Slow Cooker Quinoa Enchilada Casserole
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SKINNY, lightened up and healthy enchilada bake!!!! Made right in the crockpot!!! So cheesy and yet guilt-free!!!
Greetings from Italia!
I basically just inhaled 2 espressos, 4 gelatos, and 5 plates of pasta.
In a span of 17 hours.
I’m not ashamed one bit.
Nope.
Because I’ll be on the quinoa enchilada casserole diet immediately upon returning home.
It’s a spin off of this popular recipe.
But since we’re heading into the Fall, let’s dust off those slow cookers and put them to work.
Other than the garnishes and cheeses, you’ll dump everything right in.
Literally.
Even the uncooked chicken.
So just come home from work, add your cheese, wait 10 minutes, and serve.
Or.
Add cheese. Extra cheese.
Wait 2 min.
Then serve.
Then add extra extra avo.
Slow Cooker Quinoa Enchilada Casserole
Ingredients
- 2 boneless skinless chicken breasts
- 1 ¼ cups chicken broth
- 1 cup uncooked quinoa, rinsed
- 1 10-ounce can enchilada sauce
- 1 4.5-ounce can chopped green chilies
- ½ cup corn kernels, frozen, canned or roasted
- ½ cup canned black beans, drained and rinsed
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro leaves
- ½ teaspoon cumin
- ½ teaspoon chili powder
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- ¾ cup shredded cheddar cheese
- ¾ cup shredded mozzarella cheese
- 1 avocado, halved, seeded, peeled and diced
- 1 Roma tomato, diced
Instructions
- Place chicken into a 6-qt slow cooker.
- Stir in chicken broth, quinoa, enchilada sauce, green chiles, corn, black beans, cilantro, cumin and chili powder; season with salt and pepper, to taste. Cover and cook on low heat for 4-6 hours, or until liquid is reduced.
- Remove chicken from the slow cooker and shred, using two forks.
- Stir chicken into the slow cooker; top with cheeses. Cover and cook on low heat for an additional 10-20 minutes, or until the cheeses have melted.
- Serve immediately, garnished with avocado and tomato, if desired.
Did you make this recipe?
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Made this for dinner, came out great. So quick and easy to put together!
I’m short on time. Do you know what settings I could use to make this in the Instant Pot?
Unfortunately, without further recipe testing, I cannot answer with certainty. As always, please use your best judgment regarding substitutions and modifications.
Love the colors! And my slow cooker is putting in work these days, haha 🙂
Yep, way too much liquid for me too 🙁 it ended up being a stew almost lol
Lauren, my apologies! The slow cooker we used for testing did not work properly. After a retest and a few more retests, I have tweaked the recipe from 4 cups water to 1 1/4 cups chicken broth (for additional flavor, but water will also work!).
I’ve had great success with a lot of these recipes, but I thought this was really disappointing. I used green enchilada sauce instead of red, so maybe that had something to do with it, but I thought this was tasteless, flavorless, mush. I added lime juice, jalapeños, more salt, extra cilantro, and was still dissapointed. At least the quinoa made it high in protein for my family.
Yes for high protein! But I am sorry you had such bad results here but I hope you get to try this again soon with red enchilada sauce. The green sauce sounds like the culprit here!
Can I substitute couscous in place of the quinoa?
Thanks!
Unfortunately, without further recipe testing, I cannot answer with certainty. As always, please use your best judgment regarding substitutions and modifications as cooking times can vary with different grains.
I also experienced issues with it being too watery. Could the “4 cups water” in step 2 be a typo? Two cups seems more appropriate given the amount of quinoa.
Natalie, my apologies! The slow cooker we used for testing did not work properly. After a retest and a few more retests, I have tweaked the recipe from 4 cups water to 1 1/4 cups chicken broth (for additional flavor, but water will also work!).
This is damn delicious. I like how I can use a slow cooker, makes everything easier. Enough for the two of us and some in the freezer for tomorrow. Thank you Chungah! 🙂
Can’t wait to give this a try! It looks amazing!
Paige
http://thehappyflammily.com
Would it affect the taste/quality if I left out the chicken?
Not at all – you can omit as needed.
Same cooking time of the chicken is frozen? Or should I thaw the chicken first?
I recommend thawing first.
Looks delish. Making it tonight. I only have a 4 quart slow cooker. Do you think I would need to adjust the cook time?
Yes!
What should the cooking time be reduced to?
Unfortunately, without further recipe testing, I cannot answer with certainty. As always, please use your best judgment regarding substitutions and modifications.
This looks great, but we have a small family. Do you think the quality would suffer if I froze half– minus the toppings?
Not at all! 🙂
Hi Chungah!
Long time reader, but my first time making a comment. This looks delicious. Do you think I could sub soy chorizo for the chicken? If so, when would you suggest adding the soy chorizo. Thanks!
Unfortunately, without further recipe testing, I cannot answer with certainty. As always, please use your best judgment regarding substitutions and modifications.
Made this tonight and there was way too much liquid. I ended up making a separate pot of quinoa to add to it.
Oh no – what a bummer! Can I ask how long this was left in the slow cooker? Also, was the chicken frozen or thawed? This has been tested several times so the cooking time and liquid ratio should not be a problem. Less liquid will call for less cooking time, and some chicken are pumped full of water!
I agree. I just knew it was too much water when I was adding it and why didn’t I stop myself? And the quinoa is not plumping like quinoa does it’s just flat.
I’ll make some rice and add to it. And it was organic chicken and I followed the recipe completely.
Barbara, my apologies! The slow cooker we used for testing did not work properly. After a retest and a few more retests, I have tweaked the recipe from 4 cups water to 1 1/4 cups chicken broth (for additional flavor, but water will also work!).
I am going to try doubling this recipe and freezing 1 for another time. Wish me luck and thank you for the recipe!
Enjoy yourself in Italia!!
When you call for 2 chicken breasts do you mean 2 full breasts or 2 half breasts ( like they’re typically sold at the meat counter). Thanks for the clarification!
2 half breasts as typically sold at the meat counter.
Can we prepare this recipe in a pressure cooker????
Unfortunately, without further recipe testing, I cannot answer with certainty. As always, please use your best judgment regarding substitutions and modifications.
Hi, I have to leave the beans out of this recipe. Should I decrease the volume of water? If so, how much? I know generally the ratio of water to quinoa is 2:1.
Unfortunately, without further recipe testing, I cannot answer with certainty. As always, please use your best judgment regarding substitutions and modifications.
I love everything about this recipe! Mexican food is my favorite and I love that it’s in the crockpot. I’m also new to the quinoa bandwagon and loving it so I’m glad to have another recipe to try!