Chicken, Black Bean, and Spinach Enchiladas
In these Chicken, Black Bean, and Spinach Enchiladas, corn tortillas are filled with tender, shredded chicken, black beans, and fresh spinach. Then they’re smothered in both roasted tomatillo salsa and a tangy sour cream sauce. These are addicting!

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My sister-in-law, Erin, texted me the a couple weeks ago:
“We made your enchiladas!”
I could tell by the photo she sent that she meant this recipe for Chicken, Black Bean, and Spinach Enchiladas with Tomatillo Sauce. I realized that I haven’t made these for dinner in a few years. Crazy!
I decided to add it to our menu for the week. When I went to the recipe, I realized that the photos on the post were over 8 years old, and in my opinion, a little cringe-worthy.
They were taken 2 cameras ago. I had absolutely no photography skills and very little experience.
Madeline just asked me “why do you not like the old pictures.” So, I showed her them and her reply was “wow…” I guess they were pretty bad!
I thought that since I was going to make them again, I might as well take some new photos. That way I could update this very, very old green enchiladas recipe and share it again.
I’ve never made this sour cream chicken enchiladas recipe for Kevin, Kendall, or Kayden, and I can’t even remember when the last time Logan and Madeline ate it, or if they ever did.
I was pretty excited to resurrect the recipe for one of my favorite spinach enchilada recipes, a classic Tex-Mex recipe from my childhood. My other favorite enchilada recipe is this one for Chicken Enchiladas with Homemade Chili Gravy.
I just hoped that everyone else would like it as much as I did. Both the girls, Kendall and Madeline, LOVED the spinach and black bean enchiladas. Kendall actually ate 4 of them.
They both decided that these Chicken, Black Bean, and Spinach Enchiladas with Tomatillo Sauce was their favorite enchilada recipe, even ahead of the recipe for Chicken Enchiladas with Homemade Chili Gravy.
The boys were another story. They didn’t hate or love this recipe. They prefer the other enchilada recipe, even though they ate a decent sized serving.
For sides, I like to serve tortilla chips and guacamole (5 Minute Basic Guacamole) and shredded or chopped lettuce topped with Pico de Gallo. They’re both easy things to make and the kids all love them, so no one ever complains.

Click HERE to save this recipe for Chicken, Black Bean, and Spinach Enchiladas to Pinterest!
Spinach Enchiladas Ingredients
For these green enchiladas, you’ll need:
- Cooked and shredded chicken breasts
- Black beans
- Baby spinach
- Grated cheese
- Corn tortillas
- Sour cream sauce
- Tomatillo salsa
I prefer making my own roasted tomatillo salsa, but if you’re in a rush you can use store-bought salsa verde instead.
How to Make Enchiladas
Before starting in on the chicken and spinach enchiladas, you’ll first need to prep the tomatillo salsa and sour cream sauce. I’ve listed a few different methods for making tomatillo sauce in the recipe card below, so choose whichever method is easiest for you.
Then, combine the chicken and black bean enchilada filling ingredients in a large bowl. Distribute the enchilada filling among the corn tortillas and roll them up, placing them seam-side down in the baking pan.
Drizzle the spinach enchiladas with the two sauces and bake!

Click HERE to save this recipe for Chicken, Black Bean, and Spinach Enchiladas to Pinterest!
How to Freeze Enchiladas
I’m glad that I was confident enough that no one would outright hate the recipe, because I made a double batch and froze some for later — that will be so great on a busy day.
If you want to freeze these green enchiladas, it is best to assemble the rolled tortillas (unbaked) in parchment paper lined square baking pans (8×8 or 9×9) without any sauce on them. Place the pan in the freezer until the enchiladas are frozen solid, an hour or two.
Then, lift the enchiladas out of the pan and place them in a zip top freezer bag. Zip the bag up, removing as much air as possible. Label, and store in the freezer.
The roasted tomatillo sauce freezes well in a container or in a zip top freezer bag as well. The sour cream sauce is best made right before baking.
When ready to bake, remove the enchiladas from the bag and place them in a baking pan. Thaw, covered with foil, for 12-24 hours in the refrigerator (thaw the tomatillo sauce as well).
Prepare the sour cream sauce. When thawed, remove the foil and drizzle the sauces on top. Proceed with the rest of the baking instructions.
Can I Make Enchiladas in Advance?
Though these Chicken, Black Bean, and Spinach Enchiladas with Tomatillo Sauce might look time intensive, the great thing about them is that the individual elements can all be made ahead.
A lot of the elements are easily stored in the refrigerator or freezer until enchilada assembly time. The chicken can be made ahead and combined with the beans and spinach and refrigerated for up to 2 days until use.
For the chicken, my favorite recipe to use is this Crock Pot Mexican Chicken because it has a ton of flavor — it freezes well, too.
The tomatillo salsa can be made ahead as well and stored for up to 2 days, or even frozen for up to a month. And the sour cream sauce stores well in the fridge — not the freezer. It easily reheats in the microwave and returns to proper consistency with a few whisks with a fork.
See?
There is absolutely no excuse why you wouldn’t have time to make these Chicken, Black Bean, and Spinach Enchiladas!
Thank you, Erin, for reminding me about one of my favorite green enchilada recipes. We’ll all be glad that these are back in rotation!

More Mexican Recipes:
Looking some more of my favorite favorite Mexican recipes?
Check out some of these recipes, or browse the recipe index archives for even more great recipe ideas:
Shredded Beef, Black Bean and Quinoa Stuffed Poblanos are a healthier take on Chile Rellenos.
Chicken Enchiladas with Homemade Chile Gravy Enchilada Sauce is a classic Tex-Mex dish from my childhood. Corn tortillas are stuffed with shredded chicken and smothered in a rich, chili gravy sauce before baked up to perfection with a gooey cheese topping.
Try a fun summer take on tacos with this recipe for Chicken Tacos with Grilled Corn Tomato Salsa. Chicken is flavored with a tasty Chipotle Lime Marinade and then grilled. Instead of traditional salsa, fresh, sweet summer corn is grilled until charred and combined with tomatoes, jalapeño, onion, and cilantro.
Kale, purple cabbage, carrot, and red bell pepper are tossed with a jalapeño lime vinaigrette for a healthy Mexican inspired Cilantro Lime Kale Slaw.
In this Mango Salsa with Grilled Corn and Blistered Red Pepper, juicy mango pairs well with grilled corn and blistered red bell peppers for a sweet and savory summertime salsa.
What’s your favorite enchilada filling?
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Chicken, Black Bean, and Spinach Enchiladas with Tomatillo Enchilada Sauce
Corn tortillas are filled with tender, shredded chicken, black beans, and fresh spinach. Then, smothered in two contrasting sauces for one amazing Chicken Enchilada recipe.
Ingredients
Enchiladas
- 4 large Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breasts, cooked and shredded (I like to use Crock Pot Mexican Chicken)
- 1 can Black Beans, drained and rinsed
- 5 ounces Baby Spinach, chopped
- Salt and Pepper, to taste
- 8 ounces Monterrey Jack Cheese, grated
- 24 Corn Tortillas
- Canola or Vegetable Oil for frying (if you fry instead of steam the tortillas)
Tomatillo Salsa
- 6 large Tomatillos (about 1 1/4 pounds), husks removed and cut in half
- 1 - 2 Jalapenos, cut in half with stems and seeds discarded
- 1 Yellow Onion, quartered
- 1/4 cup Cilantro Leaves, packed
- 2 cloves Garlic
- 3/4 teaspoon Salt
- 1/4 teaspoon Pepper
Sour Cream Sauce
- 2 tablespoons Butter
- 1 clove Garlic
- 1/4 cup All-Purpose Flour
- 1 1/2 cup Chicken Broth
- 3/4 cup Sour Cream
- 1/4 - 1/2 teaspoon Salt, or to taste
- 1/4 teaspoon Black Pepper
Instructions
Tomatillo Salsa*
- Place tomatillos in a medium sized sauce pan.
- Cover with hot water and bring to a boil. Simmer for 5 minutes.
- Remove tomatillos from water and place in a food processor with remaining ingredients, starting with only one of the jalapenos.
- Process until smooth.
- Test for heat and add the remaining half of the jalapeno if desired. Set aside.
Sour Cream Sauce
- Melt the butter in a skillet over medium high heat.
- Add 1 clove of minced garlic. Add the flour, whisking until golden and bubbly, about 2-3 minutes.
- Slowly whisk the broth into the flour mixture.
- Stir in the sour cream, whisking if necessary to remove any lumps.
- Simmer until sauce is thickened.
- Season with salt and pepper. Set aside.
Prep the Tortillas**
- Steam the tortillas using a tortilla warmer. If you don't have a tortilla warmer, see the bottom of this article at Food & Wine for alternative methods. Set tortillas aside and keep warm.
Enchilada Assembly
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
- Spread 1/4 cup of the Tomatillo Sauce on the bottom of an oven safe pan or two, depending on the size of the pan. Set aside.
- Combine the chicken, spinach, salt, pepper and shredded cheese in a medium to large bowl. Stir until ingredients are evenly distributed.
- Add the beans and carefully stir in so as not to mash up the beans.
- One by one, fill a tortilla with a small handful of filling, about 1/4 - 1/3 cup.
- Roll the tortilla, placing the seam side down in the previously prepared pan(s). Repeat until all tortillas have been filled.
- Drizzle sour cream sauce on top, followed by the tomatillo salsa. Top with additional shredded cheese, if desired.
- Cover with foil and bake at 375 degrees F for 20 minutes, or until tortillas are heated through. Makes 2 dozen enchiladas.
Notes
*Tomatillo salsa update: Now I prefer to toss the tomatillos, jalapenos, and yellow onion with a small amount of olive oil and spread out on a cookie sheet. Roast at 425 degrees F for 10 - 15 minutes (until everything is soft). Combine the roasted ingredients with the cilantro, garlic, salt and pepper in a food processor and puree. Set aside.
**Tortillas update: Now I like to fry the tortillas as I think they stay together better. Add approximately 3/4 - 1 inch deep of canola oil in a well-seasoned cast iron pan.
Turn the heat to medium-high. Heat the oil until it is ready to fry the tortillas (around 375 degrees F if you are able to check with a thermometer). When the oil is ready, the edge of a tortilla will sizzle when dipped into the oil.
Add the tortillas one at a time and fry for about 5-7 seconds on each side, turning using kitchen tongs. They should be soft enough that they are easy to roll without breaking. Drain the tortillas on a paper towel lined cooling rack.
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This recipe for Chicken, Black Bean, and Spinach Enchiladas with Tomatillo Enchilada Sauce was originally published January 13, 2010. It has been updated with new photos and the instructions have been improved for clarity with a few notes on some of the methods that I like to use now.
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Favorite Taco Tuesday Recipes
Chicken, Black Bean, and Spinach Enchiladas with Tomatillo Enchilada Sauce
Corn tortillas are filled with tender, shredded chicken, black beans, and fresh spinach. Then, smothered in two contrasting sauces for one amazing Chicken Enchilada recipe.
Shredded Tex-Mex Crock-Pot Chicken
Crock Pot Mexican Chicken is the perfect shredded chicken recipe for your next Mexican recipe. Packed with flavor and super tender thanks to hours in the crock pot, this recipe is sure to please!
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This Cilantro Lime Broccoli Slaw is a tasty side dish to accompany any Mexican inspired meal. Pre-packaged shredded broccoli, carrots, red cabbage are tossed with jalapeño, lime, red onion, and red bell pepper for a refreshing side salad.
Cilantro Lime Kale Slaw
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Thanks for giving detailed instructions on freezing the enchiladas and sauce.
This food looks so attractive. I just wanna enjoy it right now. Tommorrow, I will try doing it. Tell you about the result later. Thanks a lot, Katie.
This is seriously one of the most delicious recipes I’ve ever made. I have this page bookmarked because I make these enchiladas so much! Somehow even following the recipe, though, I end up with 24 enchiladas instead of 12 but there is only one size corn tortillas at my grocery store. Maybe mine are smaller? Regardless, with two casserole dishes filled up I have plenty to share and everyone loves them!
So glad you like them! I might just put more filling in each of my tortillas and therefore end up with less in the end.
How do these freeze? Do I bake first and then freeze?
I freeze them assembled with the green sauce frozen separately. Thaw both before baking. I don’t make the sour cream sauce until I’m ready to bake because that sauce doesn’t freeze well.
Love the salsa at Pappasito’s. It was the first place I ever had “warm” salsa!! And I’ve eaten at a lot of Mexican restaurants! 🙂
I’ve made this recipe several times and it is ALWAYS yummy! However, whenever I make it, I always end up with WAYYYYY more than 12 enchiladas. Usually 2 dozen. I live in NC and I’ve only seen one size corn tortillas in the grocery stores here. Is it possible that my corn tortillas are smaller than yours? (I have no idea what size they are… they’re just the only ones available!) When I’m just cooking for my husband and me, it’s a lot of leftovers! Which is fine, because they’re yummy, but this is also something I plan to make when my adult stepkids (18 and 21) come over because it makes more than enough. Thanks so much for sharing this recipe!
I’m not sure if there are different sized corn tortillas or not. The number you end up with depends on how full you stuff the tortillas, so maybe I am just putting more filling in mine that you. If it is too much leftovers you could half the recipe or make 2 smaller 8×8 pans and freeze one of them. Glad you enjoy the recipe!
What kind of sauce do you cook the chicken in with the crock pot? I saw the spices but won’t it get dry if you don’t have another sauce? Thanks, Payton.
you can add some chicken broth or salsa if you are worried about it getting dry.
THE best enchilada’s…have served this dish several times and always get raves and requests for the recipe. I lay my tortillas out in two layers (bottom and top)rather than roll them…can’t seem to get the hang of the rolling thing without the tortilla’s breaking apart. So yummy!
Tried these last night. They were really good! Mine came out of the pan a bit scrambled, though. LOL. I had quite a bit of the chicken mixture left over. I put it in a ziplock bag and froze it to use at a later date. Hubby loved the tomatillo salsa! Thanks for sharing this!
Can these be assembled and frozen before baking? I’m not sure because of the sour cream sauce. Thanks!
When I freeze the enchiladas I assemble and freeze them without the sauce on top. You can freeze the tomatillo sauce but I always make the source cream sauce fresh.
Katie,
These look delicioso–but when I tried to print, I got more than the whole enchilada (sorry, the pun was too easy). Yikes! Would you consider making a way to just print the words, not all the pictures/comments/extras?
Gracias!
a.
We had these for dinner last night and they where ridiculously good! I will definitely be putting them into our regular dinner rotation. It was the first time I cooked with tomatillos. I am a fan now. Thanks for the recipe!
Made these for dinner last night and they were awesome! Thank you for the recipe!
p.s. to save time for a weeknight meal, I made them vegetarian, with just spinach and black beans. still came out great.
these were fabulous! I worked at Pappasito’s here in Houston, and these easily could have been on the menu 😉
I’m so glad you liked them! And thank you! What a great compliment – I grew up in Houston and Pappasito’s has always been a favorite of mine. We went there for all of our family birthday dinners. I really miss that place! Got any recipes up your sleeve? 😉
Hey There!
I would love to make these and was wondering if corn tortillas are required, or if (reg. flour) burrito-style tortillas would work as well? i’ve got a whole back left i’m hoping to use up! thanks in advance!
Hi Amanda,
Unfortunately I have not tried them with flour tortillas. If I were to make them that way, I’d opt for the size flour tortilla closest to the size of corn tortillas – not the large burrito size. Steam the tortillas first so they roll easily without any breakage. I don’t see why it wouldn’t work. Let me know! 🙂
So good!!! I didn't have time to make the green sauce and ended up using hot salsa from a jar, that is outstanding on it, too!
Hey- its stephanie and jon…. we are making these sometime this week, and i thought about doing the chicken in the crock pot like you said. How long would that take to cook? Thanks!!!
I had a friend over for dinner tonight and made these. They turned out FABULOUS! This recipe is definitely a keeper. They are so healthy and easy to make! ~Rachel
Looks delicious, I can't wait to see more of you wonderful cooking!
I just love the way you presented your food. The pictures you took are so beautiful. I have to try this recipe now!
this looks so good i wish i could jump through my computer screen.
Thinking this just might be tomorrows dinner!Thanks!
I cooked these up this weekend for my hubby, kids and in-law… everyone (even the kiddos!) loved them! So flavorful and actually pretty simple when you look at all the flavor layers going on.The best part was because all the ingredients were all fresh and light, no one had that heavy, bloated mexican food after feeling! Yipee! lol
These look wonderful! And your photos are so beautiful. This is perfect healthy food – because I can actually get my family to eat it!
This looks absolutely beautiful and so delicious. Enchiladas are one of my favorites. I will definitely be giving this a try!
How long do you cook the chicken breasts in the slow cooker?I love your recipes and photos…beautiful.Thank you.
These look so warm and comforting…and it's so nice to see something so healthy…great post.
Starting the year healthy is a goal I want to achieve and so far I have been eating healthy foods! This dish looks great and so healthy!
I just love your photography, Katie! These look great and healthy, will be trying these next week! Thanks for the inspiration.
Wow! I just stumbled upon your blog and these look absolutley delicious! I will certaintly test these out this weekend! Thank you for sharing 🙂
These would make a fantastic lunch- I am always looking for stuff like this. I am addicted to those Amy's Organic Black Bean burritos so this is right up my alley! You always have the best recipes!
Katie, these enchiladas look beautiful. Wish I could have them for dinner tonight. I like the way the elements can be prepared separately. I found these really thin oat wraps at Whole Foods that would be so nice as the "tortilla." The sour cream sauce sounds so yummy!
That sounds delicious! Printing recipe now 🙂
Can't wait to try these!! My mouth is watering!!
Can I just say Yum! I am trying this asap!
these could just be my favorite things in the world! I love enchiladas. I love chicken. I love beans. And I especially love spinach. Yup… its confirmed… these are my new favorite!
I do live in Texas, but I still love to have Tex-Mex at home. These look superb!
These look yummy! I will have to adapt and make a veggie version. One of my best friend's is from Texas and LOVES Pappisitos. I have never been, but in college she would always talk about it and wish UT had one:)
They look so gorgeous and flavorful. Such a hearty meal!!!
YUM. I'm adding this to next week's menu. thanks!
These do look yummy Katie. Anything with black beans and cilantro together is an instant favorite. Cooking the chicken in a crock pot has got to be the best part though and I bet your house smelled divine! Will be trying this one soon – I even think my picky eater will like it.