These chicken enchiladas are so quick and easy to make! With a creamy salsa verde sauce, shredded chicken, and spinach, enchilladas are a simple, real food dinner, and perfect to make ahead.
Enchilladas are one of my favorite comfort foods.
I started making enchiladas several years ago, as a compromise with Mr. Crumbs. He wasn’t a fan of casseroles with their uniform color and potential for hidden “mystery” ingredients, but I love them myself, because they’re easy to make and yummy to eat.
This chicken enchilada recipe is a dump, mix, and bake type of meal – similar to a casserole – but it still has easily recognizable components for Mr. Crumbs: sauce, tortillas, and filling.
A perfect comfort food compromise, and an easy family dinner for a busy weeknight!
CHICKEN AND SPINACH ENCHILADAS
Besides being a healthier version of a satisfyingly delicious comfort food, these chicken and spinach enchiladas are also:
- Fast and easy! Put this recipe together in 15 minutes and bake for 20. Voila! Dinner is ready.
- Easy to double. If you’re making one batch of enchilladas, I highly recommend making two! Take tomorrow off of cooking or save the second pan for another time.
- Freezer friendly. You can freeze this recipe in the casserole dish and then go straight to the oven when you’re ready to bake!
- Perfect for company. As a great make-ahead recipe, you’ll have something ready to go when your unexpected company stops by. It’s a definite crowd-pleaser!
- Gluten-free. Using corn tortillas for these enchilladas means it’s an easy gluten-free dinner recipe to add to your collection.
INGREDIENTS FOR CHICKEN SPINACH ENCHILADAS
These chicken enchiladas ingredients are made from simple real food ingredients that you can easily find in any grocery store…
- Shredded chicken
- Frozen spinach
- Taco seasoning
- Cumin & garlic powder
- Red onion
- Salt & pepper
- Sour cream
- Salsa verde (here’s the link to my homemade salsa verde)
- Corn tortillas (how to make homemade corn tortillas). You can also use flour tortillas if you prefer (here’s how to make them homemade).
- Cheddar cheese
Note: If you don’t have taco seasoning on hand, you can use chili powder or make this easy homemade taco seasoning.
Psst…Did you know that many salts contain MICROPLASTICS? It’s a sneaky toxin that may be in your everyday salt, and thus your everyday food (um, gross). I love Ava Jane’s Kitchen because their salt is FREE of microplastics, and it tastes delicious! (PLUS, you can get a free 8oz. bag of sea salt – just pay shipping and handling!)
HOW DO I SUBSTITUTE INGREDIENTS IN THIS CHICKEN ENCHILADAS RECIPE?
There are SO many ways you can customize this chicken enchiladas recipe to fit the ingredients you already have on hand. Here’s what I recommend, and a few things I don’t:
- Salsa. Using red salsa in place of salsa verde (green salsa) is delicious too, but make sure it’s thick, or strain a thinner salsa before using. Note that this will slightly change the flavor. Salsa verde is usually spicier with a lemony tang. Red salsa will have that underlying tomato flavor. Here’s our favorite Homemade Red Salsa recipe.
- Greek Yogurt. You can substitute Greek yogurt for sour cream without any other modifications. You can also swap regular yogurt (make it homemade) for Greek yogurt (make this homemade too), but you might have to adjust how much you use in order to keep that thick, creamy enchilada sauce texture. Using a thick salsa, like my Homemade Salsa Verde recipe, is best when using regular yogurt.
- Tortillas. We prefer Homemade Corn Tortillas or Homemade Flour Tortillas. Most recently we tried this with store-bought corn tortillas that weren’t very good on their own, and they made mediocre enchilladas, so I don’t recommend doing that unless you’ve found a brand that you really like.
HOW TO MAKE EASY CHICKEN ENCHILADAS
Step 1: Preheat the oven to 350F.
Step 2: Combine chicken, spinach, 2 Tablespoons of taco seasoning, cumin, garlic powder, and red onion in a large bowl. Season with pepper and taste. Add additional taco seasoning, if desired. Season with salt as needed.
Step 3: In a separate small bowl, combine sour cream and chili verde salsa. Taste, and season with salt, pepper, taco seasoning, and/or cumin as desired.
Step 4: Smear approximately ¼ cup of the creamy salsa mixture all over the bottom of a 9×13 glass baking dish. Mix approximately ½ cup of the creamy salsa into the chicken and spinach mixture. Add more creamy salsa, 1 tablespoon at a time, if the mixture is dry. You want it to be a moist mixture, but not goopy and saturated.
Step 5: Measure ¼ cup of the chicken mixture into the center of a tortilla and roll up. Place the tortilla at one end of the baking dish, seam side down. Repeat with the remaining tortillas and chicken mixture.
Step 6: Spread the remaining creamy salsa mixture over the enchiladas. Sprinkle with shredded cheese and bake in the oven for about 20 minutes, or until the cheese is melted and slightly bubbly.
Step 7: Let cool slightly before serving. If desired top with sour cream, avocado, diced tomato, diced red onion, chopped fresh cilantro, or more cheese!
MAKE AHEAD SOUR CREAM CHICKEN ENCHILADAS
This enchilada recipe is PERFECT for making ahead of time. Skip preheating the oven and make the enchilladas through step 5, cover them, and keep them in the fridge. Then when it’s time for dinner, add the creamy salsa verde sauce and top with cheese. Dinner will be ready in 20 minutes!
These chicken and spinach enchiladas are also super freezer-friendly! Make the entire recipe, sprinkle the cheese on top, and freeze it in the dish. Go from the freezer to the oven and simply add 20-30 minutes to the baking time.
CHICKEN ENCHILADA RECIPE TIPS
- After I butcher a whole chicken into parts and make chicken stock, I freeze any cooked chicken meat I can pull off of the bones into one-cup portions. Why? Because…
- This makes it REALLY easy to pull out one or two bags, along with spinach, and thaw for dinner.
- Plus, it allows me to save the chicken parts (i.e. chicken breasts, thighs, and drumsticks) for meals that call for whole pieces rather than shredded chicken.
- There are various stopping points along the way to help you make this enchilada recipe ahead of time.
- You can mix the chicken, spinach, and sauce and stop there.
- OR you can go ahead and fill and roll the tortillas and stop there. Whichever suits your fancy, and your schedule.
- Personally, I pull the chicken and spinach from the freezer to the refrigerator the night before to thaw. The next morning I’ll whip up the sauce and combine with the chicken and spinach just after breakfast to make the dinner process run a bit smoother. Then I’ll roll it all up just before baking, which makes the total time of afternoon dinner prep (including baking) less than 30 minutes. This means very little time prepping these chicken and spinach enchiladas.
- Make enchilada casserole. Use the process for layering the enchilladas like in this recipe. It makes your prep time just a little bit quicker since you don’t have to roll the enchilladas.
CHICKEN SPINACH ENCHILADAS FAQS
What is enchilada sauce?
Red enchilada sauce is made from a tomato paste base. It also has several spices commonly found in Mexican food. It’s super easy to make this homemade enchilada sauce recipe and it tastes much better than store-bought.
But for THIS chicken and spinach enchiladas recipe, I don’t use red enchilada sauce. I use a salsa verde made with green chilies, which makes a more flavorful and tangy enchilada. You can find my salsa verde recipe here.
What is the difference between white chicken enchiladas and green chicken enchiladas?
White chicken enchiladas have a creamy white sauce using butter and flour to make a roux, and then adding cream or sour cream. Green chicken enchiladas have a creamy sauce made with a green enchilada sauce, like this chicken enchiladas recipe.
MORE EASY MEXICAN RECIPES
- Easy Black Bean and Corn Salsa Tacos
- Homemade Tortilla Chips
- Simple Homemade Salsa
- Easy Guacamole Recipe
- Sweet Potato & Black Beans Enchiladas
- Lime Crema
- Crockpot Refried Beans
Fight Inflation Workshop!
Sign up for my FREE Fight Inflation Workshop and learn simple strategies to save money, even with rising food costs!WATCH HOW TO MAKE CHICKEN AND SPINACH ENCHILLADAS
Chicken and Spinach Enchiladas
These chicken enchiladas are so quick and easy to make! With a creamy salsa verde sauce, shredded chicken, and spinach, enchilladas are a simple, real food dinner, and perfect to make ahead.
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Total Time: 40 minutes
- Yield: 4–6 servings 1x
- Category: Main Meals
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: Mexican
Ingredients
- 2 cups shredded chicken
- 1 package frozen spinach, thawed
- 2–3 Tbsp taco seasoning
- 1 tsp cumin
- ½ tsp garlic powder
- ½ red onion, diced finely
- salt & pepper
- 1 ½ cups sour cream
- 1 ½ cups chili Salsa verde
- 8–10 homemade corn tortillas*
- 1 cup cheddar cheese, shredded
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350F.
- Combine chicken, spinach, 2 Tbsp of taco seasoning, cumin, garlic powder, and red onion in a large bowl. Season with pepper and taste. Add additional taco seasoning, if desired. Season with salt as needed.
- In a separate small bowl, combine sour cream and chili verde salsa. Taste, and season with salt, pepper, taco seasoning and/or cumin as desired.
- Smear approximately ¼ cup of the creamy salsa mixture all over the bottom of a 9×13 glass baking dish. Mix approximately ½ cup of the creamy salsa into the chicken and spinach mixture. Add more creamy salsa, 1 tablespoon at a time, if the mixture is dry. You want it to be a moist mixture, but not goopy and saturated.
- Measure ¼ cup of the chicken mixture into the center of a tortilla and roll up. Place tortilla at one end of the baking dish, seam down. Repeat with remaining tortillas and chicken mixture.
- Spread the remaining creamy salsa mixture over the enchiladas. Sprinkle with shredded cheese and bake in the oven for about 20 minutes, or until the cheese is melted and slightly bubbly.
Notes
*See substitution ideas for notes on the tortillas.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1
- Calories: 606
We made this tonight and high-fived after the first bite. So easy and such good flavor. Definitely a keeper.
These have quickly become a favorite in our household! So simple, but TONS of flavor.
Hi, I can’t see that you’ve posted how many people this serves? 1 enchilada per person or more? Thank you!
We usually serve 2-3 per person, and this will serve a family of 4 with possibly some leftover for lunch. 🙂
This recipe is in regular rotation at our house. Since we are a lo carb household we buy lo carb tortill as. I do modify the sauce and make a white sauce and use less salsa verde. I still kick up the heat with either cayenne or not sauce. The sauce variations are endless as you read the comments. Anyway you make it it’s Awesome!
tomatillos not avaiable here in Portugal. Can I substitute ordinary tomatoes, perhaps green ones?
This recipe looks so good! My freezer safe glass Tupperware says not to go from freezer to oven… will thawing before baking work for this recipe, or is going from freezer to oven important?
You can thaw before baking for sure Keely!
I made this with corn tortillas and froze it right before the oven step, checked the frozen pan the next day…and all the tortillas had split open! Maybe corn tortillas have less liquid and don’t tolerate being frozen as well as flour ones. I’m sure it will still be delicious 🙂
It’s very possible Kelsey! I’ve made this with corn and flour, and flour tortillas in general seem to hold much much better long-term than corn. I’m sure it’ll be messy, but still delicious as you said!
I just made this a few days ago, and my husband is already asking me to make it again. These are probably the best enchiladas we’ve ever had! The recipe definitely would not have been the same without the homemade chili verde salsa. I’ve never done well with very spicy food, but this recipe has just the right amount of spice and such a good flavor. This is definitely a keeper! 🙂 Thanks for the recipe.
I am a sucker for Mexican any day, but I bet this woudl be spicy for me. Thanks for posting, I shared this on my May real food meal plan.
Everyone loved these enchiladas! I only had 3/4 cup sour cream so I used 3/4 cup cream cheese for the rest of the sauce. I also used fresh spinach in place of frozen. So delicious! Will be keeping this recipe and making often.
Hi Jennifer!
Yay!! We’re so glad to hear that you are a fan of this recipe. Thank you for sharing! 🙂
I’ve been eyeing this recipe for a long time and finally made it since I actually had all the ingredients on hand. I’m always apprehensive to make a new dish for my husband since he’s so picky. So far, he’s loved all your recipes and this one was a huge hit! We’ve planned on eating the leftovers tonight. Eating leftovers the very next night is virtually unheard of in this house! I can’t believe I was able to sneak spinach into my hubby and he NEVER said a thing! 🙂 The only change I made was adding some cream cheese to the sauce because I was a little low on sour cream. Yum! Thanks, Tiffany! 🙂
I forgot to rate this. 🙂
JMJ
I made this last night (subbing turkey for the chicken and a homemade red salsa because it’s what I had) and the entire pan was devoured. I knew my family liked enchiladas, but I have never had a whole pan devoured. Even the 4 year old ate TWO – including the spinach! This is definitely a “keeper” recipe and will be made again…only a double batch will be made since I rely on leftovers for lunch the next day. Thank you for the recipe.
Love this Kathleen! We’ve made similar substitutions and it always comes out good. I’m so glad your family enjoyed – especially the 4 year old eating spinach! (PSST – feel free to sneak in about 1/4 cup finely diced mushrooms too)