Slow Cooker Enchilada Orzo
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The easiest, creamiest enchilada pasta ever. Even the pasta gets cooked right in the crockpot!
Now that we are finally in December and gearing up for the rest of the holidays, I figured we all needed a break from that Turkey Day comfort food and go a completely different direction to of course, Mexican food.
Well, I guess it’s more Mexican-Italian with the pasta and all but still – there’s no stuffing, no cranberry sauce and absolutely no turkey here. Just good old Mexican comfort food in pasta form.
Best of all, it all comes together conveniently in a slow cooker. There’s no sauteeing, no prepping, no nothing. Just throw it all in the crockpot and you’re set. Done and done.
And when you get home from work, you’ll have that creamy, cheesy enchilada goodness just waiting to be gobbled up. Just be sure to save a serving for later because the leftovers taste even better!
Slow Cooker Enchilada Orzo
Ingredients
- 1 (14.5-ounce) can fire roasted diced tomatoes
- 1 (10-ounce) can Old El Paso™ mild enchilada sauce
- 1 (4.5-ounce) can Old El Paso™ chopped green chiles, drained
- ½ cup vegetable broth, or more, as needed
- 1 cup corn kernels, frozen, canned or roasted
- 1 cup canned black beans, drained and rinsed
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 4 ounces cream cheese, cubed
- 2 cups uncooked orzo pasta
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro leaves
Instructions
- Place diced tomatoes, enchilada sauce, green chiles, vegetable broth, corn and black beans into a 6-qt slow cooker.; season with salt and pepper, to taste. Stir until well combined. Top with cream cheese.
- Cover and cook on low heat for 7-8 hours or high heat for 3-4 hours.
- Uncover and stir until cream cheese is well combined. Stir in orzo. Cover and cook on high heat for an additional 15-30 minutes. Add more vegetable broth as needed until the desired consistency is reached.
- Serve immediately, garnished with cilantro, if desired.
Did you make this recipe?
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Disclosure: This post is sponsored by Old El Paso. All opinions expressed are my own.
Can I use a different pasta?
Damn delicious is right! What an easy, spectacular recipe! Great job coming up with this I would give it 10 stars!
Made this tonight and it was delicious! I did double up on the diced tomatoes and corn. My husband went a little crazy and added the following spices which definitely gave it a kick: smoked paprika, chili powder, a little bit of cajun seasoning and garam masala, and cayenne pepper. Definitely will make it again!
This is an awesome meal!! Could you please provide nutrition information?
I was reading a book where a character made a similar dish and it sounded intriguing so I went in search of a recipe. This was so good! I followed exactly as written the first time. I ended up using 2 extra cups of vegetable broth for the orzo. I could play with the recipe by adding other veggies, seasonings, etc but it’s so yummy and easy as is that it doesn’t feel necessary. It seems too good to be true considering there’s no chopping and the prep is minimal but my family went back for seconds and thirds. This will become a staple in our house. I came back to your site to check out your other slow cooker recipes. Thanks!
Fantastic! I subbed vegan cream cheese (recommend adding just a little more than the recipe, it doesn’t go as far as dairy) and used a medium heat enchilada sauce. Big hit with the friends I made it for; they all wanted the recipe afterwards!
So easy and delicious! Kids loved it too!
Could I freeze this? Any suggestions on best way to do that?
Absolutely delicious! So creamy and flavorful. I added 1lb of ground beef (browned it beforehand) and only used 1 cup of orzo. Will definitely be making this again.
One of our family favourite meatless meals. We love how easy it is to put together and delicious every time. Thank you!
Question: this looks incredible and I would love to try it but I hate tomatoes. Could I just leave them out or maybe sub them with just tomato sauce? (pureed sauce is fine but I can’t do chunks of tomatoes)
Love this recipe! I’ve made it multiple times and it provides great leftovers for lunches for me. I top with cheddar and sour cream and eat with a handful of tortilla chips. So good.
This is a very tasty recipe but needs to be doubled for 4 people. However, if you double it, do not double the amount of orzo — it was too much. I think when I make it next time I will add rinsed quinoa instead of orzo at the beginning of the cook.
This was delicious. Does it freeze well?
My husband and I loved, loved, loved this recipe! We were practically fighting over the leftovers! We didn’t have green chilies, so I made it without it and it was fine. This was a great, super easy recipe and I think it would definitely be a crowd pleaser. I think it would be great for a potluck!
Sooooooo good! I sautéd about 1/2 cup of red onion and a couple cloves of minced garlic with about 2 tsp of home made taco seasoning. Just added it to the slow cooker. It was delicious! And incredibly easy
This was delicious and easy. I added a check roast and we ended up.with something that made everyone in the house happy. That is not an easy task. other than adding the beef at the bottom of the crockpot I followed the recipe exactly
Really easy and good. Used a can of coconut milk to make it vegan.
My son doesn’t like diced tomatoes but everything else sounds right up his alley – if I leave out the tomatoes do I have to replace with anything?
It seems like it would be really easy to do on the stove top – just mix everything together in a pot and you’d probably just heat until the orzo is cooked. You could also cook the orzo separately–heat everything else then add cooked orzo at the end.
I wish this recipe had a stove top version!
It seems like it would be really easy to do on the stove top – just mix everything together in a pot and you’d probably just heat until the orzo is cooked. You could also cook the orzo separately–heat everything else then add cooked orzo at the end.
I just put everything in a large pot on the stove. Let it boil, reduced to a simmer for a half hour, then added in my orzo to cook. It worked well!
Super good! I left out the cream cheese until the end because my sisters vegan, and then added it in after. I think it was actually a lot better without the cream cheese, it took away from the flavor from the rest. But still super great!
I love this recipe and it has been one of my husband’s favorites for years. I always try to keep leftovers and I find him eating it out of the fridge. 🙂 Has anyone tried it in an Instant Pot?
I made mine in an instant pot. I followed everything the same & it turned out great