Chicken Enchiladas (Creamy Green Chile)
My family votes on dinner once a week. These win so often I’ve considered rigging the election for variety. Green chile chicken enchiladas have an unfair advantage — they’re cheesy, creamy, slightly spicy, and come out of the oven bubbling and golden in a way that makes everyone crowd the kitchen the moment the timer goes off. It’s not a fair fight against “Tuesday’s leftover soup” or “whatever’s in the fridge.” The enchiladas win by a landslide every time.
Ingredients
For the Green Chile Sauce
- 2 cans diced green chillies 4oz each
- 1 cup sour cream
- 1 cup chicken broth
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tablespoon flour
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1/2 teaspoon cumin
- Salt and pepper
For the Enchiladas
- 3 cups cooked shredded chicken rotisserie chicken is perfect
- 2 cups shredded Monterey Jack or Mexican blend cheese
- 8-10 flour tortillas 8-inch
- 1/2 cup sour cream mixed into the filling
- Fresh cilantro, diced avocado for serving
Method
Make the Green Chile Sauce
-
Melt butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Add garlic — 30 seconds. Add flour and stir for 1 minute (this is a small roux that thickens the sauce). Pour in chicken broth gradually, stirring to avoid lumps. Add the green chillies, cumin, salt, and pepper. Simmer 5 minutes until slightly thickened. Remove from heat and stir in the sour cream. The sauce should be creamy, pale green, and mildly spicy with visible green chile pieces. Taste it: tangy from the sour cream, warm from the cumin, with a gentle heat from the chillies.
Make the Filling
-
Mix the shredded chicken with 1 cup of shredded cheese, 1/2 cup sour cream, and a couple spoonfuls of the green chile sauce. The filling should be creamy and scoopable — rich enough to taste good but not so wet that the tortillas go soggy.
Assemble
-
Spread a thin layer of green chile sauce on the bottom of a 9×13 baking dish. Spoon filling down the centre of each tortilla. Roll tightly and place seam-side down in the dish. Pack them close together. Pour the remaining green chile sauce over the top — every tortilla should be covered. Top with the remaining cheese.
Bake
-
Cover with foil and bake at 175C / 350F for 20 minutes. Remove the foil and bake 10 more minutes until the cheese is melted, bubbly, and starting to brown at the edges. Let rest 5 minutes before serving. The rest is important — molten enchiladas straight from the oven will scald your mouth and fall apart on the spatula. Five minutes of patience gives you cleaner slices and prevents emergency ice water.
Creamy Green Chile Chicken Enchiladas
My family votes on dinner once a week. These win so often I’ve considered rigging the election for variety. Green chile chicken enchiladas have an unfair advantage — they’re cheesy, creamy, slightly spicy, and come out of the oven bubbling and golden in a way that makes everyone crowd the kitchen the moment the timer goes off. It’s not a fair fight against “Tuesday’s leftover soup” or “whatever’s in the fridge.” The enchiladas win by a landslide every time.
These are green chile enchiladas — flour or corn tortillas stuffed with shredded chicken and cheese, smothered in a creamy green chile sauce made from roasted green chillies, sour cream, and chicken broth. They’re milder than red enchiladas, creamier, and universally kid-friendly. My picky eater — the one who rejects anything that “looks spicy” based purely on colour — eats these without complaint because the sauce is green and therefore not suspicious. The logic of children is a mystery I’ve stopped trying to solve.
Ingredients
For the Green Chile Sauce
- • 2 cans (4oz each) diced green chillies
- • 1 cup sour cream
- • 1 cup chicken broth
- • 2 cloves garlic, minced
- • 1 tablespoon flour
- • 1 tablespoon butter
- • 1/2 teaspoon cumin
- • Salt and pepper
For the Enchiladas
- • 3 cups cooked shredded chicken (rotisserie chicken is perfect)
- • 2 cups shredded Monterey Jack or Mexican blend cheese
- • 8-10 flour tortillas (8-inch)
- • 1/2 cup sour cream (mixed into the filling)
- • Fresh cilantro, diced avocado for serving
How to Make Them
Make the Green Chile Sauce
Melt butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Add garlic — 30 seconds. Add flour and stir for 1 minute (this is a small roux that thickens the sauce). Pour in chicken broth gradually, stirring to avoid lumps. Add the green chillies, cumin, salt, and pepper. Simmer 5 minutes until slightly thickened. Remove from heat and stir in the sour cream. The sauce should be creamy, pale green, and mildly spicy with visible green chile pieces. Taste it: tangy from the sour cream, warm from the cumin, with a gentle heat from the chillies.
Make the Filling
Mix the shredded chicken with 1 cup of shredded cheese, 1/2 cup sour cream, and a couple spoonfuls of the green chile sauce. The filling should be creamy and scoopable — rich enough to taste good but not so wet that the tortillas go soggy.
Assemble
Spread a thin layer of green chile sauce on the bottom of a 9×13 baking dish. Spoon filling down the centre of each tortilla. Roll tightly and place seam-side down in the dish. Pack them close together. Pour the remaining green chile sauce over the top — every tortilla should be covered. Top with the remaining cheese.
Bake
Cover with foil and bake at 175C / 350F for 20 minutes. Remove the foil and bake 10 more minutes until the cheese is melted, bubbly, and starting to brown at the edges. Let rest 5 minutes before serving. The rest is important — molten enchiladas straight from the oven will scald your mouth and fall apart on the spatula. Five minutes of patience gives you cleaner slices and prevents emergency ice water.
Why These Always Win the Vote
I’ve analysed it. The winning formula is: familiar format (tortilla + cheese = comfortable territory), creamy sauce (kids love creamy), mild heat (nobody cries), and the oven-baked cheese factor. That bubbly, slightly browned cheese on top is a visual trigger that my family responds to with Pavlovian enthusiasm. When they see a 9×13 dish come out of the oven with golden cheese on top, all four kids materialise at the table within 60 seconds. No calling, no negotiating, no “five more minutes.” The cheese does the parenting for me.
Tips
💡 Pro Tips
✓ Rotisserie chicken is the shortcut. Shred a store-bought rotisserie chicken and skip 30 minutes of cooking. No shame. Maximum efficiency.
✓ Flour tortillas hold up better. Corn tortillas are more traditional but crack when rolling. If using corn, warm them in the microwave first to make them pliable.
✓ Sour cream in the sauce AND the filling. Double sour cream = double creaminess. This is not the time for moderation.
✓ Sauce on the bottom of the dish. This prevents the bottom tortillas from sticking and drying out.
Variations
• Beef enchiladas: Use seasoned ground beef instead of chicken. Add black beans to the filling.
• Vegetarian: Black beans, roasted sweet potato, and extra cheese. The green chile sauce makes anything delicious.
• Red chile version: Swap the green chile sauce for a red enchilada sauce (canned is fine). More traditional, slightly smokier.
• Freezer-friendly batch: Assemble two pans — bake one, freeze one. The frozen pan bakes from frozen at 175C / 350F for 45-50 minutes covered, then 10 uncovered. Future you will be grateful.
How to Store
Fridge for 4-5 days. Reheat covered in the oven at 175C / 350F for 15-20 minutes. Freezes assembled but unbaked for 3 months — one of the best freezer meal options in my entire recipe collection. I always make double and freeze one pan. It’s the Polish Mom way: cook once, eat twice.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are green chillies?
Mild green Hatch or Anaheim chillies, diced and canned. Available everywhere. They have gentle heat and a slightly sweet, vegetal flavour. Not spicy enough to bother kids, flavourful enough to make the sauce interesting.
Can I make the sauce from scratch with fresh chillies?
Absolutely — roast 6-8 fresh Hatch or poblano chillies under the broiler until charred. Peel, seed, and dice. Use instead of canned. The flavour is deeper and smokier. More effort, better result — the eternal cooking trade-off that I make when I have time and skip when I don’t.
How many does this serve?
A 9×13 pan holds 8-10 enchiladas, which serves 4-5 hungry people or about 3 teenagers (teenagers eat like they have a second stomach that only activates after the first one is full). For a family of six, I make one and a half batches — one full pan for dinner and a half-pan for lunches the next day. The enchiladas reheat beautifully, and honestly my kids prefer them the next day when the flavours have melded and the tortillas have absorbed more sauce. Day-two enchiladas are a gift from the meal prep gods and I will not hear otherwise.
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