I love this freezer chicken enchiladas recipe! This recipe is from when I was a young girl and my grandparents brought an exchange student from Mexico to our house. She made this recipe for us! You could certainly make these enchiladas with flour tortillas but I love them with corn tortillas. The secret to nice corn tortillas is to lightly cook them in a little oil before filling and baking them.
How to Make (and Freeze) Chicken Enchiladas
Consider doubling or tripling the recipe so you can freeze more for later!
1. Make the Enchilada Sauce Mixture:
- Start by combining thecream soup, vinegar, sour cream, 1 1/2 cups cheese, chilies, and chicken broth. I use this homemade cream of chicken soup recipe!
- Set aside 1 cup of this enchilada sauce mixture for later.
- Add chicken (check out this cool method for how to shredchicken) and cilantro to the remaining mixture.
2. Fry Your Tortillas:
I like to soften my tortillas by lightly frying them in vegetable oil. If you use a large pan and small corn tortillas, you can do three at a time. I recommend this when you are making multiple recipes because it willsave you a lot of time. If you are only doing one recipe you can conserve oil by using a smaller skillet. If you do not have a good one already, I recommend this T-fal skillet.
3. Let Your Tortillas Cool:
Use heat resistant or metal tongs to remove the corn tortillas from the hot oil and let them cool and drip off between paper towels. If you’re in need of a good pair of heat resistant tongs, this is a great pair!
4. Fill Your Tortillas:
Once the tortillas have cooled enough to handle, you can start filling them with chicken mixture and rolling them up, carefully arranging in the pan.
5. Add the Enchilada Sauce and Cheese:
After pouring the sauce evenly over the enchiladas, top them off with more shredded cheese. Use cheddar, Mexican blend, Colby jack, or any other similar type of cheese.
6. Freeze Your Chicken Enchiladas:
There are two good methods for freezing your enchiladas:
- For best results, freeze the sauce, cheese, and tortillas (not fried yet) separately in freezer bags, then thaw and assemble enchiladas when you are ready to serve them.
- Alternatively, use any 9×13 pan you have on hand to put in the freezer. But if you are going to need the pan again soon I recommend using a disposable aluminum pan. Assemble the enchiladas, cover with foil, and place in the freezer.
The freezer bags conserve a little more space in the freezer. But the pan method saves more time on thehecticcookingday.
7. How Long to Cook Frozen Enchiladas:
Bake frozen enchiladas for 45-50 minutes at 350 degrees. Or let the chicken enchiladas thaw, then bake for 20-25 minutes. Remove the foil for the last 5-10 minutes.
8. Add the Finishing Touches:
Garnish enchiladas with avocado, sour cream, cilantro, and lime.
Your Chicken Enchiladas Are Done!
I hope you love these frozen enchiladas! The fact that you can cook up a quick batch and then have a great freezer meal that lasts for days is just so great.
Quick tip: I love my large stainless steel bowl for freezer meal cooking. Check out these ones on Amazon.com.
More Easy Make Ahead/Freezer Meals:
- Slow Cooker Honey Garlic Meatballs Recipe
- Keto Taco Bites Recipe
- 15 Minute Freezer Jam Recipe (How To Make Your Own Homemade Strawberry Jam)
- Baked Chicken Taquitos Recipe
- Oven Baked Tacos Recipe
- Cheesy Tater Tot Breakfast Casserole Recipe
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Freezer Chicken Enchiladas Recipe (So Easy)
How to make delicious chicken enchiladas as a freezer meal!
4.69 / 5 ( 92 Reviews )
Print Rate
Prep Time: 20 minutes minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes minutes
Total Time: 50 minutes minutes
Serves: 6
Adjust Servings: 6
Ingredients
- 1 can cream of chicken soup or homemade recipe
- 1 tablespoon vinegar
- 1 cup sour cream
- 3 cups shredded cheddar cheese divided
- 4 ounce can diced green chilies
- ¼ cup chicken broth
- ¼ to ½ cup milk
- 4 cups cooked shredded chicken
- ¼ cup chopped cilantro optional
- ¾ cup vegetable oil
- 10 to 12 corn tortillas large or small
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350°F/175°C. (Unless you will be freezing them for later.)
Mix together the cream soup, vinegar, sour cream, 1 1/2 cups cheese, chilies and chicken broth.
Set aside 1 cup of sauce to put on top of the enchiladas. Add 1/4 to 1/2 cup milk to the sauce to thin it out to your desired consistency. You could also use additional chicken broth instead of milk. Add chicken and cilantro to remaining sauce.
Lightly fry corn tortillas in oil over medium heat on the stove. Just enough to soften the tortilla.
Fill tortillas with chicken filling and arrange in a 9 x 13 pan. If using 12 tortillas, use about 1/3 cup filling for each. Cover with the sauce that was set aside and sprinkle remaining shredded cheese on top.
Cover with foil, bake for 20-25 minutes, removing the foil for the last 5-10 minutes. Serve with your favorite enchilada toppings: avocado, sour cream, salsa, cilantro, guacamole, olives, etc.
TO FREEZE:
For best results, freeze the sauce, cheese, and tortillas (not fried yet) separately in freezer bags, then thaw and assemble enchiladas when you are ready to serve them. Bake as directed above.
Alternatively, use any 9x13 pan you have on hand to put in the freezer. But if you are going to need the pan again soon I recommend using a disposable aluminum pan. Assemble the enchiladas, cover with foil, and place in the freezer.
TO PREPARE FOR SERVING:
Preheat oven to 350°F/175°C. Remove enchiladas from freezer, leave foil on pan and cook for about 30 minutes. Remove foil and cook additional 15-20 minutes, until bubbling and cheese completely melted.
Or thaw enchiladas in the refrigerator, then bake as directed above (for enchiladas that are not frozen).
Nutrition
Calories: 845kcal | Carbohydrates: 27g | Protein: 42g | Fat: 64g | Sodium: 931mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 3g
