These simple honey lime chicken enchiladas go together quickly, they taste amazing, and they make fabulous leftovers!
We are huge fans of enchiladas in our family. After you’ve tried these, you should also try these Traditional Red Enchiladas, Green Chili Enchiladas or these Easy Breakfast Enchiladas.
Honey Lime Chicken Enchiladas
We are big-time lovers of Spanish foods in my home, and enchiladas top our list of favorites! These honey and lime chicken enchiladas are a delicious twist on our classic favorite enchilada recipe that we make several times a year.
Once the chicken is cooked, these go together in just a few minutes. So, if you’re short on time, you can even do this ahead and save it in the fridge. The sauce goes together in a snap and it is the perfect accessory to the tender, moist chicken.
I like my cheese melted with just a hint of brownness, but my husband loves it when the cheese is crunchy and brown. I’ll let you decide how you like your cheese, but either way, these enchiladas are fantastic!
How To Make Honey & Lime Chicken Enchiladas
Prep – You’ll start by putting the two chicken breasts in a slow cooker. Using a small bowl, combine the honey, lime, garlic & chili powder and then pour it all over the chicken.
Cook Chicken – Cook the chicken on low for about 6 hours or on high for about 3 hours. Once the chicken is cooked, you’ll want to shred it. The chicken is pretty hot, so I like to use a pair of meat claws to shred it easily. If you prefer to use a pressure cooker, see the cooking tip below.
Pan Prep – Spread about a half a cup of the enchilada sauce in your baking pan and then spread it around.
Compile Enchiladas – Place about 1/4 cup of chicken in each flour tortilla and then sprinkle some inside each enchilada. Make sure to save some cheese to spread over the top of the enchiladas when you’re done. Roll up each enchilada tightly and then place it in the pan.
Green Sauce – Mix the green enchilada sauce, sour cream, milk and cumin in a separate bowl until it has blended together. Pour this delicious sauce over the chicken enchiladas. You’ll want to spread the sauce around so the tortillas are covered.
Bake – Sprinkle the remaining cheese over the top and then place it in the pan in the oven. Cook for about 25-30 minutes at 350 degrees F.
Recipe Tips, Shortcuts & Substitutions
Cheese – If you want your cheese melted (but not browned) sprinkle with remaining cheese during the last 5 minutes of bake time. Also, I prefer to shred a block of cheese rather than the pre-shredded version. I think it tastes better and melts better.
Cook The Chicken Faster – If you have a pressure cooker, you can cook your chicken in less than 30 minutes. Add chicken and marinade ingredients to pressure cooker and cook at high pressure for 10 minutes, then natural pressure release for 10 minutes.
Honey Substitute – If you have a dietary restriction with honey, you can substitute it with four tablespoons of agave. It will still be sweet and delicious!
Fresh Tortillas – I love using Homemade Tortillas when I make this recipe. If you don’t have time for that, Costco sells raw tortillas that you can heat up in about 2 minutes. They’re thinner than the store-bought kind and they taste ten times better!!!
More Mexican Recipes
- The Best Homemade Salsa Guaranteed
- Mexican Horchata Recipe
- Easiest Tamale Pie Recipe
- Delicious Homemade Alfajores
- Mexican Corn Salad
Don’t forget to leave us a comment below and let us know what you thought of these delicious honey lime enchiladas.
Honey Lime Chicken Enchiladas Recipe
Ingredients
- 5 Tbsp honey
- 5 Tbsp lime juice, freshly squeezed is best
- 1 tsp garlic powder, or 3-4 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 tsp chili powder
- 8 flour tortillas, about 8" each
- 2 chicken breasts, large
- 12 oz cheddar cheese, shredded
- 15 oz green enchilada sauce
- 1/2 cup whole milk
- 2 Tbsp sour cream, or plain greek yogurt
- 1/2 tsp cumin
Instructions
- Place chicken breasts in a slow cooker. Combine honey, lime, garlic & chili powder in a small bowl and then pour over the chicken. Cook on low 6 hours or on high for 3 hours. Shred the chicken when it is done cooking.
- Preheat oven to 350.
- Place 1/2 cup enchilada sauce in a 9x13 pan.
- Add about 1/4 cup chicken to each tortilla.
- Sprinkle chicken with cheese (save some for the top), roll each tortilla tightly, and place in prepared pan.
- Add remaining enchilada sauce, milk, sour cream and cumin to remaining marinade. Combine and pour over enchiladas.
- If you want your cheese browned and crispy, sprinkle remaining cheese before placing in oven. If you want your cheese melted {but not browned} sprinkle with remaining cheese during the last 5 minutes of bake time.
- Bake for 25-30 minutes.
Notes
Nutrition
Other Notes
ENJOY!
This post originally published in May 2014.
Can this be put together ahead of time and refrigerated to be put in the oven later?
Hi Christi,
I’ve never refrigerated it before it goes in the oven, but I imagine it would work great. If you are worried about the tortillas holding up, make everything up until you pour the sauce on the enchiladas. Then just pour it on before it goes in the oven. Let me know how it goes!
I adore this recipe! I didn’t even know the made uncooked tortillas until this, so yummy! I used greek yogurt and 2% milk and maybe a bit less cheese to cut some fat and it was still delish!! Thanks for posting! Oh, also I used a green enchalada sauce that comes in a pouch by some chef (Zworykin I can’t remember the name), super good too!
So glad you loved it, it’s one of our favorites! Your changes sound great, I love a versatile recipe!!
We love the uncooked tortillas too! They are so much better!! 🙂
Seriously! We’ve become tortilla snobs because of these. 🙂 I just discovered the uncooked corn tortillas last week. We are eating everything taco style this week!
Sounds yummy! Thanks for figuring out my cinco de mayo meal for me! 😉
Hope you love them as much as we do! 🙂