Slow Cooker Enchilada Quinoa
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Healthy, easy Slow Cooker Enchilada Quinoa. Just set it and forget it for a cheesy, protein-packed crock pot meal the whole family will love!
Slow cooking minimizes your time in the kitchen while maximizing dinner compliments! Try Slow Cooker Honey BBQ Beef Brisket, Slow Cooker Spicy Cashew Chicken, and Slow Cooker Barbacoa Beef to be sure 😉
This may very well be my new favorite dish of all time. And if not all time, certainly the past 93 hours. That means it’s competing with Mom’s Christmas ham – shh! don’t tell.
Sometimes (read: pretty much every day of my life) I need an easy, practically zero-work recipe that I know I can count on to be absolutely 100% delicious to feed my Mexican food obsession. Slow cooker enchilada quinoa, you are heaven sent. Literally five minutes of prep means I can forget it for a few hours and come back when it’s ready to be devoured.
See that picture up there? ^^^ There’s a lot of yum happening in that crock pot and it lasted us several days since there’s just two of us in this here humble abode, which means leftovers for dayzzz and I could not be more happy about that. If there’s one thing I love more than freshly made cheesy quinoa smothered in enchilada sauce and stuffed with corn and black beans, it’s one or two day old cheesy quinoa smothered in enchilada sauce and stuffed with corn and black beans.
I ate this stuff for breakfast. Yes. Cheesy enchilada quinoa for breakfast. It’s a thing that will be happening again friends.
Now who wants the first bite??
Too late! That’ll be miiine……
More Recipes to Try
- Enchilada Quinoa Stuffed Zucchini Boats – a fresh, vibrant twist on classic comfort food baked to bubbling, saucy perfection.
- One Pan Greek Sun Dried Tomato Chicken and Lentils – the ultimate effortless weeknight dinner that delivers big, sun-drenched flavors with minimal cleanup.
- Quinoa Chicken Nuggets – crispy, golden, bite-sized perfection baked for ultimate guilt-free crunch.
When you make this recipe, snap a photo and tag me on social – I love connecting with you and seeing what you’re up to in the kitchen!
Slow Cooker Enchilada Quinoa
Ingredients
- 1 15-ounce can black beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 15-ounce can yellow corn, drained and rinsed
- 2 15-ounce cans mild or medium red enchilada sauce, divided
- 1 15-ounce can diced fire roasted tomatoes and green chiles
- 1 cup uncooked quinoa
- ½ cup water
- 4 ounces cream cheese
- salt and pepper to taste , (I used about 1 teaspoon salt and ¼ teaspoon black pepper)
- 1 cup shredded Mexican style cheese
- optional: chopped cilantro, diced tomatoes, diced avocado, sour cream
Instructions
- Add beans, corn, 1 can of enchilada sauce, diced tomatoes and chiles, quinoa, water, cream cheese, and salt and pepper to the slow cooker. Stir everything together.
- Pour remaining can of enchilada sauce on top, then sprinkle with shredded cheese. Cover and cook 4-5 hours on high or 5-7 hours on low.
- Uncover, top with tomatoes, avocados, sour cream, and chopped cilantro and serve.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Hi could you freeze this? I made too much!
I’m sure you could!
Delicious. Followed the recipe. Just added two shredded chicken breast. This is a keeper.
This looks delicious and I’d like to make it, however, I have a smaller-than-stand slow cooker; it’s only 3 quarts. Would this recipe work, or should I cut it in half?
Hi Ross! You probably want to half the recipe for a smaller slow cooker!
So I’ve made this recipe multiple times (and had coworkers make it multiple times after passing the recipe onto them) and it is truly one of my FAVORITE go to recipes! I went to prep it this morning and when I went to plug my crock pot in my crock pot broke! I am SO saddened! And now I have the entire dish prepped and in my fridge. I’m not sure if there’s another way to cook it? Do you have any thoughts on how to go about oven baking it? Let me know! I am desperate!
Nooooooo!!! Oh my gosh that’s the worst!! 🙁 You could try a couple of different things… 1) bake in a covered casserole dish or 2) on the stove in a covered pot over medium-low heat, stirring periodically. Unfortunately I have no idea how long these methods would take but I would assume less time than the crockpot! I’m so sorry about your crockpot – that’s so sad!
You can always substitute a dutch oven for a crock pot. As long as you aren’t leaving the house.
This is cooking in my crockpot as I write this. I did use myfitnesspal to calculate the macros for this dish. I did add chicken and few other seasonings as well.
6 Servings
Calories: 426
Carbs: 46
Protein: 30
Fat: 14
Iron: 27
Fiber: 9
It will vary depending on the brand you use of course. Hope this helps those who wanted to know. Thank you for a great recipe, I can’t wait to try it!
thank you I will be trying this very soon -it sounds wonderful
So, I have all of these ingredients, but only one can of enchilada sauce. Do you think it would still work or should I plan on halving the recipe?
Without enough liquid the mixture will probably burn… I’d say half it to be safe!
Would this freeze well? Looking for something to prep for lunches!
Hi Jennifer, this should freeze very easily in individual containers!
Flavor was great. I served a slice of fish and corn tortilla on the side for a sort of fish taco. Just know the cream cheese does not disperse during cooking, so you can dice into small chunks around the crock. Definitely making again. I think this would be a great way to make taco salads too!
For those who were confused about the cream cheese, I just wanted to say that I put it in a bowl and nuked it in the microwave for 20 seconds. Then I tested for softness and nuked it for another 20 seconds. When it was extremely soft, I put it in the slow cooker with all the ingredients and stirred. It mixed in with everything just fine.
Hello. What is the serving size? Is it a cup? Cup and a half?
Hi Samantha, the serving size is whatever you get when you divide this about 4 ways. I haven’t measured that – sorry!