Easiest Green Enchilada Casserole

Ready to experience Mexican cuisine at its finest? This tantalizing Green Enchilada Casserole is the answer. It’s not just a casserole, but a melody of flavors brought together by tender chicken, creamy sauces, and green chiles. In just over 40 minutes, whip up this easy Mexican chicken casserole that will have everyone asking for seconds!

Don’t wait, bring a little bit of Mexico into your kitchen today!This Green Enchilada Casserole is one of our best Mexican Chicken casseroles.  This is Green Chile Chicken Enchilada Casserole has all the amazing green chile flavors that you will love.  And you can make this  Green Chile Enchilada Casserole in just over 40 minutes. 

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There are probably thousands of recipes for a Green Enchilada Casserole but this is my all-time favorite.    I love it not only because of the incredible taste but it is so easy, no rolling tortillas.   And this easy Mexican Chicken Casserole can be prepared in advance and refrigerated or froze to heat up later

 In New Mexico, chiles are abundant.  I do believe the state’s motto is “Red or Green?”.     This is a question that is asked anytime you order enchiladas since everyone has their favorite sauce.  Red enchilada sauce is made from the dried chiles that have matured to the point they have turned red and green enchilada sauce is made from fresh chiles.  You can even order your enchiladas “Christmas” meaning half red and half green for those that either can’t decide or that just love both equally

When the green chiles are harvested, they are sold everywhere (even our local and chain grocery stores) and they are roasted on the spot.  Outside every location that sells green chiles, a huge roaster is set up.  It is a huge wire drum that rotates and as the chiles toss around they pass by a flame strip that is burning on the bottom of the drum.  This roasts them and the skin turns black (just like roasted red peppers) and peels away from the meat of the chile.    And the smell is heavenly.    The entire valley smells like roasted green chiles.    I so love chile harvest time!

When I lived in New Mexico I would buy a huge bag of these chiles, have them roasted and freeze them in small batches to use throughout the year.   We would then have fresh green chiles all winter.  But even if you don’t live in New Mexico  Hatch Green Chiles can be purchased online and shipped to you.

Easy Mexican Chicken Casserole Recipe:

Ingredients:

• Olive oil
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• ½ cup onion, diced
• 1 cup roasted green chiles, chopped
• 4 cups cooked chicken, shredded
• 10.5 ounce can of cream of chicken soup
• 10.5 ounce can cream of celery soup
• ½ cup water
• 1 dozen corn tortillas
• ½ pound cheddar cheese or Monterrey jack cheese, shredded
• Pico de Gallo

How to make Green Enchilada Casserole:

(This is an easy version without having to make green chile sauce but it contains those amazing green chile)

Start your green chile chicken enchilada casserole by cooking 2 chicken breasts. You could either place them in water and boil until done or roast them in the oven.   A rotisserie chicken or leftover chicken or turkey would also work wonderfully.    Shred the chicken using two forks or meat shredding claws.   You should have about 4 cups of shredded cooked chicken or one pound for this recipe.

Saute the chopped onion in a couple of tablespoons of olive oil in a dutch oven over medium heat.   Saute until the onion is translucent.

Add chopped garlic and saute for one additional minute.   The best way to use fresh garlic in our opinion is to use a garlic peeler and this green Garlic Chopper.   The garlic peeler makes it so easy to peel garlic cloves and this Garlic Chopper easily chops 2-3 cloves at a time.

Add one cup of chopped green chile, mix well, and continue to cook until it’s heated throughout.   If you can’t find chopped green chile in your area, fresh green chile can be found on Amazon.    Or you could substitute 505 green chile or canned green chile.

Add cream of chicken soup, cream of celery soup and 1/2 cup of water.   Stir to mix well and add shredded chicken.    Continue to cook until everything is heated throughout.

Slice one dozen tortillas into fourths.   Heat a comal or flat griddle and spray with cooking spray

Place tortilla fourths onto the heated comal or griddle.   Heat until soft but not crispy then flip to heat both sides.      Remove from the comal, set aside on a dish and keep hot.

Spray a 9 X 13 baking dish with a cooking spray.  Spoon about one-third of the chicken mixture to just cover the bottom of the pan.  Sprinkle with one-third of the cheese and top with one-half of the tortilla chips.

Repeat and then top the last layer of tortillas with the remaining third of the chicken mixture and top with cheese.  Place in a preheated 350-degree oven and bake uncovered for 20 minutes until cheese is bubbly.

Remove this Mexican chicken casserole from oven and top with chopped cilantro, optional.  Serve with homemade pico de gallo or salsa and plenty of tortilla chips.

We enjoy this Green Enchilada Casserole topped with our homemade pico de gallo and tortilla chips.  Also, refried beans would be delicious with this dinner. 

Now it’s time for you to whip up an authentic and easy Mexican chicken casserole with this Green Enchilada Casserole recipe! Bursting with green chile flavors and so simple to prepare, no tortilla rolling required. Plus, it can be made in advance for a fuss-free meal.

 🥣 Recipe

 

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