This recipe for gluten free enchiladas has a homemade rich, smoky enchilada sauce, lots of freshly grated cheeses, and tender shredded chicken inside. Make the sauce and the chicken ahead of time, and dinner is ready in less than 30 minutes!
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Table of contents
Why I love this recipe for gluten free enchiladas
- Tons of flavor: Our homemade gluten free enchilada sauce has so much flavor from warm, smoky spices and rich tomato puree, the chicken is moist and tender, and the mix of cheeses is just right
- Quick & easy: Even if you don't make anything ahead of time, you can cook the chicken while you're making the sauce, then assemble everything, and bake. It's all less than an hour start to finish, and often much less! Plus, all of the spices are dried, so you don't even have to dice any onions!
- Versatile: As written, they're chicken enchiladas, but you can make them with cheese alone, or replace the shredded chicken with 1 1/2 cans of black beans.
Key ingredients
You'll only need a handful of ingredients to make gluten free enchiladas. Here's a few words about each:
- Gluten free enchilada sauce: I usually make my own enchilada sauce for maximum rich, smoky flavor, but if you have a favorite gluten free jarred or canned enchilada sauce, use that! You'll need 3 to 4 cups of sauce.
- Shredded chicken: I like to cook skinless boneless chicken breasts in the oven at high heat, drizzled lightly in olive oil with a sprinkling of salt, with a piece of parchment paper directly on the chicken. The paper acts almost like skin would, and retains moisture during baking for really flavorful, tender and moist chicken.
- Sour cream: Adds a rich, creamy flavorful tang to the chicken, and helps everything stay moist in the oven.
- Shredded cheese: I like a combination of Monterey Jack and sharp yellow cheddar cheeses for a rich, cheesy, flavor that isn't too sharp. Shred your own if you want it to melt best!
- Corn tortillas: 6-inch corn tortillas work really well here, and we warm them for a few seconds under moist paper towels in the microwave so they bend, and don't break.
How to make gluten free enchiladas
These step by step photos should give you an idea of what it's like to make this recipe in your own home. For full instructions including precise ingredient amounts and a printable recipe, please scroll down to the recipe card at the bottom of the page.
Make the enchilada sauce
- Make your homemade gluten free enchilada sauce whenever you have time.
- The sauce will keep in the refrigerator for at least a week. Then, you can have gluten free enchiladas any time.
Make the filling; fill the tortillas
- Cover the bottom of the casserole dish with enchilada sauce.
- Mix shredded chicken, sour cream, and enchilada sauce, and place that filling on each corn tortilla.
- Top with cheese, and roll closed.
Cover filled tortillas with sauce & cheese; bake
- Line up all of the filled tortillas in a casserole dish, packing them tightly so they don't open up.
- Cover with plenty of sauce.
- Top with more shredded cheese, and bake until cheese is melted and sauce is bubbling.
Recipe tips & tricks
Warm the corn tortillas in the microwave before filling
Store bought corn tortillas are great for a quick and easy gluten free meal, but they can't be folded or rolled without cracking unless you warm them up. Just wet 2 paper towels, place one on a microwave safe plate, the tortillas in a stack on top, and the second paper towel on top of the stack. Microwave for 30 seconds, and work with the tortillas one at a time, keeping the rest covered in the towels.
Pack the filled tortillas in the pan tight
You'll fill and roll each tortilla individually, then place it in the baking dish, seam side down. Since the tortillas aren't very large and we want plenty of filling inside, they may open up as they sit in the dish unless you pack them in very tightly side by side.
In a 9-inch x 13-inch x 2-inch casserole dish, you should be able to fit 12 filled tortillas total: 8 side by side across the length, then 2 sets of 2 more facing the other direction.
Make the sauce ahead of time
The enchilada sauce will keep in the refrigerator without separating or going bad for at least a full week. I like to store mine in sealed glass mason jars because the red sauce won't stain them. You don't even need to heat the sauce before using it, since it will warm in the oven with your enchiladas.
Cook the chicken ahead of time—or use a gluten free rotisserie chicken
You can cook and shred the chicken and store it in a sealed container in the refrigerator for up to two days prior to using it to make enchiladas. You can also buy a gluten free rotisserie chicken, and discard the skin and bones, and use the meat to make these enchiladas.
Storage and reheating instructions
Storing leftover gluten free enchiladas
The corn tortillas won't hold up very well once they've been covered in sauce and baked, then cooled, but the dish will still taste delicious. Place any leftover enchiladas in a sealed container and store in the refrigerator for up to 2 days. Reheat gently in a 300°F oven or toaster oven before serving warm.
Making enchiladas ahead of time
You can make the sauce and the filling, fill the tortillas and pack them into a prepared 9-inch x 13-inch baking dish. Without adding the sauce or cheese on top, cover the dish tightly with freezer-safe wrap. Place in the freezer and freeze for up to 2 months. Defrost in the refrigerator overnight, top with the remaining sauce and cheese, and bake.
Ingredients & substitution suggestions
Dairy free enchiladas
To make these enchiladas dairy free, you'll need to replace the butter in the enchilada sauce, the sour cream in the filling, and the cheese. For the butter, I recommend Miyoko's Kitchen brand vegan butter. For sour cream, Tofutti's Better Than Sour Cream tastes pretty authentic. And for cheese, I really like Violife brand dairy free cheeses. Daiya brand is also good.
Skip the chicken
You don't have to make these enchiladas with shredded chicken. You can use cooked ground beef and cheese, beans and cheese, or just lots of shredded cheese.
Frequently asked questions
Enchiladas that are made with corn tortillas, a gluten free enchilada sauce, and no other gluten-containing ingredients are gluten free. If they're made with homemade gluten free flour tortillas, they'll also be gluten free, but conventional tortillas contain gluten so be careful!
Yes! I like my homemade enchilada sauce best, since it's thick, smoky, an packed with flavor. But there's no denying the convenience of store-bought sauce that you have in a jar or can in your pantry. You'll need 3 to 4 cups of sauce to make this recipe.
These brands don't list any gluten-containing ingredients:
Old El Paso Red Enchilada Sauce
Siete Red Enchilada Sauce
Hatch Red Medium Enchilada Sauce
La Victoria Red Enchilada Sauce
Yes! If you assemble it all and cover it, the whole prepared dish will keep really well in the refrigerator for at least a day until you are ready to bake it. It also freezes beautifully after assembling, once the sauce is completely cool.
Yes! You can make these gluten free enchiladas with your favorite enchilada sauce, and if that's a green sauce, it sounds delicious! Just be sure it's gluten free before you use it.
If you really like your enchiladas spicy, add some diced jalapeño peppers. Slice the pepper in half and remove the stems and seeds. Cut the pepper into a very fine dice, and mix the diced pieces into the filling along with the sauce and sour cream.
Yes! Instead of cooking the chicken plain, with just a drizzle of olive oil, you can prepare the enchilada sauce ahead of time, then spoon at least 1 1/2 cups of sauce over the raw skinless boneless chicken in a casserole dish. Cover the dish with aluminum foil, and bake at 400°F until the internal temperature reaches at least 165°F (about 35 minutes). Let the chicken cool a bit, then shred it with the sauce. Add only the sour cream to finish the filling, and reserve the rest of the sauce for topping the filled tortillas.
Gluten Free Enchiladas Recipe
Ingredients
- Gluten free enchilada sauce
- 1 pound shredded cooked chicken (See Recipe Notes)
- ½ cup (115 g) sour cream at room temperature
- 12 ounces Monterrey jack and cheddar cheeses shredded (I like to use about half of each type)
- 12 6-inch corn tortillas
Instructions
- Make the enchilada sauce according to the recipe instructions. You can use it as soon as it’s ready, or make it ahead of time and store it in the refrigerator for at least a week before using it.
- Preheat your oven to 375°F. Grease a 9-inch x 13-inch baking dish, and set it aside.
- In a medium-size mixing bowl, mix the shredded chicken with about 1/2 cup of the enchilada sauce and the 1/2 cup sour cream.
- Cover the bottom of the baking dish with about 3/4-cup of the enchilada sauce.
- Warm the tortillas of choice until they're soft and pliable. You can heat them in a hot-dry cast skillet, but I generally warm them in the microwave. Wet 2 paper towels and don’t wring them out completely. Place one on a microwave-safe plate, place the tortillas on top, and place the second paper towel on top. Microwave on high for about 30 seconds.
- Working with one warm tortilla at a time (keeping the others covered with the paper towels so they don’t dry out), spoon about 3 tablespoons of the filling across the bottom half of a softened tortilla. Top with about 2 tablespoons of shredded cheese.
- Close the tortilla by rolling it away from yourself until closed. Place the filled tortilla into the prepared baking pan, seam side down.
- Repeat with the remaining tortillas, placing them side by side in the baking dish. Pack them in tight, so they don't open.
- Pour about 3 cups of the remaining enchilada sauce on top of all the enchiladas.
- Sprinkle the top of the dish with another 3 to 4 ounces of shredded cheese.
- Place the dish in the oven and bake for about 20 minutes, or until the cheese is melted, and the sauce is bubbling.
- Serve immediately, while hot.
Notes
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Hi, I’m Nicole. I create gluten free recipes that really work and taste as good as you remember. No more making separate meals when someone is GF, or buying packaged foods that aren’t good enough to justify the price. At Gluten Free on a Shoestring, “good, for gluten free” just isn’t good enough! Come visit my bio!
Sheralyn says
Hi Nicole, these really sound great and I can’t wait to try them. I do have one question about storing leftovers at room temperature for up to two days. Is this a misprint or is this safe?
Nicole Hunn says
Hi, Sheralyn, I just realized that I had misspoken, as you assumed, and said to store leftovers at room temperature for up to 2 days! Absolutely not, that should read to store leftovers in the refrigerator for up to 2 days. Thank you so much for pointing that out. It’s fixed now!