Clean Eating White Chicken Enchilada Casserole

This clean eatin’ gluten-free white chicken enchilada casserole is made with non-GMO corn tortillas, goat’s milk pepper jack cheese, goat’s milk yogurt and Hatch green chiles!  Super simple and delicious.

Gluten-Free White Chicken Enchilada Casserole

I love white chicken enchiladas!  It would be kinda weird if you didn’t.  Just sayin’ …

That combo of the cheese and chicken smothered in a rich sour cream and green chile sauce.  Definitely a comfort food favorite.  

I miss it.  So since discovering all the ways goat’s milk has brought joy back into my life, I turned it into a casserole.  A casserole is easier because the corn tortillas we like don’t really bend that easily.  Plus I can make a large batch of this because it reheats really well.  And it’s so good the next day.  

So how are we going to healthify it and work with my dietary restrictions (gluten-free, no cow’s milk, clean as possible)?

Food Choices

So for me it comes down to keeping the ingredients gluten-free and as clean as possible.  And also mindful of where the food comes from and the environmental impact.  So what kind of ingredients do we use to clean up this gluten-free white chicken enchilada casserole?

• really good chicken (organic, air-chilled, humanely raised, no hormones or antibiotics) – SmartChicken
• gluten-free, non-GMO, organic corn tortillas – Mi Rancho or your favorite restaurant tortillas
• plain goat milk yogurt (instead of sour cream) – Redwood Hill Farm or Sierra Nevada Capretta Goat Yogurt
• goat milk pepper jack cheese – Funny Farm
• Hatch green chile peppers – homemade, Hatch Green Chili Co, Central Market Fire-Roasted during Hatch season, etc.

If you buy the whole fire-roasted hatch peppers, rub and rinse off the skin blackened skin.  Remove the seeds, and chop into small pieces.

Then we make the base for the sauce with ghee, gluten-free flour and organic chicken broth.  

Pretty simple substitutions and food choices so we can still enjoy one of our favorite comfort foods.  Brett really loves it when I put this on the menu!  

Making It

The first thing to do is roast the chicken.  We usually split a large bone-in breast between Brett, me and the dog but for this recipe we are going to use a small whole chicken (or you can use two large bone-in breasts).  Roast for about an hour at 350 degrees F.  Then remove from the oven to let cool down.  

You could always use thighs, but I’m not a fan of the boneless breasts because they can get really dry and tough, especially the air-chilled chicken.  So however you prefer to make it, you’ll want about three cups shredded chicken for this recipe.  Just give it some time to cool down.  

Next we make the sauce.  Starting with a roux (equal parts ghee and gluten-free flour) and adding in the liquid broth to thicken.  Then take off the heat to add the yogurt and Hatch chiles.  You will get a lovely thick creamy sauce.  

We LOVE the Funny Farm Goat Pepper Jack cheese.  It doesn’t have the usual goat cheese tanginess and melts really well.  So we grate up the six ounce block of cheese (about two cups) and mix it in with the cooled shredded chicken.

Then we just layer the sauce, tortillas, chicken & cheese mixture.  Repeat and bake for about 30 minutes or until bubbly and browned.  So good!  

Oh and a good tip is to tear the tortillas in half so the straight edge will fit better into the casserole dish.  So go on and enjoy your healthified white chicken enchilada casserole!

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White Chicken Enchilada Casserole | Gluten-free, Goat’s Milk

This clean eatin’ gluten-free white chicken enchilada casserole is made with non-GMO corn tortillas, goat’s milk pepper jack cheese, goat’s milk yogurt and Hatch green chiles! Super simple and delicious.

Course Main Course

Cuisine American

Keyword white chicken enchilada casserole

Prep Time 20 minutes

Cook Time 1 hour 45 minutes

Total Time 2 hours 5 minutes

Servings 6

Author Deana Larkin Evans

Ingredients

• 3 cups cooked shredded chicken
• 3 tbsp ghee
• 3 tbsp gluten-free flour
• 2 cups organic chicken broth
• 1 cup goat’s milk yogurt
• 1 cup roasted Hatch green chiles, diced
• 2 cups grated goat’s milk pepper jack cheese
• 8-10 organic non-GMO corn tortillas

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

2. Place the chicken breast in a baking dish and spray the skin with a little olive oil. Bake for about 1 hour and 15 minutes or until cooked to an internal temp of 165 degrees F. Remove from oven and let cool a bit. Pull the chicken off of the bone so that it can cool more quickly. Set aside and shred when cool enough to handle. Sprinkle with a little salt and pepper.
   

3. Turn down the oven to 350 degrees F.

4. Meanwhile, prepare the Hatch chile sauce. Add ghee to a saucepan and let melt over medium temperature. Add the gluten-free flour and stir for about 2 minutes. Slowly whisk in the chicken broth and stir until nice and thick. Remove from heat and set aside to cool slightly. Then add the goat’s milk yogurt and Hatch chiles. Mixing well so that everything is well incorporated.
   

5. Prepare the chicken mixture by adding the grated goat pepper jack cheese to the cooled shredded chicken.
   

6. Assemble the casserole layers. First, ladle some of the sauce to just cover the bottom of a large baking dish. Tear the tortillas in half and line up the straight edges with the straight edge of the baking dish making a layer of corn tortillas. Next add half the chicken and pepper jack as the next layer. Then add about half of the remaining sauce.
   

7. Then repeat with another layer of corn tortillas, chicken mixture and end with the remaining sauce.
   

8. Bake in the oven for about 30 minutes or until browned and bubbly.
   

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