Creamy Chicken Enchiladas

These deliciously creamy chicken enchiladas are one of my family’s most requested dishes. Filled with simple but flavorful ingredients, they never fail to please.

Of all of the dishes that I make, this creamy chicken enchilada dish is the one for which I get the most recipe requests. My friend Terri introduced me to the idea of white enchiladas over 15 years ago. I loved hers, and I’ve been making them ever since. I’ve tweaked the recipe over the years and this is the way I currently make them.

⏲️ Time needed

If you have prepared ingredients in the freezer and thaw them ahead of time, this meal can be ready in about 40 minutes. If you need to do your chopping and sautéing as you prepare, add at least 15 minutes for that.

🥘 Ingredients

• shredded or chopped cooked chicken
• cream of chicken soup
• chicken broth
• sour cream
• chopped & sautéed onion
• chopped & sautéed bell pepper
• Rotel tomatoes and green chilies
• green chilies
• cumin
• Adobo or garlic salt
• tortillas
• shredded Mexican blend cheese
• non-stick cooking spray

📋 Instructions

Make the basis for the filling and the sauce by combining the soup, chicken broth, and sour cream. Set aside 1/2 of this mixture for the sauce if you like to add sauce on top; if not keep all of it together for filling.

To the remaining filling mixture add the chicken, sautéed onion, sautéed bell pepper, drained chilies, drained Rotel, and spices to taste.

Add half of the cheese.

Place about 1/2 cup of the chicken mixture onto the center of each tortilla, rolling each one up and placing it seam side down in a prepared 9×12 pan.

If you reserved some of the filling to use as sauce, pour it over enchiladas. Sprinkle the reserved cheese over enchiladas and cook at 350°F for about 25 minutes or until bubbly.

💭 Tips

I rarely start a recipe by sautéing chicken or browning ground beef. I’m a big believer in doing as much preparation as possible before I need to start cooking so that dinnertime is low stress (enjoyable, even!).

For this recipe I use fast ingredients from the freezer—cooked chicken, sautéed onion, and sautéed bell pepper—to speed up my preparation time.

It takes less time to sauté or grill (my preferred method) several pounds of chicken once than to cook one pound at a time multiple times. The same is true with browning ground beef, sautéing chopped onions, and sautéing chopped bell peppers. Typically we do huge batches of peppers and onions in the summer when bell peppers are plentiful.

The “prep it before you need it” method is the crux of the Secrets of a Busy Cook and the biggest key in cutting down on prep time. Using pre-cooked ingredients saves me lots of chopping, cooking, and clean-up time in the evening when I am tired and everyone is hungry.

📖 Recipe

Creamy Chicken Enchiladas

6

Calories per Serving: 432

Course: Main Dish

Cuisine: Tex-Mex

Adjust quantity:

6

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5 from 1 vote

Prep Time: 30 mins

Cook Time: 25 mins

Total Time: 55 mins

This Creamy Chicken Enchilada dish is perfect for sharing with a group. When you take it to your next potluck, though, be prepared for all the recipe requests!

Ingredients

• 2 cups shredded or chopped cooked chicken
• 1 can cream of chicken soup
• 1 can chicken broth
• 8 oz. sour cream
• 1 onion, chopped & sautéed
• 1 bell pepper, chopped & sautéed (any color)
• 2 Tbsp. vegetable oil
• 1 can Rotel tomatoes and green chilies, drained
• 1 can green chilies, drained
• 1/2 tsp. cumin
• Adobo or garlic salt
• 6 flour tortillas, 8"
• 2 cups Mexican blend cheese, shredded
• non-stick cooking spray

Instructions

• Chop and sauté the onion and bell pepper in the vegetable oil.
• Combine soup, chicken broth, and sour cream. Set aside 1/2 of this mixture for the sauce if you like to add sauce on top; if not keep all of it together for filling.
• To the remaining mixture add chicken, sautéed onion and pepper, chilies, Rotel, and spices to taste. Add half of the cheese.
• Place 1/2 cup of chicken mixture onto each tortilla, roll up, and place the tortillas seam side down in a 9x12 pan.
• If you reserved half the sauce, pour it over enchiladas now.
• Sprinkle remaining cheese over enchiladas.
• Cook at 350°F for about 25 minutes or until bubbly.

Notes

You can make these enchiladas two ways: smothered in white creamy sauce reserved from the filling or use all of the filling mixture inside the enchiladas with no sauce on top.

Although this recipe instructs you to sauté the peppers and onions, if you are using the Secrets of a Busy Cook, you will have prepared onions, peppers, and chicken in your freezer to use in this recipe. The principle of preparing frequently used ingredients in bulk saves lots of time in the evening, but doesn't add much time on the front end. When you are cooking onions for a meal, cook up a whole bag instead of just one, then freeze the rest. If you do this often with common ingredients, your time in the kitchen will be much more efficient.

Nutrition

Calories: 432kcal | Carbohydrates: 20g | Protein: 24g | Fat: 28g | Saturated Fat: 16g | Cholesterol: 90mg | Sodium: 560mg | Potassium: 307mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 4g | Vitamin A: 574IU | Vitamin C: 19mg | Calcium: 335mg | Iron: 2mg | Net Carbs: 18g

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🥗 Side dishes

I like to serve these enchiladas with refried beans (topped with red enchilada sauce and shredded cheese like they do at Taco Bell) and a salad or slow-simmered green beans.

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