Crock Pot Beef Enchilada Casserole
Crock Pot Beef Enchilada Casserole is an easy, hearty, customizable meal loaded with beef, beans, corn, tortillas, and cheese. A meal all will love.
DELICIOUS WEEKNIGHT CASSEROLE RECIPE
Ready for an easy to customize, cheesy, filling, hearty casserole? Crock Pot Enchilada Casserole is a super filling and simple dinner recipe. Plus, it can make nice leftovers too. It is easily customizable to your family tastes as well and can be made in the oven.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS:
Yes. Follow the instructions below and instead of layering in the crock pot, you will layer in a 9×13-inch baking dish (make sure it is a deep baking dish or this could overflow) and bake uncovered for about 30-35 minutes (until the potatoes are fork tender.)
I know, it may sound crazy and not “Mexican food”, but trust me, it really does work really well here. And let’s be honest, this is in no way an authentic Mexican meal anyways – ha! You can leave them out here if you prefer.
I was going to make this with two pounds of ground beef but it is just getting so expensive these days, so instead, I added the corns, beans and hash browns to fill it out without the added cost of more ground beef. Personally, I am just trying to get a few more veggies and fiber in my diet. You can certainly adjust this to your tastes and leave out what you don’t like
Add toppings to make it extra filling. Try: diced tomatoes, fresh jalapeno, minced fresh cilantro, avocado, cotija cheese, sour cream, hot sauce, salsa, etc.
I feel like this casserole is a whole meal in itself, but you can serve it with a salad and some steamed veggies. Keep it simple, grab a bagged salad and a bag of microwavable steamed veggies and call it a night.
Leftovers can be stored in an airtight container and can be kept in the fridge for up to 3-4 days. You could store them in a freezer safe container and keep them longer, for up to 3-6 months.
INGREDIENTS NEEDED: (SEE RECIPE CARD BELOW FOR THE FULL RECIPE)
- ground beef– With ground beef being so expensive I only used 1 pound. But you could use two if you wanted. If you really want another option, try using some cooked chicken instead.
- garlic powder
- onion powder
- taco seasoning– you can use low sodium taco seasoning if you’re worried about the sodium content. It’s even easier to control the sodium content and other ingredients used when you use some Homemade Taco Seasoning.
- diced green chiles – I don’t think this adds much in the way of spice but you can leave them out if you prefer.
- sliced black olives – these are optional. If you don’t like olives, omit these.
- can corn – don’t want corn? Don’t add it.
- black beans – If you don’t like black beans, you can do pinto beans or kidney beans instead or leave them out.
- frozen diced hash browns– These diced potatoes really make this a hearty filling meal, but, I suppose you could leave them out if you don’t like the idea of adding them to the casserole. You could use freshly diced potatoes, but, you’d need to cut them up pretty small so everything cooks evenly. With freshly diced potatoes, everything else might get mushy while waiting for them to finish cooking.
- enchilada sauce– You can make some Homemade Enchilada Sauce if you want to.
- corn tortillas – flour tortillas could be used too.
- shredded Mexican Cheese – use whatever shredded cheese you you prefer.
HOW TO MAKE CROCK POT BEEF ENCHILADA CASSEROLE:
Heat a large skillet of medium/high heat. Add the ground beef and cook until no longer pink making sure to crumble the beef into smaller pieces. Drain excess grease if you use a fattier beef. Lower the heat to medium and add the drained and rinsed black beans and the drained can of corn. Stir to combine.
Add the garlic powder, onion powder, taco seasoning packet and 3/4 cup water. Stir to combine and allow to slightly thicken. Add the can of green chiles and the can of sliced black olives. Stir to combine.
Add the frozen hashbrowns and mix well. Add half of the enchilada mixture to the bottom of your crockpot. Add 1/3 of the shredded cheese evenly over the top.
Add half of the tortilla pieces evenly over the top. Pour half of the enchilada sauce over the top.
Repeat with the remaining half of enchilada mixture, 1/3 shredded cheese, the remaining half of the tortilla pieces and the rest of the enchilada sauce. Add the final 1/3 of the shredded cheese to the top. Replace the lid and cook for 1-1 ½ hours on high or 2 hours on low. Everything is pretty much cooked, so you are just allowing them to meld together. Just make sure to not overcook it or the tortillas kind of dissolve.
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Crock Pot Beef Enchilada Casserole
Ingredients
- 1 pound ground beef
- 15 ounce black beans, drained and rinsed
- 5 ounce corn, drained
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 packet taco seasoning (see notes below)
- ¾ cup water
- 4 ounce diced green chiles, drained
- 2.25 ounce sliced black olives, drained (optional)
- 2 cups frozen diced hashbrowns (the cubed kind, not shredded)
- 28 ounce can enchilada sauce
- 10 (6-inch) corn tortillas, cut into 2-inch pieces
- 8 ounce package shredded Mexican Cheese (2 cups)
Instructions
- Heat a large skillet on medium/high heat. Add 1 pound ground beef and cook and crumble until no longer pink and fully cooked. Drain any excess grease and put back into skillet
- Lower the heat to medium and add 15 ounce black beans, drained and rinsed and 5 ounce corn, drained. Stir to combine.
- Add 1 teaspoon garlic powder, 1 teaspoon onion powder and 1 packet taco seasoning and 3/4 cup water. Stir to combine and allow to slightly thicken.
- Add 4 ounce diced green chiles, drained and 2.25 ounce sliced black olives, drained. Stir to combine.
- Add in 2 cups frozen diced hashbrowns and mix well. Turn off heat.
- Add half of the ground beef mixture to the bottom of a 5-6 quart crockpot.
- Add 1/3 of the shredded Mexican cheese evenly over the top.
- Add half of the corn tortilla pieces evenly over the top.
- Pour half of the enchilada sauce over the top.
- Repeat with the remaining half of the ground beef mixture, 1/3 shredded Mexican cheese, the remaining half of the corn tortilla pieces and the rest of the enchilada sauce.
- Add the final 1/3 of the shredded Mexican cheese to the top.
- Cover and cook for 1-1 ½ hours on high or 2 hours on low. Just make sure to not overcook it or the tortillas may dissolve a bit into the filling.
Notes
- Please refer to my FAQ’s (Frequently Asked Questions) and ingredient list above for other substitutions or for the answers to the most common questions.
- If you really want a boost of flavor, use 2 packets of taco seasoning and increase the water to 1 1/2 cups.
- I add the cubed hash browns to really fill this meal out and I think potatoes go so well with a meal like this but if you don’t want t add them, you don’t have to. You don’t need to replace with anything.
Nutrition
Nutritional Disclaimer
“The Country Cook” is not a dietician or nutritionist, and any nutritional information shared is an estimate. If calorie count and other nutritional values are important to you, we recommend running the ingredients through whichever online nutritional calculator you prefer. Calories and other nutritional values can vary quite a bit depending on which brands were used.
Thank you for the recipes …
It was very delicious and I love it!