Easy Red Chicken Enchiladas

Looking for quick and simple chicken enchiladas that your kids will dig? Try our delicious and Easy Red Chicken Enchiladas! Our enchiladas are packed with flavor and so simple to put together. Your family won’t be disappointed!

Note: If you love these chicken enchiladas, be sure to also check out these Super Yummy Chicken Fajita Tacos and Southwest Chicken Bowl recipes.

👍 Why We Love These Red Chicken Enchiladas

Fast!  Like all of our recipes, our Easy Red Chicken Enchiladas can be made in 28 minutes or less! The key is to work strategically to prepare your enchilada casserole and finish with the broiler.

Easy– With minimal steps, these chicken enchiladas make a great weeknight meal. They also make a great celebratory dinner for Cinco de Mayo!

Mild – We love using a red sauce for our enchiladas because of its sweet and mild flavor!

Kid-friendly– To keep this dish simple, we incorporate some of our kid staples- chicken, cheese and tortillas- and slip in some veggies-onions, peppers, tomatoes and olives. This dish truly meets kids and grown-ups in the middle!

Whole wheat- We changed things up for these enchiladas by using whole wheat tortillas and veggie-packed fillers (onions, green peppers, tomatoes and un-breaded chicken).

🛒 Ingredients

Notes on Ingredients:

• Tortillas– We recommend whole wheat tortillas to make this dish a tad healthier. The Spruce Eats has a great, simple breakdown of this. In creating white flour, the process includes stripping the flour of a lot of nutrients and also fiber. Because whole wheat flour has not undergone that processing, it is way higher in nutrients and fiber.
• Chicken– We love chicken thighs, but if you’re in a time crunch, you can use a cooked rotisserie chicken from the store.
• Red enchilada sauce– We love Old El Paso’s medium or mild red enchilada sauce for its sweet and mild flavor.
• Olives– If your kids aren’t fans of olives, simply omit them or offer them as an optional topping.
• Cheese– We prefer a Mexican blend. While we opted to include cheese in this dish, cheese isn’t necessary. OR you can use a lower fat cheese to keep this dish a tad healthier.

👩‍🍳 Instructions

Step 1: Make the Filling

First and most important is the filling. Not only is the filling the heart of the enchiladas, but it also requires the most time. Total time: 10-12 minutes

🥄 Kids Step: Help chop veggies! We’re big fans of these kid-friendly knives.

Step 2: Assemble Enchiladas

The assembly of the enchiladas can go pretty quickly, especially if you have a good setup and maybe a little helper. Total time: 5-8 minutes

🥄 Kids Step: Assemble! On their own, your child can scoop the chicken/sauce mix onto the tortilla, sprinkle cheese and olives atop, roll up the tortilla and place it seem-side down in the baking dish.

Step 3: Broil Enchiladas

Because they can burn easily, be sure to keep an eye on the enchiladas while they are in the oven. Total time: 3-5 minutes.

✔️ Cooking Tips and Tricks

• Save time by using canned, chopped green chilis and jarred enchilada sauce!
• Speed up assembling enchiladas by setting up up an assembly line on the counter as follows (from left to right): pan of chicken/sauce —> tortillas —> cheese & olives –> baking dish.
• Scoop the filling a little left of center in the tortilla when assembling enchiladas. After that, you’ll find it’s much easier to roll up the tortilla.
• Keep an eye on the enchiladas while they are in the oven as they can burn easily. Once your red chicken enchiladas are as crisp and bubbly as you desire, take them out and serve!

🍞 What To Serve With Easy Chicken Enchiladas

These red chicken enchiladas taste great topped with a dollop of sour cream or chipotle crema and chopped cilantro. You and also add diced tomatoes, extra cheese or slices of avocado. As far as sides go, we recommend:

• Beans: Pour a can of black beans into a small pot, add salt and taco seasoning and cook for maybe four minutes.
• Rice: We love Uncle Ben’s Ready Rice packets that cook in your microwave in 90 seconds.
• Chips and Guacamole.
• Salad/veggies: Our Three Bean Salad would be so good on the side! Any other simple salad or sliced veggies, like carrot sticks or sliced cucumbers, would do the trick!

🧂 Red Chicken Enchilada Variations

These chicken enchiladas can easily be modified or customized to your preferences. You may decide to…

• Use corn tortillas instead of flour or whole wheat tortillas: Since corn tortillas are typically smaller, you may need to use more of them!
• Use other veggies: You can also use other veggies like bell peppers, mushrooms and corn. Lots of options.
• Make your own enchilada sauce: If you really wanted to go for a fully unprocessed meal, you could even make your own red OR green enchilada sauce. However, we can’t guarantee our 28 minute cooking time with that choice.
• Use different protein: While we love chicken in this recipe, shredded pork, beef or shrimp would also work nicely.
• Make vegetarian enchiladas: Simply use a vegetarian filling. Replace the chicken with pea protein crumbles. I’m a huge fan of Beyond Meat Beefy Crumbles. Another option is to replace the chicken with rice, roasted peppers and corn (or hominy).
• Make gluten-free enchiladas. Simply use glutens-free tortillas, like Mission’s tortillas. La Tortilla Factory makes gluten free tortillas from a few different ingredients. For example, they use ivory teff (a whole grain), cassava (a root vegetable), and cauliflower. Whole Foods makes almond flour tortillas.

🧊 Storing and Freezing

To make enchiladas ahead of time, simply make, cover and store in the refrigerator before baking for up to 24 hours. Note: To keep tortillas from getting soggy, just prepare the filling ahead of time and assemble right before baking.

To store leftovers, place in an airtight container in the fridge for up to four days.

To freeze enchiladas, let them cool completely and then store in a freezer safe container for up to one month.

❓ FAQ

✂️ Craft For This Recipe

Hold onto extra tortillas so kids can color tortillas with edible paint! Kids will love painting tortillas that they can actually eat! After painting the tortillas, you can use them to make soft tacos, quesadillas, or enchiladas! Behold colorful, edible art!

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