Chicken Enchiladas in Homemade Cream Sauce

This easy Tex-Mex recipe can be assembled a day ahead of time and baked when you're ready to eat.

Jump to:

• ❤️ Why you'll love it
• 🧾 Ingredients
• 🔪 Instructions
• 🥫 Storage
• 📖 Variations
• 💭 Things to know
• 👩‍🍳 FAQs
• 📚 Related recipes
• 🍽️ Serve with...
• 📞 The last word
• 📖 Recipe
• 💬 Comments

❤️ Why you'll love it

• Ultra creamy, cheesy, and bursting with Southern flavor!
• Tender chicken filling in a simple homemade enchilada sauce.
• Super special method to more easily roll the tortillas (and infuse them with the addictively spicy sauce!)

This is one of the best enchilada recipes because the beauty is in the details.

From the perfect chicken preparation to the unique, peppery cream sauce finish, these easy chicken enchiladas are the perfect way to get the whole family excited about eating dinner (and leftovers!)

🧾 Ingredients

This is an overview of the ingredients. You'll find the full measurements and instructions for creamy chicken enchiladas in the green recipe card (printable) at the bottom of the page.

🔪 Instructions

This is an overview of the instructions. Full instructions are in the green recipe card at the bottom of the page.

1. Sear the chicken then simmer with filling ingredients. Remove from pan.
2. Add a bit more V-8 juice and bring to a simmer. Dip tortillas in liquid until softened.
3. Fill with filling.
4. Roll and place seam side down in a casserole dish.

1. Melt butter in saucepan and stir in flour. Cook for 2 minutes then whisk in broth and cream.
2. Stir cream cheese.
3. Fold in sour cream and chiles.
4. Spoon over enchiladas and bake.

🥫 Storage

There's something about the depth of flavors in Mexican food that just makes it taste even better the next day. These creamy chicken enchiladas are no different!

If you plan on eating the leftover enchiladas within a few days, wrap the dish in plastic/foil, or put the leftovers in a storage container.

Refrigerate and reheat in the microwave until warm.

Meal prep the easy way—you can freeze leftovers (or extra batches) for up to three months. Be warned - the sauce may separate a bit but it will still taste great.

Let leftovers thaw in the refrigerator before heating, or microwave straight from frozen.

This is one of my favorite recipes because you can do *almost* anything to these enchiladas and they'll still taste amazing.

You can also reheat refrigerated or frozen leftovers in a large, ovenproof dish. Bake covered in foil at 375 degrees F until warmed through again.

From frozen, estimate for 35-45 minutes. From refrigerated, it'll take 20-30. Remove the foil during the last five minutes of baking. (This works well when you have lots of enchiladas to heat up and don't want to stand in front of the microwave for hours.)

Also, I'd recommend making a double batch of the cream sauce, using about half of it, and saving the remaining sauce.

It'll last in an air-tight container in the fridge for about a week.

That way, after you polish off your first batch of enchiladas, you'll already have the sauce prepared when you're craving them at the end of the week.

That is, if you don't end up smothering the sauce on everything else you eat in the meantime!

📖 Variations

This easy recipe can be adapted in a variety of ways:

• Chicken: Instead of skinless chicken breasts, you can use boneless chicken thighs or shredded roast chicken. Try dicing up last night's leftover chicken. Rotisserie chicken enchiladas are fabulous, too!
• Fillings: To make these enchiladas "stretch" even more (hi, big families!) add black beans, pinto beans, chopped bell peppers, a bit of cooked rice, and/or green chiles to the chicken mixture.
• Red enchilada sauce: If you prefer a milder spice level, use regular V-8 juice instead of spicy. You can also sub in a jar of red or green enchilada sauce, but take it from me—it's not as good as this homemade version!
• Cheese: The recipe calls for Monterey, but you can use cheddar cheese or Monterey Jack cheese if it's all you can find at the grocery store.
• Toppings: Feel free to garnish with green onions, fresh cilantro, cold sour cream, salsa verde, or more chopped tomatoes.

💭 Things to know

Expert Tip: Stop rolling dry tortillas! It's essential to dip the tortilla in the warm sauce to soften it before you roll it up. Plus, this trick helps infuse the whole dish with an extra burst of delicious flavor and really makes these the best chicken enchiladas ever!

• This is a great recipe to use leftover chicken in!
• Save time by starting with a rotisserie chicken.
• When filling your baking dish, place enchiladas seam side down so that they don't unroll. It also makes the finished dish look prettier!
• Use a heavy-bottomed pot when making your cream sauce to prevent it from burning too quickly, and, whatever you do, don't stop stirring! A whisk works great first, then switch to a wooden spoon.

👩‍🍳 FAQs

📚 Related recipes

• Beef Enchiladas are a Tex-Mex staple, and you won't be able to get enough of this flavorful, filling dinner!
• Sometimes you just need a grab 'n go meal, like these creamy and spicy Chicken Empanadas.
• For a spicy, smoky flavor, try this Homemade Red Enchilada Sauce made with Ancho Chiles—it's super authentic!
• Chicken, cheese, tortilla chips, creamed corn, AND veggies—Monterey Chicken Casserole has it all and comes together in just 30 minutes.

Try this cheesy chicken enchilada soup, too! Done in just 20 minutes!

🍽️ Serve with...

• Southern Cornbread Salad
• Jalapeno Popper Dip
• Mexican Hot Chocolate Cupcakes

📞 The last word

I do love my Tex-Mex food and this recipe is fantastic. It was even featured on the homepage of Today when it first was published back in 2014!!

You may also like this super easy crockpot chicken and dressing casserole.

If you click on the number of servings in the recipe card you can adjust the measurements up or down for the exact number of servings you need. Don't forget that you can click on "add to collection" to save it to your own, private recipe box!

If you love this recipe please give it 5 stars! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

📖 Recipe

First published November 7, 2014. Last updated on July 4, 2023 with better images and improved instructions.