You'll love this hearty Tex-Mex recipe! You can assemble it ahead of time or freeze for easy weeknight dinners all year long.
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Table of Contents
❤️ Why you'll love it
- Easier than traditional enchiladas, but just as tasty
- A great weeknight recipe that leaves you with plenty of time to spare
- Milder spice level from the amazing sour cream sauce and green chiles means it's a great recipe for the whole family
Sour cream chicken enchilada casserole has a deliciously creamy sauce, layers upon layers of soft corn tortillas, and so much flavor. The best part is, it's a super easy recipe and one of my favorite ways to use up leftover chicken—though, I suppose that's technically two best parts!
🧾 Ingredients
This is an overview of the ingredients. You'll find the full measurements and instructions in the green recipe card (printable) at the bottom of the page.
📖 Variations
- Shred chicken breasts easily by poaching them in boiling water, or use pre-cooked meat, instead. Rotisserie, frozen, leftover—anything will do!
- Swap the chicken for pulled pork (as long as it doesn't have sauce.)
- You can use flour tortillas if you don't like corn, though it's not as traditional. The corn tortillas are good, though, so give 'em a try!
- Stir some refried beans, corn, and/or rice into the meat mixture for added heartiness—or if you don't feel like making sides!
- If you like black olives, toss some on top before baking. Yum!
- Green chilis aren't enough spice for ya? Amp up the heat with jalapenos. Stir them in or use 'em as a topping.
- Cheesy chicken enchiladas taste great with so many varieties of, well, cheese! Experiment with a Mexican blend, Pepper Jack, cotija, queso, or sharp cheddar cheese until you find your favorite.
- Serve the enchiladas with diced bell peppers and onions on top for a fresh pop of flavor!
🔪 Instructions
This is an overview of the instructions. Full instructions are in the green recipe card at the bottom of the page.
- Pour some of the enchilada sauce in the baking dish and cover with half the corn tortillas.
- Stir together the chicken, chopped green chiles, 1 cup of the enchilada sauce, sour cream, half the cilantro, and 1-½ cups of the Monterey Jack cheese.
- Layer half of the chicken mixture over the tortillas. Repeat layers.
- Drizzle with the enchilada sauce, cover with aluminum foil and bake 20 minutes. Add the remaining cheese and bake about 5 more minutes.
🥫 Storage
The next time you're expecting a handful of busy nights in a row, whip up a double batch of sour cream chicken enchilada casserole. It keeps super well and will keep you from having to cook for a few days.
Then, portion the leftovers into an airtight container or cover your baking dish tightly. Foil or plastic will do just fine. Refrigerated, the chicken casserole will last for 3-4 days.
The best way to reheat a casserole is in the oven. Cover the dish with aluminum foil and bake at 350 degrees F for 20-30 minutes.
However, if you are only warming up a small portion, feel free to pop it in the microwave. With a few minutes of heat, your leftovers will taste as good as new!
💭 Things to know
Expert Tip: Cutting the tortillas in half gives better coverage, which means every bite will have a delicious tortilla in it!
- For best results, line the flat edges of the tortilla halves along the flat sides of the casserole dish.
- If you don't have cooking spray, grease the baking dish with butter or olive oil so nothing sticks!
- Quickly and easily shred chicken breasts using the paddle attachments and an electric mixer. Otherwise, grab two forks and start pulling the chicken apart in opposite directions.
- Full-fat sour cream tastes smoother than reduced fat in this recipe.
- Remember, recooking the shredded chicken in the casserole doesn't "reset" how long you can keep the leftovers. If your leftover Rotisserie chicken is already three days old, you should consume the casserole within another day or so.
👩🍳 FAQs
You can, but I think sour cream is best. Where the cream cheese is a little too heavy, sour cream adds a perfectly tangy, light creaminess. It is named sour cream chicken enchilada casserole, after all!
The main difference between the two is that the sauce is cooked down before being canned—Salsa Verde isn't. If you're in a pinch, though, feel free to swap the salsa in place of the sauce.
📚 Related recipes
- With juicy ground beef and tasty red sauce, Beef Enchilada Casserole is another easy dinner recipe that doesn't take much prep time at all.
- Slow Cooker Chicken Enchilada Casserole takes "simple" to the next level. Best of all, you don't even have to turn on your oven or stove!
- Homemade with a creamy white sauce, these Enchiladas strike the perfect balance between spicy, tangy, and savory!
- Chicken Enchilada Soup is made on the stove or in the
slow cooker for days when you're craving simple ingredients but loads of flavor. - Traditional Red Sauce with Ancho Chiles is a great addition to any authentic Tex-Mex meal—especially your favorite enchilada recipes.
🍽️ Serve with...
This creamy dish just needs a crispy salad but if you want a bit more try the Frito Corn Salad. It perfectly complements easy chicken enchiladas—both in prep (simple) and taste (delicious.)
I like to add a few Candied Jalapenos to the top before serving. They are the perfect topping for any Tex-Mex dish, and are good enough that you could eat 'em on their own!
And we're never too full for dessert around here. The filling in this Homemade Chocolate Pie is made using the microwave. Takes about 10 minutes so it's perfectly doable any night of the week!
📞 The last word
If you click on the number of servings in the recipe card you can adjust the measurements up or down for the exact number of servings you need. Don't forget that you can click on "add to collection" to save it to your own, private recipe box!
If you love this recipe please give it 5 stars! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
📖 Recipe
Sour Cream Chicken Enchilada Casserole
Print Pin Recipe Save Recipe Rate RecipeIngredients
- 2 pounds rotisserie chicken, or any cooked chicken you have on hand; shredded
- 2 cups green enchilada sauce, divided
- 9 ounces green chiles, 2 4.5 ounce cans chopped green chiles
- 1 cup sour cream
- 1-½ cups Monterey Jack cheese, shredded
- 1 cup Cheddar, shredded
- 12 corn tortillas, 6-inch size, cut in half
- ½ cup green onions, sliced
- ½ cup fresh cilantro, chopped
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F.
- Spray a 13x9-inch baking dish with no-stick cooking spray.
- Spread ½ cup of the enchilada sauce in a thin layer in the bottom of the dish.
- In a large bowl, stir together the chicken, chopped green chiles, 1 cup of the enchilada sauce, the sour cream, half the cilantro, and 1-½ cups of the Monterey Jack cheese.
- Place half the tortillas in the bottom of the prepared dish, cutting them to cover the bottom of the dish.
- Top with half of the chicken mixture.
- Repeat the layers once ending with the chicken mixture.
- Drizzle with remaining ½ cup enchilada sauce.
- Cover with foil.
- Bake about 20 minutes.
- Remove the foil and top with the Cheddar cheese.
- Bake until heated through and cheese is melted, another 5 to 10 minutes. The casserole is ready when the cheese is melted and the temperature in the center is 165F.
- Remove from oven and let stand for 5 minutes before serving garnished with the green onions and remaining cilantro.
Notes
- Cut tortillas in half for the best coverage.
- For best results, line the flat edges of the tortilla halves along the flat sides of the casserole dish.
- If you don't have cooking spray, grease the baking dish with butter or olive oil so nothing sticks!
- Quickly and easily shred chicken breasts using the paddle attachments and an electric mixer. Otherwise, grab two forks and start pulling the chicken apart in opposite directions.
- Full-fat sour cream tastes smoother than reduced fat in this recipe. Reduced fat will make it watery.
- Remember, recooking the shredded chicken in the casserole doesn't "reset" how long you can keep the leftovers. If your leftover Rotisserie chicken is already 3 days old, you should consume the casserole within another day or so.
Nutrition Facts
Nutrition information is estimated as a courtesy. If using for medical purposes, please verify information using your own nutritional calculator. Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
This recipe has been tested several times. If you choose to use other ingredients, or change the technique in some way, the results may not be the same.
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