Creamy Shrimp Enchiladas
These Creamy Shrimp Enchiladas are a delicious Mexican recipe filled with veggies and shrimp and covered with a rich, creamy sauce. Don’t like shrimp? Make this a Creamy Chicken Enchilada recipe and it will be just as good.
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Creamy Shrimp Enchiladas
Today we’re making seafood enchiladas for a date night in. When I think of a special date night, seafood is the way to go.
Seafood means “adults only” in my eyes. Can I tell you that I made four different versions of these enchiladas to come up with the perfect recipe? All in one week.
Then on our date night we got Mexican food and I ordered enchiladas just for research purposes. Needless to say, you can call me the expert on how to make creamy enchiladas. And ten pounds heavier.
Start by chopping up some onion, pepper, and garlic.
Oh yeah. I found out that shelling fresh shrimp is my least favorite thing to do.
Sautee the veggies and add to the shrimp until the shrimp turn pink. We’ll be baking them more in the oven later. This mixture alone is the bomb.
Make your cream sauce and add a little to the shrimp and the rest we’re going to pour on top of the enchiladas.
These are rich and decadent. Perfect for Perfect for an easy weeknight dinner.
OTHER MEXICAN RECIPES:
- Shrimp Tostadas
- Creamy Chicken Enchiladas
- Low-Carb Shrimp Enchiladas
- Shrimp Tacos With Avocado Salsa
- Creamy Shrimp and Mushroom Pasta
- Spicy Shrimp Tacos with Pineapple Salsa
- Mexican Rice and Chicken
Creamy Shrimp Enchiladas
Ingredients
- 8 (6-inch ) flour tortillas
Shrimp Mixture:
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1/2 cup red bell pepper, diced finely
- 1/2 cup white onion, diced finely
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 pound shrimp, peeled and deveined and chopped into 1 inch pieces
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
- 2 tablespoons lime juice
Sauce:
- 4 tablespoons butter
- 4 tablespoons flour
- 1 1/2 cups chicken broth
- 1/2 cup salsa verde
- 1 1/2 cups shredded Monterey Jack cheese, (use Pepper jack for more spice)
- 1 cup sour cream
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees and spray a 9x13 casserole dish with cooking spray.
- For the Shrimp Mixture: In a large skillet melt the 2 tablespoons of butter. Sautee the red bell pepper and onion over medium heat until slightly soft. Add the garlic and cook for an additional minute.
- Add the chopped shrimp and cook for 2-3 minutes or until pink or just start to turn pink. Remember we are still baking this so we don't want the shrimp to be overcooked.
- Remove mixture from the heat and add the salt, chili powder, cilantro, and lime. Stir and set aside.
- For the Sauce: In a large skillet, melt butter. Add the flour and stir and cook for 1-2 minutes. Slowly add the chicken broth and continue to cook over medium high heat stirring constantly. The mixture will start out thin and thicken up once it cooks.
- Once the mixture has thickened lower the heat and add the Monterey Jack cheese and stir until the cheese melts. You can remove mixture from the heat and stir in the green salsa and sour cream.
- Add 1 cup of the sauce to the reserved shrimp mixture and stir.
- Fill a tortilla with 1/3 cup of the shrimp mixture, roll the tortilla tightly and place it seam side down in the baking dish. Repeat with the remaining tortillas.
- Pour the remaining sauce over the tortillas and bake uncovered for 30-40 minutes or until the tops are golden brown.
- Remove from the oven and let the enchiladas sit for 10 minutes before serving. Serve with pico de gallo, sour cream, and guacamole. You can also serve with refried beans or black beans.
Notes
This is easy and delicious. I buy small “salad shrimp “ at Costco and they are perfect for this.
So happy you liked them!
I thought it was awesome and easy!! I held the bell peppers because my husband doesn’t like them! I usually do a cream cheese but I liked this recipe just as much!! Will be using again! Thank you!
You’re welcome!
Has anyone tried using almond or coconut flour to make this low carb?
Kathleen, I’ve been thinking about making a low carb version of this. I’ll get on it!
This was so good! And pretty easy as well. A winner.
Thank you!
I have been looking for a recipe for this for years! This one is outstanding! I made is just like she says and ate every single drop! Make this! YOU WILL LOVE IT!!!
Thank you!
These turned out well! Yet, 10 minute prep time must be for top chefs with teleportation capabilities. Squeezing a lime takes two minute. Cutting up three veggies (peppers, onion and garlic) are at least two minutes each. Spices, melting butter, measuring cheese, sour cream, and broth, along with other ingredients takes time. The 10 minute wait to set the meal is also not included. I may be a turtle in the kitchen, but this did not take 55 minutes. It was more than twice that. Anyway, the taste was almost worth the long effort.
Sorry it took so long. I guess everyone takes a different amount of time.
How would you do it with ground beef for time?
Hmm. I would do chicken over beef but I suppose you could still use it!
Delicious! Made with a few modifications based on what I had in my pantry. Added an extra 1 tsp chili powder, 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper, and 1 tsp cumin. I used guacamole salsa instead of salsa verde because it’s what I had. Additionally subbed green pepper for red and parsley for cilantro. Results were still fabulous. This recipe is very versatile and is still great even if you have to make a few substitutions! Oh, I also swapped plain Greek yogurt for sour cream—pretty much make this sub in all recipes that call for sour cream. It’s how I rationalize eating three enchiladas is ok!!
Yum! I need to make these soon
Excellent. This was such a hit with my family. It’s definitely going to be a regular recipe in my monthly meal plan calendar. Thank you!
Awesome! So glad you liked it!
I doubled the sauce like some people suggested but I thought it was too much sauce. My sauce was thicker than I expected so I think I would use less sour cream. Flavor was good.
So good! I tweak them a little. My new favorite recipe! My family loves them!
So glad you enjoyed them!
What do you do different Wendy?
A restaurant we loved served these years ago but had what I believe was a poblano pepper in the shrimp mixture. Will have to try this recipe and add that. They were the most delicious enchiladas I have ever had.
Sounds like a great addition!
I think I am going to add a can of black beans to the mixture, I am making this tonight, so we will see. Sounds fantastic!
I just want you to know I made these last night (Ash Wednesday) for Family Dinner Night. My 3 children and there spouses, my 94 year old Aunt, my Nephew, and my 2 Grandchildren. The only things I did different was I left out fresh cilantro because my nephew and daughter in law do not care for it and I doubled the batch! These were amazing, they cleaned up everything. I had re fried beans and Mexican corn salad for sides. They all raved about and want me to put them on Family Dinner rotation and would like me to try them with chicken so thank you for a great recipe!!
Oh my gosh. Sounds amazing. And my maiden name is Larson. Maybe we are related?
I worked tor many years as headwait and guest service for Chi-Chi’s. The Cancun was one my favorite meals. Good heavens did this take me down memory lane! My husband and I enjoyed this meal thoroughly, thank you so much. I followed your recipe to a T.
Awesome to hear that. Thanks for commenting!
Coukd the shrimp enchilada recipe or assembled the day before cooking?
Yes, absolutely!
Can these be frozen before baking?
Sure! I haven’t tried it though
Why does the recipe say it takes 5 hours and 49 minutes to complete?
The recipe plugin had a bug. Sorry. It’s fixed now.
Do you think you could use chicken instead? If yes shredded or diced what would b better? I have made with shrimp and love it just thought chicken might be good also for something different
I think shredded chicken would be great!
Can these be frozen before baking
Yes of course!
We LOVE these! So good! I do 1-1/2 times the sauce. I add imitation crab and use 10 shells. Delicious!
Crab would be great!
Hi Wendy I see that you posted using imitation crab meat, and 10 shells. Im confused what did you mean by 10 shells? I would love to make this recipe. Thank you for your time. Thank you for your recipe Christy!
Made these and they were fantastic! I followed all your directions but had leftover shrimp from the night before and since it wasn’t quite a pound I threw in some fresh spinach when preparing the filling. Worked great! Thanks for sharing!
Awesome! I love hearing that.
Fantastic! So many recipes sound great, but then are disappointing when finished. These were easy to make and delicious. We did the cilantro lime rice as well, with a can of black beans thrown in at the end. Very filling meal and just the right amount of spice with the salsa verde rather than overpowering the shrimp with too much jalapeno, etc as some recipes include. A true keeper!
Ooh I misread this first and thought you said you were disappointed. Glad you liked it!
Happy Holidays!!
I just wanted to take a moment to share; this is the Best enchilada recipe I’ve ever tried!!
This year the college students in our family made a request to change up our traditional Christmas feast. They unanimously, agreed on having a Mexican menu. We all agreed, and it was beautiful!! I contributed Your creamy shrimp enchilada recipe, as well as a cheesy chicken enchilada recipe (from some other site) By far, the shrimp enchiladas disappeared first, and everyone wanted a copy of this recipe.
Thank you for sharing this with the world!! We may never go back to our traditional Christmas Feast again!!
Thank You!!
RR
Oh my God, I used your recipe and they came out absolutely delicous!!! Thank you.
Thank you!
I was so disappointed. Saw this recipe had 5 star reviews so it ‘had’ to be good. This fell so flat of my expectations. The sauce is so bland and the tortillas were gummy. You definitely need to add more spices to make this palatable. I’m not a good snob but my husband and I were really disappointed in this recipe, which I calculated and measured out perfectly according to the directions. He barely finished one enchilada and when I asked him if he wanted me to save the rest of the pan he said “if you want them go ahead and save it” which definitely says something from a man who loves everything I cook!
Sorry Jenn. A lot of people love these which shows we all have different tastebuds.
I wonder how these would be with corn tortillas? I’m not usually a fan of flour myself because of that “gumminess” you describe. Was already going to make a double batch of these, now I think I might make half with corn & half with flour just to see.
As for the sauce not being spicy enough for you Jenn, is that really a failing of the recipe? I would just use a spicier green sauce, maybe add a chile if you really want. Everyone seems to enjoy different heat levels, that is why there is salsa on the table at restaurants.
I am very much looking forward to making this scrumptious sounding dish for a special celebration. Thank you for sharing this delicious and easy sounding recipe Christy!
Just wanted to let you know that my husband and I made these for the first time last night and we LOVED them. My husband even said that he would rank this recipe in the “Top 5 Dinner Recipes” category! 🙂 Thanks for such a tasty dish!
I love hearing that! Thank you, thank you!
Do you have a recipe for creamy chipotle sauce? I think it would be delicious with the shrimp enchiladas.
I don’t! But I bet that would be great!
Delicious!!! Yummy!!!!!! I did something a little differently I pick up pepper jack cheese by mistake and used it. Also there was a little bit of shrimp mixture left. I stirred it in with the sauce that you cover the enchaladas with and YUMMY!
Sounds fabulous!
can you uselemon instead of lime
Yes, I love lime but you can.
These were fantastic. I followed the recipe exactly. However, I do recommend ensuring there’s plenty of cooking spray and/or sauce in the baking dish. The bottoms of my tortillas got a little dry. Other than that, great recipe.
Thank you!
Ok, these look FABULOUS, and my soon-to-be-son-in-law loves shrimp!!! (And yes, he IS going to love me more than his own mother.) Since you hate the shrimp peeling process, I was just wondering if you’ve tried a shrimp peeling/deveining device. They’re sold in the gadget department of most grocery stores–at least here in the South.–and at Bed, Bath, and Beyond They’re usually red plastic, but sometimes you can find a smaller metal one. You simply grab the shrimp in one hand, place the point of the instrument in the vein that runs under the top of the shell, and proceed to push the instrument under the shell to the tail. It will lift the shell from the shrimp along with the vein. A gentle tug will pull the shrimp free of tail, shell and vein. It takes mere seconds. My mother-in-law was convinced she could do the job faster with a knife until we had a little contest. She bought a shrimper!
How did I not know about this? Thank you!
These were delish! I have the good fortune to live in S.E. Alaska where we can harvest our own shrimp (two types), crab, salmon and halibut. I am always on the look out for really good seafood recipes. I followed the advice of another poster and added 1/2 tsp. each of cumin and cayenne which was a good addition to an already great recipe. Also browned the casserole under the broiler per another poster. Husband loved them and they will be made again. Thank you for a great recipe.
You’re welcome!
I made this tonight & my whole family loved it. Changed a lil too make enough for 6. Doubled sauce ingred. & added 1sm.can rotel in place of salsa verde b/c it was handy! Still was delicious! Thanks so much.
You’re welcome!
This looks amazing ! Will have to try it real soon !
I been looking for something about the same as what Chi-Chi’s used to serve (Cancun) and haven’t been able to find… this sauce looks similar .
Thank you! I hope you enjoy them.
I haven’t tried any of these recipes yet, I rarely look at pinterest, but everything looks fabulously delicious. If I made each thing that looks good I’d weigh about 500 pounds. These days I am an empty nester so I cook much less than I used to. I guess I will have to pick and choose. My husband does like cheese sauce on some things so I am hoping I can get the sauce on the enchiladas by him. He has a keen sense of taste so he might detect the sour cream. That would not be good.
Haha. You’re funny. Thank you for stopping by. I feel honored.
I tried this tonight. Was home alone snd its so good I want to invite wveryone over. I tweaked it to my liking but great dish to make! I apso added diced chicken.
So glad you liked it!
Crystal, do you mean you made them with shrimp AND chicken or did you substitute chicken for the shrimp? Thanks if you see this 😀
I have never found a shrimp enchilada recipe that looks so delicious as this one.
Thank you so much!
These look amazing I’m going to make them with corn tortillas(I think they have so much more flavor) and serve alongside calabazitas, a Mexican side dish that consists of sauteed zucchini, corn, tomato, onion, and jalapeño with a dollop of sour cream on top.
Sounds delicious!
I have a bunch of those little salad pink shrimp in my freezer I would like to make with this but they are pre cooked. Will it taste okay if I don’t sauté them with the onion and garlic?
They should taste fine.
Wow! This recipe looks SOOO yummy!! I’m going to try my hand at it this weekend for a Mexican themed date night with my hubby! I have NEVER cooked shrimp before though (other than frozen popcorn shrimp from a box if that even counts! haha) So I am wondering… what kind of shrimp do you buy? Is it fresh from the meat section, frozen then thawed or what? Any help would be appreciated!! Thanks!
-Bethany
Bethany,
Fresh is definitely always better. If you buy it from the fresh seafood section you can get them already peeled and deveined which I love. Good luck!
Hi. Love this recipe, making double batch today . Question: have u ever made then frozen these for later use and do they turn out well? Wondering if I should make more layered casserole type than rolled if I plan to freeze? Suggestions, ideas, for large group next weekend. Am cooking for 22, trying to do as much as possible in advance. Thanks. I love your stuff. Lyn
Shoot. I’ve never tried freezing these so I’m not sure how they would turn out. You could definitely layer these instead.
I freeze my seafoof enchiladas all the time, I freeze sauce separately, then reheat in crockpot on low or in microwave on power, cover enchiladas with foil reheat in low oven til thawed take foil off let tortillas start to get alittle hard pour sauce on turn up heat and bake as usual, won’t be soggy or curdle
I made these for dinner last night. They were delicious. To avoid a trip to the grocery store, I used what I had on hand. I substituted a can of Rotel original (drained) in place of the salsa verde, and a combo of coconut milk and greek yogurt for the sour cream. This recipe is a keeper!
If I were to use frozen shrimp, would I need to go about anything different?
No. Just make sure you thaw them in cold water.
I made these for my husbands birthday party. I made it exactly as the recipe said and they were a HUGE hit with all our guests. I doubled the recipe and it made two large roaster pans full. Everyone wanted the recipe and went back for seconds. We had some leftovers and they were just as good the next day. Love, love, love this recipe and I will be making these again, for sure! Thank you!
Thank you! So happy to hear that.
I’ve been craving these for a month, and I finally made them! Added green chiles and a little bit of green enchilada sauce instead of the salsa.. They look and taste amazing! Thanks for the awesome recipe!
These sound delish! Do you think it would work if I sub veggie broth for the chicken?
Yes, it shouldn’t make a difference.
This was such an amazing find!!! My husband and I were practically licking our plates! I just love your blog and all your delicious recipies ! They make me excited to come home and make dinner!
Just made these. My husband LOVED them! I used low carb tortillas. I only used half of the sauce over the enchiladas. Next time I make this I will half the sauce recipe. I also used more than half of one onion and red pepper. I might add spinach and mushrooms next time. Thank you for the recipe!
You’re welcome!
Looks so delicious!!! And about to try. However, I am Hispanic and there’s hundred types of green salsa and chili powder in my book
Sorry. Posting from my phone. My question is what kind if salsa and chili powder did you happen to use. Thank you
I used Mission Salsa Verde and McCormick Chili powder.
Looks so delicious!!! And about to try. However, I am Hispanic and there’s hundred types of green salsa and chili powder in my book
Excellent post. I was checking continuously this blog and I am impressed!
Very helpful information specially the last part 🙂 I care for such info much.
I was looking for this particular information for a long time.
Thank you and best of luck.
What is a good side dish that goes with these? I m thinking about rice, but what kind?
This rice is amazing: https://www.the-girl-who-ate-everything.com/2008/10/cafe-rio-cilantro-lime-rice.html
Just made these tonight, they were delicious! Added some pico de gallo on top after baking, added a nice flavor, otherwise did not change a thing, thank you for the great recipe!
You’re welcome!
Sounds awesome. What would you serve with it to round out the meal?
I would serve it with this cilantro lime rice and some black beans: https://www.the-girl-who-ate-everything.com/2008/10/cafe-rio-cilantro-lime-rice.html
Chips and guacamole maybe?
I made these tonight, with some modifications based on ingredients I can find where I live (Africa) and a few low-fat modifications for my husband’s post-surgery diet. I also put way more lime juice on the shrimp mixture because well, we LOVE lime and can only find it at certain times of the year in certain markets. So why not embrace it when we have it? I must say, these came out AWESOME. They were seriously restaurant quality. It took me FOREVER to peel and de-vein all of those shrimp (they don’t do it for you in African markets like the US supermarkets…oh how I miss a good grocery store!), so I used the heads and shells to make shrimp stock instead of chicken stock for the sauce. I can hardly wait to eat leftovers tomorrow!! Thanks for the recipe!
WoW! You deserve a reward. Peeling shrimp and deveining is one of the most awful things in the whole world. So glad you liked them. I spent a lot of time coming up with these.
Get the deveined shrimp. All you do is peel the shell off.
I made a pan of these during nap time to be eaten for dinner tonight. I kept licking the spoon from the filling. It is amazing. I can’t wait until dinner!
Ooh! Enjoy!
How many dos this Recipes feed?
It makes 8 enchiladas so I guess it depends how many each person would eat…
I’ve been craving these funny I should find them exactly a year later on your blog! I’ll definitely be trying these with a lightened up version!
Gonna make them today… do you think they will still taste good tomorrw? Have to save some for the bf 🙂
Yes. You do have to be careful that they don’t get too soggy but I think they should be fine.
These were so easy to make and delicious. I omitted the cilantro because my daughter doesn’t like cilantro and I made them with corn tortillas…They were fantastic…had to share on Facebook too. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks Linda! Glad you loved them…
Made this for Oscar’s Sunday dinner. A big hit.
Woo-hoo! Love that it was a winner.
I’ve made this recipe a number of times. My family loves it! Didn’t change a thing in the recipe. It’s a little labor intense, but totally worth it! I think it’s better than the Shrimp Enchiladas I’ve had in Mexican restaurants! Thanks for sharing this with us!
Oh good Kathy! I’m so glad…
Wow. Thank you.
I made these tonight and they were very good – very rich so 2 will fill you up. I added cumin and cayenne to the shrimp mixture as I like things spicy and the combination of the spicy and the rich cheese sauce was very good. I did broil them for 6 minutes on low at the ends so the cheese turned a golden brown. The next time I make them, I think I’ll experiment and add some artichokes or corn. Very nice meal – thanks for the recipe!
You’re welcome!
Hi Christy, thanks so much for sharing this recipe. We made this recently for a dinner party with friends and they went down really well. I love the recipes on your site 🙂
Thank you so much!
These were delicious!! I used corn tortillas and made it into a layered casserole of sorts. will be making them again for sure!!
oh and I added black beans to the shrimp mix 🙂
Made this for dinner tonight. It was really easy and a huge hit with the family.
These are delicious! I made these tonight and even my kids loved them which is unusual. The cheese is really good but I will thin it out with more chicken broth next time. It was thicker than I prefer. Overall, I give it 5 stars! Thank you for a great new recipe!! 🙂
Made these last night, they turned out great! Very delicious recipe!!
Just made these tonight. We liked the filling but thought the extra sauce poured on top was a bit too heavy and rich for our tastes. I will try the filling again but for tacos instead next time!
Yes, it is rich. The filling would be great in tacos!
Great post.
Made these last night – YUM. They were a big hit.
Made these for my husband and myself last night. WOW! They are delicious (and rich). A really great treat. We enjoyed them very much.
Love your light enchiladas not dominating the lighter flavors of the shrimp! And the idea of a movie date night is something we all aspire to but never really find the time for, maybe next month…
These look SO good! I plan to try them soon.
These look to die for!!
Wow these look seriously amazing!
Wow, those look so delicious…even at 7 in the morning my mouth started to water when I saw them. Thanks for sharing!
These are the perfect date night dinner. They look so good!!
I am so glad you posted this today! It’s my 20th birthday and I told my stepmom I wanted shrimp enchiladas for dinner! She said if I foud the recipe she would make it and BAM here is the recipe! Thanks for making my birthday dinner 😉