Crockpot Chicken Enchilada Casserole

Looking for a no-fuss enchiladas fix? This chicken enchilada casserole is precisely that, with a 10-minute prep time and just three main components—chicken, tortillas, and cheese. Throw some chicken in a Crockpot with a handful of spices, cook ’til it’s shred-ready, fold in chopped tortillas and cheese, cover for 15 minutes and you’re done!

Every serving has more than 30 grams of protein with only 315 calories and 14 grams of carbs. You can keep it simple and serve with rice, beans, and your favorite Tex-Mex fixin’s. Or you can customize your casserole by adding beans, roasted corn, and other veggies straight to the Crockpot.

I’ll walk you through each component and cover substitutions as we go. If you’re in a rush, hit the jump to recipe button to print or save the recipe card and be on your way.

Part One: Crockpot Shredded Chicken

With millions of ways to make slow cooker shredded chicken, I won’t tell you this THE BEST shredded chicken of all time. Because who actually knows? (But it’s darn good.)

All you need to make it is a couple cans of diced green chiles, chicken bone broth (or any cooking liquid), and a few spices and herbs. If you want to use a packet of taco seasoning, go right ahead.

This seasoning blend is a more classic chili, ground cumin, and oregano blend. If you’re looking for something a little more unique, check out my Crockpot burrito bowls recipe that uses diced onion, orange juice, and a couple of unique seasoning choices or my chicken tacos that call for crushed tomatoes and ranch seasoning.

The recipe calls for boneless skinless chicken thighs, which are a million miles better than chicken breast when it comes to making shredded and pulled chicken.

If you’re looking to save some fat and calories, you might try swapping just a pound of chicken thighs for a pound of chicken breast. That way any dry, tougher bits of chicken breast are masked by the perfection that is slow cooked chicken thighs.

You can also use lean top round to make a Crockpot beef enchilada casserole, while we’re on the subject.

Another perk of using chicken thighs is that they’re virtually impossible to mess up. You can take them all the way to 190ºF internally and the chicken will be so tender it falls apart when touched. I find six hours in the Crockpot on its low setting gets the job done, but you will want to use the eye test over a timer.

When you can poke one of the chicken thighs with a fork and it shreds, you’re ready to rock.

With recipes like my Crockpot Korean BBQ chicken, I caution against over-shredding chicken if you’re planning to use it in bowls or similar dishes. But with this recipe, very shredded chicken works great since you want it to soak up sauce and evenly mix with tortillas and cheese. Speaking of…

Part Two: Enchilada Casserole

Why take the time to roll chicken in tortillas just to lather in sauce and cheese when you can just throw everything in the Crockpot together? The eating experience is virtually the same, and it easily saves 15-20 minutes not counting the extra dishwashing.

As I tested this recipe, I tried to get away with using fewer tortillas to save calories, but twelve is the magic number with three whole pounds of chicken. You might try using high protein tortillas or lower calorie tortillas to make a more macro friendly chicken casserole if you feel the need.

The cheese, on the other hand, is a bit more customizable. You could probably get away with using less, especially since the recipe calls for folding in half and using the other half for the top.

There are also other cheese alternatives that can improve the macros like reduced fat cream cheese or blended cottage cheese. I’ve used the latter to make things like queso con carne and protein mac n cheese. These options would work well as the first cheese that gets folded into the casserole. Save the real deal, freshly grated cheese for the top.

And finally, I’ll mention my rotisserie chicken fajita casserole that calls for black beans and frozen fajita veggies. You could add both of these alongside the corn tortillas and cheese to add even more volume, fiber, and protein to your final product.

Serving Tips and Pairings

While I think adding other ingredients like peppers and black beans is a great idea if you just want a one-dish meal or something for meal prep, serving the casserole with sides makes for a better eating experience in my opinion.

It more closely resembles traditional chicken enchiladas when served with rice and beans like you see below. But I’ll never fault someone for throwing all ten servings in containers for the fridge and freezer!

These days you can find so many great options for things like Mexican black beans and rice in microwavable packs or in the frozen section, especially if you’re near me in Texas and an H-E-B. I like SOMOS Mexican black beans and Gran Luchito cantina beans when I’m in a pinch. And Costco sells giant bags of Mexican cauliflower rice from Path of Life at the moment.

I would also recommend the cilantro lime half calorie rice from my bison meal prep bowls to go with this casserole. It’s a blend of cilantro lime jasmine rice and riced cauliflower. The cauliflower is barely noticeable and adds a ton of volume to the dish without adding many calories.

Rice and beans aside, the rest of the fun comes from garnishes. Pickled onions and escabeche, guacamole, queso fresco or cotija cheese, cilantro and scallions, Mexican crema or nonfat Greek yogurt, salsa macha (Mexican chile crisp), lime wedges, salsa and hot sauce—you get the picture.

I hope you enjoy this Crockpot spin on chicken enchiladas! If you do, I’m always grateful for recipe reviews. And if there’s anything you have a question about, drop it in the comments below and I’ll do my best to help you out.