Enchiladas Suizas are a rich, comforting Mexican classic built around a vibrant green sauce and plenty of melted cheese. This version leans into bold flavor by blistering fresh jalapeños, serranos, and onions before blending them with tomatillos, toasted spices, and chicken stock for a deeply layered enchilada sauce. The addition of Mexican crema brings a silky finish that balances the heat and acidity.
Filled with tender leftover pork or chicken, these enchiladas are rolled, nestled into a cast iron dish, and baked until bubbly and lightly crisped on the edges. Cooking in a woodfired oven adds a subtle smokiness while delivering even heat for perfectly melted cheese and golden tortillas.
It’s a great way to repurpose leftovers into something crave-worthy, and the sauce itself is versatile enough to use across multiple meals. Finished with fresh cilantro, crumbly cheese, and a squeeze of lime, this dish hits all the right notes—bright, creamy, savory, and just a little bit spicy.
What You’ll Love About This Recipe
- Roasted green sauce packed with bold, fresh flavor
- Perfect use for leftover pork or chicken
- Creamy, cheesy, and slightly spicy
- Crispy edges with soft, saucy centers
- Freezer-friendly for easy meals later
How to Make Enchiladas Suizas
Erin McNaught
Rated 5.0 stars by 1 users
Category
Dinner
Cuisine
Mexican
Servings
6
Prep Time
25 minutes
Cook Time
30 minutes
Calories
520
Creamy green enchiladas loaded with roasted flavor, melty cheese, and tender pork or chicken.
Ingredients
-
4–5 tomatillos (or canned)
-
2 jalapeños, stems removed
-
2 serrano peppers, stems removed
-
1 large white onion, trimmed
-
2 tbsp high-heat oil
-
1 tbsp garlic (pureed or minced)
-
1 tsp cumin
-
1 tsp Mexican oregano
-
Salt and pepper, to taste
-
1/2 cup chicken stock
-
1 cup fresh cilantro
-
1/2 cup Mexican crema (or sour cream)
-
-
2–3 cups cooked pulled pork or shredded chicken
-
Corn tortillas
-
2 cups shredded melting cheese
-
Oil (for pan)
-
Crumbly cheese (cotija or queso fresco)
-
Fresh cilantro
-
Lime wedges
Green Sauce
Enchiladas
Garnish
Directions
Start by prepping your vegetables. Remove stems from the peppers and trim the onion, leaving it mostly intact. Keep the prep simple since everything will be blended later.
Heat a cast iron pan in a very hot oven. Add a little high-heat oil, then place the peppers and onion into the pan. Roast until blistered, flipping halfway through, about 6 minutes total. The goal is charred skins, not fully cooked vegetables.
While the vegetables roast, toast the garlic, cumin, and Mexican oregano in the same pan to open up their flavor. Remove and set aside.
Transfer the roasted onion to a blender along with tomatillos. Wrap the peppers briefly to steam, making them easier to peel. Once cooled slightly, peel off the blistered skins and remove seeds if you prefer a milder sauce. Add the peppers to the blender.
Deglaze the pan with chicken stock, scraping up the flavorful bits, then pour into the blender. Add cilantro, salt, and pepper. Blend until completely smooth, about 3 minutes.
Pour the sauce back into the pan and simmer for 7–10 minutes to reduce slightly. Stir in the Mexican crema at the end for a smooth, rich finish.
Mix some of the sauce into your cooked pork or chicken so the filling is well seasoned but not overly wet. Lightly oil a cast iron casserole dish, then fill tortillas with the meat and arrange them snugly in the dish.
Top with more sauce and plenty of shredded cheese. Cover loosely with foil and bake at 400°F for about 20–25 minutes, rotating halfway through, until heated through and bubbly.
Remove the foil toward the end if needed to lightly brown the cheese. Let rest briefly before serving. Finish with crumbly cheese, fresh cilantro, and a squeeze of lime.
Recipe Note
Recipe FAQ
Can I use store-bought sauce instead of making it from scratch?
Yes — a quality canned green enchilada sauce or the 505 Southwestern Green Chile listed in the ingredients works well as a shortcut. The from-scratch sauce has more depth from the roasted, blistered vegetables, but the dish is still very good with a store-bought base. If using canned, stir in a little Mexican crema and fresh cilantro to bring it closer to the scratch version.
How spicy is this recipe, and how do I control the heat?
The heat level depends almost entirely on how many seeds you leave in the jalapeños and serranos. With seeds in, it's genuinely spicy — the serrano in particular brings real heat. Remove all seeds for a mild sauce. Remove just the serrano seeds and leave the jalapeño seeds for a medium result. The Mexican crema stirred in at the end also mellows the heat noticeably.
Can I make the sauce ahead of time?
Absolutely — and it's actually better made ahead. The sauce keeps up to 8 days refrigerated and freezes for up to 90 days. Making it a day before lets the roasted flavors mellow and round out. Store in a jar or airtight container, then reheat gently on the stovetop with a splash of stock to loosen before assembling the enchiladas.
Why mix some sauce into the filling before rolling?
Mixing sauce directly into the shredded pork or chicken ensures the filling is well seasoned all the way through — not just where the top sauce hits. Dry filling inside a saucy tortilla tastes unbalanced. It also helps the filling hold together as you roll, so the enchiladas stay tight and don't fall apart in the dish.
Can I cook this Indoors?
We rate this a 4 out of 5 for cooking indoors. Great in the kitchen, better on the grill. This recipe is built around oven cooking — the sauce comes together on the stovetop and the enchiladas bake at 400°F. A conventional oven works excellently. The woodfired oven adds a layer of subtle smokiness that's a bonus, not a requirement.
Recipe Highlights & Insights
Blistering the jalapeños, serranos, and onion in a screaming hot cast iron before blending is the step that separates this sauce from any jar you could buy. The char adds a roasted, slightly bitter depth that raw or just-sautéed vegetables can't replicate — it's the foundational technique of a real suiza-style green sauce and worth taking seriously.
Steaming the blistered peppers in foil or a covered bowl before peeling is not optional if you want a smooth sauce. The steam loosens the charred skins in about 5 minutes, making them easy to peel cleanly. Trying to peel them straight from the cast iron wastes time and tears the flesh.
Mexican crema stirred in at the very end — after the sauce has reduced — is what gives this dish its suiza character. Suiza means "Swiss-style," a reference to the dairy enrichment that distinguishes these enchiladas from a pure red or green mole. Add the crema off the heat or at low temperature; boiling it in will cause it to break.
This is a genuine leftover-friendly recipe — the pork or chicken goes in already cooked, so the actual active cook time is under 30 minutes once you have your protein ready. It's one of the best ways to repurpose KC pulled pork or any smoked chicken into a completely different, crave-worthy dinner the next day.
Recommended Recipes
Nutrition
Nutrition
- Nutrition Serving Size
- 12 oz
- per serving
- Calories
- 520
- Protein
- 28 grams
- Carbs
- 32 grams
- Fiber
- 4 grams
- Sugar
- 5 grams
- Fat
- 30 grams
- Saturated Fat
- 12 grams
- Sodium
- 780 milligrams
- Cholesterol
- 85 milligrams
