisher says
Yay! So glad you enjoyed it. I love your adaptations.