White chicken enchiladas are made with shredded chicken, monterey jack cheese, and a delicious green chile sour cream sauce!
This creamy white chicken enchiladas recipe is so simple to make and always a hit at dinner time. Serve it with other Mexican inspired favorites like Mexican street corn and pineapple margarita!
White Chicken Enchiladas
White Chicken Enchiladas
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Why you’ll love this chicken enchiladas with white sauce recipe!
📌 Creamy and filling!
📌 A great way to use up leftover chicken.
📌Easy to adjust to your family’s tastes.
White Chicken Enchilada Ingredients
- Chicken – Cooked and shredded. Pictured is white meat (breast), but dark meat also works well in this recipe.
- Tortillas – Traditionally corn tortillas are used in enchiladas, but our family preference is flour tortillas. You can use whichever you like best!
- Onion – Yellow onion, finely diced.
- Oil – Olive oil or mild vegetable oil.
- Seasonings – Cumin, salt, pepper.
- Butter – Salted butter.
- Flour – All purpose flour.
- Broth – Chicken or vegetable broth or stock.
- Green chiles – Canned chopped green chiles.
- Sour cream – Full fat sour cream (alternatively you can substitute plain Greek yogurt).
- Cheese – Monterey Jack cheese, shredded.
If you have the time, shred your own cheese. It’s cheaper and it melts better!
How do you make white chicken enchiladas? (step-by-step directions)
⭐ First, sauté onion, garlic, cumin, salt and pepper in oil until onion is tender. Add shredded chicken and continue cooking until heated through. Remove from heat and fold in shredded cheese.
⭐ Next, in a saucepan, melt the butter and whisk in flour. Slowly add chicken broth and simmer until thickened. Remove from heat and stir in sour cream and green chiles. Season with salt and pepper.
⭐ Then, spread some sour cream sauce on the bottom of your baking dish. Divide the chicken mixture into equal portions and place each portion into the center of a flour tortilla. Roll up the tortilla and place seam side down into the casserole dish. Pour remaining sour cream sauce over the tortillas followed by remaining cheese.
⭐ Finally bake at until heated through and bubbling around the edges.
Scroll down to the printable recipe card toward the bottom of this article for ingredient measurements and detailed cooking instructions.
Look at that gorgeous sauce coming together!
Preparation
What is white enchilada sauce made of?
Our cream white enchilada sauce is made of butter, flour, chicken broth, sour cream, and green chiles.
What kind of cheese for creamy white enchiladas?
This recipe calls for shredded monterey jack cheese.
Are corn or flour tortillas better for enchiladas?
Authentic enchiladas use corn tortillas. That said, try it both ways and see which your family prefers. You can always go half and half in the dish if there’s a split vote!
(We’re team flour tortillas at our house.)
Top with some cilantro for color and a zing of flavor.
Storage and leftovers
How long do white chicken enchiladas last?
The leftovers will keep for 3 – 4 days. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for best results.
Can you freeze creamy chicken enchiladas?
Yes, you can absolutely freeze this dish. My preference is to freeze before baking.
Wrap the dish tightly in foil, then again in plastic wrap. Store in an upright freezer for up to 3 months or a deep (chest) freezer for as long as six months.
Can you cook it from frozen?
To cook the dish from frozen, remove plastic wrap but keep foil on. Bake for forty-five minutes with foil, then remove foil and bake according to recipe directions.
Make sure that your dish is safe to go from freezer to oven before heating this way.
Creamy perfection!
Tips, tricks, and frequently asked questions
✅ Try it with corn and flour tortillas and let the family vote on their favorite version.
✅ Make a double batch and freeze one for an easy dinner later.
✅ Add a few tablespoons of pickled jalapenos to make it spicy!
✅ Try it with leftover shredded beef or pulled pork.
This is a great ‘take to the neighbors’ dish.
What to eat with white enchiladas (serving suggestions)
Round out the meal by serving this with crema salad and refried beans. For dessert make a batch of our famous lime bars!
Double the recipe and bake it in a roasting pan if you’re feeding a crowd.
More delicious Mexican inspired recipes
- Mexican cornbread casserole
- Roasted salsa recipe
- Taco casserole with ground beef
- Sheet pan fajitas
- See all our easy Mexican recipe ideas!
This is a great way to use up leftover meat.
Other awesome chicken recipes to try
- Chicken alfredo recipe
- Chick fil a nuggets recipe
- Classic chicken pot pie recipe
- Easy chicken parmesan
- See all our chicken dinner ideas!
Try swapping the sour cream for plain Greek yogurt to add more protein.
Tools we love
- Glass casserole dish with lid – I love this dish, it can go from freezer to oven!
- Metal spatula – We like a metal spatula for getting lots of cheesy chicken and peppers.
😍😍😍
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How to Make White Chicken Enchiladas
White Chicken Enchiladas
Ingredients
- 1.5 - 2 pounds chicken breasts cooked and shredded
- 8 tortillas flour or corn
- ½ medium yellow onion finely diced
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 tablespoon ground cumin
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
- 4 tablespoons salted butter
- 4 tablespoons all purpose flour
- 2 cups chicken broth or stock
- 1 can chopped green chiles 4 ounces
- 1 cup sour cream
- 2 cups shredded monterey jack divided equally in halves
Instructions
- Heat the oil in a medium sized skillet, then add the onion, garlic, cumin, salt and pepper. Sauté until the onion is tender, then add the shredded chicken and cook until heated through. Remove from heat and stir in 1 cup of shredded monterey jack cheese. Set aside.
- In a medium sized saucepan, melt the butter and whisk in the flour. Allow to cook about a minute, then slowly whisk in the chicken broth. Bring to a simmer and cook, stirring often, until thickened, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in the sour cream and green chiles. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
- Spread about ½ cup of the sour cream sauce onto the bottom of a 9x13 inch casserole dish.
- Divide the chicken mixture into 8 equal portions. Put each portion into the center of a flour tortilla. Roll up the tortilla and place seam side down into the casserole dish.
- Pour the remaining sour cream sauce evenly over the rolled up tortillas, then sprinkle the remaining cup of monterey jack cheese over the top.
- Bake at 350° F for 20 to 30 minutes, until cheese is melted and sauce is bubbling around the edges.
Notes
Nutrition
White Chicken Enchiladas
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Love enchiladas? Try our enchilada casserole or classic beef enchiladas next!
Kristyn says
We make these all the time! Half my family prefers white chicken enchiladas over red enchiladas, so we make both!! These are cheesy & so tasty!!
Jennifer Lehner says
We loved these chicken enchiladas, so easy to make!
Jessica says
Woah! Talk about delicious and easy! I made this and my kids think I’m a super mom now. So so good, thank you!
Anna says
We just had these enchiladas for dinner and there are no leftovers! Everyone loved this dish! I will be making it again soon!
Debi says
Just stumbled on this site from pinterest. I made the chicken enchiladas last night for the first time and doubled the recipe. I took a pan over to friends that had family in the hospital and invited other friends to dinner with the family. Everyone loved them. Definite 5 star recipe. Thank you.
Angie jolliff says
Can you freeze this?
Jenny Hennegar says
The whole family loved these. They were delicious and easy to make!
Kelly Heemstra says
Delicious and creamy!
Anna says
My family loved this!!! I served with refried beans and rice with lime. I will be making this again
Leslie says
My boyfriend told me these were the best chicken enchiladas he’d ever had! No better compliment to me! Thank you!
Leslie Mello says
Has anyone made these with pepper jack cheese?
Madeliene says
Never any leftovers with this dish!