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!
Found your recipe via pinterest...
Made these tonight - and I loved them! Can't wait to try more of your recipes. Keep up the great work!
I just made this tonight! Got the recipe from Pinterest. It was absolutely delicous and incredibly easy! I added chili powder to the chicken mix and garlic and onion powder to the liquid, just as someone suggested. Thank you!
Made these exactly as the recipe and we love them. There is only 2 of us now so we split the rest in half and put in the freezer for future dinners. Hopefully they will freeze well. Thank you for sharing!
Made these gluten free using corn tortillas....in the oven right now!! The corn tortillas kept ripping, but I am sure that is a user problem 😉 We are new to the whole GF thing and I miss the flour ones, but had to switch for my hubby and daughter. Can't wait till they are done!!!
I made these last night, followed the recipe exactly and they were a hit with my whole family! YAY!
UM. THEY LOOK SOOOOO GOOD. Need to make. Like now. Thanks for linking up!!
Very yummy - Made these this weekend - they were a big hit - Just did the chicken different - I didn't have time to make my normal chicken so I bought a rotisserie chicken and added a can of rotel to it after shredding the chicken - Yummmmy - Next time I will chop some jalapenos for a bit more kick - but quick easy tasty recipe - Thanks
These are fantastic! My sister-in-law found the recipe on pinterest and made them. I'm sharing the recipe with everyone!
I mentioned you in my blog for this recipe 🙂
http://whitfieldshomeinthecountry.blogspot.com/
Thanks!
Carol
Made this tonight and it was super yummy! I used a rotisserie chicken and added spices to the filling and the sauce as well as some jalapenos (my family likes spicey)! Only change I will make next time is I will use corn tortillas instead of flour - the flour ones were a little think and kind of slimy (still very yummy, but my husband is a texture eater and it threw him off a little!). Over all super yummy - will go in the recipe folder!
Just made this tonight. I hadn't eaten all day (I know, so bad!) so it was worth the cheat! The husban and kids loved it, and so did I. One of my daughters thought the sauce was a cheese sauce, it tastes like it! I used an already cooked rotisserie chicken from the store and that probably made it even more tasty, as I can never get my chicken to taste that good (cooking impaired) lol! Thanks for the recipe!
Just a thought, when I have to boil chicken for use in other dishes, I add 2-3 cubes of chicken bouillion to the water to boost the flavor. When cooking chicken breasts in the crockpot for shredding and use in recipes like this I add a little chicken base, pepper, and other seasonings (depending on what recipe I am using the chicken in)and it comes out very flavorful.
You are still all over pinterest! congrats on the success of your recipe!
Do you know how many calories are in this dish? Or maybe how many calories each enchilada would be??
Thanks so much for this wonderful recipe. I've made it a few times and it is delicious!!
I made this with rotisserie chicken. I sauteed tri-colored bell peppers, added the chicken breast and lots of spices for flavor. Taco seasoning, garlic powder, onion powder all gave the filling tons of flavor. I also added diced hot jalapeno to the sauce with fire roasted diced green chili. I doubled the sauce amount because I do not like dry enchiladas. I used white corn tortillas layering all the ingredients lasagna style. I fed 10 people, they are still raving about the dish!
I'm wondering how ground beef with the same spices would turn out as a filling?
Made these recently, forgot the chiles, but we topped our servings with salsa and more sour cream. Everyone loved it! The boys want 1/2 of the enchiladas to by cheese only next time.
Made this tonight =) Smells yummy. Its just in the oven now =)
Much Love,
L
(allglorious-within.blogspot.com)
This was so, so good! Hubby loved it (and he's very picky) and took some to friends who were in the middle of a moving day. Big hit! I did add about 2/3 can medium red enchilada sauce to the "sauce" and 2 cans of green chilis. Oh my!
Much thanks to Sharlablue for the time-saving tip of boiling the chicken broth before adding it to the roux. It worked like a charm! The minute the broth hit the roux, the mixture was already thick and bubbly! Very nice! Thank you again!
HOW does one PRINT these recipes? Can't see any print button. Am I suppose to have a laptop in the kitchen?
I'm making these, I added seasoning to my chicken (garlic,salt,pepper) and cooked it down with bell pepper and onion.Also added some seasoning to the mixture (basil,cilantro,oregano) Looks yummy!