One of our favorite meals is this colorful dish with its creamy chicken and spinach enchilada filling which is wrapped up in flour tortillas and baked. The best part is all of the fresh toppings added after the enchiladas come out of the oven. Serve with rice and you have a delicious made-from-scratch meal!
This is the perfect recipe for a quick and delicious meal to add to your weekly menu rotation. Our last weekly menu plan gives lots of fall comfort food recipe ideas for dinners and one dessert! We have several menus available with clickable links to each recipe on the website. Search for menu in the search bar to check them out! I will be adding more menu plans with lots more options as the recipes become available! Most of the recipes are perfect for busy weeknights and are a great way to make meal planning and grocery shopping less time-consuming!
This is a plain/no toppings photo of this chicken and spinach enchilada recipe and please excuse the low-quality iPhone photo above, it was taken on one of my recipe testing days 🙂 This recipe makes a lot of chicken and spinach sauce but I like to add what’s leftover across the top of the enchiladas before baking, along with some shredded cheese. I have made them without the sauce on top but with enchilada sauce or salsa verde but, the sauce on top is the best by far 🙂
What The Creamy Chicken and Spinach Filling Consists Of…
- Onions-Small to medium, chopped
- Green Chiles-The Fire Roasted reen Chiles from Trader Joes are good in this!
- Garlic-Minced.
- Chopped Cooked Chicken-I use a rotisserie chicken, usually one breast and thigh is enough.
- Heavy Cream-This is the magic ingredient in this creamy sauce!
- Flour-Just a tablespoon or two to thicken the sauce.
- Fresh Spinach-Just let it wilt into the finished sauce.
- Chicken-Rotisserie chicken works great!
- Cheese-I used a combination of shredded Monterrey Jack & Quesadilla that can be found in the Mexican food section at Walmart grocery stores. Mozzarella cheese can be used instead.
Do The Enchiladas Freeze Well?
I freeze the chicken and spinach filling in a freezer-safe container. Thaw overnight in the fridge and stir well before/while heating, add chicken broth as needed to thin it out. And then add to the tortillas as usual. This makes a great make-ahead freezer meal!
What are the optional toppings?
- Iceburg Lettuce, shredded
- Tomatoes, chopped
- Avocados, chopped
- Extra spinach, shredded
- Sour cream is not shown but we usually add it. Plain greek yogurt can be substituted for the sour cream.
- Quesadilla cheese
- A squeeze of lime juice
- Fresh Cilantro
“Cooking is like love. It should be entered into with abandon or not at all.”
– Harriet van Horne
Best Chicken and Spinach Enchiladas
Course: DinnerCuisine: MexicanDifficulty: Easy7
servings10
minutes35
minutes300
kcalThe made from scratch creamy spinach and chicken sauce and the fresh toppings make these enchiladas so worth the little time it takes to make them!
Ingredients
1 Medium Onion, Chopped
2-3 tablespoons Olive Oil
2 Cloves Garlic, Minced
1 can Green Chilies
1 teaspoon Cilantro, Dried or Fresh
1/2 teaspoon Salt
1/4 teaspoon Black Pepper
1/2 teaspoon Onion Salt
1 tablespoon Flour
1/2 cup Heavy Cream
4 cups Fresh Baby Spinach
4 cups Cooked Rotisserie Chicken, chopped
1/2 cup Chicken Broth, as needed
Flour Tortillas, I used the larger size(burrito)
2 cups shredded Monterrey Jack Cheese or Quesadilla Cheese
Directions
- In a large skillet add and saute onions in the olive oil on medium-high heat, stirring often until onions are translucent. Add the minced garlic and continue to cook for about 1 minute.
- Add the green chiles to the onions and garlic, stirring to combine.
- Add the cilantro, onion salt, black pepper, salt, and flour. Stir to combine.
- Add the heavy cream, stirring.
- Add chopped chicken( about 1.5 chicken breast halves from a rotisserie chicken) and chicken broth to the sauce. Add chicken broth until the sauce reaches the desired consistency. It should be creamy but not thin(as in runny).
- The spinach goes in last. Stir it into the sauce just until it has wilted and then remove the pan from the heat.
- Spray a 9 x 13-inch glass baking dish with olive oil nonstick spray.
- Lay tortillas out on a cutting board, and add the chicken sauce/filling and shredded cheese onto the center of tortilla, roll the tortilla as tightly as possible and add to the baking dish seam sides down.
- Spread the leftover chicken and spinach sauce over the enchiladas. Spread the rest of the shredded cheese over that.
- Cover the baking dish with foil and bake in a 350-degree oven for 30-35 minutes until heated through.
- Remove from the oven and add toppings of choice.
Notes
- Option #2 Spread the leftover sauce(about 2 cups) over the bottom of the pan and pour a jar of tomatillo salsa over the top of the enchiladas.
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Easy dinners are always a hit around here. Tacos or enchiladas are the perfect solutions. Here are a couple of my favorites to make!