Chicken Enchiladas

These Chicken Enchiladas are made with shredded chicken, black beans, and lots of cheese! The homemade enchilada sauce is seriously good and incredibly easy to make. 

I have been obsessed with these chicken enchiladas lately! Flour tortillas filled with perfectly shredded chicken, black beans, Mexican shredded cheese, and a homemade enchilada sauce that is just ridiculously good.

Homemade Enchilada Sauce:

Making enchilada sauce at home is incredibly easy and tastes sooo much better than the store-bought stuff. This enchilada sauce is made in one saucepan with just six simple ingredients:

• Butter
• Flour
• Chili powder
• Cumin
• Tomato sauce
• Chicken broth 

Melt the butter in your saucepan and whisk in the flour until combined. Make sure there aren't any clumps of flour. Season with chili powder and cumin and whisk in the tomato sauce and chicken broth. Set the sauce aside and simmer over low heat, stirring occasionally until ready to use. 

How to Make Chicken Enchiladas:

Shredded Chicken:

I used to think shredded chicken required hours of slow cooking at a low temperature. Turns out there's actually an incredibly easy way to make shredded chicken, and it only takes about 15 minutes! This recipe can be made with either boneless skinless chicken thighs or breasts. I prefer to use thighs because they are more tender and juicy.

1. Heat oil in a large pot or saucepan, add the chicken thighs, season, and cook to brown for about 1-2 minutes. Flip and repeat on the other side. 
2. Cover the chicken thighs completely with chicken broth, bring to a boil and boil until the chicken is cooked through and no longer pink in the middle. This usually doesn't take long. Once cooked, remove the chicken from the saucepan and shred it using two forks pulling in opposite directions. 

Assemble and Bake: 

Spray a 9 x 13" casserole dish with non-stick cooking spray. Arrange the tortillas in a single layer in the casserole dish. I use medium, soft taco-size flour tortillas, but you can also use corn tortillas if that's what you prefer. 

Add a generous spoonful of the enchilada sauce to each tortilla. Add the shredded chicken and black beans evenly to each tortilla along with 1-2 tablespoons of the shredded cheese. Fold the tortillas closed and spread any remaining enchilada sauce over the top. Then sprinkle with more shredded cheese. 

Bake in the preheated oven for 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and serve warm. I like to serve mine along with a heaping side of sour cream and topped with fresh cilantro. YUM.

More Mexican Recipes:

• Mexican Quinoa Salad
• Shrimp Ceviche Recipe

📖 RECIPE

Chicken Enchiladas

Chicken Enchiladas with perfectly shredded chicken and the best homemade enchilada sauce

4.84 from 6 votes

Print Pin Rate

Prep Time: 30 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes minutes

Total Time: 35 minutes minutes

Servings: 4 people

Ingredients

  

½1x2x3x

• 8 medium (soft taco-size) flour tortillas
• 1 can black beans, drained
• 3 cups shredded cheese , Mexican blend

For the Shredded Chicken:

• 1 lb. boneless skinless chicken thighs
• 2 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon pepper
• 1 tablespoon chili powder
• 1 cup chicken broth

For the Enchilada Sauce:

• ½ cup butter
• ¾ cup flour
• 2 teaspoon chili powder
• 2 teaspoon cumin
• 1 (8 oz. can) tomato sauce
• 2 cups chicken broth

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 350°. Spray a 9 x 13" casserole dish with nonstick spray.
• Arrange the tortillas in a single layer in the casserole dish.

Make the Enchilada Sauce:

• Melt the butter in a medium pot. Whisk in the flour and make sure there aren't any clumps.
• Add the chili powder, cumin, and tomato sauce and whisk to combine.
• Add the chicken broth and bring to a boil. Whisk until the sauce thickens, remove from heat and set aside.

Make the Shredded Chicken:

• Heat the oil in a large pot or saucepan. Add the chicken thighs, season with salt, pepper, and chili powder. Sauté for 1-2 minutes. Flip and season the other side. Cover the thighs with chicken broth and bring to a boil. Boil until the chicken is cooked through and no longer pink in the center.
• Remove the chicken from the pot and use two forks to shred the chicken by pulling apart in opposite directions.

Assemble and Bake:

• Add a generous spoonful (about ¼ - ½ cup) of the enchilada sauce to each of the tortillas.
• Add the shredded chicken and black beans evenly to the tortillas. Add about 1-2 tablespoons of the shredded cheese.
• Close the tortillas and spread the top with remaining sauce. Sprinkle with remaining cheese.
• Bake for 20 minutes and serve warm.

Nutrition

Calories: 350kcal