Easy Chicken Enchilada Casserole
4 ingredients. That’s all you need to make a delicious chicken enchilada casserole that’s loaded with protein and outrageously tasty.
Like I’ve mentioned before, I love Mexican food. I could eat it every day of the week. This dish really satisfies my cravings for a hearty Mexican meal without the need to spend a lot of time in the kitchen. After all, the recipe is just 4 ingredients.
When I first made this dish, I was really skeptical. I knew it would be good, but I didn’t think that 4 ingredients would be enough to make something really good. I was wrong. In fact, I was so wrong, that after making this recipe for the first time, I had to make it again the very next night.
The big shortcut to this dish is to use a store-bought enchilada sauce. When I have time on the weekends to make my own enchilada sauce, I’ll certainly go ahead and do that, but on weekdays, the quicker the better. I use Frontera enchilada sauce because that’s the only kind they sell in my local store, but you can also get the El Paso or Las Palmas brands (the latter of which I hear is excellent).
Both red and green enchilada sauce work for this recipe. Just use whatever you prefer! I’ve made it with both and it comes out great every time.
Ingredients
- 1 pound boneless skinless chicken breasts
- 16 ounces enchilada sauce
- 6 ounces monterey jack cheese
- 8 corn tortillas (6″ size)
Instructions
Cut the chicken breasts into 6 large pieces in total (if you have 2 chicken breasts, cut each into 3 pieces). Place the chicken into a small pot. Pour all of the enchilada sauce into the pot on top of the chicken. Put the pot over medium heat. After the enchilada sauce starts to bubble, turn the heat to low, cover the pot, and cook the chicken for 20 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
While the oven is heating up, take the cooked chicken out of the pot and shred it with forks. After you’ve shredded most of the chicken with the forks, the chicken will be a cooler temperature, and you can finish up the shredding with your hands. I like to switch to using my hands as soon as possible just because it’s faster.
Once the chicken is shredded, it’s time to construct the casserole. Pour about 1/4 cup of the enchilada sauce into a baking pan, and move the pan around so that the sauce coats the entire bottom. Then place 4 of the corn tortillas in the pan. This will be the base layer of the casserole.
On top of the tortillas, add half the shredded chicken, distributing it evenly across all the tortillas. Top with half the remaining enchilada sauce. Then top with 3 ounces of monterey jack.
Now do the next layer the exact same way: 4 tortillas, then the remaining chicken, then the remaining sauce, then the remaining cheese.
Put the casserole into the oven and bake for 20 minutes, then enjoy!
Note: I use a 9×13 pan and 4 small corn tortillas isn’t enough to cover the entire bottom of the pan. To get around this, I just construct the casserole in the center of the pan, leaving extra room at both ends. It doesn’t matter because everything stays in place when it cooks.
Nutrition Facts
Recipe yields 4 servings. Nutrition information is for 1 serving.
Calories: 425
Fat: 16g
Carbohydrates: 30g
Fiber: 7g
Protein: 39g