Chicken enchiladas is one of my husband’s favorite dishes. This recipe uses the Instant Pot to cook the chicken, so in no time at all, you can have these Chicken Enchiladas on the table!

There are some foods that I find myself putting on our meal plan all the time. Those foods that, when I ask my family what they are craving, they tell me the same five or so foods.

Enchiladas is one of those foods. They can be made ahead of time and frozen. This dish is ready to serve in no time. They also reheat beautifully the next day for lunch.

Chicken coated with spices and salsa, ready to cook!

I make the chicken filling in the Instant Pot. Seriously, this kitchen gadget is my most used appliance. By using the rack, removing the cooked chicken breasts is simple. Once the chicken is finished cooking, I use the broth to make Mexican Rice.

Chicken is now cooked and ready to chop. 

Rather than shredding the chicken (because it’s hot & hard to handle!), I hold it with a fork and use a sharp knife to cut the breast into slices, then chop into small bits. 

Mix the chopped chicken with green chilies and shredded cheese.

Place a scoop of chicken mixture onto one side of a tortilla, roll tightly.  

Spray a baking pan with non-stick spray, then place some of the enchilada sauce on the bottom. Add the rolled tortillas, seam side down. Cover with more sauce and cheese.

While the rice is cooking, I make the enchiladas and get them in the oven.

The only task left to do before serving supper is to chop up the lettuce, tomatoes, and onions. You could also make refried beans to serve alongside this, but we find that the enchiladas and rice are most filling and satisfying.

As I shared above, these chicken enchiladas freeze well. Make up an extra pan when you are making this dish to freeze. You’ll have an easy supper night taken care of. These also reheat well. I like to make extra so that we have them for lunches and Mama’s Buffet nights. 

What do you add to your chicken enchiladas? I’d love to have some new suggestions!

Yield: 8 servings

Chicken Enchiladas

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Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes

Total Time 30 minutes

Ingredients

Sauce Ingredients:

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• (2)- 29 oz cans tomato sauce
• (1)- 7 oz can chopped green chilies
• 1-1/2 ts garlic powder
• 1-1/2 ts onion powder
• 1 ts salt
• ½ ts black pepper
• 2 TB oregano

Chicken Filling ingredients:

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• 2 large boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 1/2 cup salsa
• 2 cups water

Spice mixture:

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• 1 ts black pepper
• 2 ts oregano
• 2 ts garlic powder
• 2 ts onion powder
• 1 ts salt
• 2 ts cumin powder

Also needed-

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• (1) 7 oz can chopped green chilies
• 2 cups shredded cheese (I use a Mexican blend, you can use your choice)
• 2- 8 packs toritllas

Instructions

1. Combine all sauce ingredients in a blender and blend to your desired consistency. We like a smooth sauce with no chunks of green chilies, so I blend until very smooth.
2. Set sauce aside while preparing the rest of the ingredients.
3. Combine spice mixture ingredients.
4. Place water into insert of Instant Pot, add a rack, place the chicken breasts upon the rack, top with 1/2 of the spice mixture and salsa.
5. Close the Instant Pot lid, turn the vent to sealing, press MANUAL, set timer for 15 minutes. Allow the IP to do a NPR (natural pressure release)
6. Remove chicken breasts from IP, chop into small pieces. Combine with 1 cup shredded cheese and green chilies.
7. Spray a large casserole dish with non-stick spray. Spread a layer of enchilada sauce on bottom of dish.
8. Place a scoop of the chicken mixture in a tortilla and roll up tightly.
9. Place seam side down in the casserole dish.
10. Next, cover with enchilada sauce. I try to cover the entire pan in sauce. The sauce cooks down into the enchiladas, giving them more flavor.
11. Finally, cover liberally with remaining cup of cheese.
12. Bake at 350* for 15 minutes
13. Enjoy!

Notes

To freeze, wrap the pan tightly with aluminum foil.

Clearly mark the contents on the outside.

To cook from frozen, bake at 350* for 30 minutes or so. If using a glass pan, DO NOT preheat the oven.

To reheat, this is best done in an air fryer or toaster oven.

Here are some other Mexican recipes for you to try!

Super Simple Refried Beans

Simple Chicken Cheese Enchilada Boats

Chicken Fajita Salad