Cheesy Chicken Enchiladas with Homemade Gluten-Free Enchilada Sauce

Cheesy Chicken Enchiladas with Homemade Gluten-Free Enchilada Sauce will please the whole family. Make ahead, and so satisfying!

Happy Monday everyone, I hope you had a nice weekend!

Ours was probably the slowest it’s been all summer, which was such a welcome switch! Saturday was gray and drizzly so we took the opportunity to lay low in the morning (read: watch reruns of Flip or Flop – can Christina just be my best friend already?) then take a nice country drive in the afternoon before watching, cough all three parts of the King Tut miniseries I’d DVRd from Spike a few weeks ago. Umm, so good! I had to bribe Ben with a near-constant shoulder rub to watch without making fun, which of course he still did, but it was totally worth it. When I was little I wanted to be an archaeologist (as well as a White House telephone switch operator and dentist which makes perfect sense, don’t you think?) so anything Egypt-related speaks to my soul.

Know what else speaks to my soul? Cheese. Enchiladas. Cheesy Chicken Enchiladas. With a homemade gluten-free enchilada sauce! I could not be more excited about this make ahead dish which features a homemade enchilada sauce made from 100% fridge and pantry staples, and takes less than 10 minutes to make. Say goodbye to the can and hello to this lusciousness…!

I love making homemade versions of popular processed foods – Hamburger Helper, granola, Lipton pasta sides packets, etc – but homemade gluten-free enchilada sauce takes the cake. You know when you try your hand at making homemade, well, cake, and it ends up tasting so good that you vow to never buy premade again, but sure enough the next time a birthday rolls around you’re buying a box mix because it’s just so dang convenient? Not happening with this enchilada sauce. I will 100% never buy canned again now that I know how easy and inexpensive it is to make at home from scratch. We’re talking flour, spices, tomato paste, and chicken broth simmered in a saucepan for under 10 minutes. There is NO turning back, people!

I love enchiladas so much that I still order them every time we go out for Mexican food even though I know they’re not traditionally gluten-free. No amount of internal coaching to say fajitas when it’s time to place our order will stop the phrase enchiladas from rolling off my tongue, which causes Ben to give me a light kick under the table and I have to correct myself like a crazy person. What can I say, I’ve got a one track mind and when it comes to Mexican food it’s all enchiladas, all the time, which is why I made this restaurant-worthy copycat version at home.

Gluten-free corn tortillas are wrapped around shredded chicken, a spoonful of the homemade enchilada sauce, and a sprinkling of shredded cheese before being topped with more sauce and cheese, and baked. These enchiladas are IT. I’ve eaten about 47 over the past week and am plotting the next time I can make them without getting a groan from Ben. When I go, I go all out!

How to Make Cheesy Chicken Enchiladas:

Start by sautéing 1-1/2lbs chicken breasts that have been seasoned with garlic salt and pepper in a large skillet over medium-high heat until cooked through. Remove to a plate then shred when the chicken is cool enough to handle.

You could cook/shred the chicken a day or two early to save time OR swap out 4 cups shredded rotisserie chicken if you really want to make things easy on yourself!

How to Make Homemade Enchilada Sauce:

Next make that crazy-easy homemade gluten-free enchilada sauce. Warm 3 Tablespoons grapeseed oil, or other neutral-tasting oil, in a saucepan over medium heat then whisk in 2 Tablespoons gluten-free flour (or all-purpose if you don’t need to eat GF) and cook while whisking for 1 minute.

Next add a bunch of pantry-staple spices. I already had everything on hand and didn’t have to buy a thing! You’ll need 3 Tablespoons chili powder, 1/2 teaspoon each salt, dried oregano, and onion power, and 1/4 teaspoon each garlic powder and cumin. 

Add the spices into the oil/flour mixture then whisk until very fragrant, 1 minute.

Finally, whisk in 1/4 cup tomato paste until smooth then slowly stream in 2 cups chicken broth while whisking to avoid lumps. Turn the heat up slightly then simmer until the sauce has slightly thickened. Boom – homemade gluten-free enchilada sauce in under 10 minutes! As with the chicken, you can make the sauce two or even three days ahead of time. It just gets better as it sits.

Alrighty – enchilada assembly time. You’ll need 15-16 gluten-free corn tortillas which I laid out a few at a time on a cutting board then filled with a few Tablespoons of the shredded chicken, a spoonful of sauce, and a sprinkling of shredded Mexican-Blend cheese.

Roll then place the enchiladas seam side down into a casserole dish, and then repeat. Once all the fillings have been used, top the enchiladas with sauce (you might have a bit leftover) then more delicious shredded cheese. Either pop into the oven or cover with foil and place into the refrigerator to be cooked no more than 24 hours later. How awesome is that for an easy dinner on a busy weeknight?

Whenever you’re ready, bake the enchiladas for 20 minutes at 350 degrees covered with foil then remove the foil and bake for another 3-4 minutes, or until the cheese is smooth and melty. Sprinkle with cilantro, if you please, then dig in!

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Oh my gosh I am telling you I mourned the moment when the last of these cheesy chicken enchiladas were eaten. They are awesome! That said, what dish covered in a blanket of melted cheese isn’t? ;) Enjoy!