Here’s an updated recipe Creamy Chicken Enchiladas with Poblano Sauce (AKA White Chicken Enchiladas) a cozy, comforting meal that is full of delicious flavor! Feel free to swap out roasted cauliflower for the chicken. Vegetarian adaptable! (updated recipe)
How to roast Peppers!
- On the Stovetop: If you have a gas stovetop, place directly over a medium-low flame, turning often, for about 5 minutes until blistered and blackened. The easiest, fastest way.
- Broiled In the oven:… turning until they blister, about 10- 15 minutes. If you don’t have a broil setting, you can still roast in a very hot oven, but it will take a little longer for the skins to blister.
If making this with chicken, use leftover rotisserie chicken, baked chicken breast, or even this chicken carnitas recipe.
For this recipe, I used 8-inch tortillas that were half corn/half flour.
Roll them up and place seam side down in a greased 9×13 baking dish, coated with 2/3 cup creamy poblano sauce.
I usually can fit 6-7 enchiladas, but if you make them very tight, you can fit 8.
Creamy Chicken Enchiladas with Poblano Sauce (or Cauliflower)
Creamy Chicken Enchiladas (AKA White Chicken Enchiladas) with Creamy Poblano Sauce! Vegetarian adaptable- sub roasted cauliflower for the chicken! See notes.
- Prep Time: 35 mins
- Cook Time: 30 mins
- Total Time: 1 hour 30 mins
- Yield: 8 enchiladas 1x
- Category: Main, vegetarian
- Method: Baked
- Cuisine: Mexican, vegetarian option
Ingredients
Filling ingredients:
- 3 cups cooked shredded chicken – see notes ( or sub 3 cups roasted cauliflower – see notes)
- 1–2 cups corn – fresh or frozen, or sub spinach, sauted bell pepper, mushroom or onion
- 1 tsp coriander
- 1 tsp cumin
- 2 tablespoons fresh cilantro, chopped
- 2 scallions, sliced
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1 tablespoon lime zest
Poblano Sauce Ingredients:
- 1 fresh poblano chili roasted, peeled and finely chopped (use half) or sub 4-ounce can green chilies (use half)
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1 shallot, chopped (or half an onion, finely diced)
- 2 tablespoons flour
- 1 1/4 cups chicken broth or stock (or veggie broth)
- 3/4 cups Sour Cream
- 1 teaspoon ground coriander
- 1/2 teaspoon salt and pepper
Enchilada Ingredients:
- 6–8 x 8-inch tortillas (flour, corn, or a blend- my preference)
- 1 1/2 cups queso fresco cheese, or shredded mozzerella cheese
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400F
- Make the Filling: Prepare chicken (or cauliflower) see notes, and place in a bowl. Add corn. Mix with cumin, coriander, salt, pepper, scallions, fresh cilantro and lime zest. Set aside.
- Roast the poblano (or use canned green chilies) directly over a gas flame (or on a baking sheet 4 inches below a very hot broiler) turning regularly, until the skins have blackened and blistered. Place in a bowl, cover with a kitchen towel and let cool. Under running water rub off the blackened skin, carefully tear open and pull out the seed pod and stem and rinse all the seeds away. Dice finely. (If pressed for time, you can skip this step entirely by substituting 1 small can of green chiles)
- Make the sauce: In a medium pot, over medium heat melt 2 T butter and saute shallot until golden and fragrant, about 3-4 minutes. Add 2 T flour, and toast, stirring 2-3 minutes on med-low heat. Whisk in 1 1/4 cups chicken broth. Stir in Sour cream, whisk until smooth. If using canned chilies, add 1/2 the can now, along with coriander, salt and pepper. Save the remaining chilies and add to the filling. Alternatively, if using the poblano, add a cautious 1/3 of the diced poblanos to start, tasting for heat. (Most are mild, but some, very occasionally are hot!) Then, according to your heat tolerance, add the remaining poblanos to taste. Season sauce with salt and pepper to taste. Add some to the filling if you want.
- Assemble: Grease one 9 x 13-inch pan. Place 2/3 cup Poblano Cream Sauce in the bottom of the baking dish, just enough to lightly coat the bottom. If your tortillas are not soft and pliable, which is often the case with 100 % corn tortillas, place them them in a microwave, covered for a few seconds, or spread on a sheet pan and place in a warm oven for a few minutes, or lightly toast over a gas flame on the stovetop, or quickly pan-sear. Divide the filling evenly between the tortillas. Add 2-3 tablespoons cheese, roll up and place, seam-side down in the pan on top of the sauce. Pour remaining sauce over top. Feel free to add more cheese if you like.
- Cover with foil, place in a 400 F for 20-25 minutes. Remove foil.
- Bake for an additional 10-15 minutes, or until golden and bubbly.
- Garnish with fresh cilantro and scallions.
Notes
Use leftover rotisserie chicken, or make this simple baked chicken and shred, or this Chicken Carnitas recipe.
If subbing cauliflower, chop one head cauliflower into small pieces, toss with olive oil and season with salt and pepper and roast in a 425 F oven until tender, and slightly crispy. Season like you would the chicken ( with the cumin and coriander).
If making ahead, either bake and reheat, or assemble ahead, leaving the sauce off the top until baking time.
Cotija cheese, a Mexican style cheese is much saltier than queso fresco, so make sure to use queso fresco, not cotija….the packages look similar, but there is a big difference.
Nutrition
- Calories: 375
Keywords: Creamy chicken enchiladas, white chicken enchiladas, chicken enchiladas with green chilies, cauliflower enchiladas
I used cauliflower in place of chicken and it was delicious!
★★★★★
Is there any way to get the recipe for the poblano cream sauce that was previously published on this page? I know this is an updated recipe but I loved the previous recipe for the sauce and now cannot find it.
Really fresh tasting dish with a heavenly creamy sauce and a hint of zingy citrus. It was not spicy at all in my opinion with one whole roasted poblano – might go for two next time. Thanks for this excellent recipe!
★★★★★
Exactly the sort of warming, soul-soothing comfort food I was looking for. The suggestion of half flour and half corn meal tortillas was a good one. I had leftover stuffing and sauce so the next day I made a brunch omelette with the former and baked some cod in the later. It was was so delicious! Thank you!
★★★★★
Thanks so much Laura! Glad you enjoyed this!
This was delicious! I added extra poblano and cooked up some chicken breasts- great enchilada recipe. One question- does the sauce go on the bottom and the top of the enchiladas, or just the bottom? I spooned it over the enchiladas and sprinkled cheese on top. Everyone loved it. Love your recipes and blog.
★★★★★
Top and bottom!
Made this last night. I had roasted a whole chicken a few days ago and had a bunch leftover so was looking for a good way to use up the meat. This recipe is super yummy and quite easy to do. I’m looking forward to making this again, only next time I want to make it vegetarian – thanks for that option! Love the sauce! And, now we have some terrific leftovers for lunch or another dinner! Thanks for this great recipe.
★★★★★
This was so good! I used chicken (cuz I had some leftover from a whole chicken) and included mushrooms, onions, and spinach. It was so good! My husband says to put it into the “rotation” – which cracks me up. Anyway, I loved it. So yummy!! Thank you!! I want to try to do this with the califlower instead of chicken, as I want to eat more plant based foods!!!
Hi Sylvia, I’m having a large house concert (60 people) and was debating making this as the meal for everyone. Do you think I could do this as an enchilada pie/casserole and just layer the filling and tortillas instead of rolling them all? I’m trying to save as much time as possible and keep it simple. I LOVE your recipes and use them for every dinner party I have. Everyone always raves over the food! Thank you 🙂
That should work fine!
Made these tonight, followed the recipe, didn’t change anything, DELICIOUS!! The corn was great in these. Loved them, thank you!
Thanks, Marilyn!
So yummy. Made the Cauliflower version, with spinach, corn, mushrooms, red pepper and onions. The meat lovers thought they were great! Thanks!
★★★★★
Awesome- I agree the veggie version is so good! I like your additions!
This was really delicious! I’m going to add this to our rotation. We did one pan of cauliflower and one pan of chicken and they cake out perfect. Thanks for sharing this.
Awesome Michelle- I’m so glad you tried both! Did you prefer one over the other?
I made the cauliflower version (and canned green chilies) and it was sooo good! I used 1/2 head of cauliflower, Goya canned black beans, and corn. The sauce on top is great and adds lots of flavor! Next time I will probably skip the cheese on the inside of the enchiladas and used a green salsa instead because there is plenty of cheese on top, I dont think you need more cheese on the inside. It kind of gets lost amongst all of the other flavors anyway. I will definitely make this again!
★★★★★
Ashely Thanks for sharing your notes- very useful to other readers! Helpful!
Delicious. Made using cauliflower for a nice vegetarian meal that we’ll definately repeat. The way I made it was a bit labor intensive so next time I’d make some of the recommended shortcuts – canned poblanos in place of fresh, frozen corn in place of cutting from the cob, preshredded cheese….
★★★★
thanks! Glad you enjoyed it with the cauliflower! Yes, there are some shortcuts to make this faster and easier. 🙂
Made the plant based version of this tonight- it was sooooo good. A++ for fantastic flavor!
★★★★★
Great to hear!
Made these for our book club and everyone one raved. Made them with a combo of both the cauliflower and the chicken! Used canned green chilies and the sauce was absolutely delicious!
★★★★★
made these with different peppers (no poblanos in Egypt) and they were still exceptional! thank you
So glad you enjoyed them!
Great Dish, my husband enjoyed this dish. It’s a Keeper
★★★★★
Oh good!
We love this recipe! The sauce is seriously so good….I could almost drink it haha 🙂
★★★★★
Hahaha! I’m so glad you liked it!
The Roasted Poblano Enchiladas are delicious…satisfying but not too filling, and full of flavor. I made mine with chicken thighs from the Instant Pot (which I learned from other recipes on this site, and now I can’t go back to using chicken breast because it’s so tasty). Thank you for another great recipe, Sylvia!
★★★★★
I’ve made this several times and it’s a knockout. Everyone loves them.
★★★★★
Paul- Yay thanks for the feedback. Im so happy you and your family is enjoying them!!!
I’m a newcomer to your site and couldn’t be more delighted with the success I had with this recipe! We love roasted Poblano chili’s but I had just over a cup of previously roasted Hatch chili’s (frozen) which I felt the urge to use! Additionally, I added both roasted cauliflower AND chicken- the result was magnificent! My thanks to you Sylvia.
Im so glad ou enjoyed it! Thanks for sharing!
Would it be crazy spicy using two poblanos?
no I don’t think so!
I made these tonight and they were good. I didnt add anything extra but i will next time i make them.
Oh. My. Gosh! I made these tonight with organic chicken breast, and exactly as you have stated above, and only added some salsa on the dish when serving. My hubs and I like it spicy so we added some sauce:) It was a HIT with my family!! I added some mozz cheese to my queso fresco (lessened the queso fresco and added shredded mozz cheese at the end). The only thing is, I couldn’t get my tortillas dad crispy even after the 10 min @ 400 so I added more time then sat them under broil for a few min to get them just right. Super yummy, perfect blend of flavors. My daughter, who rarely eats meat, ate 1 and 1/2!! Thank you thank you thank you!!
Oh thanks Lisa! Appreciate you sharing and so happy your family like it. I will review the recipe!!