Today I have a delicious recipe to share that is loaded with flavor, smothered in goodness – Chicken Enchilada Bake! When my 16 year old daughter said, “This tastes like it came from a restaurant!” I knew it was good!
Read great reviews from people who tried this recipe on Pinterest!
Back in November I shared a Creamy Chicken Bake that has become one of my most popular recipes to date. A reader on Facebook mentioned that she makes enchiladas with a similar sauce. I did a Google search and found Chicken Enchiladas II on Allrecipes.com that had rave reviews and similarities to the sauce on the Chicken Bake. I decided to give the enchiladas a try, changing up the recipe a bit. When deciding what ingredients to use, I remembered a comment a reader left on my Creamy Chicken Bake, stating she might add Rotel to the recipe, which is what I did with this recipe! SO DARN GOOD! Perfect!
I made this recipe using corn tortillas, but you can substitute with flour. Please note, corn tortillas are by far the best for this recipe! If you use flour tortillas, skip the softening process. You can also substitute the Mexican blend cheese for cheddar.
I highly recommend using fresh squeezed lime juice and cilantro when serving!
Not a fan of canned soups? Make your own homemade condensed cream soups!
Chicken Enchilada Bake
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 lbs boneless skinless chicken breasts, approximately 3 cups, cooked and cut into bite size pieces
- 1 can cream of mushroom soup (10 3/4 ounce) – *Or make your own, see link below
- 1 can cream of chicken soup (10 3/4 ounce) – *Or make your own – see link below
- 10 ounce can Rotel (drain excess liquid)
- 1/2 cup sour cream
- 1/4 cup milk
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 1/2 cup shredded Mexican blend cheese (divided in half)
- *12 corn tortillas – prepared/softened – see note below. (Flour tortillas can be substituted for corn – I highly recommend using corn. If you use flour tortillas, skip the softening process.)
- fresh lime (optional) cut into wedges
- fresh cilantro (optional)
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a 9×13 baking dish with non-stick cooking spray.
Prepare your corn tortillas (*see note below) and set aside. In a large bowl mix the soups, rotel, sour cream, garlic powder and milk. Reserve 3/4 of the mixture and set aside. With the remaining 1/4 of mixture, add the cooked chicken and 3/4 cup shredded cheese. Next, add a little sauce to the bottom of the baking pan, enough to coat the bottom lightly (see photo). Spoon chicken mixture into each tortilla, roll and place seam down in baking dish, side by side (see photo). Spoon the reserved sauce evenly over rolled tortillas and top with remaining cheese.
Place in oven on middle rack and bake for approximately 30-35 minutes until cheese bubbles. Serve hot with fresh cilantro sprinkled on top and fresh squeezed lime juice. Enjoy!
NOTE: I use The Pioneer Woman’s method from her White Chicken Enchiladas recipe to softened the corn tortillas – briefly dropping the tortillas in hot canola oil for 6-8 seconds on each side and then placing them on paper towel to soak up the excess oil. Head here for the simple steps and another great recipe: White Chicken Enchiladas
*MAKE YOUR OWN HOMEMADE CONDENSED CREAM SOUPS
Thanks so much for stopping by!
Cheers!
Anonymous
I made this for dinner tonight. It is (was, it's all gone) delicious! Only made a few changes. I used Rotel with green chillies, 1 cup of chopped
onions and 3 tablespoons of Mexican seasoning. Everyone loved it.
Spiritualtwist
To soften the tortillas without adding oil, use warmed up low fat chicken broth. Just dip each tortilla into the broth for a few seconds.
Java Joanne
Yum! I add leftover rice to my casseroles… and diced onion, diced celery, a can of waterchestnuts for extra crunch, and artichoke hearts are all good choices!
Anonymous
I make this a lot but use cream cheese instead of sour cream. Makes it real creamy. Use the low or nonfat version. Also wouldn't make it without canned green chilis. Delicious!
Anonymous
I made this tonight. Thank you for sharing your recipe. The only tweaks I made were the addition of onion, green pepper & my all time favorite seasoning, Penzeys Fajita Seasoning. I'm glad I stumbled into this on Pinterest 🙂
Anonymous
a healthy way to fix tortillas,spray a sheet pan with non-stick spray,place corn tortillas on top of the spray sheet pan and put in the oven for 5-10 minutes. turns out great and no cooking oil.enjoy
Anonymous
How many enchiladas does this recipe make?
Hilary Erickson
YUM, that looks tasty! Pinning!
Anonymous
I do this but layer corn tortillas that are quartered and make 2 or 3 layers of soup/chicken etc mixture and cheese on top and another layer of tortillas and repeat. Comes together very fast not making into rolled enchiladas and has all the same ingrediants. We call it Texas Chicken. A can of slightly chopped water chestnuts added to mixture is also delicious.
Anonymous
Also known as King Ranch Chicken here in south Texas. Love it!
SpicingUpIdaho
Sounds yummy! I would add in a can of crushed tomatillos to the soup and Rotel mix, as well as a Tbsp of taco seasoning to give it more zip. I have made this kind of casserole with corn tortillas, layered instead of rolled, and this can be a time saver too!
LindaCrochets
I do something similar to this but use a baked chicken from the deli at the grocery store rather than go the process of having to cook one.
Betty
Tired the recipe last week, nice flavors, but pretty bland. OK, yeah I live in Texas, Will probably add another can of drained Ro-Tel, and jalapenos or something else to spice it up. Would make again with modifications.
Anonymous
I might try making this layered instead of rolling the tortillas.
CATE
great idea. Also, try layering Tortilla chips. Real easy and taste good
Betty Baker
Made my version of it tonight. Added the drained Ro-Tel, but also chopped onion and green pepper when cooking the chicken. Splash of Lime Juice., then threw the peel into the chicken mix. Ended up dumping most of the soup mix into the chicken before stuffing the shells. Since there are just the two of us, I didn't use as much chicken, used a smaller baking dish (9×9) and with the bit of left over sauce, added some raw shrimp. Let that cook while stuffing the last of the corn shells. Chopped some onion (didn't have the green onions) and sprinkled that over the layer of cheese. On 'my' side also added some chopped jalapeno! Oh, did I mention that I live in Texas? We like things just a bit spicier.
Betty
Cypress TX
T-Shirt Quilts of Texas
Nikki
What size tortillas do you use?
marysweetlittlebluebird
I use the small, taco size.
Anonymous
I made this tonight and it was good! I will make this again. I did add more spices cumin, salt, pepper, onion powder, red pepper flakes for the heat and a little hot sauce. I think without those spices it would have been blan. I used the rotisserie chicken and it came out just fine.
Tim hoover
I think your right about the spices, when i read the recipe i thought, where's the flavor?.
Anonymous
Yummie – Made it last night and the family loved it which is saying a lot because I have picky eaters. To add more flavor to the chicken I cooked it with McCormick taco seasoning packet. It give it that extra kick of spice my family likes. Fast and simple to prepare which is good for busy week days.
Kym
Don't know if this would change the flavor too much, but I soften mine by heating a can of enchilada sauce up and dunking them in that…might add a nice dimension to this recipe?
Anonymous
This is how I soften my tortillas for enchiladas, too. Since this is a cream sauce recipe and not red enchilada sauce I bet you can do the same method using the soups.
Anonymous
You could try the green enchilada sauce instead of red.
Anonymous
We made this for dinner last Sunday night. Very easy to put together, and very yummy. We used flour tortillas. Had enough for left overs too.
–Susan
GrammaLinda
Mary, I make a similar recipe for chicken enchiladas, but instead of using oil to soften the corn tortillas, I use water. Just put a skillet with about 1 inch of water in it over medium heat. When it simmers, briefly (and I mean briefly) dip the tortillas one at a time into the simmering water. Works great and reduces the calories, too!
Mel, Rotel tomatoes are a brand of stewed tomatoes that have green chilies stewed in with them. Perfect for adding to any Mexican dish.
Anonymous
I have been making this for at least 30 years. It can be frozen, you can add diced green chilies or salsa instead of rotel. Tortillas can be layered instead
of rolled. I soften my tortillas by putting them between 2 damp paper towels in the microwave for about 15 to 20 seconds. Going to make this tonight
Carole
Looks delicious! I'm going to have to try this recipe soon!
Danni@SiloHillFarm
Mary, that looks wonderful! I'm kind of wondering if it will freeze. Seems like it should. I'm all about freezing stuff while we're renovating, so please say yes!
Heather Brault
I was about to ask the same thing so I hope you get a Yes it freezes great response!! 🙂
Anonymous
Should freeze fine….
Anonymous
hmm I use New Mexico HATCH green chiles, no tomato. at least that's we make them in New Mexican+
Mel@Mellywood's Mansion
Looks delicious Mary, I might need a translation for rotel, what is it?
Michele
Rotel is diced tomatoes with diced green chilies (peppers) in them.
Michele
Diced tomatoes with diced green chilies (peppers) in it.
Anonymous
Rotel- (row-tell) – a brand name for tomatoes, peppers, etc. Originally famous with melted Velvetta Cheese (recipe found on Velvetta box) as a dip (chili con casso). In cans, may be found by tomato sauces in grocery stores (store clerks will know what you are talking about). Should have prominent display for Velvetta Cheese and Rotel as dip is popular during holidays and New Years. Enjoy!
Heather @ The Beating Hearth
Mmmm. This is a recipe similar to what I make, except for the rotel. Definitely going to add some to the mix next time.
Anonymous
I just made this and instead of the rotel i used pace medium salsa! Turned out amazing