Growing up, I had Mexican food every Tuesday night. I seriously don’t think my mom intentionally made it that way, but I remember coming home from dance lessons every Tuesday to some sort of Mexican dish (usually tacos or cheesy enchiladas) with a side of corn and Rice-a-Roni’s Spanish rice. Not sure if you have tried Rice-a-Roni’s Spanish rice or their Mexican rice, but I am obsessed with both.
Well, now that I am an adult and have a family of my own, I am all about making dinner traditions. This delicious pepper jack enchilada recipe was a no-brainer.
You Can’t Go Wrong With Creamy Chicken Enchiladas
One of the dishes my mom would make was creamy chicken enchiladas. I understand that this is so not real Mexican food, but maybe that’s why I loved it so much as a kid. I now love a creamy chicken enchilada casserole made all ways, including real authentic Enchiladas from one of those little Mexican restaurants.
I need to find a good authentic chicken enchilada recipe to add to my Mexican food Tuesday list, but for now I am totally ok eating these creamy chicken enchiladas every few weeks.
Pepper Jack Enchiladas for the Win!
I wanted to switch up my mom’s recipe a tad bit by giving it more of a kick. So all I really changed was the cheese I put into the dish and how I arrange the tortillas. Adding pepper jack cheese was definitely a good choice, because these creamy pepper jack chicken enchiladas were absolutely wonderful.
Creamy Pepper Jack Chicken Enchiladas for dinner is always a great choice, especially if you use A LOT of cheese. I’m convinced you can never get enough. Find the creamy chicken enchilada casserole recipe below. 🙂
Creamy Enchilada Cooking Tools/Utensils You Will Need
Medium-to-Large Mixing Bowl
Measuring Cups
9 X 13 Pan
- 👉 BUY – Nonstick Pan
Try this Creamy Pepperjack Chicken Enchilada Recipe Today!
- 4 chicken breasts, cooked and cut into bite size pieces
- 10.5 oz can cream of chicken soup
- 1 pint sour cream
- 4 oz can Ortega green chilies, chopped
- ½ cup chopped green onion
- 9 medium size tortillas
- ¾ lb. grated pepper jack cheese
- ¼ lb. grated cheddar cheese
- In a large bowl, combine soup, sour cream, chilies, onions and pepper jack cheese together.
- Take out and set aside 2 cups of this mixture.
- Add chicken pieces to the original cream mixture bowl and mix together.
- Spray a 9x13 pan with cooking spray.
- Layer the bottom of the pan with 3 tortillas ripped into fourths.
- Spread ½ of the chicken mixture over the tortillas. .
- Rip 3 more tortillas up and layer over the chicken mixture.
- Spread the rest of the chicken mixture over the tortillas.
- Layer with 3 more torn tortillas
- Pour the 2 cups of sauce over the top of the tortillas. Top with Cheddar cheese.
- Bake at 350 degree for 40-45 minutes.
- Top with a dollop of sour cream and guacamole.
If you’re looking for another take on yummy enchiladas, check out our smothered green chile enchiladas recipe as well!
The Sugar n' Spice Gals have made it their mission to make cooking simple, delicious and fun.
What sauce do you use? I don’t see one in the recipe.
Hi Dawn,
The sauce is just the mixture of sour cream, cream of chicken and cheese. The first step in the directions tells you how to mix it all together.
Hopefully this helps.:)
-Becky
Ms Becky,
A friend of mine made this recipe for the first time yesterday for our bunko group. It was so delicious and I thought this was one of her family recipes she made all the time and she said, ‘No this was first time I made it.’
If you’re looking for good “authentic” red enchiladas I grew up in El Paso Texas and this is how I learned to make them.
I only use “Old El Paso” red enchilada sauce. I’ve tried others and they just don’t taste the same. This recipe will make 1 large casserole or 2 square.
What you will need:
2 Large cans of Old El Paso red mild enchilada sauce
15-20 CORN tortillas
1 large chopped onion or more if you want
32 oz. Colby/Jack shredded cheese (reserve enough to cover your enchiladas)
Oil for softening tortillas.
Put about 1-1/12 inches of oil in a frying pan and let it get hot.
While the oil is heating up I lay a paper bag or paper towels near the stove to place the hot tortillas on.
Slowly drop a tortilla in the oil and flip over to soften. (only takes a couple of seconds)
place on paper bag to cool. Repeat for every tortilla. While the tortillas cool put both cans of sauce in a pan, chop your onion, and prepare the cheese. I usually put it in a big bowl.
At this point you can keep them flat and layer them or you can roll them up.
Take each tortilla and dip in the enchilada sauce lay it in your pan.
Place about 2 big spoons full, (more or less depending on how much you like cheese)
down the middle or lay them in a casserole to cover bottom. Sprinkle however much onion you want onto the cheese and either roll up and push to the top of your pan or layer on the bottom. Continue dipping in sauce and putting the cheese and onion on until you are finished with the tortillas. REMEBER TO SAVE SOME CHEESE TO COVER YOUR ENCHILADAS. You should have sauce left. Sprinkle the rest of the cheese over enchiladas then pour enchilada sauce cheese. Bake at 325 degrees for 45 minutes or til cheese starts to bubble and turn golden. Enjoy!
I made this. It is absolutely delicious!
Made it tonight, please cut your tortillas and pan fry them for a minute, not good just baking it, they don;t get done
You said to pan fry the tortillas first. Well I use corn tortillas and I rip them in fourths then fry them in oil. They turn out like tortilla chips. Then I use them to layer with. They aren’t soggy and they make the dish hold up well.
How did you pan fry the tortillas? In oil and if so, what kind? Otherwise how did you cook them?
The sour cream and soup is the sauce
Look back at the recipe. It’s #2
Can you make this without the green chilis?
Yes! 🙂 it will take away a bit of the flavors but it should still taste yummy
You could simply make a roux, butter/flour, cream or milk for liquid, add chopped chilies and cheese, thereby skipping the soup. Add eggs (mixed like scrambled) to roux and pour over top of layers. If time is a huge factor, just use the soup. Depends on your family’s reaction to each, but if you can make a plain roux, you can make any dish you want, simply by changing your spices & herbs that you add. HTH! !!!
How many pieces is a fourth of a tortilla
Hi Joyce,
You would break your tortilla into 4 pieces. 🙂 Hope it ends up tasting fabulous.
-Becky
Flour or corn tortillas you didn’t say in recipe?
Really? A tortilla is round. It would be 4 pieces. Hope this helps.
How much is a pint of sour cream?
HI Amy,
A pint is 2 cups. You can buy sour cream in a pint sized container, or if you buy a larger one, then just measure out the 2 cups. Hope it turns out tasting great 🙂
I’m going to make this tonight…gotta say, chuckling over some of the questions. You ladies have great patience. 🙂 PS…What’s a tortillia 🙂
In the recipe, I only see 9 tortillas total. Am I missing a step or is it supposed to be 4 torn tortillas per “level”?
Hi Janet,
Thanks for pointing that out. I went and fixed it on the recipe card. It should just be 3 tortillas per layer. 🙂 Hope it turns out tasting fabulous.
-Becky
What kind of tortillas did you use? Corn or flour? Sounds fabulous! Thanks, Jan
Hi Janice,
Sorry I’ll go specify that on the recipe card, but I used flour tortillas. I’m sure corn would taste great too, you’d just want to use more tortillas than I have listed. It really wasn’t pretty dang good, so hopefully you love it too 🙂
-Becky
Can you freeze this?
Hi Julie,
I have never tried freezing this recipe before, but I did some research on the web and found some recipes similar to this one that said you could freeze them. I would say give it a shot, but probably try cooking them within the next month or so. Let us know how it goes, we would love to hear your feedback. 🙂
-Becky
I’m going to freeze the chicken and sauce mixture. Then when I’m ready to cook, I’ll just defrost it and put it all together with the tortilla’s. I think it will help speed things along. I would only freeze it after it’s cooked if you had it all put together.
I make a similar dish using corn tortillas. I freeze it and is great reheated. I cook it first and usually have my meal that night then put in fridge. It will solidify and the next day I will cut it into squares big enough for single servings and wrap and freeze. I use freezer zip lock bags or plastic containers. To reheat I use the microwave. I actually think it’s better reheated kinda like lasagna is better next day.
I’ve frozen it a few times now and it’s turned out amazingly! We are sort of “Mexican food snobs” here, but this has been added to our dinner rotation. We LOVE it!
I seriously thought I had responded to this, but I’m not seeing my response. Anyway I have not tried freezing it before, but googled recipes similar to this that said it could be frozen. It did say to make sure you did cook it up within a month of freezing it though. I’d say give it a try and let us know how it turns out. 🙂
Sounds great! I’m going to try making this tomorrow. I make a beef version, but the tortillas on the bottom get a bit soggy. Does that happen with this one? Any suggestions on avoiding that? Thanks!
Hi Faith,
I actually haven’t experienced my tortillas getting soggy at all. We usually like to cook the casserole til the bottom layer is almost a little crunchy to add texture. Hopefully they did turn out not being soggy if you made them.
I used tortilla chips and it didn’t get soggy.
If you heat the tortillas (fry them) then use in the casserole they don’t get soggy (too chewy/gooey). It turns out great this way.
This is the most delicious meal I’ve made in years!!! For health reasons, I replaced the sour cream with Greek yogurt and used corn tortillas… and it was so delicious!!!!!! Thank you so much!
Hi Bekah,
Thanks so much for your sweet comment. And I definitely want to try making these with corn tortillas next time I make them. I bet that gave it a whole new and tasty flavor.
It just says cooked chicken, is that boiled, baked, or fried?
Great questions. I boiled mine on this recipe, but I also love using a rotisserie chicken as well. I’ll go fix that on the recipe card.
Thanks so much for your comment 🙂
-Becky
I love grabbing the containers of shredded chicken at the grocery store to use in recipes like this. I work full time, cook for just myself these days as my daughter is away at college and my son recently married and moved out of state for new job.
Our Bunko hostess that made this recipe last night certainly had enough for 12 of us. I’m thinking about making the recipe and then divide into smaller serving containers to freeze and take for lunch.
Thank you, Ms Becky, for sharing this wonderful family recipe.
I’ve always used Costco roasted chicken. Turned out great and saves a step.
Is that really 3/4 POUNDS of pepper jack? I put in 8 oz. (1/2 lb) and it seemed like a ton. Just want to make sure I don’t screw it up 🙂
I’m so excited to try it!
Hi Dee,
I did use 3/4 lb of the pepper jack cheese. It’s a pretty cheesy meal, but you can definitely cut back on the cheese and I’m sure they’d still taste great 🙂
I live alone and am always looking for recipes I can pare down. This recipe peaked my interest. I had just bought a rotisserie chicken. I had tortillas,cheese,sour cream. I didn’t have chillies but I did have a chipotle in adobo which was frozen in an ice cube tray. No green onions but I had a shallot. So I made it in a small pan, 2servings. It was marvelous, I am sure this will be a permanent go to. Thanks Betty
Do you cook chicken first or only when in oven?
I do very similar recipe, but for enchiladas.. I cook chicken before putting it in oven.. but I didn’t see anything about it in your post. Or I missed it..
Hi Taylor,
I make sure to cook the chicken before. I also use rotisserie chicken when Im lazy and don’t want to cook up my own. But I looked over the recipe and it says in the recipe card to use cooked chicken. Hopefully this helps if you’re planning on making these 🙂
-Becky
If you use a rotisserie chicken, how many cups of shredded chicken would you use? Also, for a less spicy cheese, what kind would you suggest? Thanks for your help!
Hi Camille. We have an enchilada recipe that is almost exactly he same and we use Monterey Jack cheese In that one. https://sugar-n-spicegals.com/2012/12/our-favorite-enchiladas.html
And I usually just use a whole rotisserie chicken an just by as much chicken off of it as I can.
Just made and it’s very good. I like a little more onion taste but that is a personal preference. Thank you very much!
Awesome recipe!!!
Thanks! We’re glad you enjoyed it. And thanks for coming and sharing the love on our site. 🙂
Just made this and it is awsome! My daughter has celiac so had to use gluten free corn tortillas. So easy to make and delicious! Thanks for sharing!!
Can you put this together the day before cooking? Ma king for famity coming tmorrow .
Hi Debbie,
You absolutely can prepare these the day before. They can even be frozen if you like.
Made this tonight! It was wonderful, thank you for the great recipe
Flour or corn tortillas?
I use flour tortillas, but I know some people who have used corn tortillas and they say they loved how the casserole turned out. You can use whichever type of tortillas your prefer 🙂
I make this same recipe with tortilla chips and an extra can of soup. Super easy and better texture.
Do you cover this when baking? I never know when to cover something.
Hi,
I don’t cover it when I’m baking it. It’ll still turn out if you do choose to cover it
I cannot even believe how fast and easy this was. I subbed two cans of the pre-cooked chunks of chicken breast and didn’t have any green onions, so I doubled the green chiles. I used pre- shredded cheese so the result was literally just opening cans and dumping it all together! I think it was in the oven in 5-10 minutes! It tasted great and my boys went back for seconds.
Hi Erin,
We’re so happy that you liked it! Thanks so much for your comment.
Made this for dinner last night, loved it! And I’m a picky eater! Swapped the cream of chicken for cream of mushroom only because I don’t like cream of chicken…yummy! Definitely will make again and I shared the recipe with my daughters
I used cream of mushroom soup, 1 cup sour cream and 1 cup plain Greek yogurt also used cheddar jack cheese. This was delicious and I’ll make it again!!
So excited to try this! it is in the oven as we speak.
Absolutely delicious! I used the Tyson frozen chicken chunks…the whole bag! I have several casseroles I go back and forth on and this one is a keeper!!
My goodness this is a super recipe(I would go higher if possible :-)).
I have come to the conclusion that a requirement for a cooking blog is that you must be more than 50% Saint.
Ty for your patience as well as good food.
Delicious! Being from Wisconsin I upped the amount of cheese to 2 cups pepper jack and 2 cups cheddar. I also forgot to take out two cups of “sauce” and only had two layers of shells and chicken mixture and it was outstanding! I also cooked it for 55 minutes which made it crisp and bubbly.
Haha! I completely agree with your comment! Patience is a virtue!😁
Do you add the can of water to the cream of chicken soup as usual per can label or just use what is in the cream of chicken soup can from the store? It might be a silly question but I am learning to cook a little later in life than most. First attempt at a casserole didn’t turn out well because I wasn’t told minute rice, so crunchy didn’t go over well.
No water w your soup unless recipe calls for it. In recipes that call for uncooked rice, there will often be water added in the recipe since the rice will need to absorb something. Good for you for learning to cook. Lots of times, it’s trial and error.
Don’t add water, just the soup.
Hi…how many cups of chicken do you need for this recipe? Tks.
My BF just raved about this dish. He is so excited to eat the leftovers tonightI Stuck to the recipe except added some cumin oregano and chopped garlic. Just a suggestion…..Use 10 tortillas. They come in tens. Why not use 1 pound of cheese. Two packs. I seriously had tons of bowls measuring cups etc to wash. But still a super dinner.
I plan to make this for a large crowd and need ideas for side dishes to go along with it. Any suggestions?
I loved this casserole. The only change I made was I fried the flour tortillas in a pan lightly coated with cooking spray. I’m not fond of the texture of flour tortillas in a casserole. This step was an easy fix and I followed the rest of the recipe exact. Very tasty and easy…definitely an keeper!
Holy smokes that was so yummy!
This is a new favorite for us! So easy and delicious. I used corn tortillas and it turned out great. The best part is that the leftovers actually get eaten! Thanks for the great recipe.
Just made it and OMG. So yummy
This was a hit at our house. My husband loved it!! Will definitely be making this again!
This was delicious!!! I did make some changes to accommodate a low carb diet. As someone posted, I used Aldi’s four cheese alfredo sauce in place of the soup, then added chili powder, cumin, salt, pepper and 1/2 packet of taco seasoning to the sauce. Low carb tortillas in place of regular. My husband loved this and requested it as a regular dinner! Thanks so much
Definitely a keeper! Will make again.🤗
Have you ever tried this with corn tortilla’s instead of flour ones? Just curious. If so, how did it turn out?
I made this recipe for dinner and it was great. I added a can of black beans and fresh cilantro.
Can you use corn tortillas? My daughter can’t do gluten.
Thanks!
This has been one of my favorite recipes, as well as my extended families for many years. I received this exact recipe from my college roommate.
Several people have asked about what type of tortillas to use. It’s personal preference. My friends recipe calls for fried corn tortillas’ (heat abt 1/2-1 C oil in a small skillet. Once oil is hot, cook tortilla on both sides, abt 1 minute. Place tortilla on paper towel to absorb extra oil). This made the tortillas crunchy & of course added a lot of flavor. I seldomly do this, due to the fat content.
This is one of the best recipes. Thank you for sharing.
HI, I’m wondering if anyone has tried this recipe with enchilada sauce instead of can soup? Thanks
I tried this reciepe & this was delicious. The men in my family lov it. Thank you.
First, Becky, is that your wedding dress you’re wearing in the blog photo?
Now, I have looked Pinterest over for a long time, and finally settled on making your creamy pepper jack chicken enchilada casserole for my upcoming family picnic; one which has been happening yearly since the early fifties! I’ll triple the recipe, but it sounds so delicious! What IS it about chicken, sour cream, green onions, and chili peppers? oralgasm…
Thanks for sharing this with the masses!
Haha yes it is my wedding dress. We definitely need to update our picture. 😂
But we hope the casserole turned out yummy. We’ve been making this for years and it has always been one of my most favorite meals.
Making it today….Took out my 2 cups of mixture…Added the chicken..Is the chicken mixture suppose to be thick? Mine is, just wanted to make sure I didn’t do something wrong.
Thanks for the recipe. I made it with cream of mushroom soup, since I couldn’t find the cr. Of chicken. Used corn tortillas ’cause my Mexican husband said that’s what is used for enchiladas. I heated them slightly over a gas burner to soften them. Tore them in pieces and followed the instructions. Turned out great, but was even better … Really GREAT the next day! Thanks again.
Has anyone tried this in a crockpot? Assemble the night before then cook in the morning for a work lumch?
I’m not familiar with gluten free, but could this be made gl free
I made this this weekend and it was FANTASTIC! Definitely a keeper. Thank you so much for the recipe😊
I freeze it all the time. I cover in foil and freeze.
Do you have any nutritional info on this meal? I’ve made it before and it was fab! My husband now has to be on a low sodium diet and I can make adjustments to it but was wondering how much sodium it had before my edits. Thanks either way!
Made this for dinner and I was pleasantly surprised at how yummy and creamy it was. However, they are not enchiladas. Personally i think it needed a lot more green chilis and maybe even enchilada sauce but the large amount of sour cream in it made it delicious. I used rotisserie chicken instead and that worked out very well. I also bought four tortillas instead of corn on accident (enchiladas are made with corn) and it was good and i think it would not have tasted as good with corn. The recipe I thought was lacking a little bit but i still enjoyed all the flavors.