These Homemade Dairy Free Enchiladas have become a crowd favorite in our home! The creamy homemade cashew cheese sauce combined with the slow cooker shredded chicken, refried beans, black beans, and almond flour tortillas is oh so delicious. You can prepare this recipe in advance the morning of and bake it when you are ready to eat.
We are big Mexican foods fans in this house. We love a good taco Tuesday and all things spicy. If you are a big fan too, check out our other weeknight favorites like our Halibut Fish Tacos, Baja Shrimp Tacos, Buffalo Shrimp Tacos, Pineapple Pico De Gallo, Mexican Pickled Onions, and you cannot forget my favorite Gluten Free Coleslaw.
Why I Love This Recipe
- It is something that you can prepare ahead of time to cut down on the dinner time rush during weeknights for an easy dinner.
- These gluten free chicken enchiladas are a dish that everyone in the family can enjoy
- This recipe is naturally gluten free, dairy free, soy free, and paleo friendly.
- This is a great recipe to use to meal prep for your lunches for the week!
- Enchiladas are the best addition to your recipe rotation for Taco Tuesday’s!
Recipe Ingredients
- Chicken-You can use any kind of protein that you would like for this recipe! You can even make it without. You can use protein that you already have on hand or buy pre-made. Rotisserie chicken, homemade chicken breasts, ground beef, tofu or even ground turkey would work.
- Almond Flour Tortillas: Make sure to use burrito size. I prefer Whole Siete Foods grain free almond flour burrito tortillas, but feel free to use any gluten free tortillas brand you prefer.
- Dairy free “cream cheese”: I recommend Kite Hill cream cheese because it’s made from almond cream and so delicious. If you’re not dairy free, you can use regular cream cheese.
- Red Enchilada Sauce: This adds just the right kick of flavor. I like the Organic Hatch brand but you can also make your own homemade enchilada sauce or use the store-bought sauce of your choice.
- Fresh parsley-For taste.
- Garlic powder, salt, pepper-To taste.
- Eggs-To help hold everything together.
Vegan Cheese Ingredients
- Cashews-I like to soak my cashews overnight. This makes them much easier to blend.
- Lemon-To add some flavor.
- Olive oil & water-To get the cashew cheese smooth.
- Garlic and salt-For flavor.
- Garnishes-Green onions, lime juice, hot sauce, fresh cilantro, dairy free cheese, dairy free sour cream, nutritional yeast, vegan sour cream, or even green chilis.
See the recipe card below for a full list of ingredients and measurements.
Recipe Substitutions and Variations
- Almond flour tortillas – You can also use corn tortillas, make homemade tortillas, or even flour tortillas if you are not gluten free. You want to focus on making sure that they are burrito size for whichever version you use.
- Vegan Cheese – If you are not dairy free, you can use regular shredded cheese of your choice for this dish.
- Chicken – To make this recipe vegan enchiladas, you can replace the chicken with beans or tofu.
- Spice – For additional heat in your enchiladas, you can add chili powder to your chicken mixture.
- Vegetables – If you want additional nutrients, you can add sautéed bell peppers and onions to the mixture.
- Red Enchilada Sauce – If you do not like red enchilada sauce, your can swap with green enchilada sauce or salsa verde instead.
This recipe has not been tested with any other substitutions or variations. If you try something else out, please let me know how it turns out in the comments below!
Step by Step Instructions
Photo # 1: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Start by adding your vegan cheese, garlic powder, sea salt, black pepper, eggs, and shredded chicken to a bowl. Stir to combine. In a large casserole pan, add a layer of enchilada sauce to coat the bottom of the pan. Next, lay one of your tortillas flat and add a scoop of your chicken and cheese mixture to the tortillas.
Photo # 2: Roll your tortilla filled with enchilada mixture and place in the prepared baking dish seam side down. You will repeat until your casserole dish is filled with enchiladas. over the top of all of the enchiladas with your remaining enchilada sauce and ensure to spread across the top to prevent your enchiladas from burning. Cover your casserole dish with foil and place in the preheated oven for 20-30 minutes. Cooking temperature will depend on your oven.
Recipe Tips and Tricks
- Tip #1: To cut down on your preparation time, you can buy store bought shredded rotisserie chicken to use in this recipe. You could also pre-cook your chicken in a crockpot with chicken broth until cooked through and then place in a food processor, hand mixer, or stand mixer to shred.
- Tip #2: The edges of the tortillas will get crisp and brown if they are not covered in sauce wile they are baking.
- Tip #3: Make sure to keep the remaining enchilada sauce, this way when you are reheating or serving the enchiladas you have additional sauce for any that need it.
Recipe FAQs
You can use any type of chicken you prefer! Chicken thighs will hold their moisture better than chicken breast depending how they are prepared. You can also cut down on cook time by using Rotisserie chicken from the store. I like to make my chicken in the instant pot so that it stays moist and I don’t have to thaw the chicken ahead of time to make this easy chicken enchiladas recipe even simpler.
I love to add additional vegetables to the chicken mixture! Sweet potatoes would be a great addition as well as sautéed peppers and onions. You can also serve this with homemade pico de gallo or guacamole as well!
I love to pair any of my dinners with a side salad! They are always simple and versatile! This dish would also go well with some Spanish rice or cilantro lime rice.
Storage Instructions
- You can store your leftovers in an airtight container in your refrigerator for up to 5 days.
- You can pre-make this dish and store in the freezer in an airtight container for up to 2 months. When freezing I recommend placing a layer of plastic wrap before the foil to help assist with preventing freezer burn. I also recommend letting the frozen enchiladas come to room temperature before placing in the oven.
Other Dairy Free Dinners You Will Love
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Dairy Free Enchiladas
Equipment
- baking dish 6 by 12
- Large bowl
- Can opener
- hand held mixer
Ingredients
- 2 pounds chicken breast Pre-cooked
- 6 whole siete almond flour burritos This is my favorite grain free tortilla brand, feel free so sub them out for other tortillas.
- 16 ounces Kite Hill cream cheese This is equal to 2 containers. If you are not dairy free you can use regular cream cheese. I love this brand because it is made from almond cream and so delicious.
- 30 ounces enchilada sauce 2 cans
OPTIONAL:
- 6 ounces canned black olives
- guacamole
- fresh cilantro to garnish
- fresh chives
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Start by adding your vegan cheese, garlic powder, sea salt, black pepper, eggs, and shredded chicken to a bowl and stir combine.
- In a large casserole pan, add a layer of enchilada sauce to coat the bottom of the pan. Next, lay one of your tortillas flat and add a scoop of your chicken and cheese mixture to the tortillas.
- Roll your tortilla filled with enchilada mixture and place in the prepared baking dish seam side down. You will repeat until your casserole dish is filled with enchiladas. Cover the top of all of the enchiladas with your remaining enchilada sauce and ensure to spread across the top to prevent your enchiladas from burning.
- Cover your casserole dish with foil and place in the preheated oven for 20-30 minutes. Cooking temperature will depend on your oven.
Lori says
Easy, unique, and delicious! We love this here and love having leftovers as well.
Allianna Moximchalk says
Thanks for your review