Chicken Enchilada Casserole
This post first appeared on Real Housemoms where we are contributors.
Easy Chicken Enchilada Casserole is packed with layers of chicken, enchilada sauce, tortillas, and cheese. It’s easy comfort food that your whole family will love.
Chicken Enchilada Casserole
This Chicken Enchilada Casserole recipe is so quick and easy to make. Five simple ingredients are layered into a casserole dish and baked together until the cheese and sauce are melted and bubbling. All of those amazing layers baked together into this delicious enchilada casserole. I think it’s even better traditional enchiladas!
If you like it as much as we do make sure to give our Beef Enchilada Casserole a try too!
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Enchiladas of any kind are at the top of my favorite foods list and this cheesy, easy Chicken Enchilada Casserole is the most fun task you’ll take on when making enchiladas for dinner. Forget about the tedious mess of rolling up tortillas and getting sauce everywhere. This simple recipe takes all of the ingredients we love and layers them into a delicious casserole that the whole family will love.
What Ingredients are in Chicken Enchilada Casserole?
- Flour tortillas – Traditionally enchiladas are made with corn tortillas but I have always preferred flour tortillas because I like how soft they are. If you prefer the more traditional version you can substitute corn tortillas for flour tortillas. Since corn tortillas are smaller you will need a few more than are listed in the recipe to cover each layer.
- Enchilada sauce – I make this quick and easy homemade red enchilada sauce for my casserole and I think it takes them to the next level. It’s not required though! If you want to save time you can use your favorite store-bought enchilada sauce.
- Seasoned Chicken – You can cook chicken breasts and shred them yourself or you can buy a rotisserie chicken and shred it to save some time. The shredded chicken is cooked with taco seasoning to give it a bold Tex-Mex flavor.
- Yellow onion – These slightly sweet onions are finely diced and cooked with the chicken until they are translucent. They add just the right amount of savory flavor to the dish.
- Cheddar cheese – Cheese may be my favorite part of enchiladas…right after that red sauce! I use sharp cheddar for my enchiladas but you can also use mild cheddar, or a Mexican cheese blend if you prefer.
How to Make Chicken Enchilada Casserole:
- Start by placing your shredded chicken, onions, taco seasoning and a ¼ cup of water into a skillet and cook over medium-high heat for 5 minutes until the liquid has mostly disappeared. When the meat has finished cooking set it to the side.
- Grease an 11×9 inch casserole dish and pour 1/2 cup of enchilada sauce into the bottom. This will help to keep the bottom tortillas from burning.
- Create a layer of tortillas on top of the sauce with 2 tortillas so that they cover the bottom of the dish. Now you start your layers. Place 1/3 of the chicken on top of the tortillas, followed by a ½ cup of the enchilada sauce, and 1 cup of cheese.
- Then create two more layers adding two tortillas, chicken, enchilada sauce, and cheese twice. Place the final two tortillas on top and pour remaining enchilada sauce over it followed by cheese.
- Cover the casserole dish with aluminum foil and bake at 350 degrees F. for 30 minutes. Once it has finished baking remove from the oven and let cool for about 10 minutes before cutting and serving.
What to Serve with Chicken Enchilada Casserole:
Looking for More Easy Comfort Food Casseroles?
- Beef Enchilada Casserole
- Breakfast Burrito Casserole
- King Ranch Chicken Casserole
- Chicken Tortilla Casserole
- Taco Macaroni Casserole
- Pizza Casserole
- Chicken Parmesan Bake
- Creamed Corn Casserole
- More Casserole Recipes…
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Chicken Enchilada Casserole
Ingredients
- 2.5 cups Enchilada sauce
- 8 -8 inch Flour tortillas
- 2 lbs Chicken, shredded
- ¼ cup Taco seasoning
- ½ cup yellow onion, diced
- 12 ounce Cheddar cheese, shredded
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- Place shredded chicken, onions, taco seasoning and ¼ cup of water into a skillet and cook over medium high heat for 5 minutes until the liquid has mostly disappeared.
- In a greased, 11×9 casserole dish add ½ cup of the enchilada sauce to the bottom and then place two tortillas on top of it so that they cover the bottom of the dish.
- Place 1/3 of the chicken on top of the tortillas, followed by ½ cup of the enchilada sauce, and 1 cup of cheese.
- Repeat steps to create two more layers.
- Place the final two tortillas on top and pour remaining enchilada sauce over it followed by cheese.
- Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 30 minutes. Remove the cover and continue to bake for 10 minutes.
Nutrition
This was phenomenal! It was easy to follow and tasted soooo Yummi! Thank you for posting.
What can you use in place of an 11×9 baking dish? I only have a 9×13 or an 8×8 which would be better? Does the cooking time need to be adjusted?
Go with the the 9×13 and spread it further apart. Time can vary be a few minutes, just keep an eye on it.
Is this recipe keto friendly??
No this is not keto or low carb because it has tortillas in it.
Can you make ahead and freeze?
Can this recipe be frozen well?
Yes, it can be frozen as one whole casserole or into smaller portions. Any exposed tortilla may dry out when reheating, so I add cheese or more sauce to those parts.
This recipe is so easy to throw together and tastes fabulous! I typically don’t enjoy a tortilla casserole the next day but this one changed my mind. Served it with homemade black bean soup, cornbread and salad. Delish!!
Thank you Carol 🙂
The recipe says 1/4 CUP of taco seasoning, the seems like a lot. Is the measurement correct?
Yes that is correct. That is 2 tablespoons per pound of chicken. Feel free to start with less and add more as needed if you prefer.
We try not to eat flour tortillas because they are too high in sodium. Can I substitute corn tortillas instead?
Yes you can substitute corn tortillas!
This was delicious! I followed the recipe exactly. Super tasty and now will be on regular rotation in our family. So much easier than rolling the enchiladas (and having them break).
Can you prepare this ahead the night before so that you can just throw it in the oven the next day?
Yes! It will need to bake a little longer since it will be cold all the way through. I suggest to start by adding 10 minutes and check the temp in the center to decide when it is warmed through
I have fresh spinach I need to use up. Do you think it would be good adding to the layers?
I love spinach in just about anything but if you’re going to add it to the layers without cooking it first it may release water as it cooks making things a little soggy. I suggest steaming it first and then squeezing it well to remove as much excess water as possible before adding it to the casserole.
WOW !! I have been cooking more lately, and each dish I make there’s 1 or 2 things I’d change even if I followed instructions exactly. This dish? I’d change nothing.
Me and my housemates LOVED it, I’ll be making it again for sure.
Thanks 🙂
confused about amount of enchilada sauce needed – the steps seem to refer to using a 1/2 c of sauce five times, but the recipe calls for just 2 cups
Hi Patricia, you’re correct it should be 2.5 cups of enchilada sauce. I’ve updated the recipe to correct it. Thank you!
Hi there! We are green chili fans. Would this be just as good with substituting green sauce for the red?
Yes I think so! It would be just as delicious.
This recipe was easy to make and tasted amazing!!!! My family loved it so it’s definitely a keeper! Thank you!!
Tried this last night for my family of 9 and it was a big hit! Every single person gobbled it up, even the littlest ones.
I prefer corn tortillas so we did those and I added 1 can of corn and 1 can of black beans to the chicken while adding the taco seasoning.
Lastly, we topped with shredded lettuce, cilantro, olives, and sour cream. Next time I might even add avacados and salsa.
This is defineatly a recipe we are adding into dinner roatation – thank you!
Love the idea of adding shredded lettuce on top. I’m going to give that a try.