Guys, these white chicken enchiladas have to be one of my all-time favorite enchilada recipes EVER! This post has been a HUGE reader favorite as well.
They’re cheesy, saucy, and truly downright divine. I promise you will really love these! All that and they come together quickly enough to work for my midweek dinner rotation.
If you love this type 0f enchilada, you might want to try creamy seafood shrimp enchiladas. My shredded beef enchiladas are absolutely heavenly and have an amazing homemade red sauce that is to die for on them. I really hope you try them!!!
If you’re looking for a more traditional chicken enchilada, try my cheesy chicken enchiladas. They’ve been in our families regular dinner rotation for more than a decade! If you’d like an easier version of enchiladas, our green chicken enchilada casserole fits the bill perfectly!
Let’s make these!
What I Love About This Recipe
- Smothered in a rich, tangy, homemade sauce
- Quick to prepare
- Loaded with cheesy goodness!
- No Canned Soup
How To Make White Chicken Enchiladas Recipe
My decadently cheesy enchiladas recipe whips up in less than 45 minutes! A double win — delicious and quick.
- In a bowl, combine chicken and 1 cup of Monterey Jack cheese.
- Fill tortillas with this mixture and roll each one up.
- Arrange the tortillas in the prepared pan.
- Melt butter in a skillet. Sprinkle flour and cook for a minute.
- Remove the skillet from the heat and add chicken broth. Place back on the heat until the sauce thickens.
- Add sour cream and chilies, stir until the sauce is smooth.
- Pour the sauce over the enchiladas. Add the remaining cheese on top.
- Bake.
- Top with green onions and serve.
***See the full instructions below.
Best Chicken To Use For This Recipe
This is a great recipe to use a rotisserie chicken in. It greatly speeds up the prep time and it’s infused with great seasoning.
If you’d prefer, you can use homemade poached chicken or any leftover grilled chicken you happen to have. You can use a combo of white and dark meat or just white or just dark meat per your family’s preference.
White Chicken Enchiladas Recipe Ingredients + Notes
- Diced chiles – Our recipe calls for mild chilies. If your family likes spicy food, you can substitute hotter chilies instead. Another tasty option is fire-roasted chilies. They should be on the shelf near the other canned peppers at your grocery store.
- Chicken – You can cook the chicken according to your favorite method, such as roasting or poaching the breasts. If you’re pressed for time, using a pre-cooked rotisserie chicken from your grocer is a great time-saving shortcut. Honestly, 9 times out of 10, that’s what I use.
- Shredded cheese – We love the flavor of Monterey Jack in this dish. It also helps keep the sauce white! If you have a different cheese on hand, feel free to substitute your favorite shredded cheese in this recipe. My son loves when I use Pepper Jack instead of the plain Monterey because it adds another layer of flavor and spice. It might be too spicy for little kiddos though.
- Sour cream – We strongly recommend using full-fat sour cream in this recipe. It’s an important factor in the richness of the sauce. Also, low-fat sour cream tends to separate and get runny when heated. You might end up with gloppy enchiladas!
- Green onions – Don’t have any green onions? A sprinkle of chopped cilantro on top will add a bright flavor, too.
- Tortillas – The recipe calls for using flour tortillas, but if you prefer, you can switch them with corn tortillas. I used fajita sized tortillas.
- Seasoning – I didn’t need to add any salt or pepper to this recipe. The chicken broth I used was very flavorful and had a lot of salt already in it. The chicken was also well seasoned and obviously, the cheese had a good amount of salt.
Tools For This Recipe
- A 9×13 baking pan
- A stovetop skillet
- Mixing bowls
- A whisk: The whisk is important! This helps you get the creamiest, dreamiest sauce imaginable.
How To Shred Cooked Chicken
The quickest and easiest way to shred chicken is to use a handheld mixer or a stand-up mixer. Here’s how:
- Place boneless, cooked chicken in a mixing bowl or the bowl of a stand-up mixer.
- Set the mixer on low and mix.
- Et Viola! Perfect shredded chicken in a fraction on the time!!
Storing + Freezing + Meake Ahead
- How Long Can You Keep This In The Fridge? If you have leftover enchiladas, store them in an airtight container to keep them from drying out. Store in the fridge for 3-4 days for optimal freshness.
- Can You Freeze This? Sour cream can tend to get runny and/or chunky in the freezer. Freezing them will change the texture of the sauce. We suggest freezing the stuffed and rolled enchiladas without the sauce. Then make the white sauce on the day you plan to reheat it and eat it.
- Make-Ahead Tips: If you meal prep at the beginning of the week, these can easily be prepared several days in advance. Store the stuffed and rolled enchiladas in a covered baking dish. Keep the white sauce separate until you plan to cook the enchiladas. This will cut down on soggy tortillas.
- If you’re making the sauce in advance, it may get a bit too thick when it’s cooled and reheated. This is easy to fix. Add whole milk or chicken stock, one tablespoon at a time, during reheating to achieve your desired thickness. Be sure to stir or whisk thoroughly to maintain the creaminess of the sauce.
- Food Safety: If you’d like more info on food safety check out this link.
Sour Cream Chicken Enchilada Serving Recommendations
What better way to serve my chicken enchiladas than with a whole Mexican feast? My favorite things to serve with this are my Mexican Rice, charro beans, jalapeno cornbread, Mexican corn salad, and my Southwest salad (my family’s favorite salad! They always eat their veggies when I serve this). All the flavors in the dishes complement each other perfectly and I have a meal on the table that everyone is happy with.
How about some dessert? We like this with our margarita cake (totally nonalchoholic!), pineapple upside down cake, pig pickin cake, or pineapple sheet cake.
If you want to pair this with cocktails, try our pink margarita, pineapple margarita, or our old-fashioned mocktail, lime rickey!
More Delicious Mexican-Inspired Recipes
Tried This Recipe?
Leave a review, I love hearing your feedback! ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
White Chicken Enchiladas
Ingredients
- 8-10 small flour tortillas
- 3 cups cooked chicken shredded or chopped
- 3 cups Monterey jack cheese shredded-divided
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 3 tablespoons flour
- 2 cups chicken broth
- 1 cup sour cream
- 1 (4-ounce) can diced green chilies mild
- 2-3 tablespoons green onions sliced
Instructions
- Spray a 9x13-inch baking dish with cooking spray and set aside. Preheat oven to 350ºF (177ºC).
- In a small bowl, combine chicken (3 cups) and 1 cup of Monterey Jack cheese. Fill tortillas (8-10) with this mixture and roll each one up then place seam side down in the prepared pan.
- Melt the butter (3 tablespoons) in a skillet. Sprinkle flour (3 tablespoons) over melted butter and whisk to combine. Cook for 1 minute to remove the flour taste. Remove the skillet from heat and whisk in broth (2 cups). Place back on the heat and cook until the mixture has thickened and is bubbly. Cool sauce for 3-5 minutes. (Don't skip this step- if the sauce is too hot and you add the sour cream it will curdle it-yuck!). Add sour cream (1 cup) and chilies (1 can) and stir until the sauce is smooth and the sour cream is completely dissolved.
- Pour sauce over enchiladas and add remaining cheese over top. Bake in the preheated oven for 20-25 minutes or until the enchiladas are heated through and the sauce is bubbly. Turn on the broiler and broil until the top is nicely golden. Top with chopped green onions (2-3 tablespoons) and serve.
Laura says
Hi there! I’ve had other enchilada recipes that use flour tortillas and the tortillas seem to get really soggy when all combined and baked together. Before I make this recipe, do the flour tortillas get soggy and if so, have you tried using corn tortillas and what are your thoughts About substituting for corn tortillas?
Kathleen says
Hi, Laura! Keep the white sauce separate until you plan to cook the enchiladas. This will cut down on soggy tortillas. If you prefer, you can switch them with corn tortillas. I used fajita sized tortillas.
Rebecca says
Laura, I’ve made these three times and the flour tortillas were not soggy at all. In fact the outer edges were very crunchy. I assembled the dish and immediately put it in the oven. Hope you like it as much as I do.
Cheryl Shaver says
Laura, I use corn tortillas for this recipe and I think they add so much more flavor than flour tortillas. I fry them a few seconds on each side in a tiny bit of oil to make them more pliable.
Queena Shaw says
Making this again for the 100th time lol. It’s a dinner fav and in regular rotation in my home.
Kathleen says
Hi Queena, it is in our house, too! So happy you enjoy it, too!
Ka says
My family loves it! I’ve made it quite a few times!
Kathleen says
Yaaay! Thank you so much 🙂
Debbie Mutch says
Love this, I didn’t know about the white sauce but it’s absolutely fabulous. I cook a lot of Mexican food and spend winters in Mexico and this is the best!
Kathleen says
Thank you so much Debbie! I’m so happy you enjoyed. It’s one of our favorites, too!!
Carolyn says
Where do we put the diced green chiles?
Kathleen says
Hi, Carolyn! In step 3. <3
Kendress says
Family favorite! Thank you!
Kathleen says
Thank you too, Kendress! 🙂
Lauren Burnett says
Hi there!
These are the best!!! I’m planning on making a double batch today and freezing one back. Can you give me the reheat from frozen instructions or do I let them thaw completely and then heat them for 20 min?
Carol Drilling says
Were you able to freeze this..do you have instructions
Kathleen says
Hi, Carol. I suggest freezing the stuffed and rolled enchiladas without the sauce. Then make the white sauce on the day you plan to reheat and eat them.
Marianne C. says
What would be a good side for this aside from a salad?
Kathleen says
Hey, Marianne! Here are some: My favorite things to serve with this are my Mexican Rice and jalapeno cornbread.
Linda says
Awesome!
Kathleen says
Thanks, Linda! 🙂
Rebecca says
I’m making this dish for the third time. Rare for me since I’m always trying something new!
I have to say I decided to use the whole rotisserie chicken the second time since the individual rolled enchiladas were on the thin side. But that may be because the tortillas are 8” instead of 6”. Since I added more chicken I added a bit more cheese too. Rare also for me to make a recipe without BIG changes!
It was a big hit in my household! Since my favorite store has rotisserie chicken on special every Thursday, I foresee this recipe often in my future! Thanks!
Kathleen says
That’s amazing, Rebecca! That’s great to here 🙂
Steveshooman says
Really pleased with how easy this recipe was and how well it turned out. I love this style of enchiladas but hate that cream of chicken soup that so many recipes call for. I used only 2/3 of the cheese, and that was plenty for our household’s taste. Otherwise, followed the recipe to the letter. We will be having this again soon. Thank you!
Kathleen says
You’re so welcome, Steve!
Marianne C. says
Kathleen, I was searching for your sour cream chicken enchiladas, the one with a can of Rotel, but it seems to have vanished from your website. I was trying to find it on my phone while grocery shopping this morning to make sure I wasn’t forgetting something.
Kathleen says
Hey Marianne, I just sent you a copy via email <3
Donna Christensen says
I love making white sauce chicken enchiladas. But I was using a 1990 recipe and it was too much work but so good. Your way EXCELLENT AND TIME SAVING!!! Thank you for sharing. I made extra sauce to put some in my chicken mixture mixer, stir then put on the tortillas. Very very good!
Kathleen says
Thank you so much, Donna! I’m so happy you liked this recipe 🙂
Cheryl Shaver says
I have to admit that I was really skeptical about trying this recipe. I was looking for a highly rated one using cream of chicken soup even though I never really like them. But after reading the comments, I decided to give it a shot. Oh. My. Goodness! Can we just have a moment of silence for that sauce?!! I could eat it by itself. Anyway, I’m not a fan of flour tortillas so I made half corn and half flour. I fried the corn torts a little before filling. I did tweak the filling just a bit by adding sautéed onions, a little sour cream and a little green enchilada sauce from a bottle. I was afraid the filling might be too dry otherwise. I also warmed the flour tortillas on the griddle before filling to add a little flavor and hopefully avoid the sogginess. This recipe is outstanding. Try it. I promise that sauce will not disappoint.
Kathleen says
Thank you so much, Cheryl! I’m glad you liked this and I gotta try your tweaks too! 🙂
Carolyn L Crump says
When do you add the green chilies?
Kathleen says
In step 3 🙂
Susan says
I had some chicken left over can I just mix it in the sauce and pour on top?
Kathleen says
Yes. Enjoy!
Kim says
These were delicious and the exact recipe for sour cream chicken enchiladas I’ve been wanting!
Kathleen says
Yaaay! Thank you so much, Kim 🙂
Julia T North says
I actually used a recipe very similar to this one that I liked a lot but after reading this one, I think it’s better. The other one called for 24 oz chicken broth which is too much. Also the other one called for 8 oz green chillies. I’ll use this one in the future but with fresh cilantro and purple onions as a garnish. My question is, can this be frozen?
Kathleen says
Hi Julia. I have a section on how to store which includes if freezing is possible. “Can You Freeze This? Sour cream can tend to get runny and/or chunky in the freezer. Freezing them will change the texture of the sauce. We suggest freezing the stuffed and rolled enchiladas without the sauce. Then make the white sauce on the day you plan to reheat and eat them.”
Terry Davis says
How much is a 1/4 serving of this dish? One enchilada? Just looking at the nutrition info and the calorie content seems high. Let me know.
Thanks!
Kathleen says
Thanks, Terry. That’s for 2 rolls of tortillas.
Terry Davis says
Thanks for the reply!
So, the dish as a whole must be 897 calories and I’d need to divide everything up by servings for 1 person, correct?
Thanks!
Kathleen says
Hi, Terry, that’s the calories for 4 servings with 8 tortillas. The serving size is 2 tortillas each person.
Jess says
East to make and was so good. I actually made this unlike people who rate before trying (i hate that). I halved the green chiles since I have acid reflux. Will make again
Kathleen says
Thanks Jess! Happy was a hit for you 🙂
Robin Brians says
This was so good. I was just so surprised how good. The whole family liked it. From my picky five year old on up. I can be very critical too. .plus it’s just so easy. Thanks so much!
Kathleen says
Yaaay! Thank you so much, Robin! I’m so happy it was a hit 🙂
Marilyn England says
I am making these tonight and on Weight Watchers. When you say small tortillas are you referring to 8 inch tortillas or a 4 inch street taco size? Also, I have seen your nutrition comments and just want to be sure that 897 cal and the other nutrition is divided by the 8 servings.
Thank you
Kathleen says
Hi, Marilyn. I use fajita-sized tortillas (6-inch flour tortilla). The serving size is 2 tortillas each person.
TMA says
Very creamy and tasty! I wanted something mild and this was it!
Kathleen says
Yaay! I’m glad you like this 🙂