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Instant Pot Chicken Enchiladas with cream cheese and salsa verde shredded chicken in homemade sauce is an easy chicken enchilada recipe everyone loves. This delicious dinner is a family favorite and a great recipe to make ahead of time.
Table of Contents
My easy chicken enchilada recipe with homemade enchilada sauce starts out with one of our favorite Instant Pot recipes — salsa verde chicken. I use the shredded chicken for tacos, burrito bowls, salads and — enchiladas!
I used to make enchiladas with rotisserie chicken or baked chicken, but making the shredded chicken in an electric pressure cooker is easier and tastier. The chicken gets infused with wonderful flavors from spices and salsa verde, which turns into delicious homemade sauce.
And as a bonus, you get tender chicken that doesn’t dry out!
These creamy chicken enchiladas with cream cheese are similar to white chicken enchiladas, except they’re not cooked in a cream sauce. So, they’re a little lighter and tangier but not as spicy as traditional enchiladas in red sauce.
My family actually prefers these salsa verde chicken enchiladas or green chicken enchiladas over red sauce. They seriously think that these are the best chicken enchiladas ever. In fact, it’s now one of our favorite Instant Pot dinner recipes!
Ingredients
You only need a few simple ingredients for this Instant Pot enchilada recipe. You can find them in your grocery store.
- Olive oil or cooking spray
- Boneless skinless chicken breasts (about 1.5 pounds)
- Cream cheese
- Flour tortillas
- Cheese — Monterey Jack cheese and Mexican blend cheese
- Salsa verde
- Seasonings — garlic powder, cumin, smoked paprika, cayenne pepper or taco seasoning
How to Make Easy Instant Pot Chicken Enchiladas
First, you season and cook the chicken with salsa verde in your Instant Pot on manual high pressure. Allow a natural release for 10 minutes, then a quick pressure release for the remaining pressure.
Next, you remove the chicken and shred it — Keep the pieces on the big side, though. And, then you mix in some cream cheese.
Then, you spread some of the cooking liquid on a tortilla, place some of the cream cheese and chicken mixture in the middle, and top it with Monterey Jack cheese.
Roll the tortilla up, place it seam-side-down in a baking dish with some of the enchilada sauce on the bottom, and repeat the process.
If you’re making 12 enchiladas at once, you’ll have to divide the cooking liquid between two baking pans.
Pour the remaining cooking liquid over the pressure cooker chicken enchiladas, top with the remaining cheese, and bake!
Cook Time
Bake the enchiladas in a preheated 350 degrees f oven for 20 to 25 minutes. When done, the cheese should be melted and the sauce should be hot and bubbly.
Total cooking time is around 1 hour or so, including the pressure cooking process.
I like to add some cheddar or Mexican blend shredded cheese over the top before the enchiladas are done baking.
It’s optional, but it gives the dish a little more color, and you can’t go wrong with more cheese!
Actually, you can use as much cheese as you want in this recipe — no judging, here!
Let the enchiladas rest for about 5 minutes before serving. Then, use your favorite toppings to liven things up!
Serve them with sour cream, salsa verde, pico de gallo, diced tomatoes, avocados, radishes, black beans or refried beans — no rules here!
How to Store and Reheat
This pressure cooker chicken enchilada recipe makes enough for 12 enchiladas, which might be a lot for some of you. You can also use the extra chicken for something else, or you can make 6 completely stuffed enchiladas!
You can prepare and refrigerate one pan for later. Just keep the enchiladas in an airtight container or in a baking dish that is covered with plastic wrap or aluminum foil and use within 3 days.
Freeze in an airtight container for up to 3 months for best flavor. Just allow the frozen enchiladas to thaw in the fridge before baking.
Leftover chicken enchiladas are awesome – I may or may not had one for breakfast! Keep leftovers in an airtight container for up to 4 days. Reheat in the oven or microwave until steaming.
Frequently Asked Questions
Corn tortillas are probably more popular, and some may say more authentic. However, Sonoran-style food is prevalent here in Phoenix, and flour tortillas are commonly used for enchiladas. My family also prefers flour tortillas, but you can use whichever kind of tortilla you like best.
Yes, you can use green enchilada sauce instead of making homemade sauce from salsa verde. If the sauce is very thick, you may need to thin it with water or broth before pressure cooking.
Variations
There are a few different ways to customize your instant pot enchiladas.
Use your cheese of choice. I personally think that Monterey jack works best, but cheddar cheese will work just as fine.
Add hatch green chiles. They’re a great way to add a smoky flavor!
Substitute sour cream for cream cheese.
If you don’t have a pressure cooker, you can make shredded chicken in green sauce in a slow cooker.
Creamy Instant Pot Chicken Enchiladas
Ingredients
for the chicken
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts (about 1.5 pounds)
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- .5 teaspoon smoked paprika
- .5 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1 16 ounce jar salsa verde ( I use Herdez)
for the enchiladas
- 4 ounces softened cream cheese
- 12 medium flour tortillas
- 6 cups shredded Monterey Jack cheese
- 2 cups shredded Mexican blend cheese (optional)
- extra salsa verde (optional)
Instructions
- Add the olive oil to the bottom of the Instant Pot, and add the chicken
- Season the chicken with the sea salt, cumin, garlic powder, smoked paprika and cayenne pepper
- Pour the salsa verde over chicken, and mix slightly to make sure chicken is evenly covered
- Place lid on Instant Pot, set sealing valve to SEALING position, and hit PRESSURE COOK, or manual, for 10 minutes. (Pot will say ON as it comes to pressure, then begin counting down at 10 minutes)
- After 10 minutes of cooking, do a natural release for 10 minutes, then hit CANCEL and do a quick release until pin drops
- Open pot, and remove chicken to a large bowl. Pour the cooking liquid into another bowl. Use a hand mixer to shred the chicken slightly. You want the chicken cut into small chunks instead of finely shredded. Or shred with 2 forks.
- Mix the cream cheese into the chicken
for the enchiladas
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees
- Place a tortilla on a plate, and brush or spread about 2 teaspoons cooking liquid onto tortilla
- Place about 1/3 to 1/2 cup of cooking liquid into a greased baking dish (casserole pan)
- Place about 1/4 cup of chicken in a line in center of tortilla, and top with some shredded monterey jack cheese
- Roll one end of tortilla over the filling, and form enchilada. Place enchilada, seam side down, into baking dish. Repeat process until all tortillas are made, and pans are full
- Spread about 2 cups of cooking liquid over enchiladas, and sprinkle 1 cup of monterey jack cheese over enchiladas
- Bake for 20 minutes or until enchiladas are heated through and bubbly, then add Mexican blend cheese or more monterey jack cheese, if desired, and bake until cheese is melted
- Remove from oven, and let stand for about 5 minutes before serving — This makes it easier to remove from the dish
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
I hope you enjoy this instant pot chicken enchiladas recipe as much as we do! It’s a great quick weeknight meal and definitely a family favorite dinner.
If you love enchiladas, try my Instant Pot chicken enchilada soup or Instant Pot chicken enchilada pasta. For more shredded chicken recipes, try Instant Pot Buffalo Chicken Dip or visit the Instant Pot recipes archive.
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I made these for dinner last night and we LOVED them! I used chicken breast tenderloins and flour tortillas because that’s what I already had on hand and these were cooked perfectly in the instant pot. I’m definitely adding this recipe to our regularly made weekly dinners as they were a big hit!
Thank you so much for the wonderful review. Glad you liked the enchiladas!
Hi, what size of pan do you use for this? 2 9×13 pans?
I usually use 2 9 x 13 inch pans.
LOVE LOVE LOVE THESE! We have them all the time. I want to make them for a dinner party. Can I make ahead all the way to rolling them up and placing in baking tray – and then refrigerate? Would I still just heat in oven for 20 minutes once we’re ready to eat?
Thanks, Anne! I’m so glad you like the enchiladas! You can definitely make them ahead of time. I can’t say for sure how long they would take to heat up since they will be cold from being refrigerated, but 20 to 30 minutes should be about right.
This has become my daughter’s favorite dinner thank u
Loved them, are a new staple at our house great snack when they get home from football practice before dinner thanks for the recipe you made me the very popular for this week.
So glad you like the enchiladas. Thanks for taking the time to comment!
These are amazing! Even my extremely picky mother went crazy over them. I made homemade pico de gallo and guacamole to put on as well and it made them even better. Thanks for the recipe! Definitely a keeper!
Thank you for the wonderful review, Sam! So glad you both liked them!
Is this recipe able to be frozen for future dinners?
Yes — just don’t bake them. Wrap them up, freeze and bake when you’re ready. 🙂
These look amazing! We love enchiladas but I’ve never thought of using an instant pot for the chicken. Can frozen chicken breasts be used? How would I adjust the cooking time? Thanks!
It depends on how thick the chicken is, but I usually cook frozen for 20 minutes.