White Chicken Enchiladas with Sour Cream Sauce {Recipe}
These easy White Chicken Enchiladas are made with flour tortillas, shredded chicken, melty cheese, green chiles, and a delicious sour cream sauce.
White Chicken Enchiladas are ALL the rage, and for good reason. The flavor is incredible. Bold flavor but not spicy. Creamy comfort food, yet not too rich. These are a winner in all categories and will satisfy even the pickiest eater. (Yes even with green chilies and sour cream!)
This recipe gets all the accolades and compliments. Everyone loves these creamy and cheesy chicken enchiladas. Creamy White Chicken Enchiladas has been the #1 recipe on my site every year since 2012. It's just a classic favorite.
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Not your everyday Enchiladas...
These are not your typical enchiladas. Traditionally, enchiladas are made with corn tortillas and a red or green sauce. These are a "whole other thing"….and so so good.
I have a big family and we love to have big Fiesta Night dinners. Tacos, taquitos, nachos, and of course these enchiladas are a must. There are never any leftovers (I blame the Sour Cream and green chillies!).
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Easy Chicken Enchiladas Recipe
This is a great recipe for a busy schedule. If you have a busy day, cook the chicken in the slow cooker and then shred it and assemble the enchiladas, and make the sauce at dinner time.
If you have a busy late afternoon, make the the full recipe up to 12 hours in advance and keep in the fridge and just bake them at dinner time.
I like to put these on the Menu for Monday because I can cook the chicken in the slow cooker on Sunday and assemble everything and stick the pan in the fridge. Then when we get home Monday from school, activities, appointments, and general chaos that comes with the beginning of the week, I can pop these in the oven and know that we will all be looking forward to a delicious dinner.
Ingredients for White Chicken Enchiladas
There are so many ways to make this your own. This recipe will give you the confidence to experiment. Onions, bell peppers, jalapenos, black beans, taco seasoning, chili powder, and all kinds of things to add as you cook the chicken and assemble the filling. Start with the basic recipe and then experiment as you like.
If you like to punch up the flavor and enjoy spicy, add chili powder to the chicken, add diced jalapenos to the sauce and use pepper jack cheese.
- Flour tortillas- I used a taco size tortillas, but you can also use the smaller ones and get more individual enchiladas. The flour tortillas do not become soggy or gummy.
- Cooked, shredded chicken- I have shared several ways above to make delicious and moist chicken and easy ways to shred it quickly.
- Monterey Jack Cheese- you can use any kind of melting cheese. Cheddar jack, pepper jack, and Mexican blend all work well here. If you are using mozzarella, mix it with cheddar for texture and melting.
- Butter and flour- this will be used to make roux as a base to thicken the sour cream sauce.
- Chicken Broth- use prepared chicken broth or bouillon base and water
- Sour cream- use full-fat sour cream. Full-fat Greek yogurt can also be used.
- Green chiles- these are diced and mild. They are not spicy, and they add great flavor.
See the recipe for quantities.
*You can add all the broth at once and stir while it cooks, coming to a simmer for 15 or 20 minutes and is nice and thick. Stir continually.
*Or you can add in only small amounts (½ to 1 cup of broth) at a time and let each addition thicken before adding more, it will only take about 10 minutes to simmer and thicken. Stir continually.
Serve with your favorite taco toppings and a side salad or fresh veggies.
If I am making this to serve a large family or big group, I figure 1.5 enchiladas per person and then go heavy on the side options. I like to warm up pinto beans (or refried beans) and corn and serve chips with salsa. There is always more sour cream and fresh avocado. Fresh lime wedges and diced tomatoes are wonderful. We also like sliced black olives and jalapenos.
Variations and Substitutions:
- Use corn tortillas. Tradiitional enchiladas use soft corn tortillas. Warm up the tortillas first so that when you roll them up, they won't split.
- Add chili. powder and taco seasoning to the chicken
- Add green chilies and onions to the chicken when cooking it.
What's The Best Way To Make Shredded Chicken?
*Slow cooker- use 4-5 boneless chicken breasts and cook on low with ½ cup water and seasonings for 6 hours. Shred and enjoy.
*Oven roasted- Drizzle olive oil over 4-5 boneless chicken breasts and season with cumin, pepper, garlic powder, and onion powder. Bake at 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes. Shred and enjoy.
*In a large pot filled with chicken broth, boil chicken breasts for 20 minutes or so until cooked through. Shred and season.
*You can also buy a rotisserie chicken and shred it for a quick solution. Even faster, I love buying the packaged shredded rotisserie chicken from Costco.
Top Tip
*For an easy way to shred chicken, you can use a stand mixer with the paddle attachment and shred it on low while the chicken is hot. you can also use an electric hand mixer with beaters just be careful not to mash or pulverize the chicken.
Storing Leftovers
Store leftover enchiladas in an airtight container for up to 4 days in the refrigerator.
Can I freeze White Chicken Enchiladas?
This recipe, as a whole, does not freeze well. The chicken rolled up in the flour tortillas will make the tortillas gummy when thawed. The sour cream sauce doesn't freeze well and separates when thawed. To use your freezer in meal prep for this recipe, cook your chicken with prices and any mixins. Cool and then freeze in a zip top freezer bag for 2-3 months. You can then thaw and roll it up in the tortillas, make the sauce, and bake it as directed.
More Enchilada Recipes
Do you love all enchiladas? I have recipes for more!
Made this for dinner tonight. Used boneless skinless thighs, marinated them in mojo for a couple of days before hand, and used the stock from cooking them as the chicken broth - they were amazing! Thank you so much!
would it be good with salsa instead of green chilies so it isn't so spicy for the kids?
Green chiles aren't at all spicy.
I made them GF with corn tortillas & GF flour. Family approves. Yummy.
How long is the prep?
Thanks for the recipe. I, too, am a spice-aholic, so I added a few items to the chicken and the sauce. My husband ate too many of the tortillas, so we didn't have enough and only made a batch of 6. But when he came in the house he said it was the best smelling thing he'd ever smelled. He's not usually one for hyperbole, so I'll take it that he liked it.
Things I'll change for next time would be to grease the pan. I lost half of all the tortillas to the bottom of the pan. Also, I might mix up the cheese. I only had Manchego and Parmesan, so I used a combo of the two.
While I, personally, thought the recipe was okay (I've never cared for enchiladas, to be fair), my picky and hard to please husband loved it.
These do really well in the freezer for 2-3 months. I assemble them just as I would before baking, drown them in the sauce, let cool a smidge, double wrap in heavy duty foil and label to freeze. Thaw in fridge day before eating them and then cook according to normal instructions. The sauce may be a little more thin after freezing, so if you prefer, freeze without sauce and make that fresh. Pour it over the frozen burritos and bake until hot in the center
What would be your suggestion for freezing these? How long to thaw, reheat instructions, etc.
I'm making these right now can anyone who has made theme already pls tell me is the cream a lil on the thin side ? It's like the consistency of cream of chicken soup! Is this right?
I've made these twice now and we really enjoy them! They're my new favorite "white enchiladas". I followed the recipe except that my cheese was colby jack mixed instead of just jack. Tonight I added chopped green onions as a garnish when I served them. Thanks for the recipe!
Have any of you tried to freeze these? I've made them before and we LOVED them (thank you Joyful Momma!). I'm sure they would do fine, just wondering if anyone has tried? I'm working on preparing some freezer meals before school starts back up and things get crazy (I'm a school teacher and and small business owner). Thanks so much! 🙂
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I love spicy food and thought this was a great recipe! We added freshness with lettuce shreds, fresh tomatoes and sour cream. Thanks for a family-friendly comfort food recipe!
Just made this with one of my friends... I've been wanting to make it for sooooo long. Thanks for the recipe!
Todd, I like to microwave my tortillas slighly between two damp paper towels. This works well to keep them soft and able to roll up easily without cracks or breaks
How do you keep the tortillas from breaking when rolled?
These were really good, and pretty simple! I'd make them again!
I made these a few months ago, just now getting around to writing a review! These were simple and delicious :] Try it!!
Ok, so i never usually comment on blogs, but i had to let you know how great these were! I made them last night for some friends and everyone kept saying how yummy they were! At first, i was a little skeptical about the sour cream sauce, but it ended up tasting like queso! YUM! I also added carmelized onions in my chicken/cheese mixture (because i love onions). Finally, in addition to the mexican cheese blend i used, i also found a new Kraft cheese, made with philadelphia cream cheese and it has jalapenos in it! Great recipe, and you tweak it to your hearts desire. You don't have to live in SO CAL to make great dishes.
Ok, so i never respond to these things, but, i had to tell you how great these were!! I made them last night for some friends and they were sooo yummy. Everyone loved them! At first i was a little put off by the sour cream sauce (i didnt know how it would turn out/taste) but it ended up tasting like queso! It was the perfect sauce. I also added carmelized onions to my chicken and cheese mixture. Lastly, i used both a mexican mix type of cheese as well as this new Mexican Kraft cheese that has jalapenos in it! Phenomenal, really! Mipsy Jo is crazy! You can tweak it to however you like.
Could this be a freezer meal?
Hello from Cleveland, Ohio! I found you on Pinterest and adding this to my "Recipes to Try" board. These look awesome! Thanks for sharing.