Slow cooker chicken enchiladas are packed with honey lime flavor and could not be easier to make. Prep your honey lime chicken enchiladas in the morning and assemble them later for dinner.
Making meal prep dinners is one of our favorite things to do around here because the convenience is unmatchable. But when the meal you prep is as tasty as these honey lime enchiladas, you really have something great to look forward to.
What really sets these salsa verde enchiladas apart from the rest is the sauce. Combining heavy cream, salsa verde, and lime zest is all you have to do to make it and it’s so creamy and perfect that you’ll want to eat it straight out of the bowl with a spoon, (or your fingers). I really can’t say enough good things about this tasty recipe.
Why You’ll Love Honey Lime Enchiladas
- They’re super easy to make! While I love everything about these slow cooker chicken enchiladas, I really love how easy they are to make. Enchiladas can sometimes seem complicated to make but using a slow cooker or crock pot to cook the filling and the easy sauce simplifies this recipe in a beautiful way.
- The leftovers taste great. We normally aren’t big on eating leftovers unless we have to, but this is a recipe that has us setting aside tomorrow’s lunch before it hits the dinner table, they’re just too good.
- There’s a harmonious balance of flavors. The honey lime chicken filling is the perfect balance of sweet from the honey and tangy from the lime juice. Paired with the sauce, it’s the perfect combination of sweet, tangy, and spicy! Everything an easy chicken enchilada should be.
Ingredients for Salsa Verde Enchiladas
For the Filling, You Will Need
- Boneless skinless chicken breasts
- Chicken broth
- Cumin
- Chili powder
- Salt
- Bay leaf
- Honey
- Lime juice
For the Sauce, You Will Need
- Salsa verde
- Heavy cream
- Lime zest
Additional Ingredients, You Will Need
- Flour tortillas
- Shredded cheese
For the exact amounts needed, please see the recipe card below.
How to Make Salsa Verde Chicken Enchiladas
Prepare the Filling
- Place your chicken, spices, and honey inside of the crockpot and cook for 4 hours on low heat.
- Remove the chicken and shred it into smaller pieces before returning to the slow cooker and adding lime juice. Stir to combine.
Prepare the Sauce
- In a bowl, whisk together the salsa verde, heavy cream, and lime zest until well combined.
Assemble Enchiladas
- First, spread some of that luscious sauce (about ½ cup) in the bottom of a 9×13 baking dish.
- Warm your flour tortillas in the microwave for about 10-15 seconds so that they are easier to roll.
- Fill each tortilla without ¼-⅓ cup of the sweet honey lime chicken meat.
- Roll the tortillas up and place them seam side down into your prepared baking dish, repeating until all of the chicken is gone or the baking dish is full of enchiladas.
- Pour the remaining sauce over the top of the enchiladas, spreading it out so that the enchiladas are evenly coated.
- Sprinkle cheese over the top. I like to keep my cheese a bit centered. It makes for a pretty presentation and lets the edges of the tortillas get a little crispy.
- After that, these crock pot chicken enchiladas are ready to bake and serve. Bake covered at 350 degrees F for 25 minutes, uncover, and then bake for another 5-10 minutes until the cheese is melted and bubbly.
- Serve warm and enjoy.
Cilantro Lime Rice or plain White Rice goes great with these Salsa Verde Enchiladas.
For these chicken enchiladas in salsa verde, you can use any cheese that you want to use, but I find that the best cheeses for this recipe are cheddar cheese, monetary jack, or even Colby jack. Cheeses melt better when you shred them by hand instead of buying them pre-shredded because pre-shredded cheese has an anti-caking ingredient that leaves them looking a little lumpy. You can use whichever you prefer.
You can use either one! Traditionally enchiladas are made with corn tortillas and I personally love corn tortillas (especially in my beef enchiladas recipe) but these salsa verde chicken enchiladas go great with flour tortillas because the texture is perfect with the flavors we have going on. You can use either one.
You do not need to cook flour tortillas before use but I do find that by heating them a little they become easier to roll and fill without breaking. Sometimes flour tortillas like to stick to each other in packaging and depending on their age they may crack when rolled, but warming tortillas makes them softer and easier to handle without breaking.
Slow Cooker Chicken Enchiladas {Honey Lime!}
Equipment
Ingredients
For the Filling
- 3 chicken breasts boneless, skinless (about 1 1/2 pounds total)
- 1/3 cup chicken broth
- 2 teaspoons cumin
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 bay leaf
- 3/4 cup honey
- Juice from 1 lime
For the Sauce
- 1 cup salsa verde
- 1 cup heavy cream
- zest from 1 lime
Additional Ingredients
- 8-10 flour tortillas I use 8 inch.
- 2 cups cheese shredded, montery jack, colby jack, or cheddar cheese.
Instructions
For the Filling
- Place chicken, spices and honey in the crock pot for 4 hours on low.
- Shred chicken and add lime juice, stir to combine.
For the Sauce
- Combine salsa verde, cream, and lime zest.
To Assemble
- Spread about 1/2 cup of the sauce in the bottom of a 9×13 pan.
- Warm the tortillas briefly in the microwave for 10-15 seconds.
- Fill with chicken mixture, for the size of tortillas I used (8 inch) it was about 1/4-1/3 cup for each tortilla.
- Place in filled tortillas in the pan, seam side down.
- Pour remaining sauce over the top, spreading it so each tortilla is coated.
- Top with cheese.
- Bake at 350 degrees F covered for 25 minutes. Uncover and bake 5-10 more until cheese is melted and bubbly.
Lexie Lopez says
When you say cream do you mean sour cream?
Alli says
Hi Lexie! No, it’s actually heavy cream. Thanks for the clarification! I’ll update the recipe card to be more specific.
Sammi Windley says
I love enchiladas but have always avoided making them because they seem so complicated, but this shows me that they aren’t!
Kim says
Made these last night and they were YUM! Cal and Sam gobbled them down. 🙂 I think we’ll be keeping this one around. 🙂
Alli says
YAY! I’m so glad the kidddos liked them. Abe loves them too!