Creamy Poblano Chicken Enchiladas
These poblano chicken enchiladas are all about the creamy poblano sauce. The combination of the rich white sauce flavored with warm poblano peppers and fresh cilantro is so delicious. A store-bought rotisserie chicken makes these enchiladas so easy to make.
In August, I made two batches of chicken enchiladas for a birthday dinner: one batch had cheddar cheese and a basic red enchilada sauce and the other was a little fancier with a creamy poblano sauce and cheese. The poblano version was a recipe I found by Rick Bayless, famed Chicago chef who owns Frontera a restaurant specializing in Mexican cuisine.
I thought the poblano chicken enchiladas sounded delicious – I imagined the rich white sauce and the warm flavor from the peppers would be a wonderful combination – but I was worried. First, it was a new-to-me recipe which is always a risky proposition when you’re entertaining. Second, of the six people attending dinner, four were teenage boys whose idea of Mexican food is Taco Bell. I figured, better safe than sorry and, hence, the two types of enchiladas.
The worry was for nothing, though, because the Rick Bayless enchiladas were a hit and we were still talking about them days later. The red enchiladas were a hit, too (teenage boys are eating machines) but it was the creamy “green ones”, as they were called by my dinner companions, that really captured attention.
At the time, I followed the recipe as written except I substituted fresh cilantro for spinach because it’s what I had on hand. I also noticed the recipe made a lot of sauce (too much, in my opinion) and it was lacking a bit in acid, so since then I’ve been playing around with it (no offense to Mr. Bayless, of course).
So, today I’m sharing my take on Rick Bayless’ Enchiladas Especiales Tacuba Style, which I like to call creamy poblano chicken enchiladas
Make the Poblano Sauce
This recipe is really all about the sauce. It’s basically a white sauce, or bechamel, that’s flavored with poblano peppers and fresh cilantro. The original recipe recommends roasting the peppers, but I find it’s easier and just as delicious to saute them. Here’s what you need to make the sauce:
- unsalted butter
- garlic
- poblano peppers
- all-purpose flour
- chicken broth
- whole milk
- fresh cilantro
- salt
Folks who have tried this recipe have commented here and on Pinterest that doubling the sauce is not a bad thing! So, if you like extra-saucy enchiladas you might want to make extra.
If you’ve never cooked with poblano peppers, they are a mild chile pepper that is available at most grocery stores. If you’ve ever had chile rellenos, a stuffed pepper dish, you’ve had a poblano pepper. If you can’t find poblano peppers the best substitute is anaheim peppers, which are a little spicier.
- Start by sauteeing the peppers and garlic in a tablespoon of butter until they’re softened.
- Add two more tablespoons of butter and, once it’s melted, sprinkle flour over the top of the peppers.
- Stir until the flour and butter create a paste that coats the peppers.
- Add the chicken broth and stir until the flour and butter paste melts into the liquid.
- At this point, puree the sauce. I use an immersion blender (one of my favorite kitchen tools), which is a hand-held blender. Or, you can puree the sauce in a stand blender, just be sure to vent the heat while it blends.
- Once blended, add the milk and cilantro. Bring the sauce to a low simmer (don’t boil it) and cook it for 10 to 15 minutes, stirring frequently, until the sauce is thickened. You know it’s thick enough when you can run your spatula across the pan and catch a glimpse of the bottom of the pan before the sauce runs back over it.
- Add the salt and give the sauce a taste. If it needs more seasoning, add a few more pinches.
Assemble the Chicken Enchiladas
For the rest of the dish, you only need corn tortillas, shredded cooked chicken and shredded pepper jack cheese.
- Warm the tortillas: You want to warm the tortillas so they are pliable and roll up without cracking. I like to pop them in a warm oven (about 200°F for 10 minutes) to warm them up. You can also warm them in a skillet with some oil, which will crisp them up and give them toasty golden spots, but this is a little too high-maintenance for me.
- Cooked chicken: I used a store-bought rotisserie chicken for this recipe, which makes it really easy. You can also use leftover grilled chicken or plain baked chicken. Since the rotisserie chicken is already seasoned you don’t have to do anything but shred it.
- Cheese: I used pepper jack cheese but you can also use cheddar cheese, Monterey jack cheese or a combination of any of these.
- Spread some of the poblano sauce in the bottom of a baking dish. Place some of the shredded chicken in a tortilla, roll it up and place it in the dish. Repeat with the rest of the chicken and tortillas.
- Pour the sauce over the top of the tortillas and sprinkle the cheese in an even layer.
Bake the chicken enchiladas, uncovered, for 15 to 20 minutes at 375°F. The enchiladas are ready when the cheese is melted and the sauce is bubbling hot.
The last step is to squeeze fresh lime juice over the top of the hot enchilaladas followed by a sprinkling of chop cilantro. It adds a bright and acidic pop of flavor that contrasts nicely with the rich sauce.
Are you ready for a comforting fall dinner? These poblano chicken enchiladas are perfect for a cool fall night – bonus points if you make a batch of pineapple agua frescas or margarita wine spritzers to go with them.
Happy enchilada-making,
P.S. Want another easy Mexican recipe? Try my Chicken Tinga that uses rotisserie chicken, too!
More Enchilada Recipes
Looking for more enchiladas recipes? Here are a few of my favorite recipes you might like, too…
- Easy Enchiladas with Black Beans and Spinach
- Chicken Enchiladas with Slow Cooker Salsa Verde
- Green Chile Chicken Enchiladas
Or, check out my favorite shortcut rotisserie chicken recipes for even more ideas!
PrintCreamy Poblano Chicken Enchiladas
Chicken rolled up in corn tortillas and topped with a creamy poblano-cilantro sauce. The richness of the sauce is balanced by the fresh herbs and squeeze of lime juice just before serving. A store-bought rotisserie chicken makes these easy to make.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Total Time: 35 minutes
- Yield: 12 enchiladas 1x
- Category: Dinner
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: Mexican
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided
- 3 cloves of garlic, peeled and smashed
- 2 poblano peppers, seeds and stems removed and chopped
- 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 1/4 cup chicken broth
- 1 1/4 cup whole milk
- 1/2 cup chopped cilantro
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 4 cups shredded rotisserie chicken
- 12 corn tortillas, warmed (see note)
- 8 ounces shredded pepper jack cheese
- Juice of 1/2 lime
- 1 tablespoon chopped cilantro, for garnish
Instructions
- In a large pan, melt one tablespoon of butter over medium heat. Add the garlic and peppers and cook them in the butter until they’ve softened, about 10 minutes.
- Add 2 tablespoons of butter and, once it’s melted, sprinkle the flour over the top of the peppers and garlic. Stir and cook the flour for a minute or so. It will create a thick paste that coats the veggies.
- Add chicken broth and stir until there are no clumps of flour. Using an immersion blender (see note), puree the mixture until smooth. Bring the mixture to a simmer. Add the milk and stir. Keep the sauce at a low simmer (don’t let it boil) and stir until it’s thickened. You know it’s ready when you can run the spatula or spoon across the bottom of the pan and catch a glimpse of the pan before the sauce runs back over it. Add the chopped cilantro and salt, stir, and turn off the burner.
- Preheat the oven to 375°F. While the oven is preheating, assemble the enchiladas. Coat the bottom of a 9×13″ baking dish with a light layer of sauce. Place some shredded chicken on a tortilla, roll it up and place it in the baking dish. Repeat with the rest of the tortillas and chicken.
- Pour the sauce over the top of the tortillas in the baking dish. Sprinkle the shredded cheese in an even layer on top.
- Bake the enchiladas, uncovered, for 15 to 20 minutes or until the cheese has melted and the sauce is bubbling. Squeeze lime juice over the top of the enchiladas and garnish with cilantro before serving.
Notes
If you like extra saucy enchiladas I recommend doubling the sauce!
To warm the tortillas, I like to spread them out on a baking sheet and warm them in a 200°F oven for 10 minutes or until they’ve warmed through.
To blend the sauce, I like to use an immersion blender. You can also transfer the sauce to a food processor or stand blender, but be sure to vent the heat while you blend it.
Recipe adapted from Rick Bayless
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 3 enchiladas
- Calories: 788
- Sugar: 6.9g
- Sodium: 1425.4mg
- Fat: 22.9g
- Saturated Fat: 9.7g
- Unsaturated Fat: 10.8g
- Trans Fat: 0g
- Carbohydrates: 47.2g
- Fiber: 6.3g
- Protein: 57.8g
- Cholesterol: 187.1mg
I made these enchiladas tonight. They are amazing. I hope I don’t make myself sick eating too many. Instead of using whole milk, I used low fat as it was all I had on hand. Made no difference to me, this is an outstanding recipe. Thank you
I’m glad to hear it worked with low-fat milk! Thanks for letting me know – so glad you liked it 🙂
We made these tonight and everyone thought the sauce was bland. I was excited to make this when I ran across the recipe, but it just seems like the sauce was missing something.
I’m sorry you didn’t enjoy it – if you prefer something spicier some readers add a jalapeno to the poblanos for some heat.
My family loved these enchiladas not sure I’ll ever use a diff recipe. I used 2 chicken breasts in the crock pot and shredded it and also roasted my poblanos. These were perfect and I’d post a pic but they dug in too fast!
Thanks for sharing your feedback! The tip about cooking the chicken in the slow cooker is great – so glad you enjoyed it 🙂
The recipe was phenomenal! I don’t think I can ever go back to traditional enchiladas after this. My whole family is obsessed, and we can’t stop making it.
So glad you enjoyed it!
I have four poblano plants that are overproducing in my garden (in NW Montana!) and found this recipe. I did use Costco rotisserie chicken and followed the recipe as printed. Wow, so simple and was so spectacular. I thought there might be a bit too much sauce, but added it all anyway… so glad I did. I will definitely make this again and tell others to add to their dinner list. Five Stars!
I’m jealous of your garden peppers! So, glad you enjoyed the recipe and thank you for the rating 🙂
I made this for dinner tonight. Havent tried it yet but I know what it will be as I have made alot of chicken enchaladas. I have 2 big pablonas from garden. Did every thing per recipe except put cheese and a spoonful of sauce in the enchaladas. I had lots of sauce. Can’t wait for dinner. Glad you used corn tortillas, most use flour.
I hope you enjoy them – the sauce will be delicious with your garden peppers!
Can these be frozen before baking?
I haven’t tried this and can’t say how the sauce will hold up to freezing and then baking. I imagine it will be okay, but it could change the texture – let me know if you try it!
Satisfied our Mexican food craving. I doubled the sauce and added about a Tablespoon and a half of store bought white quest to it. I baked it for 20 minutes until it was starting to bubble and then broiled to brown the top. A Delicious and beautiful recipe and perfect use for my garden’s many Poblanos.
Loved them but I couldn’t find pepper jack cheese so I put Colby jack instead but it was delicious!
Absolutely delicious! I made these last night and my boyfriend & I thought they were excellent. After the first bite he said “wow, these are amazing.” Then added that this recipe is a keeper and that it was better than going to a restaurant.
I followed the recipe except I added 1 jalapeno and I used 1/2 tsp Himalayan salt instead of 1 tsp Kosher salt.
So glad you guys liked it!
Overall, really nice dish. I have made it twice now. Couple of suggestions. I added diced onions to the chicken for a little bit of crunch. And next time I will add a Serrano for a little more heat
This was very delicious! We doubled the amount of sauce as suggested and it was the perfect amount. My husband and teenage son loved this and we will definitely be making this again. We will be adding a bit more heat to this next time. Maybe some jalapeños will do the trick. Overall great flavor! Thank you for sharing this recipe.
Adding some heat would be great! So glad you liked the recipe 🙂
Excellent video! I loved the recipe. Mild enough for my husband but that extra special taste to make it taste like a special meal.
Oh sooo good!! The flavors are amazing! I like to try different recipes and most of the time I end up not making again because they are. “Ok”. I’ve made this one 3 times already!
Love this recipe and make it often! Sometimes, I just layer the tortillas rather than roll them and this also works well. I’m curious if you have tried freezing them, either before or after baking to have later. If so, how did they turn out and do you have any recommendations on how to do it?
I like the layering idea! I haven’t tried freezing them, but freezing them before you bake is probably better. I’m not sure how the sauce will hold up, though, so can’t say for sure how it will turn out.