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Chicken Enchilada Skillet

Updated October 13, 2025 / By Holly Erickson & Natalie Mortimer

Warm and bubbling from the oven, covered with melty cheese and loaded with chicken, this chicken enchilada skillet is as easy as it is delectable.
Skillet chicken enchiladas topped with melted cheese and fresh cilantro, a quick weeknight dinner
Photography by Gayle McLeod

Busy Nights Are No Match For This Crazy-Easy Chicken Enchilada Skillet Recipe

You cannot possibly show us an easier recipe than this one-pan chicken enchilada skillet dinner. It’s so fast, so simple, and so good that it feels almost impossible. But it really is this easy, and it really is this good. The only problem with this chicken enchilada skillet recipe—if you can call it a problem—is that everyone in your household will be begging you to make it all the time, and you might occasionally want to mix things up and eat other meals. But that’s a problem for another day. Tonight, we’re making the best chicken enchilada skillet ever, and making everyone happy in the process. With just over five minutes of prep time, this thing almost makes itself. You can whip it up on the busiest of evenings, and be feasting like kings just about 25 minutes later, digging your forks into the cheesy, chickeny, enchilada sauce-y skillet. For another easy enchilada dinner, try our creamy Green Chicken Enchiladas or Enchilada Casserole.

ingredients measured and prepped to make a quick and simple chicken enchilada skillet

Pantry Ingredients + Our Favorite Dinnertime Hack = Enchilada Skillet Perfection!

While it’s hard to pick a favorite dinnertime hack—because we love a great shortcut—using a store-bought rotisserie chicken is definitely up there. You just have to...buy it. And, well, that’s it! It’s seasoned, it’s cooked, it’s ready to roll. Our recipe calls for four cups of shredded chicken from a rotisserie chicken, and that should be roughly what you get from one chicken. If it’s a little more or a little less, that’s OK. The recipe will still work just fine. Here’s everything else you need to make chicken enchilada skillet:

  • Olive oil
  • Yellow onion, diced
  • Rotisserie chicken
  • Taco seasoning
  • Canned green mild green chilies
  • Canned red enchilada sauce
  • Corn tortillas
  • Shredded Mexican cheese blend
chicken, taco seasoning, green chilies and enchilada sauce in a skillet, to make a simple enchilada skillet
chicken, taco seasoning, green chilies, enchilada sauce and sliced corn tortillas stirred together in a skillet
chicken enchilada skillet topped with cheese ready to be finished in the oven
chicken enchilada skillet made with plenty of cheese, chicken, red enchilada sauce and corn tortillas fresh out of the oven

How To Make This One-Pan Chicken Enchilada Skillet Recipe

Doctored up with all the fixings—we love to serve this skillet dinner with sour cream, guacamole and salsa—this meal can stand alone. But if you’d like to bulk it up a little, serve it with Mexican rice and / or beans. Here’s how gosh darn easy it is to make it:

  1. Sauté the onions and add the chicken, taco seasoning, green chilies and enchilada sauce.
  2. Bring to a boil, then add the tortilla pieces and simmer for two minutes.
  3. Cover the whole thing with cheese and bake til you just can’t take it anymore! About 25 minutes.
Skillet chicken enchiladas topped with melted cheese and fresh cilantro, a easy weeknight dinner

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Skillet chicken enchiladas topped with melted cheese and fresh cilantro, a easy weeknight dinner
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Enchilada Night, In 30 Minutes!

When dinner is as easy as this skillet chicken enchilada recipe makes it, everybody’s happier. It leaves lots of time for other things, like homework and game night and arguing about what movie you want to watch for movie night. Which is sometimes what you need dinner to be! If you make this recipe, let us know how you like it! Share a photo and tag us on Instagram using @themodernproper and #themodernproper so that we can see your stuff!

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Skillet chicken enchiladas topped with melted cheese and fresh cilantro, a quick weeknight dinner

Chicken Enchilada Skillet Recipe

  • Serves:  6
  • Prep Time:  15 min
  • Cook Time:  35 min
  • Calories:  445

Description

We love this Chicken Enchilada Skillet! All the flavors of enchiladas in one easy pan - shredded chicken, corn tortillas, green chilies & gooey melted cheese. Weeknight dinner perfection in just 50 minutes!

Print Recipe

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    Ingredients

    • 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
    • 1 small yellow onion, diced
    • 4 cups cooked shredded chicken
    • 1 tablespoon taco seasoning, homemade or store bought
    • 1 (4-ounce) can diced green chilies
    • 1 (19-ounce) can red enchilada sauce
    • 8 (6-inch) corn tortillas, cut into 1 x 3-inch strips
    • 2 cups shredded Mexican blend cheese
    • Fresh cilantro leaves, for serving (optional)
    • Sour cream, for serving (optional)

    Method

    1. Preheat the oven to 350°F with a rack in the center position.

      ingredients measured and prepped to make a quick and simple chicken enchilada skillet
    2. Heat the olive oil in a large ovenproof skillet over medium heat. Once the oil is glistening, add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened and translucent, about 5 minutes.

      chicken, taco seasoning, green chilies and enchilada sauce in a skillet, to make a simple enchilada skillet
    3. Add the chicken, taco seasoning, green chilies, and enchilada sauce and stir to combine. Add the tortilla strips. Increase the heat to high and bring to a boil, then reduce and allow to simmer, stirring often, until the tortilla strips are softened, about 2 minutes. Separate the tortilla strips as best as possible. Remove the skillet from the heat. 

      chicken, taco seasoning, green chilies, enchilada sauce and sliced corn tortillas stirred together in a skillet
    4. Top with the cheese and bake until the cheese is melted and the sauce is bubbling, about 25 minutes.

      chicken enchilada skillet topped with cheese ready to be finished in the oven
    5. Top with cilantro and sour cream, if desired, and serve. 

      Skillet chicken enchiladas topped with melted cheese and fresh cilantro, a easy weeknight dinner

    Nutrition Info

    • Per Serving
    • Amount
    • Calories 445
    • Protein 25 g
    • Carbohydrates 36 g
    • Total Fat 17 g
    • Dietary Fiber 4 g
    • Cholesterol 104 mg
    • Sodium 335 mg
    • Total Sugars 5 g

    Chicken Enchilada Skillet

    Questions & Reviews

    Rated 5 stars by 9 readers

    or
    • Rachel

      Could you make this with ground beef?

      Sure!

    • Eva

      Is the chicken already cooked like remains of oven cooked chicken. ?

      Yes, cooked shredded chicken. You can click the shredded chicken link in the ingredient list and follow those instructions or use shredded rotisserie chicken would work as well. Basically just cooked chicken breast, shredded. Hope you enjoy!

    • ML

      I need a larger amount for a party. How does the recipe change for a 13” x 9” casserole dish?

      I would personally do a 1 1/2 times recipe in a 9x13. So depending on how much you need to make, you might need two 9x13s. You will have to make on the stovetop in a skillet and then transfer to a baking dish before baking.

    • Christine

      Hi. Can you recommend which enchiladas sauce? I can’t find red sauce anywhere. I wonder if there is a shortage?

      Sorry to hear you can't find any! Hatch, La Victoria & Old El Paso all make some. You could try amazon? Hope you can find some! This would also be delicious with green enchilada sauce if you can find that. Good luck Christine!

    • Cam

      Could you freeze this after cooking? Looking for make ahead meals.

      Definitely!

    • M

      Is it 330 calories for entire skillet or 330 for 1 of 6 servings?

      Per serving.

    • Jennifer

      Would this work with flour tortillas? I am not always a fan of corn….

      Yes, Jennifer. That should work fine! We hope you enjoy!

    • annamarie

      this is a great recipe, but tastes better when you make your own red sauce...many canned or bottled sauce is just too salty and full of artificial ingredients.

      Glad you like it Annamarie, by all means if you have homemade sauce, use that delicious stuff! Yum!

    • Anna

      Weird question but is the baking part only to melt the cheese? Would melting it with a lid on the stove work? Asking because my oven is broken.

      Sure that would work. Baking it also reduces the sauce a little more, but I think it would still work!

    • Anne

      Any idea how to make the chicken enchilada skillet vegetarian?

      Hi! Simply replace the chicken with vegetables raw vegetables cut into 1 inch pieces. I would recommend a combination of zucchini, yellow squash and or mushrooms so they will be nice and tender with the short cook time.

    • Emily

      5-star rating

      These ladies never miss! So quick and easy and the leftovers are just as good! I usually add a can of drained black beans and an undrained can of fire roasted tomatoes. I bet corn would be great too! Their recipes come together so quick and can usually be made with stuff already in your house.

      Thanks Emily, we are so glad you loved it!

    • Debbie

      5-star rating

      We loved it! So quick and easy. My husband raves about it! Great when time is short. I used ground turkey breast to try it and it was good too!

      Thanks Debbie, we are so happy you both enjoyed it!

    • Emily

      5-star rating

      I made this last night and it was so good! I made my own enchilada sauce, Cookie + Katie has a great one that’s super easy. I made my own taco seasoning like suggested, used rotisserie chicken and added black beans and black olives. Next time I’ll add fire roasted corn. You know it’s good when your partner takes a first bite and all you hear is him moaning, “that’s good”.

      HAHA! So glad you both enjoyed it!

    • Hannah

      5-star rating

      WOW! This is so delicious and so so easy to make. I didn’t have a rotisserie chicken, so I just boiled 3 breasts and shredded them instead. This will for sure be in our weekly rotation of meals!

      This is so great to hear Hannah! We are so glad you love it and will be adding it to your rotation. Thanks so much for trying it out and letting us know how it went!

    • Kay

      5-star rating

      I love this recipe so much. I make this meal probably every 2 weeks from memory. It’s easy and fast and so comforting. Yummy! I use poached chicken or rotisserie depending on what I have. So good!

      Thank you Kay! We are so happy that you love it so much. Love to hear you have it memorized!

    • Alyssa

      5-star rating

      This was great! We added frozen corn when cooking the veggies and everyone was happy with leftovers

      great idea!

    • Pat

      5-star rating

      This was absolutely delicious. I paired it with a guacamole salad from Ina Garten (Barefoot Contessa) and it was a perfect dinner.

      Yum! Thank you Pat for sharing, your dinner sounds incredible!

    • keriche

      5-star rating

      So delicious and way easier than a pan of enchiladas!

      Yay! We agree!

    • Mariana

      5-star rating

      My husband and I made this for dinner and it was delicious, we’ll definitely be making it again. I was worried it would be a little heavy but that wasn’t the case. We served it with sour cream, guacamole and chips and it was delicious.