Slow Cooker Chicken, Salsa and Cream Cheese Enchilada Casserole
40 Comments Dec 28, 2015
Updated Mar 31, 2021
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Enchilada casserole made in the slow cooker with salsa, chicken and cream cheese!
If you are looking for my standard chicken enchilada recipe you can find it here: Slow Cooker Chicken Enchilada Casserole. Or my beef version here: Slow Cooker Beef Enchilada Casserole.
Table of Contents
I’m back in the kitchen making this fun Chicken, Salsa and Cream Cheese Enchilada Casserole. Enchilada casseroles are very easy to make in the slow cooker. I changed things up this time and did not use enchilada sauce. I used salsa and cream cheese for the sauce. I made this twice in the last few weeks, it was that good! It may not win a beauty contest, though most slow cooker recipes don’t.
First, the chicken cooks all day with the salsa, nothing else gets added. I did not get a photo of that step, too early in the morning and I forgot. Below is after the chicken cooked all day and the cream cheese was added.
Then I add tortilla strips, a little cheese and a half a jar of olives, mixed that together.
Then I added more cheese and the rest of the can of olives.
Cover the slow cooker again, and cook for 45 minutes more to melt the cheese and get the casserole hot and bubbly.
This casserole makes a TON! It will serve about 8 hungry people.
More enchilada style recipes to make in the slow cooker:
- Slow Cooker Classic Chicken Enchilada Casserole
- Slow Cooker Beef Enchilada Casserole
- Slow Cooker Chicken Enchilada Soup
This Chicken, Salsa and Cream Cheese Enchilada Casserole was a hit at my house, I hope you enjoy it too. Have a great week!
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Chicken, Salsa and Cream Cheese Enchilada Casserole
Ingredients
This gets cooked all day
- 1 1/2 lbs. boneless skinless chicken breasts
- 24 oz. jar pace picante mild salsa, this is the huge jar
These things get added after 6-8 hours:
- 8 oz. pkg. cream cheese
- 16 oz. pkg. yellow corn tortillas, (cut these into strips) it is 4 cups total after cut if you can't find the one-pound package.
- 3 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese, divided
- 3.8 oz. can black olives , drained and divided
Instructions
- Add the chicken to the bottom of your slow cooker. Pour over the salsa. Cover and cook on LOW for 6-8 hours.
- Plop the cream cheese on top of the chicken. Cover for about 10 minutes to let it get soft. Meanwhile I take this time to shred the cheese and cut up the tortillas.
- Shred the chicken with 2 forks right in the slow cooker. Stir the chicken, salsa and cream cheese together.
- Add the tortilla strips, 1 cup of cheese and 1/2 of the can of olives, stir. Flatten out this mixture. And wipe down the messy sides of the slow cooker with a paper towel. Top with remaining cheese and olives.
- Cover and cook on HIGH for 45 more minutes or until the casserole is very hot in the center.
- Serve and enjoy!
Nutrition
Nutrition info is auto-generated. This information is an estimate; if you are on a special diet, please use your own calculations.
Your 5th step says to add half of the can of olives & only 1 cup of the cheese and then your last step just says “enjoy!” So when do you add the rest of the cheese and olives? Thanks IA!
It’s all in the 4th step?
Hi I was wondering if it had to be yellow corn tortillas or could it be white flour tortillas does it make a difference and also my husband’s not a big cream cheese fan so does it taste cream cheesy?
Yes you could use white, and it doesn’t taste cream cheesy 🙂
Can you use frozen chicken or does it need to be thawed first ?
Hi Destiny! I usually thaw or partial thaw overnight, but I don’t see why it wouldn’t work with frozen!
Do you think I could add a can of drained black beans?
I think that would be a great addition!
Hi can I use green enchilada sauce
Hi Susie! I think green would do fine!
Thank u I’m using 1 12oz can u think that will be fine
It may be. You may not need all the tortilla strips, you’ll know as you stir them in, you don’t want it too dry.
This recipe works GREAT, but it needs a little more seasoning as mine was tasty but a little bland. Any recommendations? I might use Medium picante sauce next time…
Maybe a touch of taco seasoning may spice it up a bit more for you?
I never did try taco seasoning (yet), but I did use Medium picante sauce and it helped a bit. But, I made it a couple more times after that, and my latest attempt had Medium sauce and two fresh chopped jalopenos. That really seemed to make it perfect. The long cooking time mutes the heat from the peppers down to a perfect level and the flavor is great! I’ll continue to tweak it since I make it fairly often. I’m really liking your recipes, I just put the hamburger hash into the cooker a few minutes ago for the first time 🙂
Instruction #3 says to stir chicken, salsa, and sour cream together. Do you mean cream cheese?
Yes, thank you! I apologize, fixed it.
This looks uber yummy! Can’t wait to try it!
I have to remember not to visit your blog before breakfast! Now I am really starving. That looks yummy — thanks!
This sounds really good, but you do not mention what kind of cheese you use in addition to the cream cheese. You just say 3 cups of shredded cheese.
Sharp cheddar. 🙂 You can’t read my mind? I’ll fix that, thank you! 🙂