Chicken Enchilada Casserole
Chicken enchilada casserole is the casserole I put together when I was pregnant to store in the freezer for an easy dinner. It’s also the casserole I’ll often make when someone’s had a baby (or a funeral).
Enchilada casseroles are great because you can take all the shortcuts, or just some of them. Make your own salsa verde or buy a 16 ounce jar. Use a fresh (or leftover) roast chicken, poach some chicken breast, or use a rotisserie chicken; Hell, a can of chicken would be fine. Add sour cream and cheese layered with corn tortillas and a few minutes to heat. Dinner is ready in under 15 minutes.
If you want more vegetables, add some diced zucchini or mushrooms to the chicken mixture. You could add beans, too, or corn. This is a very flexible “recipe”: a little more sauce or a little less, a couple more stale tortillas to throw in, more cheese, different cheese, red sauce instead of green. As long as your ingredients and amounts are pretty close, you’ll be fine. I love recipes like that.
To freeze this enchilada casserole, just cover tightly with foil and freeze. It’ll stay good for a month in there. Put the whole frozen thing in the oven and bake for 45 minutes. Remove the foil and let it go a little longer until it’s hot and bubbly.
Here’s a tip I’ve never actually tried, but seems like a good idea if you are short on extra dishes to leave in the freezer: Line your pan with foil, leaving some excess around the sides; assemble the casserole. Freeze solid. Fold the foil over the top. Remove from the pan; wrap in more foil or plastic if necessary to seal. Put back into freezer. To bake, put the frozen foil block back into the pan (which has been happily sitting in your cabinet this whole time, not wasting away in the freezer) and bake.
Watch the Chicken Enchilada Casserole Video on YouTube
Chicken Enchilada Casserole Recipe
Chicken Enchilada Casserole
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Total Time: 10 minutes
- Yield: 6 1x
Ingredients
- 2 cups shredded cooked chicken
- 2 cups salsa verde
- 1 cup sour cream
- 5 ounces baby spinach, steamed
- 8 corn tortillas, halved
- 1 1/2 cups grated Monterey Jack or Cheddar
- Garnish: chopped green onions, black olives, pickled jalapeños, avocado
Instructions
- Mix the chicken with 1 cup of the salsa and all of the sour cream. Get all the chicken coated in this. That will keep the chicken juicy if you decide to freeze it.
- Steam the spinach in the microwave for about 60 seconds and drain.
- Get a 7×11 or a square baking dish.
- Layer 1/3 of the tortillas and 1/2 of the chicken and spinach on top. Sprinkle some cheese
- Pour another 1/4 cup salsa over.
- Layer 1/3 tortillas and rest of the chicken.
- Layer remaining tortillas and pour the rest of the salsa over the top.
- Sprinkle with the cheese.
- Microwave about 10 minutes or bake at 350ºF for 30 minutes or until hot throughout.
- Rest 5 minutes before cutting. Serve with garnishes
Notes
Made your own salsa verde with this recipe or buy a 16 ounce jar
Nutrition
- Calories: 335
- Fat: 19
- Carbohydrates: 22
- Protein: 12
Chicken Enchilada Casserole Recipe Video
15 Comments
Leave a Comment
Nailed it! Delicious easy recipe. I made the prep slightly harder on myself and used uncooked tortillas so I had to brown ’em up real quick but it only added a few minutes.
Awesome! So glad to hear that, Ashley 🙂
I actually make your chili cheese enchiladas pretty often, or at least the sauce for them, which is amazing, but I make them like this as a casserole! It’s way easier than rolling each one individually, especially when I’m making multiple pans to feed a large crowd. Love the idea of steaming the spinach in the microwave — definitely going to try that next time I want to use fresh spinach in a casserole or pot pie.
LOVED this recipe! My bf and I raved about it all night. I added refried beans and black beans to my chicken mixture because I had them on hand plus I was making one batch for dinner and one as a freezer meal I wanted to extend the life of my chicken. It was delicious and I’m half tempted to cook my second batch for dinner tomorrow night =)
I’m SO happy to hear that, Marcia! I love this recipe, too 🙂
Just made 3 of these, two for the freezer (we’ve got a baby coming any day and lots of out of town family planning visits) and the third’s in the oven for tonight, can’t wait to eat it!
Excellent! I love this casserole. Congratulations on the new baby! Hope you have an easy labor 🙂
This recipe is fantastic! I have made it a few times, taken to my daughters, it travels well, for their enjoyment and now made it with brussel sprouts rather than spinach because I forgot to buy spinach and I am hosting Superbowl and it is my main dish. It is delicious with brussel sprouts as well! Thank you Hilah my entire family and Superbowl guests love it! You make me look like I am a chef!!! Thank you!
Yay! That’s fantastic, Debbie! Brussels sprouts? What a good adaptation to the recipe!
Thanks, as always, for great easy basic recipes. I made mine with some red ranchero sauce that I made last week for huevos rancheros (I think I got the basic idea for the sauce from you too), kale and some frozen corn. Turned out really nice and I’ll eat for a week. Been watching your show since the orange kitchen and introduced more than a few friends to your show who are now fans as well How’s LA treating you?
Hi Lawrence!
So glad the recipe worked for you! We really love living in LA – the weather is great and we’ve made lots of new friends. Thanks for asking 🙂 And thanks for telling your friends about the show!
I’m always asked for the recipe when I serve it. Often use beans if I have them. Also, I use 4 oz. cream cheese in the sauce and just a little sour cream with the chicken. Lots of spinach! And pepper jack cheese works too. Green onions on top a must.
This is a great easy recipe that is a regular in our rotation, especially since it uses spinach which always seems to be lurking in the fridge. Thanks for this easy meal!
Love this recipe! It is a great Superbowl Sunday dish for a party or your own small viewing party! Hilah, thank you for this recipe and all the others I make. Wishing you and yours a happy, healthy and a love filled New Year!
Can you make ahead and put in fridge?