Slow Cooker Enchilada Casserole is the easiest one-pot recipe you will find for enchiladas.
This recipe for slow cooker chicken enchilada casserole is a one-pot meal (yay!). To make this recipe, I cook the chicken with a big can of red enchilada sauce, all day in my slow cooker. Then when I get home, I shred the chicken, stir in corn tortillas strips, add some cheese and olives, stir, add a little more cheese and olives on top, cook for one more hour, and wow! Easy enchiladas and I don’t have the huge mess all over my kitchen from frying tortillas and rolling the enchiladas. My mom will still be making enchiladas the old fashioned way and that’s fine, I have this easy recipe up my sleeve that I can make in a snap.
This recipe has become a viral success on the blog and that is for good reason. So many people have tried this recipe and had great results. I don’t think there is an easier meal for the slow cooker.
Below is the chicken after cooking with the enchilada sauce. Note that the other ingredients are not added until the chicken and sauce have cooked.
After the chicken and sauce have cooked I add the tortilla strips, cheese and olives making it into a casserole.
Olives really are optional, but my family loves them. There was an uproar the first time I posted this recipe about the olives, don’t stress, just leave them out if you don’t like them.
I serve this chicken enchilada casserole with sour cream on top, refried beans, and Spanish rice. If you don’t have a great recipe for Spanish rice, check this tutorial for Spanish rice from Lil’ Luna, it’s the recipe I use and it’s amazing.
This is one of my all-time favorite recipes on the site. Easy to throw in the crock pot and has great results.
Slow Cooker Chicken Enchilada Casserole
Ingredients
- 1.5 lbs. boneless skinless raw chicken breasts
- 1 28 ounce can Red Enchilada Sauce I use El Pato Brand
- Add these ingredients at the end
- 10 corn tortillas I used an entire 11.7 ounce bag
- 3 cups grated cheddar cheese divided
- 1 3.8 ounce can black olives divided
Instructions
- Put the chicken breasts and the enchilada sauce in your slow cooker.
- Cook on HIGH for 4 hours or LOW for 8 hours.
- Shred the chicken with 2 forks right in the slow cooker.
- Cut the tortillas in to strips, add to chicken and sauce.
- Stir.
- Add 1 cup of cheese and half the olives into the sauce and chicken mixture.
- Stir again.
- Flatten the mixture slightly.
- Add the rest of the cheese and the olives on top.
- Cook on low for about 40 - 60 minutes longer.
- Top with sour cream (optional)
Video
Notes
Nutrition
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I made this stuff and put in a 8oz can of green chilies and retried beans and holy cow there wasn’t anything left when my family got done with it for dinner.
Hi there,
I have the chicken cooking in the enchilada sauce as we speak.
I am just wondering for those who have made this in the past…
I have a bunch of corn tortillas to use (we normally fry them and do tacos) but I want to actually make the casserole part of this. So all you do is cut them up into strips and put them right into the crockpot right? No cooking required of the tortillas?
Thanks
Excited to try this!
Curious, I’m making this at the moment but my family prefers flour tortillas… how should I cook them to go into the crockpot or just leave them as is
Would highly recommend using corn tortillas in the mix, I feel the flour tortillas would result in a weird texture.
Flour tortillas may get soggy. I would serve this in flour tortillas rather than making them into the casserole.
Yes, just cut the tortillas into strips and mix them in as per the instructions. I have made this recipe multiple times and again as we speak, such a tasty meal!
Mexican food is my favorite and I’m always looking for easy recipes to add to my arsenal. I can’t wait to try this!! Unfortunately, my S.O. hates black olives. Maybe I can get away with only putting them on top 😉
Anyone know the macros for this recipe without the tortillas???!
Making this as we speak .. but im using green enchilada sauce instead of red and it smells amazing in here. I’m sure it will awesome .. thank you for the recipe!
Sounds really good with the green sauce!
It was amazing … everyone loved it but I tbink next time I will use less corn tortillas again thank you for the recipe
Hubby doesn’t like red sauce so I replaced with chili verde sauce instead. I followed EXACTLY as the recipe says and it turned to just mush. I don’t even know what to do with all of this now. Any suggestions of what to do with it now? Way to mushy to put in taco shells. Please any suggestions because I feel like tossing it but I don’t want to waste so much food.
Green sauce is very watery. I’m sorry this happened.
Can my chicken be frozen?
Some say not to use frozen chicken in the crock pot. But it will work fine with the amount of time that this recipe call for.
I made this enchilada casserole for dinner tonight. It was so good. I did put more corn tortillas in and it was delicious. Not at all soggy. I will be making this again. Thanks for a wonderful recipe. Katherine
Made this today and it was incredible! Thank you Sarah for sharing this recipe!
i made this exactly as written and my husband loved it. And I loved that it was so easy!
He asked me to put it in “regular rotation” and add some fire-roasted corn next time.
Glad to hear that Rebecca! That corn is a great idea.
PS – my husband also loved the leftovers the next day…said the flavor was even better.
Hooray for two days’ of delicious dinners he absolutely loved with little/no effort from me!
why do you put tortillas in this? just right out of the bag?
That is how enchilada casserole is usually made. Standard enchiladas the tortillas are fried first. Make how ever you desire.
Have you tried making in an insta pot? Just wondering how to adapt recipe time, etc….
Di the enchiladas expand alot?
The do soak up quite a bit of the sauce.
I’m going to try it with tortilla chips hopefully it will turn out. And is this a dinner or a party side dish?
It’s a dinner.
Made it last night and it was a hit in the house!!!! I didn’t add the olives (we arent fans of them) and used reduced fat colby jack instead of the regular cheddar cheese. Used less amount of “old el paso” enchilada sauce (trying to watch the sodium) and they turned our super good! Def a favorite crockpot recipe! Thank you!!
This is a family favorite. I’ve made this so many times and so many ways that I’ve lost count. I use the green enchilada sauce and diced ortega chiles and that’s my favorite. Thank you so much for this recipe!
Frontera red enchilada sauce is my personal fave. Its pricey tho. Thanks for this recipe!
I will use one dry prepared brown gravy mix for this recipe. Still have the flavor, tones down the spice but adds richness.
Really Good! 2nd crockpot meal I evet made and I am 45!
Wow, this is basically my family’s Chicken Enchilada recipe, too! (plus a bit of diced onion) I have always LOVED the black olives in our recipe, I can’t imagine making it without them. Over the years I’ve tried many ways of cutting out the frying of the corn tortillas to differing degrees of success. This, however, is the easiest recipe ever and it’s delicious! Thank you so much for posting this and making my life easier!