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.
Of course, you can make homemade tortillas form scratch!
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)
- Prep Time: 35 mins
- Cook Time: 30 mins
- Total Time: 1 hour 30 mins
- Yield: 8 enchiladas
- Category: Main, vegetarian
- Method: Baked
- Cuisine: Mexican,
- Diet: Vegetarian
Description
Creamy Chicken Enchiladas (AKA White Chicken Enchiladas) with Creamy Poblano Sauce! Vegetarian adaptable! Sub roasted cauliflower for the chicken! See notes.
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, sauteed 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) or make homemade tortillas !
- 1 1/2 cups queso fresco cheese, or shredded mozzarella 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.
Keywords: best chicken enchiladas, cauliflower enchiladas, Creamy chicken enchiladas, white chicken enchiladas, chicken enchiladas with green chilies, cauliflower enchiladas
So delicious!!! I didn’t have time to wrap and roll, so I made layers. Hope the enchilada police don’t read this! Thanks for another great recipe. So yummy!
★★★★★
Perfect, love it. Enchilada Pie, the best!
I just recently found your website and I am so glad! I fancy myself a home chef but as a working mom I always find myself looking for inspiration. This is the first recipe I’ve tried from your website and it is amazing! Everybody is happy! Thank you for your delicious, veg-based, adaptable recipes. You are so talented! I love how you provide countless ways to customize every recipe. It gets all the gears turning and also makes eating healthy an easy option. Where can I buy your cookbook?
★★★★★
thanks so much! No cookbook yet. 😉
Made the white enchiladas tonight for dinner and it was amazingly delicious.
Thanks you for making dinner so exciting . Cauliflower I love it.
★★★★★
Dude…. we tried your polenta lasagna last night with a pinot noir and felt like we were in Europe. Best lasagna I’ve ever had and there were no friggin noodles or meat in it!! Tonight I cooked your white “chicken” enchiladas but went the roasted cauliflower route as my doctor as asked me to reduce my intake of animal protein. You are blowing our minds over here, another out of the park home run!!! It came out PERFECT!!! The filling was so friggin delicious and the tortillas were perfectly crunchy on top. I used queso fresco for the filling and some spare shredded mozzarella on the top. So glad you warned about the poblano. Our family has sensitive stomachs so I tasted the poblano before i added it to the sauce, it was the hottest poblano in history! I minced up like a teaspoon of it for the sauce and discarded the rest. Best enchilidas I have EVER had restaurant or otherwise. Who are you? Angel? Wizard? What form of witchcraft is this? Where do we send donations? lol… THANK YOU SO MUCH for sharing!!!!!!!
★★★★★
LOL 😂 thanks for making me laugh tonight. So happy you are liking the recipes. Really appreciate your comments. I’m jealous of your “surfing Family”- I’ve been trying to learn here in Santa Barbara. At 52, it’s not easy. Wished I would have learned as a kid. 🙂 Anyways, thanks and Cheers.
Can’t wait to try this recipe tonight! Looks awesome. Will be making 1/2 with chicken and 1/2 with cauliflower for our mixed vegetarian house.
Quick question – is the 375 calorie count per enchilada or something like per 2 enchilada serving?
Thanks in advance!
I updated the calorie count. It is per enchilada. 🙂
Delicious but my enchiladas sauce was runny, even after cooking – made the tortillas soggy. Any suggestions to thicken it?
★★★★
Perhaps extend uncovered baking time?
Just made this tonight! The creamy poblano sauce was excellent! I went with the cauliflower filling and it did just the trick. I might spice it up a little more next time, I wonder why some poblanos are spicier than others?
Thanks, glad it worked for you! 🙌 Yes, not sure why but every once in a while you get some hot ones. 🙂
I made this with two poblanos and put them both in with the sauce mixture, then I put the sauce mixture in a blender. So creamy and delish! We also had some leftover pulled pork and used pork in the enchiladas. They were delish!
Awesome!
This recipe is just delish!!!! The prep is little long, but oh so worth it!!!
★★★★★
Thanks!
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.
Yes! I was looking for the old one too where you brown them without the sauce first and then put it on top so they’re crispy. I make this for a friend’s bday and she’s going to be sad not to have them this year!! Thanks for all your wonderful recipes!
★★★★★
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….
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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
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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!
★★★★★