Everything in this chicken enchilada casserole is already cooked, so you’re really just layering and warming it through — which makes it perfect for meal prep. It uses the rotisserie chicken from the plan, gets its creaminess from sour cream stirred right into the green chile sauce, and reheats like a dream in an air fryer, oven, or microwave.
It’s the lunch that carries all three days of my free 3-day low-carb meal plan, where one bake covers all three afternoon meals.
The one trick that makes it
A single 10-oz can of enchilada sauce is a little lean for a six-serving casserole. Stirring sour cream into it does two things: it stretches the sauce across all six servings, and it mellows the salt that canned sauce can bring.
Chicken Enchilada Casserole (Low-Carb & Make-Ahead)
Equipment
- Casserole dish
- One Skillet
- Conventional Oven
Ingredients
- 1 lb Pulled rotisserie chicken meat (about 2/3 of a whole bird)
- 10 oz Green chile enchilada sauce
- 1 Yellow onion, diced
- 2 cloves Garlic
- 4 oz Sour cream, plus extra for serving
- 4 oz Colby Jack cheese, grated
- 8 Corn tortillas
- 1 tbsp Butter for cooking onions, plus extra for buttering casserole dish
Instructions
- Mix the shredded chicken with half the can (5 oz) of enchilada sauce.
- Cook the onion in 1 Tbsp butter until soft, add the garlic and cook until fragrant, then remove from the heat and mix it into the chicken-and-sauce mixture.
- Butter the casserole dish if you like (optional — I do it so nothing sticks). From the other half of the can, spread a couple of spoonfuls across the bottom of the dish to help prevent sticking and add flavor.
- Lay 4 tortillas over that sauce.
- Mix the remaining enchilada sauce with the 4 oz sour cream.
- Spread the chicken mixture over the tortillas and scatter half the cheese. Top with the remaining 6 tortillas, pour the sour-cream sauce over everything, and finish with the rest of the cheese.
- Bake at 350°F for about 20 minutes, until melty and bubbly.
- Cool at least 10 minutes before cutting into 6. Add a dollop of sour cream to each serving.
Video
Notes
A note from my kitchen
I’ll be honest with you, because that’s how I do things here: my taste tester and I both felt this one could’ve carried a little more sauce. If you like yours saucier, reach for a bigger can, or add a second can. The can was only $1.08 so it doesn’t add a big expense. But here’s what we completely agreed on: this casserole was amazing. It was genuinely good and I genuinely enjoyed eating it for all three lunches. It reheated beautifully all week and it was a lot of protein for roughly $1.65 per serving. I don’t mean to apologize for it or discount it, just being honest, I would personally go a touch heavier on the sauce next time — and if you’re a sauce person like we are, you might want to, too. I also think I’ll be adding a can or two of diced green chiles next time I make this. And I will make it again because it was that good!- Makes: 6 servings (lunch for two, three days)
- Equipment: skillet · casserole dish
A note from my kitchen
I’ll be honest with you, because that’s how I do things here: my taste tester and I both felt this one could’ve carried a little more sauce. If you like yours saucier, reach for a bigger can, or add a second can. The can was only $1.08 so it doesn’t add a big expense.
But here’s what we completely agreed on: this casserole was amazing. It was genuinely good and I genuinely enjoyed eating it for all three lunches. It reheated beautifully all week and it was a lot of protein for roughly $1.65 per serving.
I don’t mean to apologize for it or discount it, just being honest, I would personally go a touch heavier on the sauce next time — and if you’re a sauce person like we are, you might want to, too. I also think I’ll be adding a can or two of diced green chiles next time I make this. And I will make it again because it was that good!
What makes it “green”?
If you’ve only cooked with red enchilada sauce, green — or verde — is worth knowing. It gets its color and its brighter, tangier flavor from green ingredients: tomatillos and green chiles like Anaheim, Hatch, or jalapeño, instead of the dried red chiles and tomatoes in a red sauce.
It’s usually a bit milder and fresher-tasting, which is exactly why a spoonful of sour cream rounds it out so nicely here. (The Daily Meal has a good red-vs-green breakdown.)
Make it ahead / take it to work
Since everything’s already cooked, this holds and reheats beautifully — air fryer, oven, or microwave. Cut it into six, box up the portions, and lunch is handled for the whole run.
Nutrition (per serving)
Calories 468 · Protein 40g · Total carbs 21g
These are total carbs, not “net” — nothing subtracted out. The tortillas are where most of that comes from, and with less than 2 tortillas per serving, it still lands comfortably low-carb.
Want a full week?
This is a 3-day taste of my meal planning, budget stretching method. The full $50 Low-Carb Week feeds two adults for seven days on one real $50.55 grocery run — even cheaper per day (we take advantage of bulk buying), and lower in carbs than this 3-day plan. Every price documented and filmed, start to finish 👇
From the blog to your kitchen
The $50 Low-Carb Week
Seven days of low-carb meals for two adults, from one real $50 grocery order — every price on the page.
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