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.
Love the simplicity and flavor of this recipe. I made it tonight (not the first time) for a family dinner and it easily fed 5 adults and 2 kids with a little bit leftover. Everyone loved the flavor and went back for more! I used a mild green chile enchilada sauce, more corn, and the entire can of black beans. I also added a 2nd cup of broth at the end. So simple to make and so good!
We are also gluten free. Do you think we could cook the rice separately and simply stir it in after stirring the cream cheese? Thank you!
Yes and yes!
Made this tonight and we really liked it! We made a few adjustments but followed the recipe pretty closely: we used a whole can of canned black beans with onions and garlic (rinsed), used fire roasted tomatoes with garlic (did not rinse), used canned corn instead of frozen (rinsed), and added some cumin and chile powder. I added some sliced black olives and Tapatio (in addition the cilantro) to the top of my bowl and it was awesome!! We ended up adding additional vegetable broth at the very end, too. Overall we were very happy with how this turned out and you cannot beat how fast and easy it is to make!
This was my 2nd Damn Delicious recipe, and it was indeed damn delicious…just like the 1st. I can’t wait to taste what I try next. Thanks for these easy, economical, and delicious recipes!
Just made this for my family and it was delish! Used homemade red enchilada sauce and omitted the green chiles for my 5 year old and it was a hit!
I just made this because my family was going to experience a perfect storm of activities in one night. I confess that I did not think this was going to feed six servings as a main course because two members our our family of six are teenage boys so I doubled it in my ginormous crock pot. I will be filling a large freezer bag with the leftovers for another night when we have a crazy schedule. This was very good.
I made this for a potluck a few days ago- it was a big hit! I was hoping to have leftovers to take home, but it was all gobbled up by the end of the night. Thank you for the great recipe., Chungah!
This was pretty good. I added jalapenos. Next time I think I’m going to add a spanish rice seasoning packet.
This looks delicious and totally want to try it for the boyfriend tomorrow! He works later than me, so do you think it would be a problem to have it all cooked and just keep it on warm/stir, then not add int he orzo until he gets home? That way it doesn’t get sticky or dry out?
Yes, absolutely.
Is a 6 qt slow cooker big enough for this recipe?
Yes.
I’ve made this three times in the last couple of months..It is that good. Quick and easy on the stove top too if you don’t have all day. AMAZING RECIPE! LOVE IT. LOVE ALL OF YOUR RECIPES. (btw, made it today..eating it right now).
Did you do anything different when you made it on the stovetop? I may end up doing that if it helps keep it from drying out! (Making it for my boyfriend and he’s got to work late tomorrow so not sure when he’d get home).
How did you make it on the stovetop? I’m looking for some adjustments with the liquids so that I can do the same, don’t want to mess it up!
I made this last night and it was a hit!!! My 2 year old son and husband loved it! Definitely on the repeat list. My hubby is not a fan of crockpot stuff or soup type stuff but he said it was good and yes he would recommend eating again!! Win win.
I added chicken to mine.
My cream cheese also curdled when I made this today. Really disappointing. Any idea why this is happening to some of us? After reading some of the other comments from people who had this issue, I let the cream cheese come to room temperature before cooking it and also cooked the dish on low. When I stirred the ingredients before adding the pasta, the cream cheese crumbled into tiny little curdled pieces and it looks so unappetizing. 🙁 So upsetting.
Bummer! It’s really hard to say why this is happening – I have honestly made this a dozen times without any curdling issues. But here is a great resource discussing how to cook cheese in the slow cooker. Hope that helps!
I made this today, and it was DELICIOUS!! Kept going back for just one more bite…and ending up with another full bowl! 🙂
I made some slight alterations, added 3 frozen chicken breasts that I took out and cut up and added back in before I added the pasta. I used gluten free pasta shells and just added 10 minutes extra cooking time. And also added just a bit of shredded cheese along with reduced fat cream cheese. It was absolutely heavenly! Thanks so much for the recipe. 🙂
What is your opinion, do you think that vegan/dairy-free cream cheese would be ok to substitute for regular cream cheese in this?
Unfortunately, without further recipe testing, I cannot answer with certainty. As always, please use your best judgment.
Good guidelines, but I took creative liberties to make it delicious:
1) Doubled the recipe, except kept the same amount of cream cheese and added some monterey jack cheese at the same time and mixed it all together for cheesy gooey deliciousness
2) Brown rice added at the start, skipped the orzo
3) Added the extra spices suggested above (cumin, garlic, cayenne)
4) Cooked on high for 30 minutes at the start to get the rice started, then on low for 6-7 hours
We like spicey, so we added some habanero sauce when serving – om nom nom!
The cream cheese curdled for me, too. I’m thinking that maybe the cream cheese may have been too cold and the slow cooker got too hot since I opted for the high heat for 3-4 hours instead of low heat. There is a good amount of flavor so it is still edible enough, just wish the cheese didn’t curdle like that. I will try again someday soon on low heat instead and see if that still happens.
My cream cheese curdled too. I don’t think it will be much of a problem, but it doesn’t look as nice. Mine was straight out of the fridge, and I also used the 3-4 hour high setting. I think I will be using the low setting in the future. I haven’t tried it yet but it smells delicious!
Do you cook the orzo before putting into crockpot?
Nope – the recipe indicates 2 cups uncooked orzo pasta.
Made this today it was delicious! My boyfriend is not vegetarian and loved it- said it didn’t even need meat!
Does this recipe fit in a 4qt slow cooker?
It should but cooking time will have to be adjusted accordingly.
Made this for dinner and it was delicious!! Super simple, too. Will definitely be making again. Thanks!