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30 Minute Green Chile Chicken Enchiladas

April 20, 202152 Comments 4.5

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Green Chile Chicken Enchiladas in 30 minutes? Yes, it’s possible and this recipe is going to be a family favorite in no time at all.

Gooey cheese, spicy green chile, and hearty chunks of chicken come together to make this easy dinner.

30 Minute Green Chile Chicken Enchiladas - get the recipe at barefeetinthekitchen.com

This simple recipe for Green Chile Chicken Enchiladas is cheesy, spicy, and well-loved by my family.

I’ve been making 30-Minute “casserole style” Enchiladas for so long, I can’t recall the last time I rolled or stacked a batch of enchiladas in a more traditional recipe.

You can have these Green Chile Enchiladas on the table in less time than it would take to pick up take-out. I promise they’ll taste better than anything you can buy.

How To Make Enchiladas

I alternate making enchiladas with red chile or green chile enchilada sauce, depending on my mood as I’m cooking most of the time. However, I can’t deny that I choose green chile at least 90% of the time.

One of my boys prefers red chile though, so every so often a batch of red enchiladas will make it’s way to our table.

You can also make them “Christmas-style” – and use a combination of both sauces for the layers, similar to the way the flavors are combined in this Mexican Lasagna.

We are rarely patient enough to wait for a pan of enchiladas to cool enough to slice pretty, so we typically eat our enchiladas with a pile of crunchy tortilla chips as a hot and cheesy “dip.”

If your preference is sliceable enchiladas, let them cool 15-20 minutes prior to serving. If you haven’t eaten a plate of gooey enchiladas alongside a pile of crunchy chips, then you are missing out.

Try it once and I’m willing to bet you’ll never choose “sliceable” enchiladas again.

No one can resist these 30 Minute Green Chile Chicken Enchiladas! get the recipe at barefeetinthekitchen.com

Easy Chicken Enchiladas

My favorite tips for these Green Chile Chicken Enchiladas are illustrated in this video. I slice the tortillas into wedges before layering them into the dish.

This makes each serving easier to eat, with a great balance of flavors and textures in each bite, and it prevents any giant chunks of tortilla from making their way to your fork.

For an awesome slow-cooker variation on an enchilada dinner, check out this Crock Pot Mexican Casserole. All the southwestern flavors we love in a simple slow cooker dinner.

Enchilada Recipes

For more great enchilada recipes, save these recipes for Breakfast Enchiladas and Cheesy Chicken White Bean Enchiladas.

Check out these Steak Fajita Enchiladas by Aggie’s Kitchen and our BBQ Chicken Enchiladas too. 

This Ground Turkey (low carb) Enchilada Casserole by Kalyn’s Kitchen and these Enchiladas Suizas by A Zesty Bite also look delicious. 

My kids love it when I make these Pulled Pork Red Chile Enchiladas when I use leftover pulled pork to make this recipe.

These enchiladas can be made in almost any 1 1/2 quart oven safe dish. The smaller and taller the dish, the longer the enchiladas will take to bake.

A larger (9×13 style) dish will work as well, just watch the time more closely and don’t overcook the shallower enchiladas.

Monterrey Jack, Pepper Jack, Cheddar, or Mexican blend shredded cheeses all work well in enchiladas. I tend to use whichever varieties I have on hand. A blend of Pepper Jack and Cheddar is my favorite combination.

Green Chile Chicken Enchiladas

  1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. In a large bowl, whisk together the sour cream, 1/2 cup of chile sauce, cumin, garlic, onion, salt, pepper, and cayenne. Add the chicken, beans, and green chile. Stir to combine.
  2. Pour about 1/4 cup of the green chile sauce into the bottom of a 9-inch baking dish. Place a layer of tortillas wedges across the green chile sauce and then scoop about 1/2 of the chicken mixture on top of the tortillas. Sprinkle with 1 1/2 cups of shredded cheese.
  3. Layer with tortillas, top with the remaining chicken mixture and sprinkle with another 1 1/2 cups of shredded cheese. Layer once more with tortillas and pour the remaining 1 1/4 cup of chile sauce over the tortillas. Sprinkle generously with the remaining 2-3 cups of cheese.
  4. Bake for 20 minutes, until the edges are bubbling. Remove from the oven and scoop piping hot onto plates or let cool for 15-20 minutes for a prettier slice of enchiladas. Serve with tortillas chips.

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Green Chile Chicken Enchiladas are a family favorite!

Green Chile Chicken Enchiladas

4.53 from 19 votes
Green Chile Chicken Enchiladas in just 30 minutes!
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Prep Time: 10 mins
Cook Time: 20 mins
Total Time: 30 mins
Servings: 6 servings

Ingredients 

  • 2 cups red or green chile sauce homemade or store-bought, divided
  • 1/3 cup sour cream
  • 3/4 teaspoon cumin
  • 3/4 teaspoon granulated garlic or garlic powder
  • 3/4 teaspoon granulated onion or onion powder
  • 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
  • 3 cups cooked chicken shredded or chopped bite-size
  • 1 14- ounce can pinto or black beans drained and rinsed
  • 1 4- ounce can chopped green chile or 1/2 cup roasted and chopped green chile frozen is fine
  • 5 white corn tortillas cut into 6 pie-shaped wedges
  • 5-6 cups shredded cheese see cook’s note, divided
  • 1/4 cup fresh cilantro chopped (optional, for topping)

Instructions

  • Preheat the oven to 350°F. In a large bowl, whisk together the sour cream, 1/2 cup of chile sauce, cumin, garlic, onion, salt, pepper, and cayenne. Add the chicken, beans, and green chile. Stir to combine.
  • Pour about 1/4 cup of the green chile sauce into the bottom of a 9-inch baking dish. Place a layer of tortillas wedges across the green chile sauce and then scoop about 1/2 of the chicken mixture on top of the tortillas. Sprinkle with 1 1/2 cups of shredded cheese.
  • Layer with tortillas, top with the remaining chicken mixture, and sprinkle with another 1 1/2 cups of shredded cheese. Layer once more with tortillas and pour the remaining 1 1/4 cup of chile sauce over the tortillas. Sprinkle generously with the remaining 2-3 cups of cheese.
  • Bake for 20 minutes, until the edges are bubbling. Remove from the oven and scoop piping hot onto plates or let cool for 15-20 minutes for a prettier slice of enchiladas. Serve with tortilla chips. Enjoy!

Notes

These enchiladas can be made in almost any 1 1/2 quart oven safe dish. The smaller and taller the dish, the longer the enchiladas will take to bake. A larger (9×13 style) dish will work as well, just watch the time more closely and don’t overcook the shallower enchiladas.
Monterrey Jack, Pepper Jack, Cheddar, or Mexican blend shredded cheeses all work well in enchiladas. I tend to use whichever varieties I have on hand. A blend of Pepper Jack and Cheddar is my favorite combination.

Nutrition

Calories: 591kcal · Carbohydrates: 27g · Protein: 43g · Fat: 33g · Saturated Fat: 16g · Cholesterol: 133mg · Sodium: 1498mg · Potassium: 574mg · Fiber: 7g · Sugar: 1g · Vitamin A: 935IU · Vitamin C: 26mg · Calcium: 564mg · Iron: 4mg
Tried this recipe?Mention @barefeetkitchen or tag #barefeetkitchen!

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{originally published 1/28/16 – recipe notes and photos updated 4/20/21}

Green Chile Chicken Enchiladas {made in just 30 minutes!} get the recipe at barefeetinthekitchen.com

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Mary Younkin

Mary Younkin

Hi, I’m Mary. I’m the author, cook, photographer, and travel lover behind the scenes here at Barefeet In The Kitchen. I'm also the author of three cookbooks dedicated to making cooking from scratch as simple as possible.

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    • Mary says

      The heat can vary for each chile. Sometimes the red is more mild and other times the green. When you're in a restaurant, you can usually ask the server which chile is hotter that day. If you purchase a canned or frozen chile, the heat level will be marked. As long as you purchase a "mild" variety, you shouldn't have any trouble with it.

  9. Martha says

    Where do you buy green chili sauce? I live in South Carolina and can’t get fresh green chili, so I order it from one of the farms in Hatch New Mexico. Yummm!5 stars

    Reply

  10. Zara Pyatt says

    Made it – perfect combination of flavors. Yum recipe. I saw this yesterday and decided to make for dinner last night. Already had enchilada sauce and cheese (used pepper jack and mexican blend). I like using both red and green together. It was a huge hit, We couldn’t stop eating it. And yes, we ate it with chips, is there another way??!! I made mine without the chicken (trying for more meatless dishes) Perfect recipe. I added a little more green chiles, sour cream and black beans. But used all the same ingredients, minus chicken. keeper for sure. As a transplanted Arizona girl, enjoyed it.5 stars

    Reply

  11. Eva says

    Thank You so much for this recipie !! We had family over , I made this Amazingly, Yummy stuff we ate it as a dip. Thank you again !!5 stars

    Reply

  12. Dana says

    This looks amazing. I will be making this weekend. However, I have a question in regards to your chicken preference. I want to try it with thighs. If so, do you suggest boneless or skinless? Also, do you boil the chicken before or cook overnight in a crock pot?

    I’ve made enchiladas lots of time, but use chicken breast or ground meat.

    I love enchiladas. 🙂5 stars

    Reply

  13. Dana says

    This looks amazing. I will be making this weekend. However, I have a question in regards to your chicken preference. I want to try it with thighs. If so, do you suggest boneless or skinless? Also, do you boil the chicken before or cook overnight in a crock pot?

    I’ve made enchiladas lots of time, but use chicken breast or ground meat.

    I love enchiladas. 🙂

    Thanks for sharing!5 stars

    Reply

    • Mary says

      The enchiladas can be made with any kind of cooked chicken. Boiled, crock-pot, rotisserie, leftover grilled chicken, basically anything goes, so pick whichever chicken is easiest for you. For me, I typically either toss boneless skinless thighs in the crockpot or I buy a rotisserie chicken. Enjoy!5 stars

    • Loretta says

      Made this last night. You are correct about it is a lot easier than rolling tortillas. It was perfect and everyone loved it. I should have watched the video before I made it. I ended up using more tortillas, but I don’t think it mattered. Also using 9 x 9 Aluminum pan I agree with another post that it took longer to heat than 25 minutes. Actual time was 40 minutes. Really good recipe, can’t wait to make it for a large group.5 stars

  18. AntKathy says

    I made these exactly as written and ran into a few problems. When layered in a 9X9 casserole dish, the dish is filled to the very, very top. Surprisingly, it did not overflow — score a point for that. The biggest problem with the pan was that it took much, much longer to cook than 20 minutes. Yes, my oven temperature is correct, and yes I preheated it. I have no idea why it took so long to cook. As it was, part of it was hot, and part of it was lukewarm. A problem for me since I prefer piping hot food. I did opt to wait for the sliceable style casserole, but some servings were still very hot while some were not. The other problem I had was that the tortillas were mushy. This may be the way the recipe is meant to be especially if you are going to eat it with chips, but I found it yucky.

    However, everyone else in the family absolutely loved this dish, so five points for that minus one point for the problems I encountered. My son and I did not find this spicy (heat) at all, but my daughter felt it was very spicy (heat). She is more sensitive to chiles and peppers. The flavor was excellent and can stand on its own without spicy heat, but if you like chiles and peppers you might want to add diced jalapenos or something hotter to the dish.

    I will make this again because the family liked it but would not make it again for myself. Since the family liked it, I’d consider it a win. Next time I’ll be prepared for a longer cooking time and maybe lightly fry the tortillas like traditional enchiladas to give it more body. However, if you want to serve it with chips as recommended, the soggy tortillas are fine.4 stars

    Reply

    • Mary Younkin says

      I’ll have to watch the time more closely next time I make this to double-check the cooking time, Kathy. I know all ovens are different, but that’s a pretty significant difference. I bake it until it is good and hot – bubbling all around the edges and hot throughout. Thanks for sharing your thoughts. The tortillas definitely soften in this casserole. Frying them will change that a bit, but like you said, it’s immensely dippable this way and we love it.

  19. Martin D. says

    This was quick and really good! I have always rolled my enchiladas so I was a bit skeptic about the whole cutting the tortillas into wedges thing. The turned out amazing.

    Martin5 stars

    Reply

  20. Dee says

    I used 1/2 green chilies and 1/2 jalapeños..we like ours a bit zippy.
    Also I used a lot more tortillas, made it more casserole like.
    We love this recipe!5 stars

    Reply

  24. T Browne says

    Born and raised in Arizona, and this is totally not authentic… Green chili chicken enchiladas are made with flour tortillas and DO NOT have beans of any kind in them. Nor do they have dried/powdered onion. Sorry, this is just gross in my opinion.1 star

    Reply

    • Mary Younkin says

      Well, to each their own, but “authentic” in my experience growing up in NM and AZ has rarely been made with flour tortillas. However, I’ve had delicious enchiladas made with flour tortillas, so that works too. (And for what it’s worth, you’ll find many enchiladas made with each kind of tortilla here on the website.) Lastly, I didn’t use the word authentic anywhere in this recipe and I don’t usually do that since food is all a matter of opinion. Have a great day and definitely make enchiladas however makes YOU happiest.

    • Mary Younkin says

      You can definitely do that, however, the tortillas cook down and thicken it nicely. We almost always serve it as a dip with chips, exactly as written. It will be pretty thin without the tortillas in it. Still really tasty though.

  28. Kris Marie says

    Hi Mary, I’m new here….I know this is a crazy question but could I use cooked left over Turkey instead of chicken? I’m absolutely going to make this….like now! Thank you.

    Reply

  29. Kris Marie says

    Made this with left over Turkey and it was awesome! I also mixed a can of green and red enchilada sauce! Very delicious! Thank you!5 stars

    Reply

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