Smoked Chicken Enchiladas
Rule #1 of smoking chicken is ALWAYS to smoke extra so that you can make insanely good dishes like these Smoked Chicken Enchiladas. Sure, enchiladas are always great, but when you add smoked chicken you take them to a whole other flavor universe. Hungry? Read on and see how to make these leftover chicken enchiladas!
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Saucy, cheesy, and loaded with delicious flavor, these Smoked Chicken Enchiladas are as good or better than anything you’d get in a restaurant. And the best part is that they’re so crazy easy to make!
This full-color ebook cookbook features more than 50 of Chef Jenn’s tried, tested, and favorite smoker recipes! Enjoy:
- Smoked Beef Kabobs
- Smoked Chicken Thighs
- Smoked Bacon-Wrapped Pork Stuffed Jalapeno Poppers
- Smoked Spaghetti Squash with Herbs and so much more!
If you can eat it, I’ve probably smoked it on my Traeger pellet smoker. But more than any other vegetable or protein, I’ve smoked chicken the most. I buy chicken thighs, quarters, breasts, and whole chickens when they’re on sale and then load up the Trager to smoke the chicken.
I keep it simple when I’m smoking chicken because I know that leftover chicken recipes like this one are just too gosh darn good!
What you’ll love about this recipe
- There’s SOOO much flavor in this dish!
- Easy to make with leftover smoked chicken
- Everyone loves Smoked Chicken Enchiladas!
Ingredients to Make Smoked Chicken Enchiladas
- Leftover smoked chicken – I like using smoked chicken thighs; they stay juicy and flavorful, but any smoked chicken works.
- Tortillas – Corn or flour; lightly warm them so they roll without cracking.
- Cheese – Use a good Tex-Mex blend for melty, flavorful filling.
To make the sauce:
- Tomatillos – Husked and rinsed; roast or boil for extra depth of flavor.
- Onions – Use yellow or white onions; finely chop for smooth sauce.
- Garlic – Fresh garlic only; skip jarlic for the best punch.
- Olive oil – Use good-quality olive oil; helps soften the onions and garlic.
- Salt and pepper – Season to taste.
- Sour cream – Adds creaminess and balances the tang from the tomatillos.
- Chicken broth – Low-sodium is best; thin the sauce gradually to get your desired consistency.
How to Make Smoked Chicken Enchiladas
Homemade enchiladas are easy to make! For the full recipe and ingredients, please scroll down to the bottom of this page.
Chop the leftover smoked chicken and place it into a medium sized bowl.
To make the sauce, preheat your oven to 425 F. Peel the tomatillos and cut them in half. Place them on a baking sheet with the onions and garlic, then sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast for about 20 minutes or until the tomatillos are soft and releasing their liquid.
Transfer the tomatillos, onions, and garlic to a food processor or blender and pulse until smooth. Season with salt and pepper.
Spread about 1/2 cup of the tomatillo sauce into the bottom of a 9 x 13 Pyrex casserole dish and set aside.
Mix the chopped chicken with 1 cup of sauce and half of the cheese. Mix well. Add about 1/2 cup of filling to the center of each tortilla, roll it up, and place it in the casserole dish. Repeat until all the filling is used or the dish is full.
Mix the remaining sauce with 2 tablespoons of sour cream. If the sauce is very thick, thin it with a bit of chicken broth until it is smooth and pourable but not watery.
Top the enchiladas with about 1 cup of sauce, then add the remaining cheese. Cover with foil and bake for about 10 minutes, then remove the foil and continue baking until hot and bubbly, about another 10 minutes.
Serve with your favorite garnishes and enjoy.
Toppings for Enchiladas
Cheesy enchiladas are perfect just the way they are, but there are a few toppings that will make them taste even more fabulous!
- Pico de gallo or diced tomatoes – The fresh pop of tomato really cuts through the richness of this dish
- Sweet onion – I LOVE the sweet crunch of finely diced sweet onions with enchiladas. It’s a Texas thing!
- Cilantro – If you love it, chop some up and sprinkle it on!
- Chipotle powder – These enchiladas are naturally mild but if you want a hit of spice, sprinkle on some chipotle powder!
- Sour cream – Gotta have more sour cream with these chicken enchiladas!
Chef Jenn’s Tips
- I freeze leftover smoked chicken until I have enough to make a whole recipe.
- You can also make the sauce ahead of time and freeze it. We love it so much, I buy a half bushel of tomatillos from the farmer’s market each fall and make batches of the sauce and store them in the freezer.
- You can prep everything ahead of time but don’t fill the tortillas until you’re ready to bake or they will get soggy.
- If you’re using making chicken enchiladas using corn tortillas, soften them in a skillet with some warm oil so they become pliable.
- Try this dish with red enchilada sauce instead.
What To Serve With Smoked Chicken Enchiladas
These sour cream chicken enchiladas are perfect on their own, but if I’m really feeling fancy or ambitious I’ll make everyone’s famous Baked Spanish Rice with this dish. Otherwise, I’ll serve a green salad or just some guacamole and chips.
Variations
- Don’t want to make the sauce? Buy your favorite green salsa (or green enchilada sauce) and stir in some sour cream.
- Regular leftover chicken – Especially leftover rotisserie chicken – is also delicious in this recipe.
- Switch up the cheese – Cheddar, pepperjack, colby, and Monterey jack all work well in this green enchilada recipe.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes! Making chicken enchiladas is easy, especially if you start with cooked chicken, like I did with leftover smoked chicken. The sauce is really the hardest part, and even then you can take shortcuts by using ready-made sauce.
Start with cooked chicken (rotisserie, smoked, baked, poached, grilled) and add enough sauce to coat it. Toss with cheese, then roll, top with sauce and more cheese, and bake! That’s about it!
While enchiladas will never be as good as fresh from the oven (the tortillas tend to get soggy), you can store the leftovers in the fridge and then heat them in the microwave or oven until heated through. You can also freeze chicken tortillas, but the tortillas will fall apart when thawing and heating. It’ll still taste good, it just won’t look as pretty.
Smoked Chicken Enchiladas
Equipment
- 9 x 13 Pyrex dish
Ingredients
- 8 corn tortillas or flour tortillas
- 6 cups smoked chicken diced
- 3 cups shredded cheddar cheese or use your favorite blend
- 1 pound tomatillos peeled, rinsed, and quartered
- 1 onion
- 3 cloves garlic
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1/2 teaspsoon salt
- freshly ground black pepper
- 2 tablespoons sour cream
Instructions
To make the sauce:
- Prepare the tomatillos and toss them with a quartered onion, garlic, and olive oil. Spread them on a baking sheet with raised sides for about 20 minutes or until the tomatillos are soft and are giving off their liquid. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.
- Put the tomatillos, onion, and garlic into a food processor (or blender) and pulse until smooth. Season with salt and pepper, if necessary.
To assemble:
- Preheat your oven to 400-F.
- Spread about 1/2 a cup of the tomatillo sauce into the bottom of a 9 x 13 Pyrex casserole dish. Set aside.
- Chop the leftover smoked chicken and pop it into a medium-sized bowl.
- Mix the chopped chicken with 1 cup of sauce, and half the cheese. Mix well. Put about 1/2 cup of filling into the center of a tortilla and roll it up. Place it in the casserole dish and repeat until you're out of filling or until the pan is filled.
- Mix the remaining sauce with 2 tablespoons of sour cream. If the sauce is very thick, dilute it with a bit of chicken broth or water until it is smooth and runny (but not thin like water.)
- Top your enchiladas with about 1 cup of sauce and top with the remaining cheese. Cover with foil and bake at 400-F for about 10 minutes, then pull the foil off and continue baking until hot and bubbly – about another 10 minutes.
- Serve and enjoy!
Notes
Chef Jenn’s Tips
- I freeze leftover smoked chicken until I have enough to make a whole recipe.
- You can also make the sauce ahead of time and freeze it. We love it so much, I buy a half bushel of tomatillos from the farmer’s market each fall and make batches of the sauce and store them in the freezer.
- You can prep everything ahead of time but don’t fill the tortillas until you’re ready to bake or they will get soggy.
- If you’re using making chicken enchiladas using corn tortillas, soften them in a skillet with some warm oil so they become pliable.
Nutrition
A Note on Nutritional Information
Nutritional information for this recipe is provided as a courtesy and is calculated based on available online ingredient information. It is only an approximate value. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site cannot be guaranteed.
I made these chicken enchiladas today… and it was a big win! The whole family finished it in minutes! I truly recommend this recipe! Very delicious!
These taste like MORE! We loved the creamy tomatillo and sour cream sauce paired with the chicken. I actually minced a jalapeno into it since we enjoy them spicy. Creamy, spicy, cheesy, smoky deliciousness! Can’t wait to serve them, again!
Smoky, cheesy, creamy deliciousness wrapped around a chicken and sauce-filled tortilla! What’s not to love? I minced up a jalapeno in that dreamy tomatillo and sour cream sauce. We loved the spicy kick! Seriously one of the best chicken enchiladas ever. Can’t wait to serve it again. Thank you for the recipe!
Oh wow, this smoked chicken was a great flavor twist on our usual enchilada recipe!
This homemade enchiladas sauce is one of the things that makes this dish so special. Great flavor and easy to make are what I like best about your smoked chicken enchiladas!!
So good!! The homemade tomatillo sauce knocked this out of the park! Definitely adding to our regular dinner rotation!
These were freaking phenomenal. I smoked a beer can chicken with a healthy dose of Traeger chicken rub on it.
While we were smoking the chicken we had random bell peppers and an onion being smoked as well. We chopped them up, and added to the salsa verde.
Best enchiladas ever!
Hey there, thanks for stopping by to comment! So glad you loved them, and “freaking phenomenal” made my day! ~Jenn
Love this! Had leftover smoked chicken and went looking for recipes to use it up. I had never dealt with tomatillos before but live in Texas so have had plenty of dishes with them in it.
So so easy to roast in the oven with the onion and garlic.
Had some filling leftover so made more sauce today to moisten it up for quesadillas and will freeze the rest.
I’m so glad you loved these! We love them, too and I always make extra smoked chicken just to make these enchiladas! Thanks for coming back to comment! ~Jenn
These enchiladas are delicious! We followed the recipe except we added a couple of hatch green chilis that we had roasted and used a spicy cheese. The smoky chicken is a wonderful compliment to the tangy tomatillo sauce. And they were easy to make but tasted like I had worked all day on it. My new favorite enchilada!!!
I’m so glad you loved them! I freeze leftover smoked chicken to make these when it’s too cold to smoke 🙂 Thanks for coming by to comment! ~Jenn