This chicken enchiladas with white sauce recipe is so good that you will smile when you think of eating it. Sautéd chicken thighs with shallots wrapped in soft flour tortillas and slathered with a delicious sauce makes for a great meal.
Mexican food is my favorite cuisine.
I worked at a Mexican eatery many moons ago as everyone who’s been reading this blog for a while knows since I talk about it so often. This Mexican restaurant was the only one in our area and people flocked there.
I loved everything I tried there but the enchiladas. They were strictly made with corn tortillas and I always found it too rubbery to eat.
Then I realized, I can make them with flour tortillas. And so now we have enchiladas at least once a month.
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Helpful tips
- You can use corn tortillas instead of flour tortillas.
- You can use chicken breast meat instead of thigh meat, go for it.
- You can use onions instead of shallots.
- Whenever possible, I use organic because I like that they don’t have any added antibiotics in it and I believe there is a taste difference.
- I don’t use any spices that would add heat because Christopher is sensitive to spicy food, but if you want to add when you are sautéing the chicken.
- You don’t have to use my sour cream sauce, but it is so worth trying these enchiladas smothered with it.
- I do make my own refried beans but if you don’t want to, you can substitute it out with canned beans.
- When you bake the enchiladas with the sauce, it does dry out a tad, so feel free to add more after you serve it.
How to make chicken enchiladas
Pre-step
Get your wok or large sauté pan and a baking dish.
Cut up the chicken into a little bigger than bite sized pieces.
Step one
Gather the ingredients – shallots, cut up chicken and garlic.
Step two
Heat the wok on medium heat. Add olive oil and once that has heated up, add the cut up shallots and sauté them for 4 minutes.
Step three
Add the chicken, cumin, dried parsley, salt, pepper and garlic and sauté for 8 minutes.
Assembling the enchiladas
Step four
Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
Step five
Get out tortillas, refried beans and my sour cream sauce.
For this recipe, I alternated between white flour tortillas and whole wheat tortillas.
Step six
Slather a spoonful of beans in a strip on the tortillas and add a good dollop of the chicken mixture right on top.
Step seven
Roll the tortillas around the chicken mixture and line them up in the baking dish, seam side down.
As you can see, I have extra chicken mixture but that’s okay because it means left overs!
Step eight
Pour sour cream sauce over the enchiladas and then I add some Colby cheese over it all.
Step nine
Bake the chicken enchiladas uncovered for 20 minutes.
I plate some chicken enchiladas with refried beans and gather guacamole and salsa.
As I mentioned, the sauce gets a little dried out so I add a little more.
Hmmm. Not enough. I drape some more over the enchiladas along with some guacamole.
I hope you enjoyed these chicken enchiladas with white sauce recipe.
Other popular Mexican food
And as always, may all your dishes be delish!
If you’ve tried this or any other recipe on the blog, I’d love the hear what you thought about it in the comments below. I love hearing from you! You can also FOLLOW ME on FACEBOOK, TWITTER, INSTAGRAM and PINTEREST to see more of my delicious food and delightful cocktails!
Chicken Enchiladas with White Sauce
Ingredients
- 4 shallots sliced in rings and chunks
- 5 chicken thighs boneless and skinless, cut up to bite sized pieces (approximately 1.2 pounds)
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 3 teaspoons garlic paste or 3 cloves garlic, chopped
- 1 teaspoon cumin ground
- 1 teaspoon dried parsley
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ⅛ teaspoon pepper
- 9 6 inch flour tortillas I used flour and whole wheat
- 1 cup refried beans
- 1 cup sour cream sauce homemade
- ¼ cup Colby cheese shredded
Instructions
- Heat sauté pan or wok on medium and once that heats up, add oil
- Once that heats up, add shallots and sauté for 4 minutes
- Add chicken, cumin, parsley, salt, pepper and garlic and sauté for an additional 8 minutes
- Spread refried beans on flour tortillas
- Add chicken mixture on top and roll up the tortilla and place seam side down in the baking dish
- Repeat until you fill the baking dish, I used 9 tortillas
- Ladle sour cream sauce on top of enchiladas and sprinkle the cheese on top
- Bake uncovered for 20 minutes
- Serve
- Smile
- Enjoy
Equipment
See all my favorite tools and gift ideas at my Amazon Store page!Check out Elaine’s Amazon Store!Notes
- You can use corn tortillas instead of flour tortillas.
- You can use chicken breast meat instead of thigh meat, go for it.
- You can use onions instead of shallots.
- Whenever possible, I use organic because I like that they don’t have any added antibiotics in it and I believe there is a taste difference.
- I don’t use any spices that would add heat because Christopher is sensitive to spicy food, but if you want to add when you are sautéing the chicken.
- You don’t have to use my sour cream sauce, but it is so worth trying these enchiladas smothered with it.
- I do make my own refried beans but if you don’t want to, you can substitute it out with canned beans.
- When you bake the enchiladas with the sauce, it does dry out a tad, so feel free to add more after you serve it.
Sherri Nuttall Olsen
Fantastic Layneey 🙂 I’m going to give these a try when hubby is home next time! What a great blog girl!
Elaine
Thanks so much Sadee 🙂 (or should I say Sherri?) I appreciate you looking at my blog.
Lainey
Amy at Cooking1handed.com
Recipes like this leave me weak in the knees. There’s nothing like comforting, Tex- Mex style Mexican food! I’ll use a dairy free sour cream substitute and cheddar to make these dairy free for my diet. They look so delicious.
Elaine
Thanks Amy. I’m sure your substitutes will be delicious! I sometimes make things dairy free too!!
Pam
Chicken Enchiladas are a favorite around here and these sound so good. I have to go check out your sour cream sauce too. Yummy!
Elaine
Thank you Pam!!
Sandi
My kids would be all over this dish. I would have to use corn tortillas, hoping that won’t change it too much.
Elaine
Sandi, I don’t think it will change it. I just like flour tortillas better. 🙂 Thanks for commenting.
Lisa | Garlic + Zest
This really is an easy recipe! Love the quick assembly — when I make enchiladas, it’s a production!
Elaine
Thanks Lisa!
Nichole
Isn’t it funny how Mexican cuisine can vary so much from region to region? I’m sure it’s much different here in the Midwest as well! I love making enchiladas with flour tortillas as well and I am SO looking forward to trying these! 🙂
Elaine
Thank you Nicole and yes, very interesting about the variety of Mexican cuisine! I remember when I lived in CA, it was different even in the different regions there!
Patty
Your enchiladas look so good Lainey, I really must give a try at your recipe! I also prefer flour tortillas!
Elaine
Thanks Patty! I knew I liked you for some reason!! 😉
lisa
Love chicken enchiladas – they’re the perfect comfort food for this time of year!
Elaine
I agree Lisa!!
Matt @ Plating Pixels
I agree on that organic is better. I totally need to make homemade enchiladas!
Elaine
Thanks Matt!
Laura
I am with you about enchiladas with flour tortilla and organic chicken. That serving was for two? That is what Liam will have by himself. He loves enchiladas
Elaine
Thanks Laura!! I’ll have to check what I put for servings because we had it a few days as leftovers!! Still delicious!
Bintu | Recipes From A Pantry
Chicken enchiladas are a big favourite in our household – these look especially delicious!
Elaine
Thanks so much Bintu!
Amanda
I love enchiladas of any kind, but especially those made with flour tortillas. Your sour cream sauce sounds divine, especially paired with Colby on top. I think this will be dinner this upcoming week!
Elaine
Amanda, me too! Thanks so much! And also thank you for commenting again for the rating! I appreciate it.
Amanda
My rating didn’t stick on the last comment, but 5 stars all the way! 🙂
Chris
I never get tired of these enchiladas. Between the chicken, the veggies, the soft tortilla, and the sauce, they’re always good eating!
Elaine
Hehe, thanks Chris!