Chicken Enchiladas with Pumpkin Sauce

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

Chicken Enchiladas with Pumpkin Sauce

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!

Ingredients for chicken enchiladas

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…

making enchiladas with cotija cheese, corn, and shredded chicken

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!

Chicken enchiladas with pumpkin sauce in a casserole dish before baking

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.

fork taking apart a chicken enchilada

What is the best way to cook a pumpkin so I can make homemade pumpkin puree?

Sometimes roasting whole pieces of pumpkin can seem a bit overwhelming and a turn-off, probably from the sheer size of the ingredient, the time it takes, plus the convenience and affordability of the canned products. But don’t fret, it’s totally simple and doable! The best pumpkins for making puree are small dark orange-fleshed sugar pumpkins, which are sweeter once cooked; a 4-pound pumpkin yields about 1 ½ cups of mash. Once you’ve trimmed the stem, cut the pumpkin in half, removed the seeds, then further cut the pumpkin into smaller pieces, seasoned with oil and salt. All you need is some patience. Roast the pumpkins at 400°F for about 40 to 50 minutes (the skin will peel off easily after cooking) and you are set to make any pumpkin recipe your heart desires! Check out this easy tutorial video by Food52 on how to prep a whole pumpkin.

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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.
5 from 11 votes
Prep Time30 minutes
Cook Time45 minutes
Total Time1 hour 15 minutes
Servings 8 servings
Course Entree
Cuisine Mexican

Ingredients  

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

Nutrition Facts
Chicken Enchiladas with Pumpkin Sauce
Amount per Serving
Calories
333
% Daily Value*
Fat
 
13
g
20
%
Saturated Fat
 
5
g
25
%
Trans Fat
 
0.02
g
Polyunsaturated Fat
 
1
g
Monounsaturated Fat
 
5
g
Cholesterol
 
71
mg
24
%
Sodium
 
968
mg
40
%
Potassium
 
450
mg
13
%
Carbohydrates
 
24
g
8
%
Fiber
 
5
g
20
%
Sugar
 
7
g
8
%
Protein
 
29
g
58
%
Vitamin A
 
8450
IU
169
%
Vitamin C
 
48.7
mg
59
%
Calcium
 
180
mg
18
%
Iron
 
2
mg
11
%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

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Jessica Gavin

I'm a culinary school graduate, cookbook author, and a mom who loves croissants! My passion is creating recipes and sharing the science behind cooking to help you gain confidence in the kitchen.

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Reader Interactions

9 Comments Leave a comment or review

  1. APRIL CENORA says

    Hi Jessica & Jason –

    I love reading all of you recipes and this one tops the charts. I would like to offer a suggestion. I love when there is text of the dishes name included on one photo. that way if I pin it then i automatically know what the dish is and they stand and make it more apealing to the eye.

    keep up the yummy work!

    • Jessica Gavin says

      Hi April, Thanks for checking out my website! That is a great suggestion and something Jason and I have actually been discussing recently. I hope to sprinkle in a few of those types of photos soon. 🙂

  2. Maria Koury says

    We tried the pumpkin sauce on our vegan enchiladas here at the office, and instead of chicken broth, just water (although i guess we could have used vegetable broth), but regardless, it was sooooooo delicious!

    I actually plan on making my chicken enchiladas at home and having this sauce as my “salsa” topping… I cant wait. great post.

    • Jessica Gavin says

      Hi Maria! I’m so glad you enjoyed the pumpkin sauce 🙂 Let me know how you like the chicken enchiladas. Happy cooking!

  3. Alyssa says

    I just made this last night and it was so good! I cooked the chicken in the crockpot with some broth during the day so it was pretty quick and easy to put together. The pumpkin sauce is AMAZING and I would probably just eat it as a soup. Thanks for a great fall recipe!

    • Jessica Gavin says

      That is a brilliant idea to cook the chicken in the crockpot Alyssa! So happy to hear that you enjoyed the recipe 🙂

      • Sheila Flores says

        Made these for dinner tonight and they were so flavorful and delicious! The pumpkin sauce was so good. The cream topping was amazing too. I used a rotisserie chicken to save time. I’ve been wanting to try this recipe and I’m so glad I did. Thanks so much ?

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