Don’t you just love 5-ingredient meals? That’s this chicken enchilada casserole. Just chicken, beans, sauce, tortillas, cheese, and done.
Bad news. We have termites, maybe.
A few weeks ago, we decided to buy a table from the downtown market. Who knew getting downtown and back could take all day? Traffic here is out of control and efficiency is not a strong point of the market experience. But in the end we hauled our large wood table and six chairs straight up into our apartment and gazed upon the beauty of a piece of real furniture.
And when I say we hauled it, I mean that maybe my job was holding the McDonald’s that we picked up on our way home and supervising the lifters.
HOW TO MAKE OUR ENCHILADA CASSEROLE (45 SEC):
We’ve had friends over for dinner (four friends, to be exact) and we’ve had some sweet kids from the shelter over to make cookies. Since it’s really the only group-friendly furniture we have, everything centers around that table. We love it.
Then, the discovery.
Bjork found a little pile of mystery dust under one of the chairs. A hop, skip, and a jump through Google images confirmed, unofficially, that we have termites. And then a search of the apartment confirmed that those ants we have? Are actually termites. Probably. It’s kind of hard to tell because they’re small and fast and we try not to look at them.
Whatever they are, they’re EV-ERY-WHERE. Bedroom. Office. Kitchen. Coming out of the electrical sockets. How does that even work?
The plan is still TBD. Right now option #3 (ignore the situation and put out more a few more of those sticky ant traps) is looking mighty appealing.
But come on now. That was gross of me to talk about termites when I really needed to talk THIS.
This is a Chicken Enchilada Casserole and it’s sososososo delicious. It’s like taking all the goodness of an enchilada, stacking it up, and baking it under a layer of cheese. It’s also incredibly easy. Hello, did you see that there are only FIVE ingredients here? As I was writing the recipe out I kinda couldn’t believe it. It looks and feels and tastes like something that took a really long time to make. It’s like free work or something.
Here’s whatcher gonna do.
Put some sauce down. Now layer away. We’ve got tortillas, beans, chicken, cheese and sauce all up in there. Go for it.
Now let’s top it all off with ze cheese. You pick! I used Mozzarella because I had it. You could use Monterrey Jack or Provolone or Colby Jack or Mexican flavored cheese or anything you want. Naturally. It’s a “casserole” after all, right? Lots of cheese is necessary.
Now bake it.
And wait a while.
And now, dig in.
If I’m being honest, I ate this at 9am on a Sunday morning while Bjork was still asleep.
And that, my friends, is the definition of food blogging.
Chicken Enchilada Casserole
- Prep Time: 15 mins
- Cook Time: 30 mins
- Total Time: 45 minutes
- Yield: 10-12 1x
Print Recipe
Pin RecipeDescription
A 5-ingredient stacked enchilada casserole layered with tortillas, beans, and chicken and covered with cheese and enchilada sauce.
Ingredients
- 1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts
- 19 ounces (about 2 ½ cups) enchilada sauce
- 2 cups shredded cheese (I used Mozzarella because I had it on hand)
- 6–8 small flour tortillas
- 1 can refried beans (I like Amy’s Organic Refried Black Beans – so yummy!)
Instructions
- Cook and shred the chicken. I do this by boiling a large pot of water and cooking the chicken breasts in the water for about 30 minutes until cooked through. Then I shred the chicken with 2 forks. You can do this ahead of time.
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Place a few spoonfuls of enchilada sauce in the bottom of a glass square baking dish (mine was 9×9) to prevent sticking. Place 2 tortillas in the bottom of the dish, overlapping to cover the entire surface. Layer the beans, chicken, cheese, sauce, and tortillas; repeat once to make a total of 2 layers. For me this was about 1/3 cup refried beans, 1 cup of the chicken, ½ cup cheese, and about 3/4 cup enchilada sauce in each layer.
- Cover the top with the remaining enchilada sauce and 1 cup cheese. Cover the baking dish with well-oiled aluminum foil and bake for about 30 minutes. Remove foil and bake uncovered for an additional 5 minutes or until cheese is starting to brown and sauce is bubbling.
- Allow to rest for at least 15 minutes before cutting and serving (otherwise it will be a soupy mess – delicious, but not ideal). Top with sliced green onions or cilantro.
Notes
To get each layer completely covered with tortillas, I cut 2 additional tortillas into fourths and used them to cover the corners. This is not necessary but it helps when you layer your ingredients.
Now go eat this for dinner with your family or friends on a termite-free table and you’ll be livin the good life.
Ewww termites. Yummm chicken enchiladas! I’ll forget about termites long enough to eat that!!
This is calling my name. Love, love, love. Hopefully you can live a termite free life soon 🙂
Chicken enchilada bakes are one of my all time favorite go-to dinners! Talk about mass with class. This is one of the most simple, yet clearly delicious, versions I’ve seen.
And UGH on the unwanted house guests. Hope you can get it sorted out soon!
My eyeballs are totally freaking out.
Looks delicious! Sorry about the termites ;(
Such a bummer about the termites!
This looks totes delish though! 😉
Sorry about the termites! Just pretend they aren’t there…
“Lots of cheese is necessary” – I find this is usually the case! 🙂
Oh noooo, termites sound terrible 🙁 At least you have this to cheer you up (in the morning)?
I love enchiladas, but hate making them, so this is a great solution. Looks fantastic.
Hope the landlord can do something about the termites. Soon.
★★★★★
This is how I do it if I’m feelin’ lazy and don’t want to roll them. I’ve done all kinds of variations, usually in a pie plate, and you’re right, it’s so dang easy and so dang good. I’m partial to the green sauce, but both are, as Tony The Tiger would say, Grrrrrrreat! I’m thinkin’ I need to get it on the menu for next week.
Good luck with the bugs. Ick.
Green sauce. Yum.
We had termites when I lived in Hawaii – those little sawdust piles are your furniture being digested – one day you’ll sit down in your chair and CRASH! Uck, I know, sorry, good luck. Casserole looks good, but please change the title to put in the second S. Sorry, I am a compulsive speller.
Hm, I can’t find the misspelled version… where is it?
Why does your food always look SO good??!! It’s only 9am here and now I’m hungry 🙂
Ugh, termites! We had them in the walls of an old apartment. Super gross, I agree. However, the exterminators used orange oil to get rid of them, so there are solutions. At least you have some delicious enchiladas in the meantime!
Good to know! We’ll have to check that out.
I think there’s nothing better for breakfast than these enchiladas! yum!
Eeek! Termites, I however enjoy your solution of just ignoring them – it generally is my first reaction to bug issues. These enchiladas will help forgetting about them, at least for a little while!
That is a tasty looking recipe…my wife is the queen of enchiladas…i think she would dig this!
This dish looks great and I will be making it asap!! Wish I had the ingredients in the fridge tonight but it will have to wait for the next grocery trip. So sorry to hear about your termites. Luckily they don’t want to bite people…but that is little help when they are eating your possessions! We had the buggers in Hawaii and it was so upsetting. Hope you find a solution soon.
I’m such a huge fan of your website. Thank you for all the pictures that make my day brighter…
THANKS
★★★★★
Shoot I really hope is not termites. I just made an enchilada casserole two days ago as well, we love it 🙂 Yours looks delicious!!
I hope you manage to find a solution to your termite-woes; we’ve had them before and they’re a complete and utter pain. I can imagine that a big plate of cheesy enchilada goodness would make it all seem a bit less painful though.
The pictures make my mouth water. This recipe looks so delicious.
i love mexican food…this sounds soooooo good….and totally bums about termites 🙁 I could not imagine.
Saw this post before grocery shopping just when I was in need of a new menu item. These were easy and delicious and sadly were so popular there is not much leftover! Will be making this again soon. New to your blog but love it!
★★★★★
Awesome! Thanks Sarah!
Thanks so much for the great recipe! I made it tonight with the addition of two ingredients–black beans and black olives. I sprinkled both on top of each of the refried bean layers. It came out so good that my family had huge servings and my daughter even went back for seconds. Luckily I made a bigger version in a 9 x 13 pan so we have leftovers for tomorrow. 🙂
★★★★★
Yum! Sounds great! I love your additions – I’ve also added roasted vegetables which is reeeally yummy too! 🙂
Everyone agreed that this Chicken Enchilada Casserole tasted even better the second night than it did the first! I love finding recipes that make both my kids and my husband happy. I’ll definitely be making this one again and again! Thanks for sharing the recipe! 🙂
★★★★★
Awesome! I thought the same thing – makes perfect leftovers. 🙂
Oh, dear… termites?! You are a brave soul.
BTW… Are you able to cast an absentee ballot from so far away?
“And that, my friends, is the definition of food blogging.” Haha! That made me laugh so hard because I have definitely found myself doing the same thing! This dish looks delicious. Hope you figure out the termite situation!