Chicken Enchiladas Recipe with Homemade Cheese Sauce

This recipe for chicken enchiladas with homemade cheese sauce is one of our favorite meals in our home; however, we have a variety of tastes in how we like to prepare it.  Phillip likes to add in rice, whereas Tiffany likes to have lots of cheese sauce.

That’s the best thing about this recipe – it’s very easy to customize! If you don’t have time to make it, however, then try out this Instant Pot Chicken Enchilada Casserole instead.

We also love this recipe because it’s one of our easy make-ahead freezer meals.

Preparation

Gather the following ingredients (does not include ingredients for the cheese sauce) to start your chicken enchiladas with homemade cheese sauce.

• 3-6 cups rice, cooked (optional)
• 6 chicken breasts, cooked and diced (or 6 cans of canned chicken) (or use rotisserie chicken!)
• Package of about 16 flour tortillas
• grated cheese (8 oz)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Cheese Sauce

After you gather the ingredients that you need for the tortillas, make the cheese sauce.  I typically double this recipe because I like my enchiladas extra creamy, but Phillip prefers less sauce.

• 8 tbsp (1/2 cup) butter
• 8 tbsp flour
• 4 cups milk
• 1/2 tbsp chicken boullion or flavor base
• grated cheese (around 8 oz, but this is flexible)
• 1 small can mild diced green chilis (optional)

Melt butter on medium temperature stove. Mix in the flour to create a very thick paste.

Add milk and stir constantly (do not walk away at all or it will burn on the bottom). Continue stirring and as the sauce thickens, add the bouillon.

Keep stirring the cheese sauce until all lumps are out and sauce begins to boil. Continue stirring constantly while sauce boils for at least 1-2 minutes (be careful of splashes).

Then add as much grated cheese as desired, as well as the chilis.

Customization tip: Phillip doesn’t like the chilis – they give him heartburn).

Making the tortillas

To make these chicken enchiladas with homemade cheese sauce, you first should heat tortillas in microwave for about 10-15 seconds to make them more flexible.

Dip a tortilla into the cheese sauce about halfway or 3/4 and lay on plate.  Put as much rice and chicken as desired on the tortilla and roll it up, placing in a casserole dish.Repeat with each tortilla.

Customization tip: Tiffany doesn’t like the rice, but Phillip loves it.

At the end, pour remaining cheese sauce on tortillas and top with grated cheese.

Customization tip: Phillip always skips putting on the extra sauce, but Tiffany likes it.

Cook at 350 degrees for at least 30 minutes (look for cheese to be bubbling a lot) covered with tin foil until the last 5-10 minutes.

Freezing Options for Chicken Enchiladas with Homemade Cheese Sauce

This recipe for chicken enchiladas with homemade cheese sauce can either be frozen before or after cooking!  If you freeze after it has been cooked, then all you need to do is defrost and warm up in the microwave.

If you freeze before cooking (which is what we do), then you’ll defrost it thoroughly before cooking in the oven at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes.

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