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This One-Pan Chicken Enchilada Skillet recipe is a quick and easy Mexican meal that can be prepared in under 30 minutes. With bubbling sauce and melted cheese, it offers all the delicious flavors of traditional enchiladas in a faster, deconstructed form—perfect for when you want a tasty meal with less effort!
Everyone needs a super easy Enchilada Skillet recipe that’s quick, flavorful, and requires no rolling around a filling. Why spend your time stuffing when there’s a faster way to simmer the same chicken, spices, and sauce on the stovetop?
It’s time to turn that tightly wrapped, time-consuming chicken tortilla that’s been baked and smothered in sauce into a one pot meal. Let me tell you what that means: dinner is simmered in a single skillet leaving you only one pan to clean! Cooking chicken enchiladas has never been quicker!
While one-pan enchilada recipes may not be the classic way to cook comfort food, they definitely cut down on time and effort when you don’t have the desire to make my from-scratch Chicken Enchilada Bake, Beef Enchilada Casserole, and Mini Enchilada Cups.
Enchilada Skillet Ingredients
- Olive oil: You can also use vegetable oil, canola oil, or avocado oil.
- Sweet yellow onion: Offers a savory, aromatic quality that complements the other flavors in this dish.
- Mild green chilies: If you’d like more heat, use hot diced green chilies when making the sauce.
- Chili powder: Provides warmth and a complex blend of spices.
- Ground cumin: Adds earthiness and richness to the sauce.
- Smoked paprika: Introduces a smoky depth to the sauce.
- Garlic powder: Offers a savory, aromatic quality that complements the other flavors in the sauce.
- Salt
- Black pepper
- Mild red enchilada sauce: If you prefer a little more heat in your skillet chicken enchiladas, you can use a hot red or green enchilada sauce.
- Rotisserie chicken: Feel free to shred your leftover grilled, baked, or poached chicken. You can even use drained canned chicken for this enchilada chicken skillet recipe.
- Corn tortillas: I highly suggest only using white or yellow corn tortillas for this recipe, as flour tortillas tend to get too soft when cut into strips and stirred into the sauce. Feel free to use your favorite grain-free tortillas for a gluten-free meal.
- Cheddar Jack cheese: You can substitute the cheddar-jack cheese with colby-jack, mild cheddar, pepper jack, or even a Mexican cheese blend. Any of these cheeses will melt well and taste wonderful in this recipe.
See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.
How to Make Enchilada Skillet
- Saute And Season: Saute the onions in hot oil for 2-3 minutes or until tender and translucent. Stir in the green chilies, chili powder, ground cumin, smoked paprika, garlic powder, salt, and black pepper.
- Stir the Chicken and Sauce: Add the enchilada sauce to the skillet and then add the shredded chicken. Stir to coat the chicken evenly with the sauce.
- Cook And Coat: Cook the sauce and chicken until the sauce starts to boil. Turn off the heat and fold in the tortilla strips until fully coated in sauce.
- Melt the Cheese: Top the mixture with shredded cheese and place it in a preheated 425-degree Fahrenheit oven until the cheese has melted and the sauce is bubbly.
- Serve: Garnish with fresh cilantro and avocado slices and serve while warm. Enjoy!
Serving Suggestions
One pan enchiladas are perfect for busy weeknights or last-minute meals. This dish is best served immediately after you’ve made it. The longer the corn tortilla strips sit in the sauce, the more sauce they will absorb and may become mushy.
Doctor up your dinner with additional chopped fresh cilantro, avocado slices, guacamole, and sour cream if desired. You can also serve it with some Spanish Rice on the side.
Tips & Variations
- Choose Your Chicken: One large rotisserie chicken will typically yield 3 – 3 ½ cups of shredded white and dark meat, which will work well for these skillet enchiladas. You can often find larger packages of pre-shredded, white meat-only rotisserie chicken at some of the big box stores. You will only need to use the amount called for in this recipe; however, you can save the rest of the rotisserie chicken to make new recipes.
- Pick Another Protein: While I love the convenience of this rotisserie chicken enchilada, you can use ground beef, ground turkey, or pulled pork, or make it meatless using a vegetarian meatless crumble.
- Bulk It Up With Beans: To add even more protein, you can bulk up the mixture with black or white beans.
Proper Storage
- To Store: Leftovers can be stored in an airtight container, in the refrigerator, for 2-3 days.
MOre ONe-Pan Dinners
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Skillet Enchiladas
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- ¾ cup diced sweet yellow onion
- 4 ounces can mild diced green chilies
- 2 teaspoons chili powder
- ½ teaspoon ground cumin
- ½ teaspoon smoked paprika
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- 3½ cups mild red enchilada sauce (or a 10 ounce and a 19 ounce can of mild red enchilada sauce)
- 3 cups shredded rotisserie chicken
- 8 (6 inch) white corn tortillas cut into ¾ – 1 inch thick strips
- 2½ cups shredded cheddar-jack cheese (from an 8 ounce block)
Optional Garnishes
- Fresh cilantro roughly chopped
- Hass avocado cut into slices
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425° F.
- Place a large (12 inch) heavy duty skillet over medium-high heat and add the oil. When the oil is hot, add the diced sweet yellow onion and saute for 2-3 minutes or until the onions are tender and translucent.2 tablespoons olive oil, ¾ cup diced sweet yellow onion
- To the skillet, add the mild diced green chilies, chili powder, ground cumin, smoked paprika, garlic powder, salt and black pepper. Stir to combine all the spices with the onions and green chilies.4 ounces can mild diced green chilies, 2 teaspoons chili powder, ½ teaspoon ground cumin, ½ teaspoon smoked paprika, ½ teaspoon garlic powder, ½ teaspoon salt, ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- Add the mild red enchilada sauce to the skillet and stir to incorporate all the spices into the sauce. Add the shredded rotisserie chicken and stir to evenly coat all the chicken with the sauce.3½ cups mild red enchilada sauce, 3 cups shredded rotisserie chicken
- Cook the sauce and chicken for 3-4 minutes or just until the sauce starts to come to a low boil.
- Turn off the heat to the skillet and gently stir, or fold, in the strips of white corn tortillas until they are evenly distributed and fully coated in the sauce.8 (6 inch) white corn tortillas
- Top the skillet enchilada mixture with the shredded cheddar-jack cheese and place into the preheated oven for 10-12 minutes or until the cheese has melted and the sauce is bubbly.2½ cups shredded cheddar-jack cheese
- Garnish the skillet enchiladas with fresh cilantro and avocado slices and serve while warm.Fresh cilantro, Hass avocado
Jenn’s Notes
- One large rotisserie chicken will typically yield 3 – 3 ½ cups of shredded white and dark meat. This will work well for these skillet enchiladas. You can often find larger packages of pre-shredded, white meat only, rotisserie chicken at some of the big box stores. You will only need to use the amount called for in this recipe however, you can save the rest of the rotisserie chicken to make new recipes.
- While I love the convenience of this rotisserie chicken enchilada, feel free to use ground beef, ground turkey, pulled pork, or make it meatless using a vegetarian meatless crumble.
- You can bulk up the mixture with black beans or white beans to pack in even more protein.
