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Skillet chicken enchiladas are a cheesy, gooey favorite of ours. Seasoned chicken, black beans, green chilies, red enchilada sauce, and lots of cheese all come together to deliver a simple and delicious Mexican American classic in 20 minutes of active work!
Table of Contents
Why I Love This Recipe
My skillet chicken enchiladas are both prepped and cooked in a single cast iron skillet for really easy cleanup. You can sauté the chicken filling, transfer it to a bowl, assemble your enchiladas on the counter, and then arrange them back in the skillet for baking. This recipe makes about 5 enchiladas, making it the perfect amount for a smaller crowd of 2-3.
This recipe is incredibly simple! Canned enchilada sauce and even precooked rotisserie chicken are welcomed shortcuts that will make this recipe even easier to pull together quickly on a busy weeknight.
If you’re looking for more delicious skillet dinners to add to the rotation, check out my ground turkey stuffed peppers and my flank steak fajitas recipe! All of these go exceptionally well with my homemade guacamole and my classic margarita recipe.
Ingredients
- Burrito tortillas: you need the largest tortillas you can find. You can experiment with corn tortillas, I just like traditional flour tortillas for this recipe. Save extra for my easy-baked chicken chimichanga recipe.
- Diced seasoned chicken: you can use either chicken breast or chicken thighs. Chicken thighs are my favorite because they’re super tender and juicy. It’s important to dice the chicken into very small chunks so they easily blend with the other ingredients.
- Low-sodium black beans: always rinse in a colander before using.
- Chopped green chilies: you can use fresh! I just like the texture and tenderness of the canned chilies.
- Green onions: these serve as an optional garnish.
- Mexican blend of cheeses: I usually get prepackaged shredded 4-cheese Mexican blend but feel free to use your favorite cheddar cheeses.
- Mild or hot red enchilada sauce: If you like spicy food I highly recommend the hot enchilada sauce. You will need about 20 ounces for this recipe.
- Spices: cumin, salt and pepper, and chipotle chile powder are my favorite seasonings for the chicken filling. This recipe works well with chipotle peppers in adobo sauce for amazing smokey heat.
See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities below.
Step By Step Instructions
Step 1.
Preheat oven to 375°F.
Step 3.
Heat oil in a 12-inch cast iron skillet over medium-high heat. Sauté chicken for 2-3 minutes and then add green chilis and black beans. Season all over with salt and pepper. Add cumin and chipotle chile powder and optional diced chipotle chili and mix to incorporate.
Step 4.
Once the chicken is fully cooked (3-4 more minutes). Transfer everything to a bowl and set aside.
Step 5.
Add 1/2 a cup of enchilada sauce to the now empty cast iron skillet. (Just enough to have a thin coating on the bottom of the skillet).
Step 6.
Place a tortilla on the counter or flat surface and spread 2 tablespoons of enchilada sauce down the center of the tortilla. Top with 1/2 cup of chicken mixture and sprinkle with 1-2 tablespoons of cheese. Wrap the tortillas tightly and place seam down in the cast iron skillet. Repeat with the remaining 4 enchiladas.
Step 7.
Top all enchiladas with the remaining enchilada sauce and sprinkle with a cup of cheese.
Step 8.
Bake for 20 to 25 minutes and garnish with green onions and guacamole when serving
Expert Tips
- For an even faster shortcut, use precooked rotisserie chicken. It’s tender and delicious.
- You can also make this recipe with ground beef. I prefer 85% lean for the best flavor.
- You can substitute green enchilada sauce if you prefer and keep the parts etc. the same.
- Don’t go too light on the enchilada sauce. It’s what makes enchiladas tender, creamy, and delicious. Look for mild enchilada sauce for less heat.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, you don’t need a skillet for this recipe, you can make it in a standard 11×13 dish.
More Mexican Recipes You’ll Love
Enjoy this recipe? If you made this recipe, please leave a ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ star rating in the recipe card below & a review in the comments!
Skillet Chicken Enchiladas Recipe
Ingredients
- 5 large burrito flour tortillas
- 2 boneless skinless chicken breasts or 3-4 chicken thighs, diced small
- 20 ounces of canned mild or hot red enchilada sauce
- 2 cups shredded Mexican blend cheese
- 1 15.5- ounce can black beans, rinsed
- 4.5 ounce can chopped green chilis
- 1/4 cup chopped green onions for garnish
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1 teaspoon chipotle chili powder
- Optional 1 chipotle chili in adobe sauce, chopped
- salt and pepper to taste
- Guacamole or sour cream for topping if desired.
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375°F.
- Cut chicken into small bite-sized chunks. I typically cut into small half-inch cubes.
- Heat oil in a 12-inch cast iron skillet over medium-high heat. Sauté chicken for 2-3 minutes and then add green chilis and black beans. Season all over with salt and pepper. Add cumin and chipotle chile powder and optional diced chipotle chili and mix to incorporate.
- Once the chicken is fully cooked (3-4 more minutes). Transfer everything to a bowl and set aside.
- Add 1/2 a cup of enchilada sauce to the now empty cast iron skillet. (Just enough to have a thin coating on the bottom of the skillet).
- Place a tortilla on the counter or flat surface and spread 2 tablespoons of enchilada sauce down the center of the tortilla. Top with 1/2 cup of chicken mixture and sprinkle with 1-2 tablespoons of cheese. Wrap the tortillas tightly and place seam down in the cast iron skillet. Repeat with the remaining 4 enchiladas.
- Top all enchiladas with the remaining enchilada sauce and sprinkle with a cup of cheese.
- Bake for 20 to 25 minutes and garnish with green onions and guacamole when serving.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Made these last night, and my family devoured them. Wish I could post a photo to show you because they not only tasted fantastic but looked beautiful. I posted them and your recipe link on a food group I belong to – Milk Street Community. We always love your recipes and this one is no exception.
Thank you so much for the kind words and appreciate the share!
I love chicken enchiladas and your recipe looks delish. Can’t wait to try it.
Found your recipe on Pinterest when I was looking for something to grill on our Traeger using a cast iron skillet. The recipe looked scrumptious and I had everything at home so looked no further. It turned out delicious and so easy to make. The only other thing I added was sliced black olives and then topped with sour cream instead of guacamole.
Thanks Deb! Glad you found me 😉
You don’t need to cover with foil before baking?
Nope!
This recipe was fantastic! I just purchased my first cast iron skillet and this was the first thing I made with it – I used rotisserie chicken (because I’m super lazy and love the pre-handpulled version from Costco…ha!) and this was the easiest recipe for an impromtu dinner party. Thanks for posting!!
Thanks Sarah – good idea with the rotisserie chicken! That’s perfect. Will have to try that myself.
Once again, you nailed it Shawn! Absolutely delicious, and so easy! Our new favorite!
We prepared the chicken enchiladas tonight. This recipe turned out beautifully and tasted delicious. We made our own enchilada sauce and it lends itself nicely to this dish. We forgot to take a picture of the finished result (we were really hungry). . This is definitely going to be in our dinner recipe rotation. Can’t wait to try more of @kitchenswagger recipes.
Just want to point out the flour is misspelled in the recipe..
You mean you’ve never heard of flower tortillas?! Good call – thanks for the note.
You have totally won me over!!! I stumbled upon your blog via Pinterest in my search for a filet mignon recipe….and have been no further since Sunday. “Black Iron” has never seen so much use in all his tenure with us, (we’ll just say years). Steaks were to perfection, Monday saw us devouring the Chicken Pesto Panini, Tuesday’s Chicken Parmesan would make one want to smack your mama and these here enchiladas with the guac…YES, YES AND YES!! To top it all off, clean up has been a breeze, my 15 year old son is appreciative he is definitely a fan of the name. Beautiful blog, photography, story telling and easy meals, I have enjoyed every minute! Many thanks!
Thanks so much for the kind note Karrie – so glad you’re cruising your way through the blog. Bring that cast iron back to life – I love mine. Glad to hear your son appreciates the name! Thanks again.