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Honey lime chicken enchiladas are a family favorite! These enchiladas are filled with shredded chicken and melty cheese and then smothered in a creamy enchilada sauce. The combination of honey and lime takes these enchiladas to the next level!
Everyone needs to experience this honey lime chicken enchiladas recipe! They are sure to be a family favorite! Serve these enchiladas with this easy corn on the cob, mexican rice, and my simple 5-minute blender salsa.
Reasons to Make These Enchiladas
- Crowd-Pleasing Meal: You can never go wrong with these honey lime chicken enchiladas. Both kids and adults LOVE them! Make a big batch to feed a crowd.
- Sweet and Savory: A unique and tasty version of classic chicken enchiladas. You’ll love the subtle sweetness of the honey that complements the enchilada flavors!
What are Honey Lime Chicken Enchiladas?
Honey lime chicken enchiladas are sweet, savory, and SO tasty! It’s a twist on traditional enchiladas with a hint of honey and lime to brighten the flavors. The honey is subtle but noticeably delicious! This recipe starts with an easy chicken filling made in the crockpot. Once the chicken is cooked and shredded, it marinates in a honey lime marinade before assembling. After you try this enchilada recipe, you’ll see why it is one of my favorites.
Enchiladas are so versatile and there are so many ways to change the flavors and ingredients. Try these white chicken enchiladas, these tasty buffalo enchiladas, or cream cheese enchiladas.
Ingredients to Make Honey Lime Enchiladas
You will love the flavors in these enchiladas and most of the ingredients are common things to have on hand. Follow the exact measurements in the recipe card below.
- Onion: I like to use sweet onions but if you prefer others you can substitute.
- Chicken Breasts: The recipe calls for a total of 3 chicken breast halves.
- Chicken Broth: Helps tie everything together and bring out the flavor.
- Chili Powder: Gives that little kick that everyone loves.
- Garlic: I use about 2-3 cloves and mince them.
- Salt & Pepper: Of course, to taste!
- Honey: Adds that bit of sweetness to make the enchiladas incredible!
- Lime Juice: Adds delicious zing to the chicken!
- Flour Tortillas: If you prefer corn tortillas you can use those instead.
- Monterey Jack Cheese: I normally use Monterey Jack but if you have others on hand this is a simple substitution.
- Green Enchilada Sauce: Can choose to add more than what’s listed depending on personal preference.
- Heavy cream: Helps thicken the sauce.
Honey Lime Chicken Enchiladas Recipe
These honey lime have a few steps, but if you plan ahead they are easy to make! I like to cook the chicken in the crockpot in the morning or even the day before. Then marinating and assembling is simple to do.
- Cook the Chicken in the Crockpot: Add the chicken, onion, chicken broth, chili powder, garlic, and salt and pepper to a crockpot and cook on low for 8 hours, or on high for 3-4 hours.
- Shred and Marinate the Chicken: Once the chicken can easily shred, remove it from the crockpot and shred it all. Drain all of the remaining liquid except ¼ cup. Add the shredded chicken, reserved liquid, honey, and lime juice to a large bag and set aside to marinate for 30-40 minutes.
- Preheat/ Prepare the Pan: While the chicken is marinating, preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and spray a 9×13 pan with pan spray. Spread ½ cup of enchilada sauce evenly over the bottom of the pan.
- Fill the Tortillas: Fill the tortillas with chicken and both kinds of cheese, saving about 1 ½ cups of cheese to sprinkle on top.
- Make the Sauce: In a small bowl, combine the remaining enchilada sauce with the heavy cream.
- Top With Sauce and Cheese Then Bake: Pour the sauce on top of the enchiladas and sprinkle with the reserved cheese. Bake for 30-35 minutes, until the cheese is browning and bubbling. Serve hot and top with your favorite enchilada toppings.
Tips and Variations
These honey lime chicken enchiladas can be time-consuming, but don’t let that intimidate you! The steps are very easy, and SO worth it in the end when you take your first bite! Here are my tips and variations below to make this recipe even easier and tastier.
- Chicken: Speed up the prep time and grab a rotisserie chicken at the store or use any leftover chicken you may already have. This greatly reduces the amount of preparation and makes this meal an easy weeknight dinner that you can throw together quickly. Toss the chicken with ¼ cup of chicken broth, the seasonings, honey, and lime juice, and allow it to marinate for at least 30 minutes before assembling your enchiladas.
- More Lime Flavor: For more lime flavor, use the zest of 1-2 limes in addition to the lime juice in the marinade.
- Tortillas: You may use corn tortillas instead of flour if you prefer, but you will likely need twice as many because they are much smaller.
- Make Ahead Tips: The chicken can be prepared at any time and frozen after it is shredded and marinated. I like preparing the chicken in a large batch that will make 3-4 pans of enchiladas and freezing most of it for when I need it later.
More Ways to Cook the Chicken
You don’t have to have a crockpot to cook the chicken! Here are other ways to cook the chicken. These methods are also much faster!
- Over the Stovetop: you can boil the chicken in a large pot with a little extra chicken broth and the rest of the ingredients until cooked through and can easily shred for about 20-30 minutes.
- In the Instant Pot: Add the chicken, chicken broth, and seasoning to the Instant Pot and cook under high pressure for 10 minutes. Once it is done cooking, manually release the steam and then carefully open the Instant Pot. Shred the chicken and marinate as directed.
Storing Honey Lime Chicken Enchiladas
These honey lime chicken enchiladas make great leftovers! It’s also a great meal to make ahead and freeze for later. Here are my tips for storing these delicious enchiladas.
- In the Refrigerator: Store leftovers in the refrigerator covered tightly with plastic wrap or foil. Alternatively, you can transfer the baked enchiladas into an airtight container. Store for up to 5 days.
- To Reheat: Reheat individual portions in the microwave in 30-second increments, or reheat the whole pan in a 350 degrees Fahrenheit oven for 10-15 minutes, until the center reaches 165 degrees Fahrenheit.
- In the Freezer: Prepare the entire pan of enchiladas as a freezer meal by using a foil baking pan. Cover tightly with foil and then wrap the entire pan in 3-4 layers of plastic wrap. Store for up to 3 months.
- To Thaw: Remove from the freezer and bake with the foil on for 50-60 minutes at 350 degrees Fahrenheit before removing the foil and baking for 10 more minutes, until the cheese on top is melted and browning and the center reaches 165 degrees Fahrenheit.
More Delicious Enchilada Recipes
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Honey Lime Chicken Enchiladas
Ingredients
- 1 ½ pounds chicken breast
- 1 small sweet onion, peeled & diced
- ½ cup chicken broth
- 1 tablespoon chili powder
- 1 teaspoon garlic, minced
- salt & pepper, to taste
- 6 tablespoons honey
- 5 tablespoons fresh lime juice
- 8-10 large flour tortillas
- 8 ounces Monterey jack cheese, shredded
- 8 ounces cheddar cheese, shredded
- 16 ounces green enchilada sauce
- ½ cup heavy cream
Instructions
- Add the chicken, onion, chicken broth, chili powder, garlic, and salt and pepper to a crockpot and cook on low for 8 hours, or on high for 3-4 hours.
- Once the chicken can easily shred, remove it from the crockpot and shred it all. Drain all of the remaining liquid except ¼ cup. Add the shredded chicken, reserved liquid, honey, and lime juice to a large bag and set aside to marinate for 30-40 minutes.
- While the chicken is marinating, preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and spray a 9×13 pan with pan spray. Spread ½ cup of enchilada sauce evenly over the bottom of the pan.
- In a small bowl, combine the remaining enchilada sauce with the heavy cream.
- Fill the tortillas with chicken and both kinds of cheese, saving about 1 ½ cup of cheese to sprinkle on top.
- Pour the sauce on top of the enchiladas and sprinkle with the reserved cheese. Bake for 30-35 minutes, until the cheese is browning and bubbling. Serve hot and top with your favorite enchilada toppings.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Would you mind clarifying? – why leave a quarter cup of sauce in the crockpot? I’ve read this three times and don’t see when you use that vs the sauce you drained.
Is the 1/4 cup of sauce what you add heavy cream to?
..or do you add the heavy cream to the sauce that you drained? It’s all referred to as sauce, but you divided it for some mysterious reason. 🥴 Thanks so much!
Hi Eco, thank you for your question. So Sorry for the confusion. In step 2, the 1/4 cup that you save = reserved liquid. So that 1/4 cup you saved, will be added to the bag with the chicken honey and lime juice. Let me know if you have any other questions. “Drain all of the remaining liquid except ¼ cup. Add the shredded chicken, reserved liquid, honey, and lime juice to a large bag and set aside to marinate for 30-40 minutes.”
The flavor is great, but these turned out soupy. Too much sauce?
Can you marinate the chicken overnight? I’m just wondering if the honey in the marinade would cause it to harden if refrigerated for too long.
I made these for dinner tonight, and they were a HIT! The tangy lime flavor was a refreshing change from the usual enchilada recipe. Alyssa keep up the good work on your reviews. I have enjoyed them!
I looooooove this recipe, it is so delicious. My husband and I love the chicken part so much sometime I just make the chicken and top salads with it. So yummy! Thanks for following my blog, I am now following yours.
I love your recipes! We sure love the same foods 🙂 Putting this one on the menu for next week!
How about linking this in to Food on Friday: Marinades and Rubs? Cheers