This Chicken Enchilada Casserole is made with an avocado cream sauce for an easy creamy chicken enchilada casserole that the whole family will love!
Enchilada casseroles are a great way to enjoy the flavors of enchiladas without all the hassle of rolling each individually. Avocado based sauces for enchiladas are all the rage these days because they provide a delicious creamy element that is also good for you. Flavored rice is piled on in there to add texture, filler, and extra flavor. We have used corn tortillas, but you are welcome to substitute flour tortillas.
Make Ahead Instructions
This enchilada casserole can easily be made ahead. Assemble and refrigerate before baking, up to 1 day in advance. Be sure to store it covered with plastic wrap or aluminum foil to prevent it from drying out. Remove the covering and bake when ready to eat.
What if I don’t have pre-cooked chicken?
This recipe calls for pre-cooked shredded chicken. You can use leftover chicken, rotisserie chicken, or pre-shredded chicken from the grocery store. If you don’t have any cooked chicken, simply place chicken in a pot of boiling water and boil until cooked, about 15 minutes. You can do this while your rice cooks. You can add some flavor to the chicken by boiling it in chicken broth, adding a couple cloves of garlic, and make sure your water is at least salted. Once it is cooked, remove from the liquid and chop it up.
If you like this recipe, you may be interested in some of our other delicious Mexican style recipes:
Watch the video below where Rachel will walk you through every step of this recipe. Sometimes it helps to have a visual, and we’ve always got you covered with our cooking show. You can find the complete collection of recipes on YouTube, Facebook Watch, or our Facebook Page, or right here on our website with their corresponding recipes.
Creamy Chicken Enchilada Casserole
- 1 cup white rice
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin divided
- 1/2 teaspoon chili powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup salsa verde
- 2 avocados pitted
- 1/2 cup sour cream
- 1 jalapeno stem removed (optional)
- 2 boneless skinless chicken breasts cooked and shredded
- 28-32 corn tortillas
- 4 cups shredded mozzarella
- Make the rice by pouring rice into a medium saucepan with 2 cups water, 1/2 teaspoon cumin, chili powder, and salt. Bring to a boil, cover, reduce heat to low, and cook for about 15 minutes until all water has been absorbed or evaporated. Fluff and stir rice, and set aside.
- Make the sauce by combining salsa verde, avocados, sour cream, jalapeno (optional), and remaining 1/2 teaspoon of cumin in a blender. Blend until smooth.
- Mix a scoop of the sauce with the shredded chicken in a small mixing bowl, just enough to give the chicken a bit of favor.
- Spoon another scoop of the sauce into the bottom of the pan, just enough to give the bottom a light coating. Cover the bottom a 9×13 pan with tortillas, cutting them in half as necessary. Cover the base with some of the avocado cream sauce. Sprinkle a light layer of cheese over the tortilla base.
- Spoon half of the cooked rice over the base, along with half of the chicken. Sprinkle with another layer of cheese. Top with another layer of tortillas and spread sauce on top of tortillas. Sprinkle a light layer of cheese over the sauced tortillas. Repeat with remaining rice and chicken.
- Top with a final layer of tortillas, smother with remaining sauce, and cover with remaining cheese.
- Bake at 375 degrees for about 25-30 minutes until cheese is warm and bubbly. Serve hot.
Double the sauce and use only 12 tortillas
Delish! The sauce is amazing!
next time I’d make it spicier, but as-is this is still a FANTASTIC meal. Start with a grocery story rotisserie chicken to simplify things.
This is amazing! My family loves it. Thank you!! I took the advice from other and doubled the sauce. In addition, i added 2 cloves of garlic to the sauce. This recipe is a keeper!
Great recipe! Based on other reviews I made 1 1/2 the amount of the sauce and it turned out delicious. Thank you!
I made this for dinner tonight. While the flavor was good, it was quite dry. I think the next time I will double the sauce. I also did not use anywhere near 28 tortillas. I used 13.
Delicious! I made this casserole last night and my family loved it! I made the exact recipe, but didn’t need 36 corn tortillas – probably about 12 and that was just fine. Will definitely keep this recipe in my book for the future!
Love Love Mexican food
Is that correct to use 28 to 32 tortillas? Watching you assemble, it looked like maybe 18 max.
this looks fabulous!
I made this today and it is sooo yummy. I only had 12 tortillas and that worked just fine for my dish. Instead of Salsa Verde I used the Trader Joe’s Hatch Valley Chili salsa, which is a Verde salsa and very spicy. Because I used this I skipped the jalapenos and the chili powder. For my half of the casserole I used riced cauliflower instead of the rice and it worked seamlessly into the dish.
Thank you again for sharing!
This was delicious but be warned: it made a TON. Next time I'll split into two 8x8s and freeze one. And there will definitely be a next time. Thanks for sharing this recipe!
So many things that I love all in one casserole. I love that avocado is in the sauce. I haven't tried a baked avocado recipe yet, but this one is on my list!!