These Sour Cream Chicken Enchiladas are a comforting classic, loaded with tender chicken, melty cheese, and a flavorful sour cream and green chile sauce. Easy to make and packed with Southwestern flavor, they’re a perfect weeknight dinner or crowd-pleasing dish.
Jump to:
Here in New Mexico, enchiladas and more importantly, green chile, are staples that we take very seriously.
We put green chile on everything! From green chile cheeseburgers, green chile stew, chicken tortilla soup, and even in breakfast bacon burritos, and pizza, if we can add green chile, we will!
Why This Recipe Works
Family-Friendly Favorite: It’s a dish that’s mild enough for kids but flavorful enough to impress guests—great for weeknights or casual entertaining.
Quick and Easy Prep: With a few shortcuts like pre-cooked chicken or store-bought enchilada sauce and green chiles, this dish comes together fast, without sacrificing flavor.
Perfectly Creamy and Cheesy: The blend of melted cheese and creamy sauce makes each enchilada rich, gooey, and totally satisfying.
What You Need For This Recipe
- Shredded Chicken- You can use cooked chicken breast, thighs, or rotisserie.
- Green Chiles- If you are roasting your own, check out my article on how to roast green chile here, otherwise, I recommend the 505 Green Chile Brand or the Fresh Chile Co. You can use canned green chiles, but only if there are no other options available.
- Cheese- I love to use Mozzarella and Monterey Jack, but a pepper jack would be tasty too!
- Green Enchilada Sauce- I use canned, it’s tasty, cheap, and I don’t have to make it myself.
- Spice Mix- This mixture of chile powder, paprika, cumin, onion powder, oregano, salt, and pepper gives all the tasty southwest flavor in every bite!
- Garnish: I sprinkle Red Pepper Flakes and chopped Cilantro on top.
Substitutions
Chicken: Turkey or Ground Chicken works great in this recipe. Check out my leftover turkey enchiladas for a tasty recipe!
Enchilada Sauce: If you want a red sauce, I highly recommend my red enchilada sauce recipe!
Spice Mixture: Use 2 tablespoons of your favorite Taco Seasoning instead of making your own!
How to Make Sour Cream Chicken Enchiladas?
- Step 1: Combine all spices into a small bowl.
- Step 2: In a large bowl, combine your chicken, sour cream, green chile, spice mixture, and part of your mozzarella and jack cheese.
- Step 3: Dip a corn tortilla in warmed enchilada sauce, add the chicken mixture to the center, then roll up and place in a 9x13 baking dish.
- Step 4: Once all the tortillas are rolled, pour remaining enchilada sauce over the top, add remaining cheese, and the bake!
Save this for later!
We'll email this post to you, so you can come back to it later!
Don't worry, I promise not to spam you!
Tips for the BEST Enchiladas
- Chicken: Use a cooked rotisserie chicken from the grocery store. Otherwise, just bake breasts in the oven at 375°F for ~40 minutes or until the internal temp reaches 165°F. I like to brush the chicken breasts with oil and sprinkle them with salt and pepper, then bake.
- Rolling: If your corn tortillas crack a little when rolling up, it will be okay. No one will notice after they have baked and are covered in cheese!
- Storage: Store any leftover enchiladas in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
- Reheating: To reheat, you can either microwave, checking every 30 seconds until heated through, or reheat in the oven at the same baking temperature as cooking, but for less time.
- Freezing: You can make these and freeze them for up to 3 months. I recommend preparing them up to the point right before you bake them. Prepare in an oven-safe, freezer-safe dish. Thaw overnight and then bake according to the directions.
- Want a tasty red enchilada? Try my red enchilada sauce instead of the green chiles in this recipe!
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes. However, I find the enchiladas get really mushy if you do. I do recommend using small flour tortillas if you are going to use them.
Salsa Verde is typically made with tomatillos, and although delicious, it has quite a different flavor from the green enchilada sauce. I don't recommend it.
Enchiladas are great served with chips and pico de gallo or cilantro lime sauce, guacamole, rice, beans, or a simple salad. The enchiladas are really the star of the show, so don’t worry too much about the sides!
More Related Recipes
If you like this recipe, make sure to check out all my tasty entree recipes, like herb-crusted rack of lamb, beef with garlic sauce, baked scallops, pork carnitas street tacos, and this delicious southwestern chicken recipe!
If you like this recipe make sure to give it a 5-star review and leave a comment down below!
Also, don't forget to sign up for my newsletter, and make sure to follow along on Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest!
Video
Sour Cream Chicken Enchiladas
Ingredients
- 1 teaspoon chile powder
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon oregano
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon pepper
- 3 cups cooked chicken shredded*
- 1 cup sour cream
- 1 cup diced green chiles drained (8 oz)
- 2 ½ cups shredded mozzarella cheese divided
- 2 ½ cups shredded jack cheese divided
- 12 corn tortillas
- 1 can Green Enchilada Sauce 28 oz
- Cilantro – garnish
- Red Pepper flakes – garnish
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375°F.
- In a small bowl, combine chile powder, paprika, cumin, onion powder, oregano, salt, and pepper.*1 teaspoon chile powder, 1 teaspoon paprika, 1 teaspoon cumin, 1 teaspoon onion powder, 1 teaspoon oregano, 1 teaspoon salt, ¼ teaspoon pepper
- In a large bowl, combine shredded chicken*, sour cream, drained green chile, 1 ½ cups mozzarella cheese, 1 ½ cups jack cheese, and spice mixture.3 cups cooked chicken, 1 cup sour cream, 1 cup diced green chiles, 2 ½ cups shredded mozzarella cheese, 2 ½ cups shredded jack cheese
- Place the enchilada sauce in a microwave-safe bowl and microwave for 1 minute. You just want it to be warm.1 can Green Enchilada Sauce
- Dip a corn tortilla in the warmed enchilada sauce, then place a heaping spoonful of the chicken mixture into the center of the tortilla and roll up. Place in a 9x13 baking dish and repeat with the remaining tortillas.12 corn tortillas
- Once all the tortillas are used, pour the remaining enchilada sauce over the rolled enchiladas, and sprinkle with the remaining cheese.2 ½ cups shredded mozzarella cheese, 2 ½ cups shredded jack cheese
- Bake for 20-25 minutes or until cheese is bubbling. Remove from oven and sprinkle with crushed pepper flakes and cilantro.Cilantro – garnish, Red Pepper flakes – garnish
Notes
- *Chicken: Use a cooked rotisserie chicken from the grocery store. Otherwise, just bake breasts in the oven at 375°F for ~40 minutes or until the internal temp reaches 165°F. I like to brush the chicken breasts with oil and sprinkle them with salt and pepper, then bake.
- Green Chiles: If you go with canned green chiles, they often come in 7-oz cans, and although slightly under a cup, it will work fine for this recipe, too.
- Taco Seasoning: *If you have a favorite taco seasoning mixture that is premade, you can use 2 tablespoons of that instead.
- If some of the corn tortillas crack or split while rolling, it will be okay. No one will notice after they are covered in melted cheese, I promise.
- Leftovers: Refrigerate any leftovers in an air-tight container for up to 5 days.
- Reheat: To reheat, you can either microwave, checking every 30 seconds until heated through, or reheat in the oven at the same baking temperature as cooking, but for less time.
- Freeze: You can make these and freeze them for up to 3 months. I recommend preparing them up to the point right before you bake them. Prepare in an oven-safe, freezer-safe dish. Thaw overnight and then bake according to the directions.
Julie says
I make similar enchiladas weekly using what's left of a roti chicken from earlier in the week. You don't need the taco seasoning on the chicken, it's just as tasty letting the flavors of the (any, even homemade) green chili sauce take over.
Lisa says
I love using rotisserie chicken too!