Layered Chicken Enchilada Casserole
This Layered Chicken Enchilada Casserole is ready in just 40 minutes, a snap to make, and super yummy making it a delicious weeknight dinner recipe your whole family will love.
The ingredients are just layered into the pan and baked. Super quick and easy to throw together and it reheats well making it an awesome next day lunch option, too. There’s a Gluten Free version, too!
I originally shared this recipe on February 11, 2019. I have updated the images and some of the text today.
Table of contents
Why We Love Healthy Enchilada Casserole
This layered enchilada casserole recipe is courtesy of two registered dietitians, Andy DeSantis and Julie Andrews and is featured in their book The 28-Day DASH Diet Weight-Loss Program.
This easy recipe fits right into the DASH Diet approach and your whole family will love it. It features simple ingredients like seasoned lean ground chicken, veggies, whole-wheat tortillas and low-fat dairy Greek yogurt.
We love Mexican Food around here and this Healthy Chicken Enchilada Casserole casserole is a new favorite! The flavor is really amped up with a little jalapeño, homemade taco seasoning, homemade enchilada sauce, creamy avocado, fresh cilantro and cool yogurt toppings. It’s a delicious and easy dinner to serve for a Sunday Supper or to meal prep for the week!
You’ll also want to check out Easy Chicken Enchiladas, Ground Turkey Enchiladas and Mexican Chicken Casserole. The DASH-friendly sauce from this recipe can be used interchangeably in these other two enchilada recipes.
Ingredients For This Recipe
- Avocado or organic canola oil – These oils boast the same health benefits of olive oil, but have a higher smoke point which makes them perfect for sautéing.
- Vegetables – Yellow onion, red bell peppe, garlic and jalapenos are classic ingredients in many Mexican recipes and add great fresh flavor and texture.
- Ground chicken – A great lower fat and calorie protein option for this hearty casserole because the seasonings and enchilada sauce really add so much of the flavor.
- Taco seasoning – There is usually a lot of added sodium and preservatives in taco seasoning packets. Making taco seasoning is easy, involves spices probably already have and is less expensive.
- Whole-wheat flour tortillas – This recipe can be made gluten free by using corn tortillas instead of whole wheat.
- Enchilada Sauce – Canned enchilada sauce can be high in sodium. Making it from scratch is easy and can be done ahead of time and frozen. Follow the instructions here for making your sauce from scratch. If you are not following the DASH diet or low-sodium diet, feel free to use canned sauce instead. You’ll need one large can (about 2 cups.)
- Shredded Mexican-style cheese – Most Mexican cheese blends include Monterey Jack, cheddar and a mildly tangy soft melting cheese called queso asadero. These pre-shredded blends are a great way to save time without sacrificing flavor.
How To Make Layered Chicken Enchilada Casserole
Step 1: Make the Filling
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Coat a 9 x 11 inch baking dish with cooking spray. Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onion, red bell pepper and jalapeño and sauté for 4 to 5 minutes until soft. Add the ground chicken and sauté for another 5 to 7 minutes, stirring frequently to break up the meat, until the chicken is cooked. Stir in the garlic and taco seasoning. Remove from the heat.
Step 2: Assemble
Place two tortillas in the bottom of the dish overlapping as needed.
Step 3: Layer
Layer with 1/3 of the meat, 1/3 of the sauce and 1/3 of the shredded cheese. Create another two layers, ending with a layer of cheese.
Step 4:To Bake and Serve
Bake for 20 minutes, until the cheese is melted and bubbly. Sprinkle chopped cilantro over the casserole just before serving. Cut into eight portions with a sharp knife. Serve hot.
FAQs and Expert Tips For This Recipe
Yes!! Just follow the steps in this easy casserole and layer the tortillas, filling, and cheese instead of rolling them like traditional enchiladas.
Corn tortillas are more traditional and naturally gluten-free, but flour tortillas are also a good option. Choose 8-inch flour or 6-inch corn because they fit best in the baking dish to create the layer of tortillas.
Try servings this casserole with this 5 minute Mexican Coleslaw recipe, which is the easiest and fastest option. The lime dressing and cilantro go great with the earthy spice in this recipe. Or if you are serving a crowd the Mexican Corn Salad would be fantastic and can be made ahead. Mexican Bean Salad is also a great make ahead side dish to serve with these Enchiladas.
What Is Dash?
DASH stands for Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension and was developed to help lower or control high blood pressure. The diet focuses on eating more fruits, vegetables, low-fat dairy foods, whole grains, fish, poultry and nuts and cutting back on foods that are high in saturated fats, cholesterol and trans fat, as well as limiting sodium, sweets, sugary drinks and red meat.
More Healthy DASH Recipes
- Eating Well’s Eggplant Parmesan is a lighter take on the classic layered casserole.
- Change up taco night with these fun Roasted Cauliflower Tacos.
- This Mexican Style Bean Soup with Shredded Chicken will warm up and fill up your whole family.
- This Paleo Taco Salad has a creamy spicy dressing that really takes it to the next level.
How To Make Homemade Low-Sodium Red Enchilada Sauce
- Heat 2 tablespoons avocado or organic canola oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Chop half an onion, add it to the pan and sauté for 3-4 minutes. Stir in 5 chopped garlic cloves and sauté for 30-60 seconds.
- Transfer the onion mixture to a blender, add 1 1/2 cups homemade stock or store-bought unsalted chicken or vegetable stock, one 28 ounce can no-salt-added crushed tomatoes, 2 tablespoons chili powder, 1 tablespoon cumin, 1/4 teaspoon kosher or sea salt and 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper and puree until smooth.
- Use immediately or divide into smaller containers and refrigerate for up to 5 days or freeze for up to 2 months.
The best part is that this recipe makes 6 cups of enchilada sauce and you’ll only need 2 cups for this Layered Chicken Enchilada Casserole, so just freeze the remaining sauce for an even quicker weeknight meal in the future!
Additional Healthy Casserole Recipes To Try
- This chicken and rice casserole is one of our favorite recipes and is made entirely from scratch (no canned soup!)
- A family tradition, this fish casserole is cheesy and comforting and gets rave reviews!
- A classic combo: chicken and biscuits casserole, and left-over turkey also works.
- This butternut squash lasagna is a great recipe to make for company.
- Tell the kiddos it’s mac and cheese!! They’ll love this Macaroni and cheese with broccoli.
- This healthy beef lasagna with spinach and basil has a nice flavor and is a fan favorite.
- We like to call this butternut squash mac and cheese “grown-up mac and cheese!”
At Healthy Seasonal Recipes, we specialize in cooking with fresh veggies and creating weeknight meals. Sign up HERE to get more produce-forward dinner ideas for FREE! If you make this recipe, please come back and leave a star rating and review. I would love to hear what you thought! Happy Cooking! ~Katie
PrintLayered Chicken Enchilada Casserole
- Total Time: 40 minutes
- Yield: 8 servings 1x
Description
This Layered Chicken Enchilada Casserole is adapted from the 28-Day Dash Diet. It is ready in just 40 minutes, a snap to make, super yummy and kid friendly. The simple homemade enchilada sauce takes this dish over the top. Gluten Free version, too! Serve with avocado, cilantro and Greek yogurt.
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon avocado or organic canola oil
- 1 yellow onion, peeled and diced
- 1 red bell pepper, seeded and diced
- 1/2 jalapeño pepper, seeded and diced
- 2 pounds ground chicken
- 4 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
- 2 Tablespoons taco seasoning, *see note for homemade
- 6 (8-inch) whole-wheat flour tortillas, cut to fit the pan as needed *see note for gluten-free version
- 2 cups Enchilada Sauce, homemade (see note) or store-bought
- 3/4 cup shredded Mexican-style cheese
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Coat a 9 x 11 inch baking dish with cooking spray.
- Heat the oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add the onion, red bell pepper and jalapeño and sauté for 4 to 5 minutes until soft. Add the ground chicken and sauté for another 5 to 7 minutes, stirring frequently to break up the meat, until the chicken is cooked. Stir in the garlic and taco seasoning. Remove from the heat.
- Place two tortillas in the bottom of the baking dish overlapping as needed. Layer with 1/3 of the meat, 1/3 of the sauce and 1/3 of the cheese. Create another two layers, ending with the shredded cheese.
- Bake for 20 minutes, until the cheese in melted and bubbly. Serve hot.
Notes
DASH Friendly Enchilada Sauce
- Heat 2 tablespoons avocado or organic canola oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Chop half an onion, add it to the pan and sauté for 3-4 minutes. Stir in 5 chopped garlic cloves and sauté for 30-60 seconds.
- Transfer the onion mixture to a blender, add 1 1/2 cups homemade stock or store-bought unsalted chicken or vegetable stock, one 28 ounce can no-salt-added crushed tomatoes, 2 tablespoons chili powder, 1 tablespoon cumin, 1/4 teaspoon kosher or sea salt and 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper and puree until smooth.
- Use immediately or divide into smaller containers and refrigerate for up to 5 days or freeze for up to 2 months.
Gluten-Free Tip
For a gluten free version substitute corn tortillas for the whole-wheat.
Salt Free Taco Seasoning
Stir together 1 tablespoon chili powder, 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin, 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika, 1/2 teaspoon onion powder, 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder, 1/2 teaspoon Mexican oregano (optional), 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper and 1/8 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper.
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Category: Entree
- Method: baking
- Cuisine: Mexican
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1/8 casserole
- Calories: 420
- Sugar: 6 g
- Fat: 7 grams
- Saturated Fat: 7 g
- Carbohydrates: 29 g
- Fiber: 6 g
- Protein: 28 g
This is an alluring recipe. Can’t wait to tell my mom to give me a chance to have this ASAP.
What a tasty looking family friendly dinner! Love that its gluten free too 🙂
This looks delicious. We love this kind of dinner!
They look so delicious and I love it’s very easy to make, too!
Who can resist a cheesy casserole like this? Such gorgeous photos, too!
Thanks so much for including a gluten-free version! I love casseroles like this! Especially delicious enchilada ones, this is so much easier to make than the traditional method. So yummy!
What a total comfort food! Drooling over tis so naturally pinning it to make for later 🙂
I am all over the corn tortilla version!! Casseroles are the best!
Casseroles all day, every day! And this one looks so full of flavor!
This looks amazing! I love all things enchilada and this casserole seems simple! My mom used to make a dish similar growing up 🙂
I definitely need to get this cookbook! I know my whole family will love this casserole.
What a delicious looking casserole! I’ve never made my own enchilada sauce before, so I’m looking forward to trying it. Great recipe.
Wow, this looks insanely delicious!! I’d have to make it with dairy-free cheese but I bet it tastes just as yummy. Can’t wait to make this!
Love that this recipe uses homemade seasoning and sauces. Flavors are so much better that way
What a super fun dinner change up!