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 share a picture on social media and hashtag it #GOODCHEAPEATS. I can't wait to see what you cook up!
Creamy Chicken Enchilada Casserole
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 cup Homemade Cream of Chicken Soup can use 2 cans of cream of chicken soup instead
- 1 cup sour cream
- ½ cup milk
- 2 cup chicken (cooked and cubed)
- 8 oz cheddar cheese (shredded) (2 cups) can also use Jack cheese
- ½ onion (½ 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, 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. Top with the remaining 1 cup of shredded cheese.
- Bake 1 hour at 350° until hot and bubbly. Adjust baking time for gratin dishes. Check after 30 minutes.
Notes
Nutrition
Jen
Ok this was totally yummy. I can see myself craving this in the future. I accidentally picked up a can of fire roasted jalapenos and omg my mouth was on fire! I’m super sensitive to spicy food. Just wanted to warn everyone/offer a suggestion to increase the heat! 🙂
Dana
I have this recipe memorized I make it so often! (Last night, in fact!) If you are on the fence about making this, try it!
Shelley Chastagner
I love all the comments that just prove how versatile this recipe is. It’s easy to spice it up or down and fix it to your family’s preferences. Adding corn, beans, mild green chilis or jalapenos are all worth giving a try. My husband hates cilantro but my daughter and I adore it so we just add fresh chopped to our portions. We also added a sprinkle of cotija on top with the cheddar before baking.
Jessica Fisher
What great additions! Thanks, Shelley!
Mary Smith
I added an extra cup of cooked chicken, an extra can of green chiles, a can of black beans (drained), and cilantro. Also covered with foil during the last 30 minutes because i was afraid it would dry out. It was awesome! Thank you!!
Joan Blue
This was a hit!!! I layered my tortillas like a lasagne. I Still cut them in qtrs.. Also added Some fresh Cilantro, half of fresh jalepeno & green Salsa Verde about 3 tablespoon or desired taste to the chicken mixture. Plus I covered my dish with aluminum foil to keep the cheese from burning. It was perfect …..
I tasted the ckn mixture before I baked it and thought I’m not sure it’s going to taste good. Boy was I wrong. It was delicious !!
My fiancé ate 3 helpings …..?
I loved the yellow corn tortillas with this recipe !! Thanks for sharing. Will be making it again and again. Lol ??
CJ
This dish was a hit and great as written really well developed but I also did a few things:
toasted the corn tortillas lightly on each side in some canola prior to slicing, sauteed the onions and added a bit of garlic to that,
added some red chili flakes to turn up the heat,
if i have a little leftover cream cheese i throw that in to the mix.
I made a gluten free cream of chicken soup for the soup & I also use shredded chicken. Thanks so much for the great recipe everyone loved this!
Lori
I was searching for something to fix for dinner with left over Rotisserie Chicken and this recipe hit the spot. I already had all the ingredients, so no visit to the grocery store required! I followed the recipe exactly with the exception of using the full can of each the green chiles and jalapenos. I used half of each because my green chiles were the hot variety not mild. It was spicy enough for my heat loving husband. He loved this and gave it his “Over The Top” rating. My only complaint is the instructions don’t tell you what to do with the 1/2 cup of milk. I think I rightly assumed to add it to the soup and sour cream mix thoroughly then add chicken, tortillas and cheese.
Jessica Fisher
Glad it was a success. Sorry for the typo. It’s fixed. Thanks for letting me know.
Tabitha
I made this recipe with leftover turkey from Thanksgiving! I also added about half a cup of Salsa Verde on top before the cheese. It turned out great! It was a big hit with my husband and teenager. We will definitely make it again!
Jessica Fisher
Yay! So glad you found a winner!
Elaine
Delicious! Next time I’ll use mild canned chilies. It was a little too hot for us. Made 3 casseroles and will freeze 2 to have after my back surgery. Thanks. I really liked tearing the tortillas rather than filling and rolling.
Jessica Fisher
Glad it worked out for you!
Linda M Haberman
There is no place on what to do with the 2nd cup of cheese. I assume it for putting on the top
Jessica Fisher
Thanks for letting me know. The 2nd cup does go on top. Recipe card is now fixed.
Sandy Cooper
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
Yay! So glad you enjoyed it. I love your adaptations.
Shelley Chastagner
Turning this into a dip is an excellent Superbowl idea! I’m adding it to my list of recipes for big gatherings.
Alexis
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
I wrap and freeze it prior to baking.
Jenna
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!
Snow White
That sounds delicious. I love that it doesn’t use canned enchilada sauce! You can get much better flavor that way!
Phoebe
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?!
HappyHermit
My little boy loves spicy food.
Kate @ A Simple Walk
That sounds so good. That would be a nice twist on our usual. I’ll have to try it sometime.
Katie @ goodLife {eats}
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.
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
Hope you enjoyed it, Tina!
Shelly
I’ve got this in the oven now and it smells delicious! I’m so excited to taste it!