Cheesy Chicken Enchiladas – Tender chicken, melty cheese, and an easy homemade enchilada sauce.
Cheesy Chicken Enchiladas Recipe
Homestyle chicken enchiladas loaded with tender shredded chicken, melty cheese, and an easy to make homemade enchilada sauce. The flavor is so good, you won’t go back to store-bought sauce. I know a recipe is really good when the leftovers are immediately claimed the next day for lunch and this is one of those recipes! Serve with my Slow Cooker Refried Beans and Mexican Rice for a delicious Mexican dinner. These enchiladas are perfect for picky eaters and your family will be fighting over the leftovers!
Ingredients for Cheesy Chicken Enchiladas with Red Enchilada Sauce
- Oil – Vegetable Oil, Olive Oil, or Avocado Oil
- Onion – finely diced yellow onion
- Jalapeno – finely diced with the seeds and membranes removed
- Garlic – minced, if you don’t have fresh garlic cloves garlic powder can be substituted. 1 teaspoon of garlic powder can be substituted for 4 cloves.
- Chicken Thighs – the chicken thighs stay moist and tender simmered in the homemade enchilada sauce. Chicken breasts can be substituted. Black beans would be a good substitute or addition to the chicken.
- Chicken Broth – good quality low-sodium chicken broth.
- Tomato Sauce
- Seasonings – kosher salt, freshly ground black pepper, chili powder, smoked paprika, cumin, and sugar. Whisk seasonings into the tomato sauce while cooking for homestyle flavor
- Fresh Cilantro – to flavor the sauce and garnish the enchiladas after cooking.
- Corn Tortillas – white or yellow 4-6 inch corn tortillas. I have not tried making this recipe with flour tortillas.
- Cheese – I like to use freshly grated Colby-jack cheese because it melts so nicely, but a variety of cheeses will work!
How to Assemble Easy Chicken Enchiladas
Prepare as much as you can ahead, dice and shred and have everything laid out. Once you have everything prepared, set up an assembly line to make the enchiladas. Lay out the lightly fried tortillas, divide chicken onto each tortilla, top with cheese, then sauce. Once the ingredients have been evenly divided into the tortillas, place seam side down in a 9 by 13-inch baking dish and use the remaining sauce and cheese to top the enchiladas and bake.
Recipe Tips
- Using Rotisserie Chicken – You can use rotisserie chicken or leftover chicken in the recipe. Just skip adding the chicken thighs. Reduce the sauce as directed in the recipe, the stir in shredded rotisserie chicken.
- Sub the Cilantro – I love the flavor of cilantro, but if you don’t you can certainly skip it. For freshness, try chopped fresh parsley instead.
- Cheese Tips – If you prefer to use pre-shredded cheese, substitute the Colby-jack for a Mexican cheese blend that melts easily. Sharp cheddar cheese has great flavor but may be too oily once melted. Monterey Jack Cheese or Pepper Jack Cheese would also be good options blended with cheddar.
- Toppings – Top these enchiladas with any of your favorite toppings! More cilantro, green onions, sour cream, plain greek yogurt, guacamole, avocado slices, pico de Gallo, salsa, or my personal favorite, black olives!
Preparing Tortillas for Enchiladas
In a small frying pan, lightly fry tortillas in a shallow amount of vegetable or canola oil. You just want the tortillas to be soft and pliable, not crispy. Lightly frying the corn tortillas prevents them from getting soggy once you bake the enchiladas. The oil acts as a barrier and keeps tortillas from absorbing too much liquid from the sauce. I haven’t tried using flour tortillas for these kind of enchiladas. Corn tortillas are traditional in our region and I think they hold up better in the recipe and give it the additional texture it needs. A creamy white chicken enchilada recipe would be a good option for trying soft flour tortillas.
What to Serve With Enchiladas
- Slow Cooker Refried Beans
- Stovetop Mexican Rice
- Instant Pot Mexican Rice – this is still my favorite way to make Mexican rice!
- Frozen Margaritas – my grandpa’s famous recipe!
More Enchilada Recipes
- Restaurant-Style Cheese Enchiladas
- Ground Beef Enchiladas
- Skillet Enchiladas – a quick one-pot dinner idea!
Cheesy Chicken Enchiladas
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil plus additional for frying tortillas
- 1/2 cup onion finely diced
- 1 jalapeno minced and seeds removed
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 1 cup chicken broth low sodium
- 2 8 oz cans tomato sauce good quality
- 2 tablespoons chili powder
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1 1/2 pounds boneless skinless chicken thighs
- 2 tablespoons cilantro chopped
- 12 corn tortillas
- 16 oz Colby-jack cheese shredded
- sour cream for serving
Instructions
- In a large skillet, sauté onions and jalapeño over medium low heat until onions start to soften and turn translucent, 4-5 minutes. Stir in garlic and cook 1 minute more. Increase heat and add chicken broth, tomato sauce, chili powder, sugar, cumin, salt, and pepper to pan and stir to combine. Add chicken thighs and bring to a simmer. Once sauce starts to simmer, cover and reduce heat to medium low. Let simmer covered 15-20 minutes or until chicken thighs are cooked through. Timing will vary depending on size of chicken thighs. Ideal internal chicken thigh temperature for best texture is 175° to 185℉.
- Remove chicken from sauce and set aside to rest. Let sauce simmer uncovered until reduced by 1/3. Once sauce has reduced, taste and adjust salt and pepper as needed. Stir in 2 tablespoons of chopped fresh cilantro.
- Meanwhile in a second smaller skillet, lightly fry corn tortillas individually in hot vegetable oil. Tortillas should still be pliable for rolling. Set tortillas aside with paper towels between each layer. Once chicken is cool, use two forks to shred and set aside to be used for enchiladas.
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees and spray a 9×13 baking dish with nonstick cooking spray.
- To assemble enchiladas, start by adding 1/2 cup of enchilada sauce to the bottom of a 9×13 baking pan. Evenly divide chicken into each of the tortillas, then divide 1/2 of shredded cheese between all 12 enchiladas, add about two tablespoons of sauce to each enchilada, roll, and place seam side down in baking dish. Pour remaining enchilada sauce over rolled enchiladas and top with remaining cheese.
- Cover dish with foil and bake at 400 degrees for 20-30 minutes, or until heated through and hot and bubbly. Uncover and broil 2-3 minutes on high to brown cheese. Sprinkle with additional fresh cilantro and serve with sour cream.
Nutrition
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