Sour Cream Chicken Enchiladas

A Quick Look at the Ingredients

• Cooked chicken. Rotisserie chicken is the shortcut. Poached or baked breasts, shredded, work just as well.
• Flour tortillas. Soft and pliable, and the traditional choice for creamy enchiladas. Warm them so they don't crack.
• Green chiles. One can in the filling, one in the sauce. They're mild and smoky.
• Monterey Jack. Mild and very melty. Pepper jack if you want a little kick.
• Full-fat sour cream. Light sour cream is much more likely to separate in the oven. Take it out of the fridge early so it's not ice cold.
• Butter, flour, and broth. A quick base that holds the sour cream and keeps the sauce stable.
• Cumin. Just enough for warm Tex-Mex flavor.

Rolling and Baking

1. Filling. Mix the chicken with 1 cup of the cheese, a can of chiles, ½ cup sour cream, cumin, and salt.
2. Warm, fill, roll. Microwave the tortillas in a damp paper towel for 30 seconds. Add about ⅓ cup of filling to each, roll tightly, and line them up seam-side down.
3. Sauce. Melt the butter, whisk in the flour for a minute, then slowly add the broth and simmer until thick.
4. The key step. Pull the pan off the heat and wait 2 minutes before whisking in the sour cream and the second can of chiles. Sour cream that boils turns grainy.
5. Bake. Pour the sauce over every tortilla, all the way to the edges, add the rest of the cheese, and bake at 350°F for 20–25 minutes, until bubbly.
6. Rest. Five minutes, then top with cilantro, green onions, and tomato.

Why Enchiladas Go Wrong (and the Fixes)

The sauce looks curdled. It got too hot, either on the stove or from overbaking. It still tastes fine. Next time, add the sour cream off the heat and pull the pan as soon as it bubbles.

Soggy tortillas. They sat in the sauce too long before baking. Sauce them right before they go in the oven.

Hard, crispy edges. They weren't covered. Spoon the sauce all the way to the ends of each tortilla.

Variations

• Spinach. Add 2 cups of chopped fresh spinach, wilted and squeezed dry, to the filling.
• Black bean. Swap half the chicken for a can of rinsed black beans.
• Spicier. Pepper jack plus a diced jalapeño.
• Corn tortillas. Warm them briefly in a skillet with a little oil so they stay pliable.
• Casserole style. Layer torn tortillas, filling, and sauce like lasagna and bake 25–30 minutes. There's a full version in the white chicken enchilada casserole.

For a red-sauce night, the classic chicken enchiladas are the way to go. The green chile chicken enchiladas and enchiladas with creamy green chile sauce sit somewhere in between.

Make Ahead, Store, and Freeze

Serve them with Mexican or cilantro lime rice, black or refried beans, and something crisp. Cowboy caviar with avocado and feta is a fresh, crunchy match. Cozy night? A bowl of Instant Pot white chicken chili uses the same green-chile flavors.

Cook's Tips

• Cool the base before the sour cream. Two minutes off the heat drops the sauce enough that the sour cream blends in smoothly. Whisk steadily as you add it.
• Season the chicken, not just the sauce. Rotisserie chicken varies in saltiness. Taste the filling before rolling and adjust the salt there, where it matters most.
• Freeze before baking, not after. Baked-then-frozen enchiladas get soft and the sauce is more likely to break. Assembled and frozen raw, they bake up closer to fresh.

Enchilada Questions

Why did my sour cream sauce curdle?

It got too hot. Take the thickened broth off the heat, wait 2 minutes, then whisk in room-temperature, full-fat sour cream. Avoid boiling it afterward.

Flour or corn tortillas?

Flour is traditional here because it's soft and doesn't crack. Corn gives more corn flavor. Just warm the tortillas in a little oil first.

Are these the same as white chicken enchiladas?

Close cousins. Both use a pale, creamy sauce. Sour cream enchiladas are tangier, while white chicken enchiladas often lean on more broth and cream cheese.

How many fit in a 9x13 pan?

About 10 eight-inch flour tortillas fit snugly in two rows. That feeds 4–5 adults at 2 each.