This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure policy.
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.
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:
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
*To make this recipe gluten-free, double check the labels of all ingredients to ensure that they are certified gluten-free.
*This recipe was originally published in April 2014, and updated in July 2018.
I hate to roll enchiladas so I was looking for a enchilada casserole recipe. This one was most helpful! I had never thought to add beans or corn to chicken enchiladas, but I really enjoyed the flavors and texture they added. I used green instead of red enchilada sauce, since that’s what I had. It was delicious. The whole family loved it. Thank you for helping me skip the messy part of enchiladas! Will definitely be making this again.
Made this using the Red Enchilada Sauce, black beans, sauteed peppers, sweet onion and shallots. Very easy to make, fantastic result and there are multiple meals ready!
I made this dish tonight and it was a hit!!! I thought I purchased some pinto beans, but I didn’t. I had a can of refried beans in the cabinet and added those, and it was still delicious. It was probably a little heavier than the original recipe but still delicious 😋
I made it this morning with rotisserie chicken from a big box store. My only sauce was La Victoria red enchilada sauce–mild. Very good, even my wife enjoyed it and she is cautious about anything “spicy.” I used small corn tortillas .and had black olives, green onions and corn toppings. Next time I might use tomato sauce and enchilada sauce. It would be interesting to try it with verde (green) sauce.
I made this and squeezed a little lime over the layers. Added a jalapeño in to the mix and cayenne pepper. My daughter and I absolutely demolished it. This is a good dish you can prep the night before and just toss in the oven at dinner time. 10/10 will make again.
This was a delicious potluck dish. Someone else was bringing a black bean dish so I upped the corn and pinto beans instead of including the black beans. The roasted corn was a standout in the casserole. You saved me from trying to roll the tortillas for a crowd and I think it came out better. I scattered green onions and sliced black olives on top at the end. Next time I’ll add the cilantro that I totally forgot was sitting in the refrigerator.
I’ve made a version of this several times and wish I had the ingredients now. A good Smoked Chipotle would be a good addition: Did you see that Mamala H passed through Penzey’s, and Lucas is talking bridges? 🌉
Next time I want to try your enchilada sauce. I use flour tortillas and it wasn’t slimy like regular enchiladas. Because of that, I didn’t put sauce at the bottom of the pan and didn’t layer it right but plenty of dough, non the less. Next time I’ll also put 4 layers of tortillas at the bottom, layer it like it’s written. Very good, a keeper. Thank you!
I wish I could post pics (because this one was a masterpiece) but I used frozen pulled chicken, added fresh garlic, and heavy smoked paprika when prepping. Topped casserole with drizzled (Taco Bell) Baja sauce, sour cream, and guac sauce. Tossed a few more red onions and fresh chives.
I hate to roll enchiladas so I was looking for a enchilada casserole recipe. This one was most helpful! I had never thought to add beans or corn to chicken enchiladas, but I really enjoyed the flavors and texture they added. I used green instead of red enchilada sauce, since that’s what I had. It was delicious. The whole family loved it. Thank you for helping me skip the messy part of enchiladas! Will definitely be making this again.
Made this using the Red Enchilada Sauce, black beans, sauteed peppers, sweet onion and shallots. Very easy to make, fantastic result and there are multiple meals ready!
I made this dish tonight and it was a hit!!! I thought I purchased some pinto beans, but I didn’t. I had a can of refried beans in the cabinet and added those, and it was still delicious. It was probably a little heavier than the original recipe but still delicious 😋
I made it this morning with rotisserie chicken from a big box store. My only sauce was La Victoria red enchilada sauce–mild. Very good, even my wife enjoyed it and she is cautious about anything “spicy.” I used small corn tortillas .and had black olives, green onions and corn toppings. Next time I might use tomato sauce and enchilada sauce. It would be interesting to try it with verde (green) sauce.
Sooooo good! Loved it 😁😋😋
I made this and squeezed a little lime over the layers. Added a jalapeño in to the mix and cayenne pepper. My daughter and I absolutely demolished it. This is a good dish you can prep the night before and just toss in the oven at dinner time. 10/10 will make again.
This was a delicious potluck dish. Someone else was bringing a black bean dish so I upped the corn and pinto beans instead of including the black beans. The roasted corn was a standout in the casserole. You saved me from trying to roll the tortillas for a crowd and I think it came out better. I scattered green onions and sliced black olives on top at the end. Next time I’ll add the cilantro that I totally forgot was sitting in the refrigerator.
Can you freeze this?
I’ve made a version of this several times and wish I had the ingredients now. A good Smoked Chipotle would be a good addition: Did you see that Mamala H passed through Penzey’s, and Lucas is talking bridges? 🌉
There are several sizes of tortillas. Which size did you use?
Next time I want to try your enchilada sauce. I use flour tortillas and it wasn’t slimy like regular enchiladas. Because of that, I didn’t put sauce at the bottom of the pan and didn’t layer it right but plenty of dough, non the less. Next time I’ll also put 4 layers of tortillas at the bottom, layer it like it’s written. Very good, a keeper. Thank you!
I wish I could post pics (because this one was a masterpiece) but I used frozen pulled chicken, added fresh garlic, and heavy smoked paprika when prepping. Topped casserole with drizzled (Taco Bell) Baja sauce, sour cream, and guac sauce. Tossed a few more red onions and fresh chives.
It was a super hit. Thanks!
My family LOVES this! It’s warning and comforting – perfect for winter! The best part is the ease of the recipe!
Can I prep this the day before, store in the fridge and then bake the following day?
We make this all the time. Fast and excellent! One of our favorite meal. Love your enchilada sauce.