Chicken Enchiladas with Pumpkin Sauce

Delicious savory chicken enchiladas with pumpkin sauce. The enchiladas are topped with a luscious green chili cream sauce and cotija cheese.

Oh man… I am so excited to share this recipe with you, it’s my new fall favorite and guaranteed to score you some high fives from the fam bam!  I’ve added pumpkin purée to as many sweet recipes that you could imagine, but this was my first time with a savory dish.

To my surprise, these chicken enchiladas with pumpkin sauce are my best dish so far! I seriously couldn’t wait to devour these amazing mini burritos the next day, and I wasn’t in the mood for sharing!

Chicken enchiladas have been one of my go-to meals to make for a crowd while on a budget. This worked especially well during those penny-pinching college days. I used to just grab a whole roasted chicken, canned red enchilada sauce, flour tortillas, and Mexican blend cheese and called it good.

Enchiladas are so simple and satisfying, but I wanted to make the sauce from scratch. Instead of the traditional red or green chili sauce, even though it may sound strange, I thought a pumpkin sauce may be a nice way to switch up. Oh yes, it was divine, and I’ll tell you why…

To create a super smooth velvety sauce I used pumpkin puree, just like the kind you would use for pies. To add a little heat I blended fresh jalapeños and whoa this made the sauce have the “oomph” it needed. A little chicken broth, cumin, and garlic gave the characteristic savory and smoky flavor every good enchilada sauce commands.

All of those ingredients combined gave the most incredible silky, creamy and just slightly sweet sauce and you honestly wouldn’t even know it was pumpkin unless I told you! The great thing is that pumpkin is naturally a good source of nutrients like vitamin A, vitamin C, and fiber, more than you would find in just chili’s. The pumpkin is already creamy on its own, so you don’t have to add heavy cream, making this an even healthier meal!

I wanted to make the filling just as tasty as the sauce, so I combined shredded poached chicken breasts (grilled would be even better), fire-roasted green chiles and fresh white corn. Each little bundle of goodness was wrapped in a corn tortilla that I heated directly on a gas burner for a few seconds to make the tortillas more flavorful from the charring and easier to roll.

I like to make a quick avocado cream sauce also to add on top of the enchiladas, which is simply a ripe avocado blended with some salsa verde and sour cream. Totally optional to make, but it brings some extra flavor for your taste buds.

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Chicken Enchiladas with Pumpkin Sauce

Delicious savory chicken enchiladas with pumpkin sauce. The enchiladas are topped with a luscious green chili cream sauce and cotija cheese.

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5 from 11 votes

Prep Time30 minutes mins

Cook Time45 minutes mins

Total Time1 hour hr 15 minutes mins

Servings 8 servings

Course Entree

Cuisine Mexican

Ingredients  

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Chicken Filling

• ▢ 3 cups chicken breasts, boneless, poached, and shredded
• ▢ 1 tablespoon olive oil
• ▢ 2 cloves garlic, minced
• ▢ 2 cups corn, fresh or canned
• ▢ 5 tablespoons green chilis, canned diced mild, 4 ounces
• ▢ 3 tablespoons green onions, thinly sliced

Avocado Cream Topping

• ▢ ½ avocado
• ▢ ¾ cup salsa verde, 7 ounces
• ▢ ¼ cup sour cream

Pumpkin Sauce

• ▢ 15 ounces pumpkin puree, 1 can
• ▢ 3 cloves garlic, peeled
• ▢ 1 jalapeno chili, quartered (remove ribs and seeds)
• ▢ ½ teaspoon cumin
• ▢ ¼ teaspoon black pepper
• ▢ 1 ½ teaspoons kosher salt
• ▢ 1 ½ cups chicken broth
• ▢ 1 cup water

Enchiladas

• ▢ 8 corn tortillas, or flour tortillas (about 6-inch round)
• ▢ 1 ½ cups monterey jack cheese, grated, 6 ounces
• ▢ cotija cheese, as needed for garnish
• ▢ cilantro leaves, as needed for garnish
• ▢ 1 tablespoon green onions, for garnish

Instructions 

Poached Chicken

• Place chicken in a pot just large enough to hold chicken breast halves and add enough water to cover by 1-inch.
• Bring just to a simmer over medium-high heat where bubbles start forming around the edge of the pot. Reduce to medium-low to keep the temperature constant, about 170 to 180°F. Cook until the center of the meat reaches 160°F, about 15 to 18 minutes.
• Transfer the chicken to a plate, cover with plastic wrap, and let them cool in the refrigerator. Once cool, shred and reserve.

Chicken Filling

• Preheat oven to 425°F.
• In a large sauté pan heat olive oil over medium heat. Add minced garlic and stir for 30 seconds until fragrant. Add corn and sauté until cooked through or warmed for canned corn, stirring frequently. Add the diced chili’s, and stir to combine. Add the shredded cooked chicken and 3 tablespoons sliced green onions, stir to combine. Reserve until ready to fill the enchiladas.

Avocado Cream Topping

• In a blender, puree avocado, salsa verde, and sour cream until smooth. Refrigerate until ready to use.

Pumpkin Sauce

• In a blender, puree pumpkin, garlic cloves, jalapeno, cumin, black pepper, salt, chicken broth, and water until smooth. Pour 1 cup of sauce in the bottom of a baking dish.

Assembly

• Lay tortillas on work surface; mound chicken mixture on half of each tortilla and dividing evenly, about ⅓ cup of filling. Roll up tortillas; place seam-side down in the baking dish.
• Pour remaining sauce on top; sprinkle with cheese. Place dish on a baking sheet; bake until cheese is golden and sauce is bubbling, 25 to 30 minutes.
• Let the dish cool for 5 minutes before serving. Garnish with 1 tablespoon green onions, cilantro, and cotija cheese. Serve with avocado cream topping.

Recipe Video

Equipment

• 2-3 qt. Saucepan
• Instant-Read Thermometer
• Saute Pan
• Countertop Blender
• 8-Inch Baking Dish