Cheesy Chicken Enchilada Bake
This cheesy chicken enchilada bake involves layer upon layer of deliciousness and becomes a creamy, cheesy mess of perfection!
This is one incredible little dish of messy, wonderful, cheesy chicken enchilada perfection.
There is so much to love, it’s hard to know where to start.
First of all, I have to mention that this glorious, flavorful casserole can be served in a hundred different ways.
- over rice (or quinoa or cauliflower rice)
- rolled up in enchiladas or burritos or tacos
- straight up on its own
Also, the flavor from easy pantry ingredients is out of this world delicious. And other than a quick saute step (it’s important and I’ll tell you why in a sec!), it’s really, really easy to assemble and throw in the oven.
Already Dreaming of Leftovers
My husband, who ate this as a late night dinner hours after the rest of us, kept excitedly declaring how delicious it was the entire time he was eating it.
After about the 6th time, our eyes met in unspoken, somewhat hostile confrontation as we both realized there was going to be some serious infighing over the leftovers. #eachmanforhimself
He’s right, though. This cheesy chicken enchilada bake is otherworldly good. The flavors and layers build on each other to form one of the most spectacularly delicious casseroles of 2020.
I have to thank Haley, my valiant hair wonder woman, who typed up her recipe the last time I went to get my hair cut and handed it to me as I was walking out the door. It was one of those recipes I knew I’d make almost immediately. And I loved putting my own spin on it to amp up the flavors just a bit.
Let’s Talk About The Green SAuce
An important component of the recipe is the green sauce. Green salsa. Green enchilada sauce. Green guacamole salsa.
There are a lot of options here. My favorite variation is to use salsa verde (green salsa) on the bottom and the Herdez creamy green guacamole salsa on the top. Mild or medium, your choice.
The reason for the saute
If precooking or sauteing ingredients prior to throwing them in a casserole has you super annoyed, let me assure you that I always look for an out when a recipe calls for this step. So I feel you on this one.
But the quick saute of the peppers and onions is pretty important. Not only does it add a bit of extra flavor, but it also gives the vegetables a perfect fajita-type texture after the saute + oven cooking.
Same goes for the chicken. You’ve already dirtied a skillet for the veggies – so put it to good use and brown the seasoned chicken super fast on each side. Again, not only does this add flavor, flavor, flavor BUT it also seals in the juices of the chicken making it more tender after oven cooking (and makes the casserole less watery).
Layer Layer Layer
Once the vegetables and chicken get the flash-in-the-pan treatment, it’s all about the layers.
- green sauce
- onions + peppers
- chicken
- black beans
- more green sauce
At this point, you’ll cover and bake the casserole for 20-30 minutes. Less time for chicken breasts, more time if using chicken thighs. Then, uncover, smother with cheese, and return to the oven until bubbly, golden, and perfect. Sidenote: it makes me sad to say this, but you could easily leave this cheese-less if that’s your preference.
Don’t overcook
The trick, really, for baking this enchilada wonder is to time it just right so the chicken is perfectly cooked. Over cooking can make the chicken tough and dry.
Chicken thighs tend to be a bit more forgiving when over cooked – they also take longer to cook through fully. When using chicken breasts, I cook this casserole for 20 minutes covered with an additional 10 minutes uncovered and that seems to be perfect for my oven.
Each oven will differ in exact time and temperature (especially when taking into consideration the thickness/type of chicken used).
Meatless option: I think you could easily leave out the chicken and add another can of beans or chickpeas.
This chicken enchilada bake is cheesy and saucy and just so crazy good. As it rests, out of the oven, the sauce thickens up just a bit.
And there is plenty of sauce to make this the perfect dish for serving over rice.
Don’t be afraid to scoop all the way to the bottom to get your hands on those amazing peppers and onions and also fully access the available sauce.
Although this doesn’t fall into the category of a dump-and-go recipe, I think the quick first steps are very much worth it.
We loved the flavors so much, it doesn’t even seem like a hassle. It seems imperative. Important. Necessary. Which makes me happy to do it.
slow cooker suggestion
I haven’t tried it yet, but I think this could transition extremely well to a slow cooker meal. Follow all the steps in the recipe except layer the ingredients in a greased slow cooker instead of a baking dish. Maybe 4-5 hours on low? Yes, I’m liking that idea quite a lot.
What To Serve With This:
Cornbread
Mexican chopped salad
Fresh seasonal fruit and/or quick skillet broccoli
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Cheesy Chicken Enchilada Bake
Ingredients
- 2 cups salsa verde or guacamole salsa (see note), see note
- 1 ½ pounds boneless skinless chicken thighs or chicken breasts (I use thin cut)
- 1 tablespoon oil
- 1 medium yellow or white onion, thinly sliced into half moons
- 2 medium bell peppers, cored and sliced into strips
- ½ teaspoon salt
- Pinch of black pepper
- 1 (15-ounce) can black beans, rinsed and drained
- 1 to 2 cups shredded Monterey Jack or sharp cheddar cheese, or a combo
- Fresh, chopped cilantro
Seasoning Mix:
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon chili powder
- ½ teaspoon cumin
- ½ teaspoon salt, I use coarse, kosher salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease a 9X13-inch (or similar sized) baking dish. Spread one cup of the salsa verde (or guacamole salsa) in the bottom of the pan. Set aside.
- In a small bowl, combine all the seasoning mix ingredients. Pat the chicken dry. If using chicken breasts, cut them into thinner strips (similar to chicken tenderloin size or slightly larger). Sprinkle the seasoning mix evenly over the chicken (both sides). Set aside.
- In a 12-inch skillet or saute pan, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the onions and peppers. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Saute until the onions and peppers start to soften, 3-4 minutes (they’ll cook a bit more in the oven). Spread the onions and peppers over the salsa in the pan.
- Return the skillet to medium heat and add a drizzle of oil if the pan is dry. Add the chicken in a single layer (may need to do this in two batches) and cook for 30 – 60 seconds per side for some quick browning action – don’t overcook (the chicken will cook longer in the oven). Remove the chicken from the pan and place in a single layer over the vegetables.
- Sprinkle the black beans over the chicken. Pour the remaining one cup salsa over the beans. Cover the dish with foil and bake for 20 minutes (bake for 35 minutes in this step if using chicken thighs).
- Uncover, sprinkle with cheese, and bake for another 10-15 minutes until the chicken is cooked through and the cheese is melted and bubbly. Add time, as needed, for the chicken to fully cook through.
- Remove from the oven, sprinkle with fresh cilantro, and let rest for 10-15 minutes. The sauce will thicken as the casserole rests. Serve over rice, quinoa, cauliflower rice, etc OR serve in tortillas (or roll up in burritos or enchiladas). Serve with additional toppings/garnishes as desired: avocados, fresh lime wedges, sour cream, additional cheese, tomatoes, etc.
Notes
Recommended Products
Recipe Source: adapted from a recipe my resident hair expert, Haley M., gave me
81 Comments on “Cheesy Chicken Enchilada Bake”
This is so delicious and easy! My husband and I love it and I make it regularly. My kids are picky and they won’t eat the cooked bell peppers or onions but they love the chicken with lettuce wrapped in a tortilla.
This is one of my favorites…and the last two times I made it when I had leftover rice, I threw the rice (one time it was basmati I think leftover from a Mediterranean meal, and another time was some lightly seasoned rice leftover from a Hawaiian meal. I threw 1 cup of salsa over it, used a rotisserie chicken (after sauteeing the veggies, then I layered those and then used the same pan and threw in the cooked meat with the seasonings for a minute) and then layered, I did add a can of drained corn when I put the beans since my kids love corn) and it has been a winner both times, and so easy, and great to use up leftovers!! YUM!
I wasn’t clear enough. I threw the rice in the 9×13 pan (I have doubled it) and then started the layers, so easy, and so yummy!
Delicious! My fussy hubby loves it!
My family LOVED this recipe! I made it exactly as written except I served it over Spanish rice.
I am wanting to make it again on a beach trip. Do you think it could be made in advance and then baked?
Yes, I think that would work!
I may have already commented on this recipe… even if that is the case, it needs to be said that I could eat this every day for a week. It is so delicious! I love this meal. I have made it at least monthly since you posted it. Thanks, Mel!
I love this recipe! (I just made it for dinner last night.) I am a new owner of an instant pot and still trying to figure it out, find recipes, etc. I was wondering if anyone has tried this recipe using one and could offer advice? TIA
Omg, this was so good!
I recently bought a 17″ Lodge cast iron dish for pizzas. Large fam here! How can you have a tool for one dish?? Long story short I was able to make this dish in one pot. Brown the chicken (made them medallion sized), sautéed peppers, then put enchilada sauce (what I had on hand) put chicken back in and layer the rest as you listed and put directly from stove to the oven. It’s that we need to have a “casserole” sized dish stove pan that can get ripping hot. Does that make any sense??:)
I have at least 10 Mel dishes that are regular rotation. Plus, others for once in a while. I don’t even own a cookbook that I would make that many dishes regularly.
Thanks!
i have really been enjoying trying some of your recipes since I’m cooking more at home (2020) one question on the slow cooker version. when do you add the cheese? Thanks so much for your website!
I would sprinkle cheese on at the end, cover, and let melt.
My go to meal when hosting people for lunch or dinner! So yummy, easy to make, can prepare ahead of time too. I eat this for lunch so often during the week. Highly recommend this and all of your recipes to friends!
Could you share how you prepare it ahead of time? I’m hoping to make it as a baby meal for my friend to bake later that day. Thank you!
Absolutely amazing, really!!! I kept one side vegetarian and even that was just great!!!!! Please try this if it appeals to you at all, I promise it is a wonderful dish made exactly as written. Thanks for this.
Thank you, Sandy!
More kudos from this house! DD used combo of shredded cheddar and mozzarella since that’s what we had. Made twice in past few weeks — last night’s version used stewed chicken (I made bone broth) cut up in to bite size pieces per my husband’s request.
I will need to add this to my collection of ‘family favorites’ that I print and give as a bridal shower gift. Five Stars!
I made this last night and actually left half for vegetarians, it was a huge huge success. Everyone really loved it and that’s kind of rare. Thank you so much, I will have this on my rotation from now on. You really have some wonderful recipes on this site.
I loved this, my whole family fought over the leftover s
This is the best tasting Mexican dinner I have made. We will definitely make this again. It was easy to prepare and I shared it with a friend and she loved it!
This was super easy and delicious! We had some college guys over to help with moving a piano, and fed them dinner as a thank you. It was a definite hit! (Also, even though I made 2 of these Enchilada Bakes, cilantro lime rice, your Mexican Corn and Tomato salad, tortilla chips, PLUS a dessert, I had zero leftovers of anything! Everyone absolutely loved the casserole and your salad!
It was so good, and I’ve been craving it already so it will make an appearance in our home again soon. I passed your recipe along to 3 other friends, and they have enjoyed it as well. People seem to think I’m some amazing cook, but I always direct them to your recipes, so you and I know who the real kitchen star is. 😉 Thanks, Mel!
Arlene, you ARE amazing! Thanks for sharing about this – those college kids are pretty lucky to get such a fab meal for helping move a piano!
This is so delicious. I have made it 3 times in the last month which is pretty rare for any recipe around here. I love it, the kids love it. Thanks, Mel!
Thanks so much, Angela! I’m making it this week in the slow cooker like a lot of people have commented and suggested. Glad you like the recipe!
I added an 8 ounce block of cream cheese to the Guacamole salsa and warmed it in a pan and put that on the top of the chicken and it was so creamy and delicious
Fantastic idea!
My family loved this and I have made it 3 times in the past 5 weeks. I double pretty much everything so I get two meals out of this. That Trader Joe’s Salsa Verde has always been one of my favorites and used it along with Frontera Green Enchilada Sauce that first time I made it. The second time I made it I used the Hertez Gaucamole Salsa and it was not as good. If you can get your hands on the Frontera Green Enchilada Sauce and the Trader Joe’s Salsa Verde it really makes it fantastic. Thanks for a great recipe.
The whole family loved this. I served it with your cilantro lime rice and subbed some of the salsa for your cilantro dressing. Delicious and quick. Thank you Mel!!
I just wanted to mention, because I hadn’t seen it in the comments, but I made this in the slow cooker exactly as you suggested and it was fantastic! Incredibly easy meal and a big hit with the family. I made it a few weeks ago with a rotisserie chicken (not in the slow cooker) and that was also a win. I think for us the win was that guacamole salsa! It adds some great flavor.
I’m loving the slow cooker results on this recipe!
I love, love, loved this meal! I made it in the crockpot, and it was perfect — great suggestion! I emailed the link to all my sisters and insisted they try it too.
I made this tonight after my first tragic broken glass experience. It was delicious! I know you love one-skillet meals – and this go-around I made it into one. I have a deep-dish 13-inch oven safe skillet. I cooked the veggies in it and then set them aside in a bowl, then cooked the chicken and set it aside – then layered everything in the skillet. I also added a can of corn. I served it over cilantro lime cauliflower rice. Definitely will be going in the regular dinner rotation – although I’m not sure when the Pyrex pans will come back to the rotation!
I’m glad you tried it again, Anna – and love your notes about making this a one dish meal. So awesome!!
We’ve already had this twice since you posted it and we absolutely love it!
So good! Leftovers were amazing as well! This is an easy weeknight keeper. Thank you so Mucho!
Thanks, Rebekah!
Loved this!!!
Thanks, Kim!
I am so tired of packing lunches that I just shoved leftovers in my bag for work. Sooooo good.
I made this for Sunday lunch yesterday, and you know me, had to see if it would “freezer meal.” I cooked about 2.5 dry cups of minute rice and layered it on the bottom of the casserole dish. I might have used the entire jar of guacamole salsa on the meal too. This was so yummy. So yummy that I ate leftovers and loved it. I am sure that with the rice on the bottom, it would make the perfect freezer meal too. The half I was going to freeze got eaten, but I have made enough freezer meals in my life to know. It’ll freeze
You ARE the freezer queen, Beth!
This was soooooo GOOD!!! ALL my kids & my husband loved and raved about it. It’s definitely going into our weekly dinner rotation. We made a vegetarian version for my husband and the rest of us had the regular one. Both options were phenomenal!
Love the variety with a vegetarian version, Margaret – thanks for the comment!
Mel! This was sooo delicious! A perfect recipe for someone who loves the flavors and sauciness of enchiladas, but can’t do a soggy tortilla!
I give a hearty amen to the soggy tortilla woes, Ashley! Glad you enjoyed this one!
Yum! We really liked this a lot! We had it over rice. It was really flavorful and not hard. It is worth it to cooked the veggies in a pan before as well as brown the chicken. This will be going into our regular meal rotation. Thanks!
Thanks, Jen!
Hi Mel!
I’m making this recipe tonight and can’t wait! I purchased chicken breasts-should I cut them horizontally so they are thinner? And from there would you suggest cutting them in half once so they are a bit smaller? Thanks!
Hi Sarah, sorry for the delay in responding – I would do what you suggested. Cut them in half horizontally to form two thinner cutlets and then cut them in half again the long way to form thinner strips. Did it work out?
Thanks for the great recipe! It will definitely make it into our regular rotation. So simple and flavorful. I used one small can of green enchilada sauce for the bottom and green salsa for the top. I ate it all on its own, but my kids preferred it over rice.
Thanks for the comment, Melissa!
Cheesy Chicken Enchilada Bake was amazing ! You’re right about the leftovers – next time I will double to have more leftover. I used a grocery store rotisserie chicken to make it even easier. Simply removed skin! cut into bite size pieces, and tossed with seasonings in recipe.; baked less time as all just needed to heat through. Turned out wonderful.. Thanks for another great recipe!
Thanks so much, Jan! Appreciate the feedback.
So I wasted no time and made this last night! It was fantastic! Served on corn & flour tortillas and all 4 kids loved it! Thank you, Mel!!
Thank you so much for making this so quickly AND for taking time to let me know what you thought!
Hi Mel,
Do you think you could make this in an instant pot???
Thanks for any advice you can give me.
Have a great day!!
Susan
Hi Susan – I *think* so – the elusive “burn” warning has me a bit concerned as it sometimes happens in recipes where the liquid is thick or there’s not enough liquid – but you could definitely try!
This was really good! I was planning on making your sheet pan fajitas for dinner tonight, but I’m glad we decided to switch it up. We ate it over rice and if you add sour cream, it’s another level of delicious!! We’ll definitely make it again! Thanks, Mel!
Thanks for letting me know, Alexandra! Happy you liked it!
I was so excited to make this tonight! I woke up this morning with no voice and feeling not great – but I decided it looked easy enough to forge through and make for dinner. I had the Herdez roasted salsa verde (which I love) and guacamole salsa. I decided to add a can of corn with the black beans. It all looked and smelled delicious. Then my 9×13 glass pan exploded with the casserole inside it. I thought perhaps we could salvage part but for whatever reason the chicken wasn’t fully cooked (and there was that risk of shards of glass). I’m a bit a heartbroken. But I will try again another day! Also, have you ever had a glass pan break? Pretty crazy stuff. And there wasn’t a huge temperature change.
Anna! That is crazy! I’ve never had a glass pan break – it’s so unusual that would have happened (had you refrigerated the assembled casserole prior to baking? Just wondering if the pan was extra cold when it hit the hot oven). I’m so sorry!
Somehow I just commented twice. Sorry about that. My first comment didn’t look like it loaded on my phone. But no I had the pan on the counter and had done the salsa (which was at room temp) and the vegetables first (after cooking them). So pretty strange. I of course have now been reading articles about exploding Pyrex (though my pan – which I just got from my wedding registry a few months back is OXO).
I had a glad dish randomly shatter one day as well. It was the strangest thing!
Can you make this with pre-cookied chicken?
You could try! It might dry out a bit in the oven since it’s already cooked (and won’t have as much flavor since it’ll be missing the seasoning in the recipe) but I figure anything is worth a try at least once! 🙂
I made this tonight with leftover rotisserie chicken. I seasoned the veggies with the chili powder, cumin, etc and then added the chicken to warm it up. After that I followed the directions and just decreased the time since we were really just melding the flavors. New favorite at our house for sure!!
That’s awesome, Angela!! Thanks for reporting back with your changes!
Thanks, Angela – love reading all of you superstars trying this out with cooked chicken!
I always use cooked/baked chicken breasts in dishes similar to this. I bake in covered pan with water and seasoning when convenient. 350 degrees for an hour. Add a little olive oil with the seasoning- chicken is moist and ready for most dishes. Assemble and bake for this dish- couldn’t be easier. Thanks.
If attempting the meatless option, would you recommend adding the spices to the veggies, or straight to the sauce?
I think I’d whisk the seasonings in with the sauce! And maybe reserve a bit to sprinkle over the peppers and onions.
Could this be assembled a day ahead and then baked?
I think so – but I wouldn’t brown the chicken – partly cooking it like that and then refrigerating it has me a little nervous from a food safety perspective.
This looks delicious! Would this freeze well?
I haven’t tried it, but I’m guessing it would!
Oooooooh, this looks good! Guess I know what I’ll be making for dinner tonight! (Is there anything better than already having all the ingredients for a new recipe??)
I love it when that happens!
Could you layer this over cooked rice in the same pan and just cook it all together?
I think you probably could! Not sure if the rice would get overcooked/soggy with the extra liquid in the pan but it’s worth a try.
Similar question….do you think layering corn tortillas in and baking the whole thing together would work?
Yes, I think that could be super yummy!
This is the chicken enchilada type meal my dreams are made of! I can’t wait to make this! Thank you Mel!
Hope you like it, Meg!