This easy Sour Cream Enchilada Sauce recipe is a family favorite. The flavorful creamy white sauce makes the best sour cream chicken enchiladas. All you need is a handful of simple ingredients to make homemade enchilada sauce that tastes way better than anything you can buy at the grocery store.
My family loves Mexican food. The waiters at our favorite local Mexican restaurant know our order by heart. For me, it's always enchiladas. I love enchiladas with spicy red sauce or a bright and tangy green sauce. But my all-time favorite is this rich homemade creamy white enchilada sauce.
With only a handful of basic ingredients, this easy recipe for sour cream enchilada sauce has tons of flavor. Made with rich sour cream, buttery Monterey jack cheese and lots of mild green chiles, this delicious sauce comes together in only 15 minutes. It is perfect for a weeknight chicken enchilada casserole with black beans and rotisserie chicken. Serve it with some instant pot Mexican rice for what is sure to become one of your favorite at-home Tex Mex meals.
You Will Love This
- This amazing sour cream sauce is perfect for creamy chicken enchiladas with leftover chicken for a quick and easy weeknight meal.
- This creamy sauce is mild but flavorful - it's a great recipe for the whole family, even little kids.
- This sauce is made with all whole food ingredients (no cream of chicken soup), and is gluten free because it's thickened with a cornstarch slurry instead of a traditional butter and flour roux.
Ingredients
For this easy enchilada sauce recipe, you will need the following (exact measurements are in the recipe card below):
- Chicken stock: I recommend full-flavor chicken stock for this recipe, not reduced sodium.
- Garlic powder
- Onion powder
- Kosher salt
- Sour Cream: I used regular full-fat sour cream, but you could also use light sour cream.
- Corn starch: Using cornstarch instead of a butter and flour roux to thicken the sauce keeps it gluten free.
- Mild green chiles: You could substitute green salsa (salsa verde).
- Monterey Jack cheese: You could substitute pepper jack cheese for a slightly spicier sauce. Whichever cheese you use, make sure that you grate your own cheese. Pre-grated cheese contains an anti-caking agent that prevents it from melting properly, and it can cause your sauce to be gritty.
Make it your own
- This sauce can be used on way more than enchiladas. Drizzle it over some homemade nachos, on tacos, or over your burrito bowl.
- If you leave the green chiles out, this becomes a super versatile plain sour cream sauce. You can serve it over meatballs, chicken cordon bleu, baked potatoes, and all other manner of dishes!
Instructions
Step One: Grate your fresh cheese and set aside. Warm one cup of chicken stock (reserve ½ cup) in a large sauce pan over medium heat. Add the garlic powder and onion powder, and stir to combine. Bring the stock to a simmer.
Step Two: Reduce heat to low and add the sour cream. You don't want the pot to be too hot when adding the sour cream, or it could curdle. Stir for 2-3 minutes until the sour cream is well combined in the sauce. Let it come back up to a low simmer.
Step Three: In a small bowl, combine the reserved chicken broth with the cornstarch and whisk until no lumps remain to create a slurry. Slowly pour the slurry into the simmering sauce, stirring constantly for about 2-3 minutes until the sauce has thickened.
Step Four: When the sauce is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon, stir in the green chilis. Add the cheese, and stir it in until fully melted. If you feel the sauce is too thick, whisk in a little bit more chicken stock or water. Season the sauce with salt to taste.
Step Five: Use this sauce to make my sour cream chicken enchilada casserole! Or use it to make traditional rolled up white chicken enchiladas. Just fill flour tortillas (or corn tortillas for a gluten free option) with cooked shredded chicken breast, black beans and any other fillings you like, and roll them up. Place seam side down in a large casserole dish. Pour sauce over the top, and bake at 350 degrees F for 20-30 minutes. Oh so easy!!
Storage
Store extra sauce in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 2-3 days. The sauce will thicken substantially in the refrigerator. You can thin it out by warming it back up on the stove top over low heat and slowly whisking in a little water or chicken stock if it needs it.
Recipe
Sour Cream Enchilada Sauce
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups chicken stock divided
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon onion powder
- 1 cup sour cream
- 1 ½ tablespoons cornstarch
- 1 4 ounce can mild green chiles
- ½ cup Monterey Jack cheese
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
Instructions
- Grate your fresh cheese and set aside. Warm one cup of chicken stock (reserve ½ cup) in a large sauce pan over medium heat. Add the garlic powder and onion powder, and stir to combine. Bring the stock to a simmer.
- Reduce heat to low and add the sour cream. You don't want the pot to be too hot when adding the sour cream, or it could curdle. Stir for 2-3 minutes until the sour cream is well combined in the sauce. Let it come back up to a low simmer.
- In a small bowl, combine the reserved chicken broth with the cornstarch and whisk until no lumps remain to create a slurry. Slowly pour the slurry into the simmering sauce, stirring constantly for about 2-3 minutes until the sauce has thickened.
- When the sauce is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon, stir in the green chilis. Add the cheese, and stir it in until fully melted. If you feel the sauce is too thick, whisk in a little bit more chicken stock or water. Season the sauce with salt to taste.
- Use this sauce to make my sour cream chicken enchilada casserole! Or use it to make traditional rolled-up white chicken enchiladas. Just fill flour tortillas (or corn tortillas for a gluten-free option) with cooked shredded chicken breast, black beans, and any other fillings you like, and roll them up. Place seam side down in a large casserole dish. Pour sauce over the top, and bake at 350 degrees F for 20-30 minutes. Oh so easy!!
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