Today, I have this recipe for Chicken Enchilada Casserole cooked in an Instant Pot. This pressure cooker recipe has 5 ingredients plus a handful of spices to give plenty of flavor to this Mexican dish. It is super easy and makes a great weeknight meal.
No More Tortilla Rolling
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I love chicken enchiladas but really, really dislike rolling the tortillas in the tradition recipe. Regardless of whether I use corn or flour tortillas, the tortillas break and crack every time! My enchiladas are anything but pretty. They look like a mess really, but they are ohhhh so good!
But for quite some time, I have been making a chicken enchilada casserole with all the ingredients layered instead of the way you are used to seeing it. It saves me time, patience, and more importantly sanity!
Great for Frozen Chicken
For the longest time, I was dedicated to my crock pot. But, I’d often forget to start it in the morning. When I came home, I didn’t have anything ready for dinner. I don’t have that problem with my pressure cooker. I can use frozen chicken in this recipe and it takes just a few extra minutes. Now there is no excuse to order take out. Once the IP comes up to pressure, thawed chicken breasts take about 10 minutes or 15 from frozen.
If you don’t already have an Instant Pot, you can get this one from Amazon. (This is an affiliate link and when you purchase through it, I receive a small commission at no additional cost to you.)
Great Make-Ahead Meal
These Instant Pot Chicken Enchiladas are made in two stages. First you mix together and cook the chicken, enchilada sauce, chiles and enchilada spices. Then you release the pressure and add the tortillas and cheese. Bring back up to pressure one more time and cook for 3 minutes to melt the cheese.
If you are into batch cooking, you can easily create a large amount of chicken. You can use it for this or other recipes like Campfire Nachos, tacos, burrito bowls, served over potatoes, etc. The cooked chicken and the full recipe freeze really well too! I actually have 2 containers of this enchilada casserole in the freezer as I write this. When I want to use it, I place in the refrigerator or on the counter to thaw a bit. Then I can reheat in the microwave. The kids love taking to school for lunch too!
I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as we do.
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Instant Pot Chicken Enchiladas Casserole
Ingredients
- 4 chicken breasts
- 28oz can Enchilada sauce (red or green)
- 4oz can diced Hatch chiles
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
- Salt & Pepper, to taste
- 12 corn tortillas, cut into slices
- 1 cup shredded cheese
- Garnish: Sliced black olives, Sour cream, Sliced Avocado, Guacamole, Salsa
Instructions
- Season chicken breasts with salt and pepper.
- Add chicken, enchilada sauce, Hatch chiles, garlic powder, and cumin to pressure cooker.
- Secure the lid, closing the pressure valve. Set machine to the Manual setting (high pressure) and cook for 10 minutes (thawed chicken) or 15 (frozen chicken).
- Once timer goes off, do a quick pressure release.
- Remove chicken from pot and shred with two forks.
- Return shredded chicken to pressure cooker.
- Add sliced tortillas and cheese. Stir to combine.
- Return the pressure cooker lid, close the pressure valve, and cook on manual setting (high pressure) for 3 minutes.
- Allow the pressure to naturally release.
- Serve chicken enchilada casserole with sliced black olives, sour cream, guacamole, salsa, or sliced avocado as desired.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
6Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 429Total Fat: 15gSaturated Fat: 5gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 8gCholesterol: 88mgSodium: 1474mgCarbohydrates: 38gFiber: 8gSugar: 11gProtein: 35g
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Hi Nicky, this is the first dinner I’ve done in my new IP. It started to burn after I added the chicken, tortillas, and cheese and stirred. It was burnt on the bottom but we ended up eating it as is and it was still good. How could I have avoided it burning? Did it need some water to dilute?
Or would it have helped to not stir.. but to try to stack the cheese and tortillas on top of the chicken?
I would stir in the tortillas, then add the cheese next time. The tortillas soak up the enchilada sauce and make it more like the original enchilada recipe. I haven’t tried adding the tortillas on top, but I would think that if did, they would dry out or just not have the same flavor/texture. Another option would be to decrease the cook time after you added the tortillas and cheese. Cut it in half and then allow it to naturally release just a little longer. That might solve the problem too.
I don’t have an instapot but I’m sure I could make this in a slow cooker
Most definitely Angie. You will just need to play around with the cook times a little.
I am currently making this now. After 15 min (my chicken was thawed and still had some frozen patches) the chicken was not cooked all the way. I’m wondering what I did wrong. Maybe I should have hit the stew/meat button??!
I’m not sure what happened Sharon. Could the chicken of been too thick? When I make it with frozen chicken, each is no thicker than 1″.
I made this once and enjoyed it. I didn’t use enough tortillas but now I know. I’m wanting to add corn and/or black beans and am thinking I can do that at the same time as the cheese and tortillas? Has anyone played around with this?
Great recipe thank you for sharing! I followed the instructions as stated and it turned out great for me. I definitely recommend!
This chicken enchilada casserole sounds like a lifesaver! I also hate tortilla rolling. Using frozen chicken is genius. Have you tried adding a bit more sauce to make the layers extra saucy? Can’t wait to try this!