This Chicken Enchilada Casserole recipe is everything you love about chicken enchiladas…stacked into delicious layers instead of rolled up. Easy to customize and always so delicious!
Friends, have you tried my favorite chicken enchilada casserole recipe yet?
I first shared it on the blog about four years ago, as a stackable casserole riff on my favorite chicken enchilada recipe. And in the years since, it has continued to be a regular in my rotation, as well as a total fave with family and friends. It’s made with my favorite easy homemade enchilada sauce, which automatically bumps any enchilada recipe up a mega notch. It’s easy to customize with any of your favorite enchilada fillings. It makes a big batch, making this the perfect casserole to make for a party, or taking to a friend in need, or just having extras for leftovers. It’s made with corn tortillas and is naturally gluten-free. And it is downright delicious.
I’ve tweaked and updated the recipe a tad on my own over the years. So today, I thought I would bump this chicken enchilada bake back to the top of the blog and give it a quick refresh with some new photos and recipe tweaks. Because in case you’ve never tried it…it’s time. :)
Chicken Enchilada Casserole Recipe | 1-Minute Video
My Favorite Homemade Enchilada Sauce Recipe:
Alright, before we get to the full ingredient list, a quick word about the homemade enchilada sauce included in the recipe. In my opinion, it’s simply the best. It’s irresistibly delicious, and made in the New Mexican tradition (without tomatoes, which I love). It calls for a simply ingredient list that you likely already have in your pantry. And it’s absolutely worth the extra 5 minutes of prep time (plus 20 or so minutes simmering on the stove, which you can multitask) that it requires to make. Thousands of readers have made it and agree — it’s a total keeper!
That said, if you’re absolutely in a hurry, you can sub in some store-bought green or red enchilada sauce instead. But I’d urge you to go homemade if you can. The sauce is the main seasoning in this recipe, and makes all the difference.
Here’s my full post about how to make enchilada sauce. (*Also, be sure to note that this casserole requires a double batch of this sauce!)
Chicken Enchilada Casserole Ingredients:
As I mentioned above, the ingredient list for this recipe is super-flexible, so feel free to add in any of your favorite fillings for chicken enchiladas. I like to use:
- Cooked chicken: Either from my recipe for baked chicken breasts, or I often just shred a rotisserie chicken.
- Veggies: The recipe below uses a quick blend of onion, red bell pepper, diced green chiles and corn. But feel free to add any other favorite veggies to the sauté.
- Beans: Two cans of your faves. I like to use one can of black beans, one can of pinto.
- Enchilada sauce: Homemade or store-bought.
- Corn tortillas: We’ll cut them in half, in order to help them layer a bit more evenly.
- Shredded cheese: Any kind of Mexican blend, Monterrey Jack or Pepperjack will do.
- Toppings: Chopped fresh cilantro, diced red onion, thinly-sliced green onion, diced avocado, sour cream, extra cheese…whatever sounds good to you.
How To Make Stacked Chicken Enchiladas:
To make this chicken enchilada casserole, simply:
- Cook your filling: Sauté the onion and bell pepper until soft. Then stir in the green chiles, beans, corn, chicken and enchilada sauce until combined. This will be your main filling.
- Stack your layers: In this order: enchilada sauce, tortillas, chicken filling, cheese, tortillas, chicken filling, cheese, tortillas, chicken, enchilada sauce and cheese.
- Bake: Covered for 20 minutes, then uncovered for another 10 until the cheese is melted.
- Garnish: Sprinkle on any of your desired toppings. (I vote the more, the merrier for sure.)
- Serve warm: Or cover and refrigerate for up to 3 days. (The leftovers are fantastic!)
Possible Variations:
Looking to mix things up? Feel free to:
- use a different protein: cooked beef, pork, or shrimp would all be delicious in this recipe (or you could nix the meat entirely)
- add more veggies: as mentioned above, extra veggies/greens would be delicious in this recipe, either sautéed or roasted
- nix the cheese: I’ve made this recipe dairy-free multiple times in the past, and didn’t even miss the cheese with all of the other great flavors/textures happening here
Mexican Side Dish and Drink Ideas:
Let’s make this a meal! Some classic Mexican recipes to go with this chicken enchilada bake could include:
Or as always, feel free to check out our Mexican recipe archives here on the blog for more inspiration.
Love Enchiladas? Check Out These Recipes Too!
- The Best Chicken Enchiladas EVER
- BBQ Chicken Enchiladas
- Ancho Chicken Enchiladas
- Beef Enchiladas
- Turkey Enchiladas
- Crab and Avocado Enchiladas
- Breakfast Enchiladas
- Roasted Vegetable Enchiladas
- Vegan Enchiladas
- Easy Enchilada Cups
- Chicken Enchilada Nachos
Enjoy, everyone!
Chicken Enchilada Casserole
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 medium white onion, peeled and diced
- 1 large red bell pepper, cored and diced
- 1 (4 ounce) can diced green chiles
- 2 (15 ounce) cans beans, rinsed and drained (I used one can pinto, one can black beans)
- 1 (8 ounce) can whole kernel corn, drained
- 3 cups (about 1.5 pounds) shredded or diced cooked chicken
- 3 cups red enchilada sauce, homemade or store-bought, divided
- 12 corn tortillas, halved
- 3 cups shredded Monterrey Jack or Mexican blend cheese
- toppings: chopped fresh cilantro, diced red onion, thinly-sliced green onion and/or diced avocado
Instructions
- Heat oven to 375°F. Mist a 9×13-inch baking dish with cooking spray; set aside.
- Heat oil in a large sauté pan over medium-high heat. Add onion and bell pepper and sauté for 6-7 minutes, or until softened. Stir in the diced green chiles, beans, corn, chicken and 2 cups enchilada sauce, and stir to combine. Remove from heat and set aside.
- Pour about 1/2 cup of the remaining enchilada sauce in the baking dish, and spread until the bottom of the dish is evenly coated. Top with a layer of about 8 tortilla halves, so that the entire dish is covered. Top evenly with 1/3 of the chicken mixture, followed by 1/3 of the cheese. Repeat with another layer of tortillas, chicken mixture, and cheese. Followed by a final layer of tortillas, chicken mixture, the remaining 1/2 cup of enchilada sauce, and cheese.
- Cover the pan with aluminum foil, then bake for 20 minutes.
- Remove pan and remove aluminum foil. Uncover and bake for 10 more minutes, until the cheese is thoroughly melted.
- Remove from the oven and serve warm, garnished with your desired toppings.
Notes
Did you make this?Let me know how it turned out in the comments below!
I made this with my verde cream sauce and added sautéed spinach with the corn. It was a hit!
We’re so glad to hear that!
This dish is my new obsession. I made it for my Bunco night in December and everyone loved it. Made it again yesterday and I just can’t stop eating it. The sauce is so easy to make and so delicious. I wouldn’t change a thing.
We’re so glad to hear that, Amy — thanks for sharing with us! :)
This looks positively delightful as someone who could never ever grow tired of Mexican food. I’m just wondering about the dish dimensions?
Thank you, Gabbi — we hope you enjoy! We used a 9×13 dish for this.
Hi, I just made this for New Year’s Eve last nigh. It was great! Thanks for a very detailed recipe. I was wondering, had you ever tried this with different enchilada sauces? The one I thought of was mole or also using both red and green sauces.
We’re happy to hear you enjoyed it, Alice! We haven’t tried this with different enchilada sauces but we bet it would be delicious with a verde, a mole, or some combo of red and green sauces. :)
Can we substitute beef or pork for the chicken?
can this be reheated to serve the next day?
Thank you
Barbar
Hi Barbara, yes, you could use beef or pork instead of chicken, and yes, you can reheat this the next day. We hope you enjoy!
This casserole was OUTSTANDING. Made this last night for my family of five iuding three picky twenty-somethings… everyone loved it. I shredded rotisserie chicken breast, plus used Frontera red enchilada sauce, (found at Target). I added 2T chili powder for a little heat. Also used a bigger 10 x 13 Pyrex which held all the ingredients better. Otherwise followed the recipe exactly. It was really delicious.
We’re so happy you enjoyed it, Laury — thanks for sharing! :)
Can we use retried beans since we don’t like black beans?
I appreciate your time.
Yes, definitely! We hope you enjoy!
Loved this recipe but was not a fan of the sauce. I made it exactly according to the instructions but with less chili and more cayenne to add a bigger kick. The sauce was too powdery in taste and maybe could’ve use a hint of sugar. Overall, I loved this recipe and thought it was a great spin on classic enchiladas but I will definitely be using a difference sauce recipe next time. Thanks!
We’re sorry to hear you didn’t care for the sauce, Melissa, but e’re glad you enjoyed the enchiladas! We appreciate you giving both recipes a try!
If all the ingredients start out cold (sauce, chicken prepared ahead of time and refrigerated), will that change the baking time at all? The first time I made this casserole, both the sauce and the chicken were warm when it went in the oven, and it turned out great. I’m not sure how much to compensate for cold ingredients. Thank you for a great recipe!
It might need to bake a little longer if everything has been refrigerated for a while, but it’s hard to say how much longer (we’d just do extra increments of 5 minutes to be safe). We hope you enjoy! :)
Hi there, then can this made in advance?
Hi Heather! If making this in advance, we suggest assembling them without the sauce and cheese, then covering them tightly with foil, and putting them in the freezer. When you’re ready to bake them, remove the foil, top with the sauce and cheese, re-cover with the foil, and bake at 350 for about 30 minutes. Then remove the foil and bake for about 15-20 minutes until bubbling and golden brown (with the cheese melted completely). Alternatively you could assemble them in the morning and cover them in the fridge, and then bake them that evening (take them out so they can come to room temperature before baking, or you will just need to bake them longer. We wouldn’t make them more in advance than that though, as we do think they would get soggy. We hope all of this is helpful, and that you enjoy!