Sue Sue’s Creamy Chicken and Spinach Enchiladas Recipe
Published Nov 07, 2019 Updated Apr 17, 2024
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These Chicken and Spinach Enchiladas have been passed down from my Grandmother Sue Sue and have become a family tradition during the holiday season. I adapted her recipe with healthier swaps, and the resulting enchiladas are divine. This dish is comfort food at its best and can be tailored to be gluten-free and low carb.
Table of Contents
What Makes This Recipe Great
Family gatherings are not just for visiting, but it’s also for filling your bellies with lots of yummy foods. Growing up, we had family gatherings constantly at my Grandmother Sue Sue’s house. Her Creamy Chicken and Spinach Enchiladas were always on the menu, especially at Thanksgiving. We would usually do the traditional Turkey, but we would also have dishes such as this to change it up a bit.
Not only do I love to serve these for weeknight dinners, but I also love having this dish during holidays. The main reason is to keep our family traditions alive and to keep my Grandmother Sue Sue’s spirit with us even though she is gone.
Food certainly has a special way of bringing people together and it is especially true for this recipe. My Sue Sue along with my mother Tina have been making this recipe for years and always brings a twinkle to my eye when I smell them cooking in the oven.
Now in Healthy Little Peach fashion, I have adapted this recipe with some healthy substitutions and options to tweak it to your diet and lifestyle. These are made with super simple ingredients and the resulting chicken enchiladas are absolutely delicious and taste just as good as the original recipe.
For more of Sue Sue’s recipes try Sue Sue’s Fruit Salad and Ice Cream or Sue Sue’s Cheese Stuffed Chicken Breasts.
Ingredient Notes
- Chicken breast: I use shredded chicken, but cooked rotisserie chicken also works well for this recipe.
- Fresh spinach or frozen spinach: I prefer baby spinach, but use your favorite variety.
- Salt
- Yellow onion
- Garlic cloves
- Ground cumin
- Chili powder
- Salt and black pepper
- Olive oil
- Green chiles: I use a can of diced green chilies which I think add such great flavor to the enchilada filling.
- Greek Yogurt or sour cream
- Monterrey Jack cheese: You can also use a Mexican blend or cheddar cheese if desired.
- Flour tortillas
- All-purpose flour
- Butter
- Chicken Broth
- Salsa Verde
Step-by-Step Instructions
- Preheat the oven: Preheat your oven to 375°F (190°C).
- Prepare the filling: In a large skillet, heat olive oil over medium-high heat. Add diced onion and minced garlic. Cook until the onion is soft and translucent, about 5 minutes. Then, add chopped spinach and cook until wilted. Season with salt, ground cumin, onion powder, and chili powder. Stir in shredded chicken, diced green chiles, and Greek yogurt. Mix well and remove from heat.
- Make the enchilada sauce: In a saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Stir in all-purpose flour and cook for 1-2 minutes until lightly golden. Gradually whisk in chicken broth until smooth. Bring to a simmer and cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the sauce thickens. Remove from heat and whisk in Greek yogurt until smooth—season with salt and pepper to taste.
- Assemble the enchiladas: Pour a small amount of the green enchilada sauce into the bottom of a 9×13-inch baking dish and spread to coat the bottom of the pan. Spoon the chicken and spinach filling into the center of each tortilla, roll up tightly, and place seam side down in the baking dish.
- Pour the remaining sauce: Pour enchilada sauce over the top of the enchiladas, spreading evenly to cover them.
- Top with cheese: Sprinkle the shredded Monterey Jack cheese over the top of the enchiladas.
- Bake: Cover the baking dish with foil and bake in the preheated oven for 20-25 minutes, or until the enchiladas are heated through and the cheese is melted and bubbly.
- Serve: Remove from the oven and let the enchiladas cool for a few minutes before serving. Garnish with avocado slices with fresh cilantro.
Mac’s Pro TipS
Expert Tips
- The longer and slower the chicken breasts cook at a low temperature the easier it will be to shred the chicken for this recipe. This makes for easier enchilada building.
- Don’t add too much of the chicken mixture to the tortilla as this will make rolling harder.
- These are also great to make ahead of time, as you can freeze then let them sit at room temperature before popping into the oven.
Serving Tips
Serve these chicken and spinach enchiladas by themselves or with accompaniments like guacamole, sour cream, green onions corn tortilla chips, and more! A side salad and rice and refried or black beans also go well with this dish.
Storage Tips
There isn’t just one right way to freeze these spinach and chicken enchiladas. Always do what works for you. However, I love freezing in a disposable aluminum pan because it makes the whole process easier. Below are all the different ways to store your chicken and spinach enchiladas in the freezer.
- DISPOSABLE ALUMINUM PANS
- GLASS, CERAMIC, OR METAL BAKING PANS
- A GLASS OR CERAMIC BAKING PAN LINED WITH ALUMINUM FOIL
- WRAPPED TIGHTLY IN ALUMINUM FOIL
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Sue Sue’s Creamy Chicken and Spinach Enchiladas
Ingredients
- 2.5 cups cooked shredded chicken (rotisserie chicken works well)
- 1 1/2 cups fresh spinach chopped
- 1 cup diced yellow onion
- 2-3 cloves garlic minced
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 cup plain Greek yogurt can sub sour cream or cream cheese
- 2 4 oz. cans diced green chiles drained
- 1 1/2 teaspoon cumin
- 1/2 tsp onion powder
- 2 teaspoon chili powder
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 2 cups Monterey Jack cheese, shredded (adjust more to taste)
- 8-10 large flour tortillas regular, low carb or gluten-free
Creamy Salsa Verde Sauce
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour can sub gluten free
- 1/2 cup chicken broth
- 1 1/4 cup plain Greek yogurt can sub sour cream
- 1 1/3 cup salsa Verde
Instructions
- Preheat the oven: Preheat your oven to 375°F (190°C).
- Prepare the filling: In a large skillet, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add diced onion and minced garlic. Cook until the onion is soft and translucent, about 5 minutes. Add chopped spinach and cook until wilted—season with salt, ground cumin, onion powder, and chili powder. Stir in shredded chicken, 3/4 cup shredded cheese, diced green chiles, and Greek yogurt. Mix well and remove from heat.
- Make the sauce: In a saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Stir in all-purpose flour and cook for 1-2 minutes until lightly golden. Gradually whisk in chicken broth until smooth. Bring to a simmer and cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the sauce thickens. Remove from heat and whisk in Greek yogurt until smooth—season with salt and pepper to taste.
- Assemble the enchiladas: Spread a small amount of the Greek yogurt salsa verde sauce in the bottom of a 9×13 inch baking dish. Spoon the chicken and spinach filling into each flour tortilla, roll up tightly, and place seam side down in the baking dish.
- Pour the sauce: Pour the remaining sauce over the top of the enchiladas, spreading evenly to cover them.
- Top with cheese: Sprinkle the shredded Monterey Jack cheese over the top of the enchiladas.
- Bake: Cover the baking dish with foil and bake in the preheated oven for 20-25 minutes, or until the enchiladas are heated through and the cheese is melted and bubbly.
- Serve: Remove from the oven and let the enchiladas cool for a few minutes before serving. Garnish with avocado slices, feta cheese and fresh cilantro if desired.
Notes
Expert Tips
-
- The longer and slower the chicken breasts cook at a low temperature the easier it will be to shred the chicken for this recipe. This makes for easier enchilada building.
-
- Don’t add too much of the chicken mixture to the tortilla as this will make rolling harder.
-
- In addition, these are great to make ahead of time. You can freeze then let set at room temperature before popping into the oven.
Serving Tips
Serve these by themselves or with accompaniments like guacamole, sour cream, green onions corn tortilla chips, and more! A side salad and rice and refried or black beans also go well with this dish.Storage Tips
There isn’t just one right way to freeze these enchiladas. Always do what works for you. For me, I love freezing in a disposable aluminum pan because it makes the whole process easier. Below are all the different ways to store your enchiladas in the freezer.-
- DISPOSABLE ALUMINUM PANS
-
- GLASS, CERAMIC, OR METAL BAKING PANS
-
- A GLASS OR CERAMIC BAKING PAN LINED WITH ALUMINUM FOIL
-
- WRAPPED TIGHTLY IN ALUMINUM FOIL
Equipment
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
OH MY Goodness!! These enchiladas are AMAZING! So creamy and delicious and so easy to throw together. My family loved them so they will be on our table again for sure!
This makes me so happy! I am so so glad you loved them!!!
One more question do I reserve the sauce prior to adding the chicken? If so, how much do u recommend in reserving
I would say 1/2 cup or so.
Delicious!!!
Thank you! So glad you loved this recipe.
these were so full of flavor! Fan favorite at our house.
So happy to hear! Thank you
These were delicious! Thank your for sharing your family’s recipe.
Its my pleasure Kelli………thrilled that you loved them.
Absolutely delicious & so filling! So nice to have a creamy enchilada recipe that is more on the healthy side. Flavor was fantastic! Will be making again! It is a bit of a labor of love as far as time is concerned but easily worth it!
That makes me so happy! I completely agree—it’s totally worth it!
Delicious, thank you for your recipes! So easy, great instructions and I did use sour cream, turned out so good!!
I’m so happy to hear that! Thanks for trying it!
Can I use corn tortillas?
You can try it. Corn tortillas are more delicate and may fall apart when you roll them. You may have to layer the ingredients instead of rolling the enchiladas.