Green Chicken Enchiladas
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Salsa verde, green chiles, leftover rotisserie chicken and Monterey Jack cheese make for the best weeknight enchiladas ever!
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When I think of Mexican food, I think of my favorite Mexican joint in LA. Tacos Por Favor, also known as TPF, is the first thing that comes to mind, located in a very tiny strip mall on the corner of Olympic Blvd and Bundy Drive, conveniently located next to a Coffee Bean. So whenever I stop by TPF, I order two things: a California burrito and green chicken enchiladas. I never deviate from this order. Never, ever, ever.
But now that we’ve moved to Chicago, I have had no choice but to come up with a TPF replacement. And that’s these weeknight green chicken enchiladas.
reasons to make green chicken enchiladas
- Super simple recipe and easy to assemble
- Can be made ahead of time
- Great way to repurpose leftover rotisserie chicken
- Killer salsa verde + green chiles + Monterey Jack cheese combo
- Leftovers are even better the very next day
tips and tricks for success
- Soften the tortillas. Warm the tortillas first so they are easier to roll. Wrap the tortillas in a damp paper towel and microwave for about 30 seconds. You can also fry the tortillas, in batches, in a little bit of oil (about 1 tablespoon vegetable oil) until crispy but pliable.
- Do not overstuff. Size matters! Overstuffing may sound like a good idea since the filling is the best part, but this can result in ripped tortilla and overspill.
- Avoid a soggy bottom. Nobody likes soggy enchiladas! Be sure to pour the sauce on top, adding the filled enchiladas to the pan first.
what to serve with enchiladas
Tools For This Recipe
9 x 13 baking dish
Green Chicken Enchiladas: Frequently Asked Questions
Both green enchilada sauce and salsa verde are made with tomatillos and green chilies but green enchilada sauce is cooked and typically served hot while salsa verde uses raw ingredients and is served cold (or at room temperature).
We love this IP rotisserie chicken and this 6-ingredient lemon herb rotisserie chicken.
Absolutely! You can use corn or flour, it really just depends on personal preference. Corn tortillas are traditionally used for enchiladas as they maintain their structure a little more (less cracking and tearing when rolled) but either option will work great here.
Sweet potato, mushrooms, zucchini and cauliflower are all great options.
We love Monterey Jack but Cheddar, Colby Jack, Pepper Jack and Mexican blend can also be used.
Add your filled enchiladas to the bottom of the pan first, then pour the sauce on top to prevent them from soaking too much sauce (hence, soggy enchiladas).
Yes! Enchiladas is a great dish to make ahead of time and assembled the night before, letting it come to room temperature for about 30 minutes prior to baking.
Green Chicken Enchiladas
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon canola oil
- 1 medium sweet onion, diced
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- ½ teaspoon ground cumin
- 2 (4-ounce) cans diced green chiles
- 4 cups coarsely shredded rotisserie chicken
- 2 cups salsa verde, divided
- ½ cup chopped fresh cilantro leaves
- 3 cups shredded Monterey Jack cheese, divided
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 8 8-inch flour tortillas, warmed
- ¼ cup sour cream
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Lightly oil a 9 x 13 baking dish or coat with nonstick spray.
- Heat canola oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add onion, and cook, stirring frequently, until translucent, about 2-3 minutes. Stir in garlic, oregano and cumin until fragrant, about 1 minute. Remove from heat; stir in green chiles.
- In a large bowl, combine green chile mixture, chicken, 1/3 cup salsa verde and cilantro. Stir in 1 1/2 cups cheese; season with salt and pepper, to taste.
- To assemble the enchiladas, lay tortilla on a flat surface and spoon 1/2-3/4 cups of the chicken mixture in the center. Roll the tortilla and place seam side down onto prepared baking dish. Repeat with remaining tortillas and chicken mixture. Top with remaining salsa verde and remaining 1 1/2 cups cheese.
- Place into oven and bake until bubbly, about 35-40 minutes.
- Serve immediately, topped with dollops of sour cream.
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Did you make this recipe?
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I’ve made this multiple times and it’s one of my husbands top favorite dinners. It is sooooo good and really easy. I’ve found that I can actually half the shredded chicken and have the perfect amount for 8 tortillas. Whenever I do all 4 cups I have a ton left over. I keep all other measurements the same though. And of course I just top the cheese by eyeball because… it’s cheese, you can never have too much. Lol
Love it!
Wonderful! I’ve made enchiladas before but never the green chili chicken ones. Made this for several friends and everyone raved. I admit I added a little extra cheese, but who’s counting calories? Thanks.
These came together so easily. I used a tomatillo salsa verde that I didn’t really care for in this recipe. What brand salsa verde do you use?
This will be a definite keeper. It was damn delicious!
Herdez salsa Verde
Making your own is super simple and honestly the best. I use half of a white onion, 3 garlice cloves, pablano pepper, 2 Jalapenos, half of a serano (take seeds out if you don’t like it super hot), about 8-10 medium sized tomatillos, a handful of cilantro, the juice from half a lime, salt and pepper.
You place all the veggies coated in olive oil under the broiler for 5-8 minutes until they get a little scorched. Throw everything in the blender when done add cilantro, lime juice, salt and pepper then blend. Super easy and tastes amazing.
Excellent! Great ingredients, easy to make, and outstanding flavor. This is already a family favorite.
This recipe is a keeper. It is so flavorful and hits all the Mexican food notes. I followed the recipe exactly. Super easy to put together. I covered with foil as the cheese was getting too brown.
As usual your recipe is delicious. This is definitely my go-to site for dinner inspiration. I’ve made this several times. I like to add sour cream to the chicken mixture, but that’s just a personal preference. The recipe is really perfect. I’ve also used this recipe and subbed carnitas from Aldi’s instead of chicken, which is also delicious. I’d highly recommend if you haven’t tried it.
What a delicious recipe–so easy to prepare and a husband-pleaser. His immediate comment was “this one’s a keeper”. I halved the recipe, since there’s just the two of us, and had enough to make a second meal. We did use up all the Salsa Verde and will open another jar when I re-heat the leftovers for the second serving. It did not indicate in the instructions whether or not to drain the chilis–I did, but I don’t think there’s enough liquid in those small cans to make a difference in the outcome. I placed a dish of sour cream on the table to dip as much as we wanted when eating the dish. The sour cream is a nice finishing touch for blending the flavors.
This is a great way to use up that last part of that inexpensive $5 Costco rotisserie chicken! And, yes, truly “Damn Delicious”! Thanks for a “keeper”.
I was looking for a green enchilada recipe with chicken, since I was getting tired of red sauce with beef, and Oh. Emm. Gee. these did NOT disappoint! The spices and seasonings are absolutely perfect. I used corn tortillas instead of flour, but dang these enchiladas are so yummy! Thanks for sharing!
That was Damn Delicious! I made the enchiladas ahead of time so I could pop it in the oven after a cold, wet, fun day at the pumpkin patch. It hit the spot and helped warm me up. Will definitely be making them again. Thanks for the great recipe.
I’m such a ditz – I didn’t read the directions correctly and mixed ALL three cups of cheese into the chicken/enchilada filling mixture, leaving none for the topping! This resulted in very cheesy, very full enchiladas. I then poured an additional cup of cheese and quite a bit of salsa verde on top of the enchiladas after rolling them and placing in the 9×13 pan (only seven would barely fit due to my mistake).
This all being said, they were SO GOOD! My boyfriend warned me that he probably couldn’t finish one enchilada and ended up going back for seconds and eating two! I’m definitely making this again but will probably use a lot less cheese in the enchilada mixture next time, lol. Thanks for the delicious, easy recipe.
I have made these a couple of times now and they are the “bomb”, according to everyone I’ve made them for so far. I don’t eat meat, so I have to depend on my family and friends. I am going to use the same recipe tonight with shrimp, I’m sure they will be great too. My son cannot get enough of these, he loves it when I make them.
I tweaked this or that but at the end of the day, this recipe is incredibly delish and helpful. I don’t do Mexican at home, aside from fajitas and Taco Tuesday. Well, I do now! My peeps loved it! Thanks for sharing.
This recipe is a keeper! I accidentally read the recipe incorrectly the first time I made it and added sour cream to the chicken mixture instead of cheese. It turned out great and I make it this way every time now.
Do you drain green chiles from can? Or pour in liquid and green chiles?
This recipe was sooooo delicious!! I used corn tortillas. I also didn’t cook the full 40 minutes. Next time I make this I will cook at 350 for 40 minutes. It was bomb!! Thank you for sharing
I just poured true green chills, juice and all into the mixture. Turned out perfectly!
Delicious and have made this several times. Thank you.
Have made this many timess now. Always great!
Has anyone cracked the code on the best way to freeze these puppies? I just made fresh salsa verde, but I’m the only one in my household that likes salsa verde and enchiladas, so I was thinking of freezing individual portions. Not sure if I should bake the whole thing and then freeze, or if I should freeze individual unbaked portions? I’ll definitely need to include the sauce because it’s already made.
The best way I’ve found is to place in a disposable baking dish, cover with foil and then place into a freezer bag. Seems to be fine even after a month or so. I put them in uncooked and then thaw them in the fridge overnight before cooking!
I made this last night. I had to use dried cilantro because I didn’t have fresh, and I used my shredded Mexican blend cheese that needed used up. My husband LOVED it…. he even asked if we could have it for lunch today. In 30 years I don’t think that has EVER happened!!
These were awesome! And I am very picky about my Green chicken enchiladas! Easy recipe!
These were awesome! I added a squeeze of 1 lime to the mixture, I thought it needed some acid. Next time I would add a little more salsa verde to the inside to avoid it drying out and more salsa verde to the top.