Throw together a quick and easy CrockPot chicken enchilada casserole, so your slow cooker can make dinner for you. Delicious Tex-Mex family meal with creamy enchiladas in casserole form!
Inspiration for this Crock Pot chicken enchilada casserole comes from our family cookbook and from my favorite recipe for chicken enchiladas. We've made this meal since our oldest was a toddler. It's always been a favorite, and the best part is…. It's easy peasy.
All the ingredients melt together and make a delicious slow cooker enchilada casserole. In fact, if you think this recipe is delicious, you'll love turkey enchilada casserole, as well.
Why You'll Love This Casserole Recipe
- It's a slow cooker enchilada casserole. So your CrockPot will do all the hard work for you.
- In other words, it's easy to make. You can throw everything in the CrockPot and let it cook while you work on other things or just enjoy life while dinner cooks for you.
- It's deliciously creamy. With both cream cheese and cream of chicken soup, this casserole is a creamy enchilada casserole.
- This recipe makes enough to have leftovers. I love leftovers after enchilada night!
- It's easy to change it up… For instance, you can make chicken enchilada casserole or beef enchilada casserole. You can swap out corn tortillas for flour, especially if you're gluten-free.
- It's a budget-friendly dinner recipe with not a ton of prep work. Most ingredients don't require prep.
- Cleanup's a breeze, especially if you insert a slow cooker liner in your CrockPot.
Speaking of ingredients…
Ingredients and Substitutions Notes
Here are just a few notes on the ingredients you'll need to make this CrockPot enchilada casserole…
- Cream Cheese – You can use a lower fat cream cheese, like Neufchatel cheese, but I much prefer whole fat.
- Cream of Chicken Soup – You can use regular or gluten-free cream of chicken. If you don't want to use soup, you can substitute sour cream instead.
- Red Enchilada Sauce – You can use store bought sauce for the convenience of it, or you can make homemade enchilada sauce.
- Rotel – I use a can of diced tomatoes with green chilies.
- Boneless Skinless Chicken Thighs – You can also use chicken breasts, but I love using chicken thighs for casseroles because they add more juice and flavor.
- Corn Tortillas – I regularly make and prefer enchiladas made with corn tortillas, especially since I'm gluten-free. I feel the corn tortillas don't get as soggy as flour tortillas, and they have much more authentic flavor. Not that this casserole is authentic; it's not. But I do prefer the taste of corn tortillas.
- Shredded Cheese – You'll need cheddar cheese and Monterey Jack, though I've been known to substitute Manchego cheese, or sheep cheese, (which I find at Costco) at times.
How to Make CrockPot Chicken Enchilada Casserole
The first thing to do when making this casserole is to cook the chicken; you can use boneless skinless chicken breasts or thighs, though I do prefer thighs because they have so much more flavor and juiciness. We make a batch of Instant Pot taco chicken with ours.
Prep the Ingredients:
- In a large mixing bowl, mix the cream cheese, soup, enchilada sauce, and Rotel.
- Add the shredded chicken to the sauce mixture and mix together well.
- Cut the tortillas into triangles or strips, perfect for layering in the slow cooker.
Assemble the Casserole:
Now it's time to make the layers. First spray your slow cooker with cooking spray (this eliminates a hard, crusty ring around the side of the slow cooker when cleanup comes).
- Start with a thin layer of the sauce mixture in the bottom of the slow cooker.
- Then add a layer of tortilla triangles (or strips).
- Add another layer of the sauce mixture.
- Then top it off with a mixture of the shredded cheeses.
- Continue with a second round of layers, starting with tortilla triangles, then a layer of sauce.
- Top off the sauce layer with the rest of the shredded cheese mixture.
- Cook on low heat for 2-3 hours or high heat for 1-2 hours, making sure the cheese doesn't brown.
Serve with your favorite toppings, like fresh tomato salsa with basil, guacamole, and sour cream!
Expert Tips and Recipe FAQ's
While you can fry your tortillas in a little bit of oil before putting into the casserole, this may be more work than you'd bargained for. This is why I like to use corn tortillas, which are less likely to get soggy than flour tortillas. Personally, I feel they taste better too, and they're usually gluten-free, so it's a win-win.
Yes, you can. Just know it'll change the flavor and possibly even the texture of your finished casserole.
You can make it ahead of time. In fact, you can layer it all together and put it in the fridge for a day or two. However, I recommend no longer than that uncooked.
Yes, you can freeze the cooked casserole for up to 3 months. Just make sure it cools before covering with a layer of plastic wrap and aluminum foil; then place it in the freezer.
Just put them in an airtight container and refrigerate for 3-4 days.
More Top Slow Cooker Chicken Recipes
You may also enjoy Instant Pot chicken tacos for dinner.
If you try this recipe, why not leave a star rating in the recipe card right below and/or a review in the comment section further down the page? I always appreciate your feedback. You can also follow me on Pinterest, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube. And subscribe to my email list too!
CrockPot Chicken Enchilada Casserole
Equipment
Ingredients
- 8 ounces cream cheese softened
- 10.5 ounces cream of chicken soup
- 10 ounces red enchilada sauce
- 10 ounces Rotel
- 1 1/2 pounds boneless skinless chicken thighs cooked and shredded
- 6 whole corn tortillas
- 1 cup cheddar cheese shredded
- 1 cup Monterey Jack cheese shredded
Instructions
- In a large mixing bowl, mix the cream cheese, soup, enchilada sauce, and Rotel.
- Add the shredded chicken to the sauce mixture and mix together well.
- Cut the tortillas into triangles or strips, perfect for layering in the slow cooker.
- Spray the inside of your slow cooker with cooking spray to eliminate sticking.
- Start with a thin layer of the sauce mixture in the bottom of the slow cooker.
- Then add a layer of tortilla triangles (or strips).
- Add another layer of the sauce mixture.
- Then top it off with a mixture of the shredded cheeses.
- Continue with a second round of layers, starting with tortilla triangles, then a layer of sauce.
- Top off the sauce layer with the rest of the shredded cheese mixture.
- Cook on low heat for 2-3 hours or high heat for 1-2 hours, making sure the cheese doesn't brown.
- Serve with your favorite toppings and enjoy!
The slow cooker chicken sounds wonderful… How much chicken do you use? can’t find it on the recipe.
Thank you,
Lana
Lana, oh my goodness, I forgot to add that in! I usually use about 1-2 pounds of chicken. It doesn’t take a lot. Thank you for pointing that out.:)
This looks delicious and so easy! That’s my favorite combination. I can see making these to our garden parties! Thank you Mel :)
Bridget, thank you for stopping by.:) I hope you enjoy! It makes such an easy meal, and I have taken it for potlucks before.
For busy parents, it doesn’t get any better. Only six simple ingredients to create a meal for a family? Yes, please! The best part is that most people already have the required ingredients in their kitchen. I know I sure do and I can’t wait to try this. Thank you for sharing and the pictures look delightful!
Kelly, thank you so much! I really hope you enjoy; it’s been a kid-friendly recipe for us for quite awhile now.:)