Our Family’s Favorite Layered Chicken Enchilada Casserole

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This layered chicken enchilada casserole is an easy recipe that takes traditional chicken enchiladas and transforms them into a casserole dish, making it a great option your whole family will love!

Every week, we let our kids choose the meal and they help me prepare it for our family dinner night; A well-loved tradition from my childhood started by my mom. 

This easy chicken enchilada bake is their favorite recipe to choose. Apart from maybe our sourdough deep dish pizza night, which is already part of our weekly routine, this hearty casserole is the most requested in our house for birthdays and holidays as well!

With layers of tortillas, delicious chicken and black bean filling, and gooey cheese—what’s not to love?

 ​The Magic of the Whole Chicken

​Every year, the goal is to raise enough chickens for meat on our homestead to have roughly enough for our family to eat one chicken each week. 

Ideally, they would be on the larger side so that we could use it the first night to make a rotisserie style chicken in the oven or slow cooker, along with chicken broth. A large bird leaves plenty of leftover shredded chicken to have on hand for recipes like chicken salad, broccoli cheddar soup with chicken, or this delicious chicken enchilada casserole.

This strategy of stretching one whole chicken has saved us so much time and money over the years. Every week, I already know what 2-3 of our family dinners will be without needing to think much about it.

What’s in Chicken Enchilada Casserole?

I feel like a broken record when I say that we are all about simple ingredients. From the homemade enchilada sauce to the chicken filling layer, only basic, staple ingredients are needed for this easy casserole recipe.

The Layers

Instead of traditional enchiladas where filling is wrapped in a tortilla and the enchilada sauce and cheese smother the top, you can think of this easy enchilada casserole as something like the Mexican food version of lasagna.

The layers that you will need are:

Enchilada Sauce – Yes, it is always an option to buy canned enchilada sauce or the ready-made spice packets. But I highly recommend making your own! We make a homemade red enchilada sauce that is broth-based and can be whipped up in 5 minutes. It’s both nourishing and delicious!

Tortillas – You can use either corn tortillas or flour tortillas in this recipe—homemade or from the store. 

Tip: I will often stock up on basic gmo-free, corn tortillas (with no added ingredients other than the nixtamalized corn) that I freeze to have on hand just for making this recipe.

Chicken Filling – The chicken filling is a mixture of enchilada sauce, chicken, and beans.Besides that, feel free to be creative. While we use leftover shredded chicken for the layers of chicken, you could also use diced up chicken breasts or thighs or chicken pulled from a store-bought rotisserie chicken.

Tip: Our typical chicken filling includes sauteed garlic, yellow onion, mushrooms mixed into the shredded chicken, and black beans or pinto beans. Other ingredients you could use here are corn, green chiles, black olives, green or red bell peppers, red onions or really any other veggie that you want to sneak in there.

Cheese – This Mexican casserole is begging for lots of cheese. Oozy, melty cheese is likely the thing that makes this casserole one of the favorite meals in our house. We typically use a combination of our homemade mozzarella and farmhouse cheddar cheese in each of the cheese layers. But other great options are Monterey jack cheese or pepper jack cheese. 

How To Make Enchilada Casserole

After making this easy chicken enchilada casserole recipe so many times, I think I could make it in my sleep. But the first couple times, I always had to remind myself how the layers worked. And honestly, even if something gets flip flopped, as long as it all makes it into the baking dish at the end, it will be delicious!

Here’s what you need to know:

Bottom Layer:
Bottom of the pan, layer roughly 1 cup enchilada sauce.
Layer or tortillas
1/3 chicken filling
1/3 cheese

Middle Layer:
tortillas
1/3 chicken filling
1/3 cheese

Top Layer:
tortillas
1/3 chicken filling
spread remaining sauce over the top
Final layer of cheese

Alternative Variations – No chicken, no problem!

This recipe is super versatile. You can easily turn it into a beef enchilada casserole by adding shredded or ground beef or pork in place of chicken. Vegetarian? Omit the meat all together and replace with more beans and veggies in the filling. I’ll often toss in any leftover roasted veggies we have on hand here. Roasted butternut squash, sweet potatoes, or carrots are great ways to bulk up the filling, especially if you plan to leave out the meat.

How do you serve chicken enchilada casserole?

At our house, we serve this alongside Spanish rice—a match made in heaven. It would also be great served with tortilla chips or refried beans.

Pulling out your favorite toppings can take it to the next level. We love adding fresh cilantro, green onions, sour cream, and guacamole.

Can you freeze or what are the best practices for storing?

Yes! While this is definitely an easy chicken enchilada casserole recipe, I would not call it quick. It does take considerable amount of meal prep time to make and form all of those layers (especially if you have lots of little helpers). 

That being said, it makes a great freezer meal for a quick weeknight dinner when needed. You can either freeze it before baking or after. If you freeze before baking, thaw and bake for the full 45 minutes until completely cooked and cheese is melted. When freezing after it’s baked, thaw in the fridge and reheat until warmed through.

For now, we can still get two meals out of this chicken enchilada casserole. For best results when storing in the fridge, store in an airtight container or cover with aluminum foil or plastic wrap and eat within 3-4 days.

Layered Chicken Enchilada Casserole Recipe

Yield: 8 Servings

Ingredients:

3 cups red enchilada sauce
12 corn tortillas or small flour tortillas
4.5 cups shredded cheese

Filling layer:
4 cups shredded or diced chicken
4 cups cooked beans
3-4 cloves garlic
1 onion, diced
Optional add ins: corn, sweet pepper, green chilies, chopped mushrooms, other veggies, cooked and chopped.

Directions:

1. Assemble filling by sautéing garlic, onions, and any other veggies in a large skillet over medium heat.

2. After veggies are cooked, mix in a large mixing bowl with chicken, beans, 1 cup of enchilada sauce, and any other add ins.

3. In 9×13 casserole dish, spread 1 cup of enchilada sauce at the bottom of the pan.

4. Layer 4 tortillas over the enchilada sauce so that it is covered entirely.

5. Spread 1/3 of the chicken mixture over the tortillas.

6. Sprinkle 1.5 cups of shredded cheese over the filling layer.

7. Repeat layers of tortillas, filling, cheese.

8. Last layer, add tortillas and the last 1/3 of the filling.

9. Cover the remaining 1 cup of enchilada sauce over the filling.

10. Top with the last 1.5 cups of cheese.

11. Bake in a 350°F preheated oven for 40 minutes, covered.

12. Remove cover and cook for an additional 5-10 minutes until cheese is melted.

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For more of our favorite hearty dinner recipes:

Slow Cooker Butternut Squash Chili
Dutch Oven Mac and Cheese
Apple, Sweet Potato, Sausage Hash
Creamy Broccoli Cheddar Soup with Chicken

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