Chicken Enchilada Casserole
Chicken Enchilada Casserole is an easy layered dinner made with shredded chicken, southwestern corn, cheese, enchilada sauce, tortillas and seasoning!
A MEXICAN INSPIRED CASSEROLE
Who doesn’t love an easy, cheesy, flavorful casserole for dinner? This Chicken Enchilada Casserole is super simple to whip up and is great for those crazy busy nights when you just want to get dinner on the table without a big fuss. I mean, enchiladas may be one of my favorite Mexican meals, but this casserole that gives off all the enchilada flavors without the hard work of assembling them. This is a fun one to have the kids help with too!
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS:
If you cut it right away, it may be a little on the loose side, that is why I suggest letting it sit for 5-10 minutes.
If you can’t find the southwestern style corn I suggest using fire-roasted or any canned corn, just make sure you drain it well.
Use cheddar, Monterey Jack, or Pepper Jack in place of Colby Jack.
Nope! If you want to make a Beef Enchilada Casserole, you can. Swap out the chicken for cooked ground beef and proceed as normal.
Absolutely. Just be sure to use ones that are roughly the same size.
Yes, since the ingredients are already cooked, you can safely assemble the casserole earlier in the day, wrap your baking dish with plastic wrap and then aluminum foil before placing it in the fridge. Later that evening, when ready to cook, remove foil and plastic while the oven preheats and bake as directed.
Keep in the fridge for up to 4 days, freeze for up to 3 months.
To reheat, cover with foil in the oven until warm or pop a plate with some leftovers in the microwave.
INGREDIENTS NEEDED: (SEE RECIPE CARD BELOW FOR THE FULL RECIPE)
- shredded cooked chicken– you can bake some chicken breasts and shred them or use rotisserie chicken.
- southwest corn- see my ingredient image below so you know what to look for in the grocery store.
- shredded colby jack cheese – If you want other cheese options, see the FAQ section. I freshly shredded it but you can use the pre-shredded stuff.
- enchilada sauce – You can use a homemade sauce or buy some from the store. Either green or red enchilada sauce will work.
- salt, ground cumin, garlic powder, onion powder, black pepper – if you don’t want to use the individual seasoning you could use taco or fajita seasoning.
- corn tortillas – flour tortillas can be substituted. If you like, you can cut up the tortillas if you prefer.
HOW TO MAKE CHICKEN ENCHILADA CASSEROLE
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Spray a 9×13-inch baking dish with nonstick cooking spray and set aside. In a large bowl, stir together the chicken, corn, green chiles, 2 cups of shredded cheese, ¾ cup of the enchilada sauce, salt, cumin, garlic powder, onion powder, and black pepper until well combined. Add ¾ cup of the enchilada sauce to the bottom of the baking dish, coating the bottom.
Take 6 of the tortillas, and one at a time, dip them until fully coated in the enchilada sauce. Then, place them in the baking dish; they will overlap. Spread out ½ of the chicken mixture on top.
Again, take 6 of the tortillas, dip them in enchilada sauce, and add on top. Spread out the remaining chicken mixture. Smooth out the remaining enchilada sauce over the chicken.
Top with the remaining 2 cups of shredded cheese. Bake, uncovered, for 25-30 minutes until bubbly.
Let stand for 5-10 minutes to set up before serving.
CRAVING MORE RECIPES?
- Lazy Chicken Enchiladas
- Chicken Fajita Casserole
- Bisquick Chicken Enchilada Bake
- Creamy White Chicken Enchiladas
- Chicken Enchiladas with Red Sauce
- Buffalo Chicken Enchiladas
- Air Fryer Chicken Enchiladas
- Malibu Chicken Casserole
- Arroz Con Pollo
- Swiss Enchiladas
- Creamy Shrimp Enchiladas
- White Chicken Enchiladas for Two
- Tater Tot Enchilada Bake
- White Chicken Enchilada Soup
- Chicken Enchilada Soup
- Taco Bell Mexican Pizza
- Taco Bell Enchiritos
- Taco Bell Chili Cheese Burritos
Chicken Enchilada Casserole
Ingredients
- 3 cups shredded cooked chicken (rotisserie chicken works great)
- 15 ounce can southwestern corn, well-drained
- 4 ounce can green chiles, drained
- 4 cups shredded colby jack cheese (divided use)
- 3 cups enchilada sauce (divided use)
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon ground cumin
- ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
- ¼ teaspoon onion powder
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- 12 corn tortillas (or flour tortillas)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Spray a 9×13-inch baking dish with nonstick cooking spray and set aside.
- In a large bowl, stir together 3 cups shredded cooked chicken, 15 ounce can southwestern corn, well-drained, 4 ounce can green chiles, drained, 2 cups shredded colby jack cheese, ¾ cup of the enchilada sauce, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin, 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder, 1/4 teaspoon onion powder and 1/4 teaspoon black pepper until well combined.
- Add ¾ cup of the enchilada sauce to the bottom of the baking dish, coating the bottom.
- Take 6 of the tortillas, and one at a time, dip them until fully coated in the enchilada sauce. Then, place them in the baking dish; they will overlap.
- Spread out ½ of the chicken mixture on top.
- Again, take 6 of the tortillas, dip them in enchilada sauce, and add on top.
- Spread out the remaining chicken mixture.
- Smooth out the remaining enchilada sauce over the chicken.
- Top with the remaining 2 cups of shredded cheese.
- Bake, uncovered, for 25-30 minutes until bubbly.
- Let stand for 5-10 minutes to set up before serving.
Notes
- Please refer to my FAQ’s (Frequently Asked Questions) and ingredient list above for other substitutions or for the answers to the most common questions.
- This can make 6-8 servings depending on your serving size.
Nutrition
Nutritional Disclaimer
“The Country Cook” is not a dietician or nutritionist, and any nutritional information shared is an estimate. If calorie count and other nutritional values are important to you, we recommend running the ingredients through whichever online nutritional calculator you prefer. Calories and other nutritional values can vary quite a bit depending on which brands were used.
Excellent recipe. Easy to make and tasty.
Thanks so much Ron! I appreciate you coming back to comment!
How can I use your technique on the Chicken Enchilada Casserole (layering, sauce….) but use your white sauce that is in your White Chicken Enchilada recipe? My husband does not like red sauce (shame on him). I want it to be more like a casserole and not roll them up. Thanks so much for feed back. Really like your recipes.
Betty
I have a recipe for that right here Betty 🙂 https://www.thecountrycook.net/white-chicken-enchilada-casserole/
Perfect as written! I wouldn’t change a thing 🙂
Wonderful and delicious!!!
Thanks so much Kitty! I appreciate you coming back to comment!
If I were going to freeze this would I do it before I cook it or after it was cooked? Thank you it looks delicious.
Honestly, you could do it either way. If you do it before you cook it, then you may just need to add a few extra minutes onto the cooking time since you’d be cooking it from frozen.
Tried this last night. It was so good and everyone loved it. Made it exactly to the recipe and didn’t change anything. Perfect!
Love hearing that!! Thanks so much for taking the time to come back and comment!