Green Chile and Chicken Mock Enchilada Casserole (VIDEO)
This Green Chile and Chicken Mock Enchilada Casserole has all the flavors you love in green chile chicken enchiladas, minus quite a few of the carbs!
PIN the Mock Enchilada Casserole to make it later!
If you’re a Mexican food fan, you probably realize that most Mexican food is definitely not low in carbs. But this creative recipe for Green Chile and Chicken Mock Enchilada Casserole is a lower-carb option than most enchilada casseroles of this type. I first made this recipe in 2014 and my family has been making it ever since, so I thought I’d update the post and feature it again to remind you what a perfect Cinco de Mayo dinner this would be!
When Jake and I came up with this idea of using roasted green chiles to replace the tortillas in a green chile and chicken mock enchilada casserole, I could tell from the beginning that the recipe was going to have a lot of fans. I replaced the tortillas with layers of mild roasted green chiles from a can, and also used Hatch Gluten Free Green Chile Enchilada sauce, a new product I found at my store.
The finished casserole does have some carbs of course, so if you’re looking for extremely low-carb or Keto recipes, this probably won’t work for you. But if you stick to the recommended serving size, this can be a nice carb-conscious dinner to enjoy when you’re craving Mexican food! When I first tested the recipe with Jake, we loved the flavors, and I shared some with my sister Pam and everyone in her family loved it too. And if you’d like a simpler version of this recipe that’s also a bit lower in carbs, this Low-Carb Twice-Cooked Chicken with Green Chiles and Cheese has a lot of the same flavors!
What ingredients do you need for this recipe?
- boneless, skinless chicken breasts
- green chile enchilada sauce, I prefer Hatch Green Chile Enchilada Sauce (affiliate link)
- Whole Roasted Green Chiles (affiliate link)
- cream cheese
- sour cream
- grated mozzarella
Where Can You Buy Roasted Green Chiles?
If you don’t live in the west, the hardest thing about this recipe might be finding the big cans of roasted green chiles. If you have a Mexican market near you, that’s the best place to get a good price on the big 27 oz. cans of whole green chiles that I love to use in recipes. But if that’s not an option you can get whole green chiles in a can at Amazon.com (affiliate link).
How to make this recipe:
(Scroll down for complete printable recipe.)
- Trim chicken breasts and cut each one in half lengthwise. Put the chicken breasts in a pan, cover with water, and simmer over low heat until the chicken is cooked through. As soon as the chicken is done, drain it in a colander and remove to a cutting board to cool.
- When it’s cool enough to handle, shred the chicken apart into bite-sized pieces.
- Simmer the green chile enchilada sauce until it’s thickened and reduced to 2 cups. (Look for the lowest sugar green chile enchilada sauce you can find. I used Gluten Free Hatch Green Chile Enchilada Sauce (affiliate link).
- When the enchilada sauce has reduced to 2 cups, turn off the heat and then whisk in the cream cheese and sour cream.
- Put the colander back into the sink and drain the 27 oz. can of whole roasted green chiles (affiliate link). Then use your fingers to split each green chile and remove the seeds, making them into two equal piles so you can make two layers of chiles in the casserole.
- Spray a crockery or glass baking dish with non-stick spray and make a layer of green chiles.
- Make a layer of shredded chicken over the green chiles.
- Spread half the sauce over the chicken, then sprinkle half the cheese over the sauce.
- Make another layer each of whole roasted green chiles, chicken, sauce, and cheese.
- Bake uncovered at 375F/190C until the casserole is bubbling and the cheese on top is getting browned.
- Let cool about 5 minutes, then cut and eat while it’s hot.
- This will keep in the fridge for several days and can be reheated in the microwave, and it also freezes well.
More Tasty Dishes with Green Chiles:
Zucchini and Green Chile Breakfast Casserole ~ Kalyn’s Kitchen
Slow Cooker Green Chile Chicken ~ The Perfect Pantry
Bobbi’s Low-Carb Breakfast Casserole ~ Kalyn’s Kitchen
Green Chile Sour Cream Enchilada Chicken Breasts ~ Boulder Locavore
Green Chile Shredded Beef Cabbage Bowl ~ Kalyn’s Kitchen
Green Chile and Sausage Scrambled Eggs ~ Barefeet in the Kitchen
Weekend Food Prep:
This recipe has been added to a new category called Weekend Food Prep to help you find recipes you can prep or cook on the weekend and eat during the week!
Green Chile and Chicken Mock Enchilada Casserole
This Green Chile and Chicken Mock Enchilada Casserole has all the flavors you love in green chile chicken enchiladas, minus quite a few of the carbs!
Ingredients
- 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, trimmed and cut in half lengthwise into two pieces
- 2 15 oz. cans mild or medium green chile enchilada sauce (see notes)
- 1 27 oz. can whole roasted green chiles, (see notes)
- 4 oz. cream cheese, room temperature
- 1/2 cup sour cream
- 2 cups grated mozzarella
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375F/190 C. Spray a 9-inch x 13-inch casserole dish with non-stick spray. (I recommend using a glass or crockery casserole dish; any size that is close to that will work.)
- Trim visible fat and other undesirable parts from chicken breasts and cut each one in half lengthwise. Put chicken into a small shallow pan, cover with water, and simmer over low heat until the chicken is done, about 15 minutes.
- Drain chicken into a colander in the sink (you can rinse if there's a lot of scum.) Remove to cutting board to cool.
- Put the enchilada sauce into a small saucepan and simmer over low heat until the sauce has thickened and reduced to 2 cups, about 20 minutes. (I'm not that good at eyeballing it, so I put it in a measuring cup to measure when I think it's getting close.)
- Turn off the heat and stir in the cream cheese and sour cream
- After you remove the chicken, drain the can of whole green chiles into the colander and let them drain for a few minutes. Then one at a time, use your fingers to split the chiles open and remove the seeds, piling them into two piles so you can make two equal layers in the casserole. (If chiles still seem wet, you can blot them with a paper towel, but I didn't need to do that.)
- When the chicken is cool enough to handle, shred apart into bite-sized pieces.
- Layer half the green chiles into the bottom of the casserole dish, arranging them so the whole surface is covered as much as you can.
- Over that make a layer of half the chicken, 1 1/2 cups of the sauce, and 1 cup of the grated cheese.
- Make another layer each of green chiles, chicken, sauce, and cheese.
- Bake uncovered until the casserole is bubbling and cheese is melted and browning on top, about 40 minutes.
- Let sit about 5 minutes before cutting. Serve hot.
- This will keep in the fridge for several days and can be reheated in the microwave, and also freezes well.
Notes
If you need gluten-free enchilada sauce, look for Hatch Gluten Free or La Victoria brand. I found Green Chile Enchilada Sauce (affiliate link)at Amazon.com if you have a hard time finding it. I also found the 27 oz. can of whole roasted green chiles (affiliate link) at Amazon.com, but they are more expensive that way.
If you look for Green Chile Enchilada Sauce that's low in carbs this can be more low-carb than what's shown in the nutritional information.
This recipe created by Kalyn and Jake.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
8Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 309Total Fat: 17gSaturated Fat: 8.7gUnsaturated Fat: 5.8gCholesterol: 96mgSodium: 344mgCarbohydrates: 13gFiber: 1.8gSugar: 7.7gProtein: 28g
Nutrition information is automatically calculated by the Recipe Plug-In I am using. I am not a nutritionist and cannot guarantee 100% accuracy, since many variables affect those calculations.
Low-Carb Diet / Low-Glycemic Diet / South Beach Diet Suggestions:
Eliminating the tortillas and adding low-glycemic roasted green chiles makes Green Chile and Chicken Mock Enchilada Casserole a perfect dish as an occasional treat for most other low-carb eating plans or any phase of the South Beach Diet. Most brands of green chile enchilada sauce do have a small amount of cornstarch as a thickener, so this isn’t suitable for people who are strictly following Keto or South Beach Diet Phase One, but the amount of carbs is still much lower than traditional enchiladas.
Find More Recipes Like This One:
Use Casserole Recipes to find more recipes like this one! Use the Recipes by Diet Type photo index pages to find more recipes suitable for a specific eating plan. You might also like to Follow Kalyn’s Kitchen on Pinterest to see all the good recipes I’m sharing there.
177 Comments on “Green Chile and Chicken Mock Enchilada Casserole (VIDEO)”
When you say 4 chicken breasts, what is the estimated weight? Not all chicken breasts are created equal. 🙂 I was also thinking about trying this with pork loin so curious on estimated weight. Thanks!
When I am making a chicken recipe I usually use those chicken breasts that come in two packs from Costco, and they can vary widely in weight! But if I had to estimate I would say most of the chicken breasts I use are about 6-8 ounces. I never weigh them though, so I couldn’t tell you much closer than that.
This meal was delicious. I only wish I had not waited so long to try it. As with all of your rexipes, this was amazing. Thank you!
Thanks Stacy; so glad you enjoyed it!
Kalyn ~
I have diabetic friend who I invite to dinner weekly. I will try this out next week and let you know. (I know I will love it; Mexican food is my greatest food dilemma.) Please add me to your emails for recipes.
Cristina
Hi Cristina. Hope you enjoy the recipe. There are also other Mexican-flavored options on the site that are lower in carbs than this one, like Salsa Verde Chicken Bake. You might want to check with your friend about what their target range is for carbs, and then look use the nutritional information in the recipes to choose recipes in that range. I can’t add people to get e-mails, but I’ll forward your request to the company that manages it.
This is really good. I posted on Facebook with your hast tag. I did use the wrong enchilada sauce, red instead of green. So I will have to make this again soon to see the difference 🙂 Thank you for this recipe.
So glad you enjoyed, and I think both types of enchilada sauce will be good!
Love your recipes, particularly this Green Chile and Chicken Mock Enchilada Casserole, I do use a shortcut that is most helpful in a time crunch. I use a Rotisserie chicken, my preference is Costco. Used this to make several dishes that were frozen for later meals for my son and daughter-in-law during a recent illness, Turned out Great.
Bette, I am a huge fan of those chickens too. I even buy the pre-cut up rotisserie chicken in a pack, which would be perfect for this recipe. Glad you are enjoying the recipes!
I want to try this as soon as I can find the can of whole green chilis! I’m in Indiana and so far I’ve not found them. But, we do have a couple of small Mexican grocery stores, so hopefully that will be where I find them.
I keep precooked chicken in my freezer, usually saved in bags of 2 cups. How much would I need to equal the chicken in your recipes?
I honestly haven’t ever measured how much diced chicken you get from one breast, but Google says that one breast = 1.5 cups. I’m guessing that’s a largish chicken breast. I think 8-9 cups would be more than enough for this recipe. Hope you enjoy!
I made this for our Cinco de Mayo dinner and it was absolutely delicious! Our entire family loved it. The sauce was so flavorful and rich and using the chiles instead of tortillas was something I never thought of! Will definitely be making again.
Thanks Brandie, so glad you liked it!
Made this for dinner last night. It was delicious and everyone loved it! Thank you Kalyn!
So glad you liked it!
I just made this according to the receipe and it was the bomb. Will definitely make this again.
So glad you enjoyed it!
This was so yummy. I added some precooked cauliflower green rice that was in the fridge and some green tomatillo salsa for half of the green enchilada sauce. I used leftover turkey instead of chicken. Thanks! It’s on our keep list now!
I love how you switched it up a bit, sounds good to me! So glad you enjoyed!
Love this recipe and so does my family!!! Thank you!
Thanks Lindsay; so glad you have enjoyed it!
This looks so so good. My husband will love this dish.
Hope you enjoy Maggie!
How many servings would you say this makes? I don’t see it or size of serving anywhere. I would want to eat the whole pan!! Help! Lol
In the recipe it says Yield: 8 servings.
This was TO DIE FOR. So. Freaking. Good. My husband said this was a no-brainer add to our low-carb meal rotation. It tasted like my favorite chicken enchiladas! It’s just the two of us, so this made enough to eat on all week – a few times, we used it as filling in some low-carb tortillas and had tacos. Other nights, we ate it with a side of broccoli or cauliflower. Just awesome! Thank you for sharing!
So glad to hear you enjoyed it!
OMG!! This was amazing! The hubby and kid loved it! Easy enough to make and so much flavor! Thank you for sharing, I will definitely be making this again 😁
So glad to hear it was a hit with the family!
Could you use shredded chicken instead? If so, how many cups do you think I’d need that would be enough, but not to much? Thank you!! Love your recipes
Yes, you can definitely use shredded chicken. I think a regular chicken breast is usually about 1 cup of shredded chicken, so about 4 cups of shredded chicken will work. But I don’t think the measurement has to be really exact for this, especially if you have a bit more than that. So glad you’re enjoying the recipes!
Thank you so much for your timely response. I am going to make this tonight!
I made this and EVERYONE loved it, except me. My problem is texture. The flavor was great, but I wanted some crunch (even though my normal enchilada’s don’t have crunch). I was thinking the next time I make this, I’m doing to do something more with the chili’s like roast them before I use them, I know they will again get soft, but I just need something more, so I’m going to see if that does the trick I need.
Oh yeah – and I used my favorite cheeses that I like with chicken – pepperjack and cheddar mixture. Next time I plan on using some jarred salsa verde, the first time I used the “green enchilada” mix as required. When I make it next, I’ll report back.
Glad you liked it! I am stumped to think about how to provide more crunch though!
I made this delicious casserole and it tasted fantastic, but mine was soupy. The top layer of cheese browned off nicely but the insides were super gooey. Oh, it tasted fantastic but the insides seemed like they did not set properly. I went by the recipe except for one thing, I used half green sauce and half red sauce.Should it have cooked longer? What can I do to make it set up better?
Did you cook the sauce down as instructed? Maybe different brands of sauce have more water. Not cooking down the sauce long enough is the only thing I can think of that would make this too liquidy. The enchilada sauce should be quite thick when you add the other ingredients; maybe reduce it a bit more next time. Hope that helps! Glad you enjoyed the flavors.
Wow this had great flavor, will def make this again and again. I made it into two small foil pans and froze one for another dinner. I did add a little chedder to the mozzarella for this cause I felt like a Mexican dish needed some cheddar cheese. So very very good. Thank you for sharing.
Glad you liked it. And more cheese is always fine with me!
I made the mock chicken enchiladas, which I have made and loved before. Of course this week, I was low on some of the required ingredients. So I made some substitutions that turned out very fabulous. The recipe calls for a 15 ounce bottle of chili verde, (which last time my GF husband struggled with something in this recipe, which happens sometimes when I use some pre-prepared food ), so I substituted 2 7oz cans of chopped green chili’s, and didn’t have to cook down. For the chicken, I chopped up 4 cups of rotisserie chicken, for the cans of whole chili’s, I used 2 fresh green peppers and one Anaheim, chopped it up into 1/2 inch cubes, and used as called for in the layers. For the sour cream I used coconut milk. I used the cream cheeze as written, but used a few more ounces. Then I layered into my greased crock pot, and turned on low, and had dinner after work, so yummy. I know it sounds like I changed the whole thing, but that’s part of cooking, using what you have. I love your blog, it has given me so many options as we have tried paleo, gluten free, and Keto recipes. Ps. I am a faithful friend of Pam. 🤠
Hi Nancy! I love it when people adapt a recipe to their own needs or what they have on hand! That’s exactly what I do myself when I use recipe, lol! And it sounds like you’re a good cook to know how to make it work. So glad you are enjoying the recipes. Any friend of Pam’s has to be someone I’d love to meet!