This is a family favorite meal at our house! Serve with some homemade refried beans, corn and/or a green salad and you have a wonderful meal. Dollop with a little extra sour cream! I make this recipe in two 8×8 pans for our family and freeze one for another day. Works very well for freezing, by simply skipping the baking step till later. This is the recipe we used for our freezer meal service project. Enjoy!
2-3 cups chicken, cooked & shredded (I use the leftover chicken pulled off the bones after cooking up a whole chicken, but you can also cook 2-3 chicken thighs and then shred them), or 1 pound ground beef or turkey
1 large onion
3 garlic cloves
1 (29 oz) can of enchilada sauce (homemade is best and free from any preservatives, try this easy recipe here – it works great!)
2 (4-6 oz) cans chilis, optional
1 cup sour cream or cream of mushroom soup substitute
1 (15 oz) can of olives, sliced
1-2 cups kidney or black beans, if desired
cheddar cheese, grated (raw cheddar cheese is the best!)
12 tortillas, homemade or whole wheat
Combine garlic and onions and fry in a little oil until golden brown. Add chicken, enchiladas sauce, chilis, olives and just enough sour cream to make a creamy consistency. It will be runny, but that’s okay. Add kidney beans, if desired to make a complete protein. Allow to simmer for 10-15 minutes. Layer flat in a 13×9 pan, starting with a thin layer of sauce, tortilla, sauce, cheese, tortilla, etc. ending with a layer of cheese. Cover with tin foil, and bake at 350 for 30-35 minutes until heated through and cheese is melted. Allow to sit for 10-15 minutes otherwise it will be on the runny side.
For the Crockpot:
Cook meat, onions and garlic in a large saucepan over medium eat until nicely browned. Add enchilada sauce, chilis, sour cream, olives, and black beans and mix until well combined. Cover the bottom of your crockpot with a thin layer of sauce, followed by a layer of tortillas, another layer of sauce, and then cheese, and repeat in that fashion until all your ingredients have been added (probably 3-4 layers). Finish with a layer of sauce and cheese. Turn your crockpot on low heat, cover, and allow to cook for 5-6 hours. Serve with a dollop of sour cream!
Oh wow I finally got around to making this recipe (thought I already had but nope lol) and what a hit! The kiddies devoured it and had seconds, hubs has asked for it as a regular on the menu plan as well as hoarding as much as he could for his lunch tomorrow (and packing away third helpings at the table
) and I managed to put a meal in the freezer too so I’m stoked 
These enchiladas were a family hit! I will definitely make these again. I used the homemade sauce and just switched vegetable oil for coconut oil. If you do this, use about 2/3 cup of oil instead of 1 cup. YUMMY!!!!
Made this last night, homemade tortillas and all. Holy yum! Thanks for posting.
sounds delicious, I’m going to try them!
If you’re using canned kidney beans for this recipe, do you drain them or not? It sounds so good…can’t wait to make it for my family
I’m confused. I assumed you meant for us to put the ingredients inside the tortillas, roll up and then place in pan in layers with the other stuff. But your picture in the pan and howit looks on the plate makes me think you just layer the tortillas flat and put the stuff on top. Kind of like mexican lasagne.
The botton picture is the enchiladas made in the crockpot. The top picture (picture of the plate) is the enchiladas scooped out of the crockpot. But yes it basically is a mexican lasagna.
Sounds lovely! I just came back from mexico last year and find myself addicted to these incredible enchilada recipes now!! Must go back next year sometime, I think, and this time head off the beaten path a little. Looking to reading more!
I just made this recipe last night with the homemade enchilada sauce. We LOVED it!! It is the ONLY enchilada recipe my husband has ever liked. I love enchiladas, so we’ve tried many. Thanks, this one is a keeper. My little ones loved it, too.
I’m trying to do my monthly meal plan and I would love to incorporate this recipe! What type of oil do you saute the onion and garlic in? You had mentioned homemade enchilada sauce or store bought. What store brand enchilada sauce do you use? Thank you! Jennifer
Butter or olive oil work great. I have only used Trader Joe’s Enchilada sauce or made my own.
I just made the tortillas, sauce and stuffing today with beef and it was SOOOOO good
) Definitely a recipe that will get used over and over again 
) I had never tried to make enchilada sauce before. I think I’ll use the linked recipe you provided to can my own sauce this year.
Do you have a recipe for homemade refried beans? I have not found one I like too much yet.
I don’t have an exact recipe…I just saute onions and garlic and add to the beans and blend them up with a hand blender. Then I add salt, chili powder and cumin (or taco seasoning mix) to taste.
I found this recipe several years ago for refried beans, and it is the BEST. These taste just like the frijoles I had in Mexico- though in Mexico they often use lard. No matter, these are delicious.
http://www.cooking-mexican-recipes.com/pinto_bean_recipes.html
Just found you site and love it! This will be dinner tonight, cant wait! One little short cut I found that works great for freezing. If the dish does not require pre- baking you can line you dish with plastic wrap, once its frozen lift it out and then wrap for freezing. Frees up your dish! When your ready to cook it just pop it in the original dish. Work perfectly every time.
Hi there! This looks great. I have some leftover corn tortillas and was wondering if those would work. What do you think?
Yes, definitely!
I made these tonight using dried beans & sour cream & green enchilada sauce. It’s in the oven and I am excited to see how it turns out! I’ll let you know! Love your website and visit often!
Fixed this for my husband tonight! He raved about it! Thanks. I love your site. Such and inspiration!
nice post, thanks for sharing!
I just made these enchiladas earlier this week – it was delicious!!!!
Do you think this could be split between 2 8×8 pans?
It’s just my husband and I so a 13×9 would be a little too much for us.
Yes, I do it all the time and freeze one as there is just three of us and the little lady doesn’t eat it yet!
Thanks so much Lindsay! It’s actually the three of us, but our little girl is only 2.5 months old
I love your blog!
Could you use kefir instead of sour cream?
It will most likely affect the taste, but that depends upon how strong your kefir is. You very well may like the taste of plain kefir. If so, give it a try! Another option is using the cream soup substitute that I came up with here. Most enchiladas call for cream soup of some sort, and I just started replacing with sour cream…but if you want to make your own, that would be an excellent option.
Hi again ~ Lindsay,
I’m perusing your site today and thought I may as well post another question. I’ve made the Chicken Enchiladas and they are wonderful and a definite keeper! However, I was wondering if you have a substitute for the endhilada sauce?
Blessings,
Sunny
You can make your own enchilada sauce. There are many recipes available, but this one seems to come with good reviews. I have not attempted it myself as of yet…but your question definitely gets me thinking…I might just make these enchiladas this week!
I think it’s awesome you posted this recipe with a can soup substitute. Most people would use can – with MSG and not realize the health effects. I think you have a wonderful blog. I also started a second blog for recipes; http://www.savoringflavors.blogspot.com
In Jesus,
Vicky
I will be trying this one soon as well as the others, thanks for posting!!
Looks amazing! I forgot how much I enjoy reading your blog so I added you to my kindred spirits link on my url! Come check me out!
So i totally digg your blog – Yay:-) Am pretty sure this is obvious to some people but not quite to me…
How do you freeze your meals? Do you ziploc bag them? What type of containers do you use?
When i try to freeze my meals they are typically laiden with freeezer burns…help?
The best option I have found is to freeze in a glass pyrex pan, as I prefer not to use disposable aluminum pans, if possible. But I have done it both ways. Cover first with some tin foil, and then entirely with freezer paper to avoid freezer burn. That works wonderfully!
How does the freezer paper stay on, on top of the alum foil?
Aren’t you concerned w/alum foil leaching into your food?
I use tape to keep the freezer paper on. If the food is cooled and the tin foil is not directly touching the food, there shouldn’t be that big of an issue with any leaching. It can be removed before cooking. You can also use wax paper, also secured with tape and that has worked well in the past for me also.
Gotcha!
Why not just put the wax paper/freezer paper then the alum foil?
Thanks for posting your recipe, Lindsey!