This Slow Cooker Chicken Enchilada Casserole will change your life! Throw everything in your slow cooker and in only 3 hours dinner is served.
Not only is this crockpot enchilada casserole recipe delicious the day you make it, but it makes killer leftovers just like our slow cooker honey garlic chicken.
Chicken Enchilada Casserole
Please tell me that your mouth is watering just looking at the photos of this slow cooker chicken enchilada casserole!
It’s true that we love quick and easy recipes here on Fit Foodie Finds. We also LOVE tex-mex recipes. So when we were brainstorming recipes to make in the slow cooker, we knew that we had to make a chicken enchilada casserole recipe.
things we love about this recipe
- We used minute brown rice instead of regular rice.
- You have an option to use homemade enchilada sauce or store bought enchilada sauce (we love Frontera Enchilada Sauce).
- The vegetables in this recipe are super basic. Peppers and onions. However, you are more than welcome to throw in your favorite veggies. More peppers or perhaps some mushrooms? The sky is the limit!
Featured Ingredients
- Chicken breast: chicken breast is affordable and easy to find. Feel free to use chicken breast or chicken thighs for this recipe.
- Minute rice: we used brown minute rice but feel free to use white, too.
- Bell peppers: a variety of colors is fun and gives the dish color, but if you can only find green bell peppers, that’s ok.
- Enchilada sauce: feel free to use homemade enchilada sauce or store bought enchilada sauce.
try this
homemade enchilada sauce
If you have all the ingredients at home, try making this homemade enchilada sauce. It’s so flavorful and easy to store in the refrigerator.
Quick Directions
- Place all ingredients for the chicken enchilada casserole into your slow cooker. Mix well and make sure chicken and rice are submerged under all wet ingredients.
- Cover slow cooker and cook on high for 3-4 hours OR cook on low for 6-8 hours.
- When the chicken is fully cooked, remove chicken from the slow cooker and cut into small chunks. Place back into your slow cooker and mix.
- Serve with Greek yogurt, avocado, cheese, or any topping of your choice!
FAQ
Can I use chicken thighs instead of breasts in this recipe?
Yes, chicken thighs will add a bit more flavor and richness to this recipe.
What other vegetables can I add to this dish?
You can add mushrooms, corn, or any other vegetables that you generally like in your enchiladas.
What goes well with this chicken enchilada casserole?
We love to serve our chicken enchilada casserole with tortilla chips, cheese, and guacamole.
Check it out!
6 Crockpot Chicken Recipes
Looking for more crockpot chicken recipes? Look no further! Check out 6 similar recipes below. And for an added bonus, check out our Crockpot Freezer Meals post where we teach you how to turn all of these slow cooker recipes into freezer meals.
What do I eat with my Slow Cooker Chicken Enchiladas?
The day you make this enchilada bake, I would serve it right out of the slow cooker and top it with some greek yogurt, lime juice, and cilantro. However, you can only eat so much casserole in one week. We’ve brainstormed some other ways you can eat this slow cooker chicken enchilada recipe.
Chicken Enchilada Nachos- On day two or three of meal prepping this enchilada bake, throw some tortilla chips onto a baking sheet and sprinkle your enchilada bake over the top. Sprinkle with cheese and bake at 350ºF for 15-20 minutes!
Chicken Enchilada Casserole Buddha Bowl- Warm up your casserole and serve it next to our pineapple coleslaw and some arugula or kale. Top it with a little cotija cheese and you’re golden!
Chicken Enchilada Casserole Burrito- Are you thinking what I’m thinking? Throw your chicken enchilada casserole into a big tortilla, throw in some cheese, perhaps add a splash of your favorite hot sauce and wrap up a couple burritos for the week.
our fav
slow cooker
There is no better kitchen appliance than a slow cooker. If you’re in need of a new slow cooker, we love our Crock Pot.
Storage
Store this enchilada casserole in an airtight container after it is completely cool. You can store it in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
Slow Cooker Chicken Enchilada Casserole
Ingredients
- 1.5 lbs. boneless skinless chicken breast
- 15 oz. canned pinto beans strained and rinsed
- 2 cups minute brown rice
- 1 large green pepper chopped
- 1 large yellow pepper chopped
- 1/2 large yellow onion chopped
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic
- 3 cups enchilada sauce
- 1/2 tablespoon Frank’s hot sauce or apple cider vinegar
- salt to taste
- 1 cup water
Instructions
- Place all ingredients for the chicken enchilada casserole into your slow cooker. Mix well and make sure chicken and rice are submerged under all wet ingredients.
- Cover slow cooker and cook on high for 3-4 hours OR cook on low for 6-8 hours.
- When the chicken is fully cooked, remove chicken from the slow cooker and cut into small chunks. Place back into your slow cooker and mix.
- Serve with Greek yogurt, avocado, cheese, or any topping of your choice!
Tips & Notes
- The spiciness of this dish depends on how spicy your enchilada sauce is.
- We have only tested this recipe specifically with minute brown rice and no other grains.
- Feel free to add 1/4 to 1/2 cup of water at the end for a saucier casserole.
What size crockpot is this recipe for? I only have a 4 qt.
delicious food, and very nutritious
Not very good. Tastes pretty bland and is kind of mushy. Won’t make again.
This is fine but not life-changing. It’s easy but very mushy and for us, at least, not very flavorful besides being somewhat spicy. Maybe would have been better if I had used a different enchilada sauce?
I ommited the rice and served this with cheese.quasadillas for dipping. So good!
So, I cooked off a turkey that was taking up valuable freezer space. Would it be possible to use cooked frozen turkey as substitute for chicken? Also can frozen veggies work?
Hi Cher — you can definitely use frozen veggies, but I would recommend thawing the turkey and shredding it and then adding it near the end of the cook time since this recipe calls for raw chicken. Hope this helps!
Love this! Super easy, yummy, and all of the family approved 🥰
This is absolutely delicious and so easy! I am 5 weeks post partum and looking for easy crock pot meals to have in our dinner rotation and this is a winner! My husband loved it too and there will be leftovers we can easily have for lunch. We’ll definitely be making this again!
I loved this so much! It made a large amount that I brought to coworkers! I do think it needed more flavor, I added Spanish rice instead or brown and added more salt, garlic powder and hot sauce which really helped! Added avocado on top as well!
Not very good. Pretty bland flavor and rather mushy. Won’t make again.
Do u cook the minute rice before u put it in the crock pot
You do not need to precook the rice!
Hi! I am prepping for a soon to be new mom. Can this meal be prepped, frozen, and cooked in the slow cooker later?
It sure can! We have freezer directions for this recipe in this post: https://fitfoodiefinds.com/6-crockpot-freezer-meals/
Delicious! Also it got me to talk to a neighbor and learn something.
I live in Washington Heights, which is a heavily Hispanic section of NYC. I went to 3 different grocery stores looking for Enchilada sauce with no luck. I finally asked the owner of one of them. He handed me a jar of salsa and said, ‘I lived in Mexico for 24 years and I never heard of enchilada sauce. But this should work for your enchiladas. Maybe sauté it a bit to make it thicker.’
So, if anyone else is having trouble finding enchilada sauce, this works well!
Well that’s awesome and such a great idea!
Can this be done on slow cook for people at work all day?
When we cooked this on low, it was done closer to 6 hours…so just be mindful of that! I wouldn’t want you to have overcooked quinoa because you left it in too long!
Am I able to freeze after I cook in the crockpot?
Yes you are! I suggest transferring into a disposable casserole dish and freezing it in that so that when you want to reheat it, you can let it thaw and reheat right in the oven!
I couldn’t find Frontera anything other than salsa, so I took a gamble on Casa Corona enchilada sauce. It only came in 16 oz jars, and I didn’t want leftovers, so I used two full jars. This stuff is so good! Only partly due to laziness am I making this again for my work dinners. One batch lasts me two weeks. I would love to add more vegetables, but I don’t know what. Any suggestions beyond mushrooms?? I’m terribly at improvising and knowing what goes with what…
Any kind of potatoes would be super yummy, too!
Corn or hominy
Vegetables we frequently add to enchiladas that don’t alter the flavor much because they take on a lot of the enchilada sauce flavor: zucchini, yellow neck squash, riced cauliflower, red bell peppers, shredded fresh baby spinach, Corn (really a starch but does offer some fiber), or diced carrots (cut small). The carrot can add a little sweetness but it is minimal and carrots mask well in red sauces. When in doubt cook a small amount of a vegetable in the enchilada sauce and add to a few bites of the leftovers so you can taste test without risking the entire batch.
Great advice, Angela!
I used the Frontera Enchilada Sauce and instead of Minute Rice I used a mix of quinoa, faro, & millet that I already had in the pantry. I did the same cook time (high for 4 hours) and it turned out FAB.
Only adjustment was adding 1/2 c. extra water!
YAY!! Frontera is my all-time fav! So flavorful <3
Can’t wait to make this! Could you cut up the chicken before adding to slow cooker to “set it and forget it” and save some steps at the end?
Hi! You can do that, but then the chicken chunks will cook much faster than the actual breast!
I made this recipe this evening. I’ve never used minute rice before but bought it for this meal. The rice came out really mushy and everything was pretty bland. I wonder if 2 hours would have been enough vs. the four or using normal brown rice.
Hello! Did you use minute brown rice? Also, a lot of the flavor depends on what enchilada sauce you use, which is why we recommend the Frontera brand!
I had the same issue. I used the correct rice but it was mushy and bland. Tried to spruce it up with cilantro and spices when it was done. I’m going to try the suggestions for meals you can make from this recipe though! I love the idea of including that with the original recipe.
I had the same issue with Minute rice. I cooked the recipe on low for 6-8 hours as stated in the directions. Everything turned out super mushy… the rice, peppers, and onion. Not a fan.
CORRECTION NEEDED:
In two of the paragraphs describing this recipe you say “in only 2 hours dinner is served”. However, the recipe says “3-4 on high, or 6-8 hours on low.”
Which is correct?
Updated it to read “3” hours. Thanks for catching that!