Verde Chicken Enchilada Casserole

This Verde Chicken Enchilada Casserole recipe is layered with your favorite chicken enchilada fillings, and baked up with the most delicious homemade green enchilada sauce.

Alright, time to put that new green enchilada sauce recipe to use!

So many of you have made and loved my traditional (red) chicken enchilada casserole that I thought it would be fun to try out a verde (green) version this fall. Similar to the original recipe, I layered it up with lots of corn tortillas, chicken, cheese, beans, and a huge skillet full of veggies. But this time, I added in lots of poblano peppers and fresh spinach to make it extra verde. Plus if you look closely, there’s an entire batch of green chile enchilada sauce layered in there as well. And sure enough, just as I had hoped…

…it was verdelicious. ;)

This recipe also makes a very big batch, which makes this casserole perfect for feeding a crowd, or portioning out for meal planning for the week ahead, or even wrapping up to take to a friend in need — whatever your week may call for. Enchiladas always have a way of hitting the spot. So let’s get to it.

Verde Chicken Enchilada Casserole Video

My Favorite Green Enchilada Sauce:

First, a quick word about this mean green enchilada sauce recipe.

As I shared last Friday, it’s my go-to recipe and a million times better than the stuff in the can. Plus, it’s easy to make in about 15 minutes. It’s naturally nice and mild (although it’s easy to make it spicier if you’d like). It’s made with a canned green chile base (not tomatillos). And it’s super delicious in this recipe.

That said, I also tried making this recipe with tomatillo salsa verde, which was delicious as well. So if you’re in a hurry — or if you just really love tomatillos — feel free to opt for homemade or store-bought salsa verde instead.

Verde Chicken Enchilada Casserole Ingredients:

The joy of enchilada casseroles is that they are super customizable when it comes to ingredients. So feel free to sub/add in any of your favorite fillings here. I like to use:

• Cooked chicken: Either from baked chicken breasts recipe, or I often just shred a rotisserie chicken.
• Veggies: The recipe below uses a quick blend of onion, poblano (or green bell) pepper, corn and fresh spinach. But feel free to add any other favorite veggies to the sauté.
• Beans: Two cans of your faves. I used pinto beans for this version.
• Enchilada sauce: Homemade or store-bought.
• 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 A Chicken Enchilada Casserole:

To make this chicken enchilada casserole, simply:

1. Cook your filling: Sauté the onion and pepper until soft. Then stir in the beans, corn, chicken and part of the green enchilada sauce until combined. This will be your main filling.
2. Stack your layers: In this order: enchilada sauce, tortillas, chicken filling, cheese, tortillas, chicken filling, cheese, tortillas, chicken, enchilada sauce and cheese.
3. Bake: Covered for 20 minutes, then uncovered for another 10 until the cheese is melted.
4. Garnish: Sprinkle on any of your desired toppings. (I vote the more, the merrier for sure.)
5. Serve warm: Or cover and refrigerate for up to 3 days. (The leftovers are fantastic!)

Ways To Customize Your Casserole:

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 scratch adding meat and make this vegetarian)
• 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 Ideas:

Let’s make this a meal! Some classic Mexican recipes to go with this chicken enchilada bake could include:

• Restaurant-Style Salsa and/or Salsa Verde
• Guacamole
• Mexican Caesar Salad
• Margaritas

Or as always, feel free to check out our Mexican recipe archives here on the blog for more inspiration. Enjoy, everyone!

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Verde Chicken Enchilada Casserole

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star 4.6 from 22 reviews

• Prep Time: 30 minutes
• Cook Time: 30 minutes
• Total Time: 60 minutes
• Yield: 12 servings 1x

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Description

This Verde Chicken Enchilada Casserole recipe is layered with your favorite chicken enchilada fillings, and baked up with the most delicious homemade green enchilada sauce.  See suggestions above for how to customize your recipe to taste.

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Ingredients

Scale 1x2x3x

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 medium white onion, peeled and diced
• 1 large poblano or green bell pepper, cored and diced
• 2 (15 ounce) cans beans, rinsed and drained (I used pinto)
• 1 (8 ounce) can whole kernel corn, drained
• 2 handfuls fresh baby spinach
• 3 cups (about 1.5 pounds) shredded or diced cooked chicken
• 3 cups green enchilada sauce (or you could substitute salsa verde)
• 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

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Instructions

1. Heat oven to 375°F. Mist a 9×13-inch baking dish with cooking spray; set aside.
2. Heat oil in a large sauté pan over medium-high heat.  Add onion and pepper and sauté for 6-7 minutes, or until softened.  Stir in the beans, corn, spinach, chicken, and 2 cups enchilada sauce, and stir until evenly combined.  Remove from heat and set aside.
3. 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.
4. Cover the pan with aluminum foil, then bake for 20 minutes.
5. Remove pan and remove aluminum foil. Uncover and bake for 10 more minutes, until the cheese is thoroughly melted.
6. Remove from the oven and serve warm, garnished with your desired toppings.

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Notes

*To make this recipe gluten-free, double check the labels of all ingredients to ensure that they are certified gluten-free.