Healthy Chicken Enchiladas

This brilliant Healthy Chicken Enchiladas recipe is easy to make for a weeknight dinner or you can prep ahead on the weekend, freeze and heat in the oven when you need them.  These can be made gluten-free and/or vegetarian (see notes in the printable recipe card at the bottom of this page).

Healthy Chicken Enchiladas

Does anyone not love enchiladas? Or better yet, healthy chicken enchiladas? I admit it. I love cheese. I am so all about cheesy goodness (in food, not my jokes), that should have been born a mouse. Give me a cheese soup and I'm in Heaven. 

Back before I knew better I would buy those ready made enchiladas, you know the ones in the little trays you get from the supermarket deli? My kids loved them, so I would pay premium prices for a little stack of 6 enchiladas. I refused to spend that much money buying two packs, so family always felt a little dissatisfied at the end.  

But...there's a better way, and everyone gets a good sized healthy portion!

Clean Eating Chicken Enchiladas

For some reason I put this recipe in the 'too hard' bucket for years. Now, after making this healthy enchilada recipe hundreds of times since then, I really wish I hadn't waited so long to make DIY chicken enchiladas from scratch in my own kitchen.

This is an easy recipe that requires very little skill, particularly if you are using store bought tortillas. It's just a case of making your chicken enchilada mix and then assembling your tortillas and baking. Easy!

If you want to DIY the entire thing, then give this two ingredient tortilla recipe a go (it's AMAZING, and compliments of Clean Eating with Kids!).

More Chicken Recipes

• Easy Smoked Green Chile Enchiladas (done on the pellet smoker)
• Healthy Chicken Taco Recipes
• Easy Honey Butter Chicken
• The Best Air Fryer Chicken Drumsticks
• Healthy Chicken Tinga Tacos
• Southwest Spinach Salad with Chicken

Kid Friendly Enchiladas

My kids go ape for these chicken enchiladas. In fact my kids love cheese, like me. Anything that involves cheese is a hit in this house. As far as kid friendly enchiladas go, these are some of the best. Kid friendly meals are always in my thoughts. Cooking for kids that refuse to eat? No thanks. That doesn't happen with these...ever.

Chicken enchiladas are Mexican comfort food made clean, and they feel like comfort food.

Are Enchiladas Healthy?

Most of the time, not really. That's mostly because of the high amount of cheese that are in an enchilada. They're not unhealthy per se, but just not great if you're watching calories.

Lots of enchiladas are filled with things you wouldn't want to actually eat, but these are clean, low calorie and delicious.

Although they are a comfort food, these enchiladas are healthy and good for your waistline. Yay! The reason these are better for you than most is because we use very little cheese. Also, the chicken and black beans are great for protein and fiber!

This recipe provides 4 servings. Two enchiladas per person. You get a good sized portion with this recipe and no one's left hungry. Try them, you won't be disappointed.

Prepping Chicken Enchiladas

I use organic chicken thighs in this recipe. You can use chicken breast if you prefer (same amount as called for with thighs)

I also like to cook everything in one pan, such is my dislike of cleaning up the kitchen, I mean really, you can do this in one pan, and save on washing up and cleaning up time 🙂

There's not a huge amount of prep work to do with the chicken in this recipe, other than skinning it and cutting it into strips. Personally, I go for hunky chunky strips when I'm doing this, but you can go smaller.

Little kids and toddlers might prefer the small bite size strips.

Totally up to you, you know your family!

Meal Planning Tips

• You can prep these enchiladas ahead of time and instead of popping them in the oven, just cover them and freeze them
• Chicken enchiladas keep well in the freezer for up to two months
• Aluminum foil makes a great substitute container. Double wrap your enchiladas in heavy duty foil, then when you are ready to eat them, you can thaw and bake without removing them from the foil. Just remember to open the top to grill the cheese before serving. This is a great option for making up individual serves or smaller portions

I'm always trying to keep dinner dishes to an absolute minimum. After dinner time in the evening is family time, and I don't want to spend it in the kitchen. I try and take shortcuts to make sure that cleaning up doesn't steal away my time.

Recipe Notes & Tips

• I make my chicken filling and enchilada sauce all in one pot. Once it's ready, I use a colander to separate the sauce from the chicken filling
• I use store bought flour tortillas. There are tons of organic, relatively clean tortilla options available now (even gluten-free)
• If you are short of time, you can use rotisserie chicken. Simply shred the meat and use the shredded chicken in place of the chicken thighs. This will take at least 10- 12 minutes off the cooking time
• Oil your baking tray before cooking. This stops tortillas sticking to the base and makes clean up easy
• Add your veggies to the sauce. Cooking everything together means you don't need to make veggies on the side, and kids are more likely to ignore them when they are wrapped inside the enchilada
• I use black beans in this recipe, but feel free to use any other variety if your family prefers. Beans are a great budget friendly way to bulk up the meal. You get an extra two more enchiladas per can of beans

Step By Step Chicken Enchiladas

1. Fry Onion, Chicken & Spices

Start off by combining your onions spices and the chicken you're using over a medium-high heat. I do this in a regular medium saucepan or frying pan before they're later transferred to the casserole dish.

This takes just a few minutes.

2. Add Stock, Vinegar, Tomato Puree, And Vegetables

Combining the tomato puree, apple cider vinegar, chicken broth (stock) and veggies is where the magic starts to happen 🙂

I don't add chili powder to this red sauce mixture as I like to keep it super kid friendly, but you could add in a little chili powder if you wanted to give your enchiladas an extra kick!

3. Separate The Red Enchilada Sauce and Chicken Filling

The tomato sauce I use in this recipe is made by separating the filling from the sauce. It's really that simple.

The flavors from the chicken filling help give this sauce an amazing flavor.

4. Assemble Your Tortillas

Next you're going to out your enchiladas together using the flour tortilla. As you'll notice I'm not the tidiest cook that ever walked the earth!

5. Top With Sauce And Cheese And Bake for 25 Minutes

Assemble the recipe in a baking dish that's big enough to take the width of the tortillas so they're not all squashed up and then you can sit back and let the oven do the rest.

Freezing Your Healthy Chicken Enchiladas

I love having a little stash of freezer meals in my freezer. It takes the stress out of busy days when I've run out of time or something unexpected pops up right before dinner. 

If I'm making a batch of enchiladas for the freezer, I like to use these aluminum foil containers.

I get the large size as I have three teens in the house who literally fight over who gets to lick the bowl.

And nothing annoys me more than when kids are scratching around in the kitchen for snacks 5 minutes after dinner. So I make sure that serving sizes are generous and that tummies are full all round.

What To Serve With Enchiladas

These chicken enchiladas are pretty awesome just as they are but if you want to serve some extras, these are some of our favorite toppings go really well with this recipe:

• Sliced Avocado - Offer up some thinly sliced ripe avocado
• Salsa - Adding a little salsa on the side of these gives you a fresh flavor
• Plain Greek Yogurt - Yogurt gives you a creaminess that just works with enchiladas!
• Guacamole - I could eat guacamole with everything, so see no reason not to add it to these!
• Lime juice - Add a twist of fresh lime for extra tang!