Cheesy Ground Chicken and Rice Enchiladas

A simple recipe for cheesy enchiladas filled with a super flavorful ground chicken and rice combo. You can have these chicken enchiladas on the table in under an hour and with virtually no veggies, they’re picky eater approved. And as the header notes, they are kinda healthy with 24 grams of protein and just 31 grams of carbs and 310 calories per big ol’ enchilada.

You’ll find a visual recipe walkthrough below with ingredient and substitution notes. And if you’re feelin’ confident, there’s a printable recipe card at the bottom of the post. Just bounce back up to the post if you have a question. I bet I’ve answered it!

Cook ground chicken with taco seasoning.

The recipe calls for the same homemade taco seasoning I used for my Ninja Foodi ground beef and rice casserole. And like I mentioned in that recipe, you can definitely get away with substituting the dry spices for a packet of taco seasoning. No judgement here!

And this is a good point to say you could certainly use ground beef or ground turkey in place of the chicken if you wanted. Or if you want a shredded chicken option, check out my slow cooker chicken enchilada casserole.

Add enchilada sauce and lime juice to the cooked ground chicken.

Like the ground beef and rice casserole, the lime juice is still incorporated. But enchilada sauce takes the place of tomato paste like I mentioned in the substitution notes.

Using enchilada sauce here makes the math work out perfectly so you’re not left with a nearly empty bottle of enchilada sauce. I used the same Trader Joe’s enchilada sauce I used for my baked beef tacos and baked taquitos. For comparing other sauces, 1/4 cup of the TJ’s sauce has 30 calories.

If you don’t have limes handy, the recipe will work without the lime juice.

Add chicken broth and your choice of rice.

You could use instant rice in place of the Right Rice if that’s all you have on hand. You’ll want to go with equal amounts of dry rice—1 1/3 cup. There’s also the option of skipping the broth and using pre-cooked rice or cauliflower rice (or both) like in my Tex-Mex ground beef and rice skillet.

If you want to use Right Rice, they have a store finder, or you can buy it on Amazon. Banza, my go-to impasta maker, also has a chickpea rice product that I’ve yet to try.

Cook for 6-8 minutes, stirring occasionally. 

Stir every now and then to avoid burning. If you experience sticking/burning before the rice has finished cooking, reduce the heat to low.

It’s also worth mentioning that if you use a different type of rice, cook time may vary slightly.

Assemble the enchiladas and bake for 25-35 minutes in a 350ºF oven. 

Coat the bottom of a baking dish with 1/2 cup of enchilada sauce, fill the tortillas, pour the remaining ground chicken and rice over the top, pour over the remaining enchilada sauce, and top with shredded cheese. That’s it!

I used a 1/4 cup measuring cup to fill eight 6″ tortillas. As you can see from the photos above, I went the partially filled, partially smothered enchiladas route. You’d be surprised how everything holds together in the finished product.

I’ve also included the weight for an individual serving so you can be sure to scoop out any straggling ground chicken and rice with each serving. That said, you could use a larger baking dish and more tortillas if you wanted to use all the ground chicken and rice as filling.

Note: If you want to skip the baking dish, you might consider making something like my Tex Mex skillet enchiladas. Cheese filled tortillas are nestled in the meat filling and topped with extra cheese.  

Tortilla Notes

I used the same Carb Balance tortillas from my black bean and corn quesadillas. They have great macros for a flour tortilla. If you wanted another option, check out the Cut da Carb flatbreads I used for my creamy chicken enchiladas or the corn and flour blend tortillas from my green chile ground turkey enchiladas.

And that’s that. Top with a little cilantro, fat free Greek yogurt, and you’re ready to rock.

You may not have the space for extra carbs, but I feel like I have to at least mention my Mexican potatoes recipe as a potential pairing!

If you have a question about these ground chicken and rice enchiladas I missed, leave a comment at the bottom of the post. And when you make (and love) them, I appreciate recipe reviews. Bone apple tea!