Homemade Chicken Enchiladas

These homemade chicken enchiladas are one of those meals that can be as homemade or as half-assed as you want them to be.

Shredded chicken, roasted green chiles, cheese, and a little homemade enchilada sauce make up the filling. Everything gets rolled into soft flour tortillas, covered with more sauce and plenty of cheese, and baked until bubbly.

I usually make these with my homemade flour tortillas, homemade red enchilada sauce, and green peppers I’ve roasted and frozen from the garden.

But you absolutely don’t have to make every component from scratch. Store-bought tortillas, canned green chiles, rotisserie chicken, and canned enchilada sauce will still get dinner on the table.

Homemade Chicken Enchiladas

Homemade chicken enchiladas filled with shredded chicken, roasted green chiles, cheese, and enchilada sauce, rolled in soft flour tortillas and baked under plenty of sauce and melted cheese.

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Prep Time 15 minutes mins

Cook Time 25 minutes mins

Total Time 40 minutes mins

Servings: 6

Course: dinner, Main Course

Cuisine: mexican-inspired

Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients

  

• 3-4 cups cooked shredded chicken
• 1 4-ounce can diced green chiles or one homemade roasted-green-pepper puck
• ½ cup homemade red enchilada sauce
• ¾-1 cup shredded cheese
• 10-12 homemade flour tortillas
• remaining homemade enchilada sauce about 2–2½ cups
• 1½-2 cups additional shredded cheese

Method

 

1. Preheat oven to 375°F.
2. Combine the shredded chicken, green chiles, about ½ cup enchilada sauce, and ¾–1 cup shredded cheese. Mix until everything is evenly combined. The filling should be moist but not swimming in sauce.
3. Spoon the chicken mixture down the center of each tortilla and roll.
4. Arrange the enchiladas seam-side down in a 9×13-inch baking dish.
5. Pour the remaining enchilada sauce evenly over the top, then cover generously with the remaining shredded cheese.
6. Bake for 20–25 minutes, until the sauce is bubbling and the cheese is completely melted.
7. For a little extra browning, broil for 1–2 minutes at the end.
8. Serve with sour cream, avocado, fresh jalapeños, or a simple salad.

Notes

Fresh-milled flour: Allow the tortilla dough to rest before adjusting the flour. Freshly milled flour continues absorbing liquid as it sits, so dough that initially seems sticky may be just right after resting.

Green chiles: I roast whatever green peppers are growing in the garden, sweat, peel, and chop them, then freeze them in portions roughly equivalent to a 4-ounce can of diced green chiles.

Chicken: Leftover roasted chicken works especially well. Use the carcass to make chicken broth and use that broth in the enchilada sauce.

Shortcuts are welcome: Store-bought tortillas, canned green chiles, prepared broth, and rotisserie chicken all work.

A Full-Circle Meal

This is one of my favorite meals for making the most of what we already have.

I’ll roast a whole chicken for dinner, save the leftover meat for enchiladas, and use the carcass to make homemade chicken broth. That broth then goes into my homemade enchilada sauce.

1

Homemade Red Enchilada Sauce

Easy homemade red enchilada sauce made with tomato sauce, chicken broth and pantry spices. Ready in about 10 minutes.

Check out this recipe

During garden season, I also roast whatever green peppers we have growing, let them sweat, peel and chop them, and freeze them in little pucks roughly equivalent to a 4-ounce can of diced green chiles.

Add homemade flour tortillas which I usually make with fresh-milled flour and you’ve got one of those meals where all the little things you’ve made, grown, or saved finally come together.

2

Homemade Flour Tortillas

Soft homemade flour tortillas made with a handful of simple ingredients, with instructions and hydration tips for using fresh-milled flour.

Check out this recipe

Or, you know, buy all of it at the store. I use Thrive Market for all my organic grocery needs.

Both count as dinner.

Using Garden Peppers Instead of Canned Green Chiles

I rarely buy actual canned green chiles anymore.

During garden season, I use whatever green peppers I have growing. I roast them until the skins blister, let them sweat, peel and chop them, and then freeze them in portions roughly equivalent to a standard 4-ounce can of diced green chiles.

When I’m making enchiladas, I just pull one puck from the freezer.

If you’re also drowning in garden peppers, my free Too Much of a Good Thing guide has more ideas for using, preserving, and freezing peppers before they go to waste.

No garden peppers in your freezer? Grab a 4-ounce can of diced green chiles and carry on.

What to Serve with Chicken Enchiladas

These don’t need much. I usually serve them with a simple chopped salad, avocado, sour cream, lime, and fresh jalapeños.

Rice, beans, corn, or chips and salsa would all work if you want to stretch the meal further.

Then again, I’ve absolutely eaten an enchilada standing over the pan, so consider the sides optional.