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By Sarah Rossi
on Jan 16, 2022, Updated Feb 07, 2024
5 from 126 votes
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Meet your new family favourite midweek dinner recipe – Slow Cooker Chicken Enchiladas!
This ‘dump’ recipe doesn’t need any browning or fiddly rolling. Easy and convenient – and oh-so delicious.
When I had the idea for this slow cooker chicken recipe, I had NO idea if it would work.
What can I say, these things come to me when I’m least expecting it, sometimes they work and sometimes they fail spectacularly 😆
I’m so happy to say this recipe was everything we all want. Quick to throw together, super tasty, and feels like a treat while actually being pretty healthy.
These Slow Cooker Enchiladas are, of course, not authentically Mexican, but they are a brilliant midweek shortcut dinner.
Why you’ll love this Chicken Enchiladas recipe
⭐️ No browning or fiddly rolling needed
⭐️ A brilliant fakeaway
⭐️ Family favourite that everyone will love
How we came up with this recipe
Known for being customisable with different meats, fillings and toppings, this once-upon-a time Mexican street food has evolved and travelled over the centuries, undoubtedly far from its traditional recipe and country of origin.
This is my own take on chicken enchiladas, which even veers from the method of rolling the soft tortillas around the filling.
Instead, I simply throw them into the slow cooker with the sauce.
If you’d rather stick to the rolled enchiladas, just remove the chicken mixture from the slow cooker, roll everything up, reserve a little of the sauce, and then return to the pan with the reserved sauce on top and the cheese.
This method works really well for my Slow Cooker Beef Enchiladas and my Slow Cooker Veggie Enchiladas too!
Slow Cooker Chicken Enchiladas Ingredients notes
- Chicken – I used skinless/boneless chicken breasts, but you could also use skinless/boneless chicken thighs
- Passata – The pack size in the recipe might sound random but it’s the size of most of the large glass jars. If you are using cartons, you can use slightly more if you have it rather than throw it away!
- Sweetcorn – Tinned sweetcorn that has been drained is fine. You can also use frozen if you prefer but defrost it first. I find the tin sizes vary depending on the store. If your tin is slightly bigger or smaller don’t worry
- Onion – I use frozen pre-peeled and chopped, but fresh is fine too
- Spices: Garlic powder, ground cumin, oregano and mild chilli powder
- Cheese – I use a mixture of grated mozzarella and red Leicester as I like the ‘pull’ and the colour, but use whatever you have
Substitutions
- Chicken – To make this vegetarian you could swap the meat for 2 x 400g tins of mixed beans (in addition to the black beans). Cook as normal and add the wraps, sweetcorn and cheese later
- Black beans – You can substitute these with any other cooked, canned, drained beans. For example, kidney beans
Leftovers
In the fridge You can keep this recipe in the fridge for 3 days. Reheat fully before serving. (You could always use any leftover filling in a Chicken Quesadilla too!)
In the freezer
If you want to freeze leftovers and reheat them for lunch, they will be fine but the wraps may go a little soggy when reheated. As in, fine for lunch but not a whole meal if you know what I mean?
If you want to freeze the whole dish for a family meal, I would either:
a) freeze all of the ingredients in a bag raw as a ‘dump’ meal and then cook, or
b) just freeze the cooked chicken base. Then add the sweetcorn, wraps and cheese when it’s thawed and heat through totally.
Top tip
Prepare this the night before for extra time-saving
Throw everything for the initial cook into the slow cooker, pop the lid on, then store in the fridge overnight. In the morning, put it into the slow cooker. (Don’t forget to switch it on like I’ve done before!)
FAQs
Which slow cooker do you use and recommend?
I use Morphy Richards Sear & Stew Slow Cooker (it’s light and you can use it for browning on the hob too).
For induction hob users: Lakeland Digital 6.5l Slow Cooker.
Also! Top tip, buy a WiFi plug for it so you can switch it on or off from your phone when you’re at work? What a time to be alive.. I have these: Tp Link Tapo Smart Plug (Also you can set up with your Google or Alexa to say ‘switch on slow cooker”. WHATTT 🤯
Is this recipe spicy?
I’d say it’s low to medium spice, so suitable for children. You can adjust the amount of spice by using less or more chilli powder. You could also add chopped chillies on top before serving if you want some extra spice.
Can I cook this in the oven instead?
If you look at the notes below the recipe, you’ll see that I do often finish this off in the oven but it’s not necessary.
If you’d prefer an oven version of Chicken Enchiladas you can find my recipe here.
Let me know how you got on and what you thought of these recipes. Please rate the recipe using the ⭐️ below.
Also I’d LOVE to see your cooking creations. If you’d like to share yours with me, you can tag me on Instagram (@tamingtwins).
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5 from 126 votes
Chicken Enchiladas {Slow Cooker Recipe}
By Sarah Rossi
This easy 'dump' recipe for Slow Cooker Chicken Enchiladas does its thing in the trusty slow cooker, with no need for browning or fiddly rolling. It's ultra convenient and oh-so delicious.
Prep Time: 5 minutes minutes
Cook Time: 4 hours hours 40 minutes minutes
Total Time: 4 hours hours 45 minutes minutes
Servings: 6
Ingredients
For the slow cook:
- 4 Chicken breasts, About 800g
- 680 g Passata, See notes
- 400 g Black beans, Drained and rinsed. See notes
- 1 Onion, Peeled and chopped
- 2 tsp Garlic powder
- 2 tsp Ground cumin
- 1 tsp Oregano
- 1/2 tsp Mild chilli powder, See notes
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
To finish:
- 340 g Tinned sweetcorn, Drained. See notes
- 6 Tortilla soft wraps
- 250 g Grated cheese , See notes
Instructions
Put all of the slow cook ingredients into the slow cooker and mix well.
Cook for 4 hours on HIGH or 6 hours on LOW.
When the chicken is cooked through, stir well and shred the chicken with 2 forks. Add in the sweetcorn and the tortilla wraps, and cut into strips.
Add the cheese on top.
Option 1: Pop back into the slow cooker with the lid on for 40 minutes on HIGH or until the cheese is melted.
Option 2: Pop under a hot grill or into an oven heated to 200C for about 10 minutes or until the cheese is melted and golden.
Notes
Passata:This pack size sounds random but it’s the size of most of the large glass jars. If you are using cartons, you can use slightly more if you have it rather than throw it away!
Black beans:You can substitute with any other cooked, canned, drained beans for example, kidney beans.
Onion:I use frozen pre peeled and chopped but you can use fresh if you prefer.
Chilli powder:I do suggest using just a little for warmth but if you are worried about feeding this to children who hate spice, you could leave it out and add some chilli sauce to individual portions for the adults. Alternatively, of course you can use more if you like spice 🌶
Sweetcorn:Tinned sweet corn that has been drained is fine. You can also use frozen if you prefer but defrost first. I find the tin sizes vary depending on store, if your tin is slightly bigger or smaller don’t worry.
Cheese:I use a mixture of grated mozzarella and redLeicester as I like the ‘pull’ and the colour, but use whatever you have.
Nutrition
Calories: 634kcalCarbohydrates: 57gProtein: 54gFat: 22gSaturated Fat: 10gPolyunsaturated Fat: 2gMonounsaturated Fat: 5gTrans Fat: 0.02gCholesterol: 138mgSodium: 706mgPotassium: 1543mgFiber: 11gSugar: 10gVitamin A: 1258IUVitamin C: 18mgCalcium: 403mgIron: 6mg
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Additional Info
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: Mexican
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Categorized as:
Chicken, Collections, Comfort Food, Main Courses, Recipes, Slow Cooker, Slow Cooker Chicken
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27 Comments
So easy and so yummy 😋Reply
This is the 5th TT slow cooker recipe I’ve tried and this one is just as good as the others. I served it with tortilla pockets which the children stuffed instead of adding them to the dish itself. We’ll definitely make this one again.Reply
Made this last night and it was so easy and so yummy! Husband and both kids (3 and 1) loved it! Such a game changer on making enchiladas – so much easier and way less washing up! Definitely adding it to our weeknight staples – thank you!!Reply
Made this so many times everyone loves it so quick and easy to prepare thank you so much for this recipe 😊
Reply
I’ve been watching for a while and this is the first recipe that I’ve tried. I loved how easy it was to make! I went easy on the chilli as I wasn’t sure if my 1 year old would like it but next time I’ll add more. Can’t wait to try another recipe tomorrow nightReply
Made tonight for the first time. So easy to prepare & cook & the whole family loved it! Served with a few nachos, guacamole & soured cream. YumReply
