Our easy rotisserie chicken enchiladas recipe can be made with leftovers too. It’s our favorite Mexican food but made quicker with very little prep. You know How Long to Cook Enchiladas, now it is time to make the prep way faster.
Leftover chicken enchiladas are the bomb!! I kid you not, I have been making these for years and never thought to write down the recipe to share because I thought the secret was already out. 😉 I’m here to share our easy peasy 30 minute meal with y’all today.
Like I said, this makes a great leftover chicken breast recipe, or thighs if you have meat you cooked the night before that is now looking at you thru that freezer bag in the fridge. 😉 I hate wasting food so I love having delicious options of “new meals” you can make with it. (nobody will even know either)
Ok so we have made a version of this with our Slow Cooker Chicken Enchiladas, but I wanted to add an option for in the oven as well. We all have that at home. 😉 I will say that overall the texture of this one is better so you can get a nice golden brown on the top with the ooey gooey cheese pull we all love when served.
I have made Instant Pot Enchiladas before but quite frankly if you skip the tedious prep from homemade the timing to make these is about the same. You can make a much larger batch with this method as well vs. a few at a time.
Ingredient Notes
You are going to want to pick up 1 whole rotisserie chicken or make Rotisserie Chicken in Oven first. You want the bones to be removed and then shred the meat. The easiest way to do it is to pull off the twine, reseal the bag and massage the bag! You can watch my video here doing just that. Loosens the meat and allows you to pull the bones right out.
For the sauce you are going to want red enchilada sauce of course. You could use Red Tamale Sauce if you wanted to start from scratch but we are going for easy here. you can see my can above from La Victoria. It comes in mild, medium and spicy.
I really like to add a 4 oz can of diced green chiles into the chicken mixture for the center. It adds a ton of flavor, not heat, as I use mild but there is spicy too. You could use hatch chiles diced fine too.
I like to use a Mexican cheese blend, or mix of Monterey Jack and cheese and Cheddar cheese is great too. Shredded allows it to melt well. Dairy free shred work but don’t melt as nicely.
You will want a softened block of cream cheese or use whipped right out of the fridge, that is looser.
You can use corn or medium sized (taco size) flour tortillas to wrap up the filling nice and tight. Then top with some sour cream, chopped fresh cilantro and/or a dollop of guacamole on the top when done.
I use a porcelain dish that is about 9×13″ size. You could use a metal style or if all you had were a few 9×9 square pans I would use 1 or however many you want to fill. It is easy to double or even triple this recipe. All you need are 2x the ingredients and a larger pan(s). They are best served right out of the oven but reheat well too.
Substitutions
You don’t have to just use poultry for the filling either. If you had leftover hamburgers you could dice those up, or our Crockpot Enchilada Casserole makes a great filling too. Many times if I make this one night, I will have all the ingredients to make this with the leftovers on hand for a 2nd meal.
Just like when we make our Instant Pot Taco Casserole, I prefer mild cans of sauce and diced peppers but if you wanted it to be spicy all you’d need to do is choose the medium or hot versions of the same brands you see here.
FAQ
Wanna’ know our rotisserie chicken hack? The easiest way to get it off the bone and shred it without a knife is to throw it into a freezer bag. Suck the air out and zip closed. Then with both hands gently squeeze and move it around so the bones pop out. Open up and pull all those out and you’re ready to go!!
Yes when you bake them you want enough time for the centers to get warm and everything to melt. You will want to cover in the beginning until this occurs and then remove for the last 10 minutes or so to get the top layer of cheese to brown nicely.
Rotisserie Chicken Enchiladas Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 whole rotisserie chicken, bones removed, shredded, or about 3 cups of leftover chicken
- 24 oz enchilada sauce
- 4 oz diced chiles
- 8 oz cheddar cheese
- 8 oz cream cheese
- 8-10 medium tortillas, flour or corn
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Pour 1/3 of your can of enchilada sauce into the bottom to coat.
- Put rotisserie chicken into a gallon freezer bag, seal and press with your fingers to loosen bones. Or use a knife to remove meat from bones and shred or chop into large bite size pieces.
- In a bowl put your block of cream cheese and microwave for 40 seconds to soften it. Combine with diced chicken and chiles, fold together so everything is coated nicely.
- Lay 1-2 medium (taco size) tortillas down and fill the middle. Roll up so it closes, flip over and put into pan with sauce with the seam side down so it doesn't unravel.
- Pan should fit 8 snuggly from one end to the other, could fit one on the side if you move them all to one side.
- Sprinkle half your cheese on top. Pour remaining sauce over the top so every bit is wet with it. Then sprinkle on remaining shredded cheese on top.
- Bake at 375 F for 20 minutes, then increase temp to 425 F for 4-5 minutes to brown the top. Enjoy warm with sour cream and/or a dollop of guacamole on the top.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Could you make this with leftover pork?
Yes, I have made this the day after making Pork Sirloin Roast and didn’t want to waste that either. You would use the same other ingredients just with a different protein.
If you were baking something else at the same time in the oven at 350 you could easily use that temp for 25 minutes instead. I still like to increase the heat at the end to get that browning on the top with the cheese. Everything is already cooked so all you are doing is warming everything up though.
How to reheat leftovers
In the microwave you would just put on a safe plate and add as much sauce as you have in the saved container on top as you have. Fresh shredded cheese could be added as well. Heat for 1 minute until the middle is warmed thru. To heat the insides more, cut in half before reheating this way.
- In the oven you would Preheat your oven to 350°F. This is the best way to prevent them from becoming soggy.
- If they had been refrigerated, remove and let them sit at room temperature for about 10-15 minutes to take the chill off first. This helps them heat more evenly. If they’re frozen, it’s best to thaw them in the refrigerator overnight before reheating.
- Place in an oven-safe dish. Cover the dish with aluminum foil to help trap moisture and prevent them from drying out during reheating.
- Place the covered dish in the preheated oven and bake for about 15-20 minutes, or until they are heated through. If the enchiladas were frozen, they may need a few extra minutes to heat thoroughly.
