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!
I recommend adding one can, undrained, each of black beans, diced tomatoes/chiles and creamed corn to the shredded chicken for great flavor and a little moisture to help keep the chicken from becoming dry. It's a family hit every time!!
I made these last night and everyone really enjoyed them 🙂 Thank You for the WONDERFUL recipe...the sauce really makes this recipe 🙂
These are amazing!!!!!
Do you think it would taste the same if you prepared this the night before and just popped it in the oven the next day??
I was wondering the same thing. I want to bring it to a friend who just had a baby, but would have to make it the night before. Thoughts?! BTW, another friend made these for a get together and I couldn't get enough!!!
IDK about waiting until the next day to actually cook them, but when I make them for my family we always have leftovers and both myself and my hubby will take them to work the next day for lunch and they are just as wonderful heated up in the microwave.
Yes, that would be just fine. I have taken them to friends in the morning and they just put them in the oven when they were ready to eat that night. May take a smidge longer to heat.
Loved these so much that I shared them on my blog!
I remember seeing this exact recipe from an old issue of Southern Living, and just as it did then, it cries out for salt and seasoning. I found that simply salting the sauce drastically improves the flavor. That one simple addition would be helpful for first time users!
my husband took a bite of this and said, "you know when you take that first bite and think, 'oh yeah. this is a good one......' yeah. this is one of those." and it got better the second day as leftovers when the taste had infiltrated everything.... such a good recipe. making it again tonight!
Do you think greek yogurt would work in place of sour cream? Love all your recipes btw!
I was wondering the same thing. Making them tonight with low fat sour cream. Next time I plan on trying Greek Yogurt...when I get around to it, I'll come back and let you know 🙂
Any tips on making ahead and freezing for later use?
I made this tonight for dinner. Literally just got up. My husband wants to know when i plan on making this again! Thank you so much for your sharing of your recipes. It helped get us out of a major rut! Super easy and tasty! I served over mexican rice. We are having Taco casserole tomorrow 🙂 Thank you again so very much!
What size tortillas do you use, as in how many inches? I want to make them tonight, this looks delish!
Just made these tonight. Soooo good! Only thing I changed was I added cumin to the chicken and cheese. My husband loved them!
I tried this a last week and am going to make it again tonight!
Made this tonight for dinner and they were very delicious!
I've made these several times now and they are AMAZING! 🙂 Thanks
I'm making these tonight!! The hubby can't wait!! My main concern is that it may be too spicy for the kiddos? Anyone had this prob or no?? I am going to add some Mexican rice in with the chx along w/ extra seasoning (not spicy), and going to do half cream cheese- half sour cream. ( It always seems as though, to me, cream cheese sometimes takes away a little of spiciness, etc. ) I'm really excited about this recipe, sounds Delish!! And a great alternative to the red!!! Thank you so much for posting!! I'll comment on how good it was after dinner!! ;)) -- if anyone could go ahead and give me some feedback about the spice factor for my kids, I would greatly appreciate it!! (that way I'll know to make a separate pan for them if need be!) thanks so much!!!
These are not spicy in the least. Don't let the green chillies intimidate you. They are not spicy, just have flavor. My husband eats no spicy food and he and my 2 year old gobble them up!
I made these tonight and they were great! I subbed the chicken for ground beef, and used veggie broth instead of chicken. Everything was great, I did add onions to the ground beef and cheese mixture that I cooked quickly in a pan with olive oil! I had a lot of ground beef left over so I sprinkled it on top before the cheese sauce. So good and EASY!! Also the "corn" tortillas that I used had green chillies in them, from Whole Foods, added a good flavor!! My husband loved it! There are zero left overs and it was just him and I!!! Well and my 14th month old son, but he only can eat so much!:)
I made these last night and loved them. It was like Chicken ala King goes to Mexico. Will definitely do again. Thanks for sharing.
Excellent recipe. Found you through a friend on Pinterest. I am on Weight Watchers so I skinnied this meal down. Tastes great. The only problem I had was the broiling part. I had them in for like 1.5 min and they started to burn. I think I'll just forgo that part next time, otherwise they are yummy. (I'm eating before the family, so we'll see what they say) I will make this again, it's super easy.
So they were a HUGE hit with the family too. Going on our menu again very soon!
I started out using olive oil instead of butter. Boiled chicken and used a food processor to shred. I also shredded fresh cilantro onion tomatoes and spinach and added it all to the chicken to roll up. the only thing i added to the sauce was chili powder. Turned out good and I was able to get some healthier foods mixed in.