Crockpot Chicken Enchilada - A ridiculously easy chicken enchilada with slow-cooked chicken along with the red enchilada sauce, vegetables and loaded with plenty of cheese. Full of flavor and delicious. Serve with tortilla chips, rice, quinoa, or your favorite side dish.
Or just enjoy this comfort food bowl on it's own, right from the pot. I won’t judge.
What It's Yummy
- This crockpot chicken enchilada recipe is budget-friendly, incredibly flavorful, and is nearly impossible to mess up. Meant to be served with a side dish like quinoa, rice or tortilla chips, salad, and well, any of your favorite Mexican side dishes.
- Very easy to make - slow cook the chicken in sauce, add veggies and top with cheese and enjoy. Perfect dish if you’re looking for an easy Enchilada recipe with all the flavors but don’t want to deal with all the tortilla rolling mess.
- Easy to meal prep - leave the chicken to slow cook in the evening and add the veggies in the morning and lunch is ready.
- Mildly spicy - even kids can eat! You can always control the amount of chili depedning on how spicy you want this crockpot chicken enchilada.
If you like this chicken recipe as much as I do, you'll love these too: Creamy Chicken Enchilada Casserole and Million Dollar Chicken Casserole a try!
Ingredients
- Enchilada sauce – For this recipe, I’ve used my 15 minute Red Enchilada Sauce which is super easy to make. It’s not required though, you can also use your favorite store-bought enchilada sauce. This chicken dish is mildly spicy but you can add chili powder later after you’ve shredded the chicken and returned to the crockpot. Just taste and season with salt and pepper as you go.
- Chicken - I’ve used chicken breasts but feel free to use chicken thighs, just make sure to remove the bones. For a very quick and easy solution - use rotisserie chicken.
- Onion - onion, and garlic are the most essential 2 ingredients in most of my recipes. Brown/yellow onion cooked either together with chicken or cooked separately until translucent and added later to simmer with the vegetables. For me personally, I always like to cook the onion separately for more flavor.
- Cheddar cheese - what is an enchilada without cheese? Use sharp cheddar or a mix of grated cheddar and mozzarella. (Monterey jack cheese will also work great here).
- Salt and pepper - depending on which sauce you'll be using, make sure to taste salt and pepper during cooking.
Instructions
Grease the crockpot with a cooking spray.
Prepare the chicken (rinse, pat and dry) and place it into the crockpot along with the enchilada sauce.
Add chili powder and gently stir to combine. Place the lid on the slow cooker and slow cook for 3-4 hours on high or 4-6 hours on low, until fork tender.
- Shred the chicken (either with a fork or a hand mixer) or you can also dice the chicken, then return to crockpot.
- Add bell peppers, onion, olives (reserve some for garnish on top), salt, and pepper to taste, corn, cilantro, stir. Stir in half of the cheese. Cover and continue to cook on low for one hour, or ½ hour on high.
Finally, open the lid, stir to combine, and even out the top. Add the remaining cheese evenly and arrange olives on top of the cheese.
Close the lid and continue to cook until cheese is almost melted. Alternatively, you can skip this step and add all the cheese and olives along with other veggies (this last step makes a beautiful presentation!).
Serve with your choice of garnishes, sides such as rice, pico de gallo, quinoa or tortilla chips. Enjoy!
Serving Suggestions
Like any other Mexican style dish is NOT complete without TOPPINGS.
Let's see what are the best options for this:
- Diced avocados
- Pico de gallo (authentic Mexican salsa)
- Chile con Queso - a cheesy dip that consists of melted cheese and chili peppers.
- Avocado crema - mix of avocado, sour cream and lime/lemon juice.
- Guacamole
- Hot sauce
- Jalapenos (fresh or marinated/pickled)
- Diced tomatoes
- Cilantro/Coriander chopped or whole leaves
- Lime wedges
- Cherry tomatoes cut in half
- Black olives (pitted & sliced)
- Corn (canned or fresh)
- Cotija cheese or feta cheese
- Sour cream or plain greek yogurt (also coconut yogurt will taste delish!)
- Pickled cabbage
Want to make it a full meal? Start your dinner with a little aperitive like this mouthwatering Skinny Watermelon Margarita or serve Spicy Watermelon Basil Margaritas (Frozen) for dessert!
Mexican/Tex-Mex style recipes
- Vegetarian Enchilada Recipe
- Creamy Chicken Enchilada Casserole
- Baked Chicken Taquitos
- Creamy Chicken Tacos
- Easy Vegan Chili Recipe
Casserole recipe favorites
- Chicken Zucchini Casserole
- Easy Breakfast Casserole with Bacon (Breakfast Strata)
- Butternut Squash Broccoli Casserole (Dairy-Free, Vegan)
- Mediterranean Style Chicken Thighs (Baked Casserole)
I hope you'll enjoy this crockpot chicken enchilada recipe and if you make it, please let me know down below in the comments or by tagging @theyummy_bowl under your picture on Instagram.
Thank you for reading,
Love,
Julia
Recipe
Crockpot Chicken Enchilada
INGREDIENTS
- 1 ½ - 2 pounds chicken skinless boneless (washed and dried with a towel)
- 2 ½ cup red enchilada sauce (see notes)
- 1 ½ cups cheddar (grated)
- 1 small onion (chopped and lightly cooked on a pan until translucent)
- 1 cup corn (frozen or canned)
- 2 teaspoon chili powder (optional)
- 1 half red bell pepper (sliced thin)
- 1 half orange bell pepper (sliced thin)
- 10-12 olives (pitted and cut in half or your choice)
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 2 tablespoon cilantro (chopped)
- Garnish: lime wedges (fresh cilantro leaves, sliced avocado, sour cream, fresh sliced jalapeno)
INSTRUCTIONS
- Grease the crockpot with a cooking spray.
- Prepare the chicken (rinse and pat dry) and place the chicken into the crockpot along with the enchilada sauce. Add chili powder and gently stir to combine. Place the lid on the slow cooker and slow cook for 3-4 hours on high or 4-6 hours on low, until fork tender.
- Shred the chicken (either with a fork or a hand mixer) or you can also dice the chicken, then return to crockpot.
- Add bell peppers, onion, olives (reserve some for garnish on top), salt, and pepper to taste, corn, cilantro, stir. Stir in half of the cheese. Cover and continue to cook on low for one hour, or ½ hour on high.
- Finally, open the lid, stir to combine, and even out the top. Add the remaining cheese evenly and arrange olives on top of the cheese. Close the lid and continue to cook until cheese is almost melted. Alternatively, you can skip this step and add all the cheese and olives along with other veggies (this last step makes a beautiful presentation!).
- Serve with your choice of garnishes, sides such as rice, pico de gallo, quinoa or tortilla chips. Enjoy!
Video
NOTES
PRIVATE NOTES
(Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate.)
I would appreciate it so much if you left a comment about this recipe below! Subscribe to join the TYB newsletter and receive free recipes straight to your inbox! Let's connect via Facebook, IG & Pinterest!
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Julia
Enjoy this easy and delicious Mexican style recipe!
Biana
Yum! Such a simple and delicious dinner idea.
Julia
thank you!
Andrea
Easy to make and perfect for the whole family to enjoy.
Julia
thank you Andrea!
Sonay
I actually made this and used it to roll into tortillas to make enchiladas. It was Themis delicious enchiladas I had. Thank you for this amazing recipe
Julia | The Yummy Bowl
Thank you so much!
Angela
My family absolutely loved this recipe!! So much flavor. I used mild enchilada sauce and then had a ton of toppings ready to go. Thanks for sharing!
Julia
thank you Angela, hope it becomes one of your favorites!
Shalini
This was just perfect! The flavor of the spices with chicken and veggies took this dish to another level!
Julia
thank you Shalini, so glad to hear this!
Emily Flint
I love enchiladas but had never tried making them in a slow cooker. This was so easy and delicious and we served it with chips. The perfect weeknight meal!
Julia
thank you Emily, glad you liked it
Anjali
I love crockpot meals and this was so so easy to make!! It was packed with flavor and my whole family loved it!
Julia
thank you Anjali, so glad to hear this!
Serena
I love crock pot meals. It makes a busy summer day feel just a bit less stressful. Can't wait to try this, it looks delish!
Julia
not only summer but any day really! 🙂 thank you!
Andrea
Love this easy to make and flavored packed chicken enchilada recipe.
Julia
thank you, so many flavors!
kushigalu
Love enchiladas. This version sounds so flavorful and delicious. I would love to make this way soon
Julia
thank you, please let me know how did it go!
Julia
thank you so much, veggies are the best!
Lisa R
The directions need to be edited. I made the enchilada sauce. It yields 2 1)2 cups, recipe calls for 3 cups. Recipe says you can cook on low or high, only gives high temperature directions although you stagger ingredients at different times. I would add onions and peppers at the beginning if I made it again.
Julia
Hi Lisa, sorry to hear that. I have adjusted the time and the process slightly to make it more clear.Thank you for pointing out the sauce though! I've made this at least 3 times and it always turned out great. Hopefully, you'll try this again!
Peter Harbers
We do something very similar but stir in tortilla chips and cheese and let cook for another hour before the final cheese topping, then it really tastes like an enchilada.
Julia
hi Peter, yes definitely this is another very tasty way of making enchilada chicken! Love this! Thank you for leaving a comment 🙂
Maia
Topped mine with avocados and green onions, and served with rice, delicious!
Julia | The Yummy Bowl
That's one of our favorites too! Thank you for your feedback!
Ang
This helped me get inspired! I had 3 chicken breast and only a 15oz can on enchilada sauce so I put that in the crockpot with onion, garlic, canned jalapeños, can of crushed tomatoes, black beans, and whole corn. Served over yellow rice with cheese & sour cream! My husband loved it and requested it again. Thank you!
Julia | The Yummy Bowl
Sounds delicious indeed thank you so much Ang for taking the time to comment!