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……
What people are saying about this Slow Cooker Enchilada Quinoa
“I threw this together last night and put it in the fridge. I started it in the morning around 7:00 and turned it off at 2:30- it was a fantastic dinner tonight! I added pieces of avocado, some sliced black olives, and a dollop of light sour cream. I’ve already passed this on to two friends and will definitely make this again!” – Bettina
“I’ve been in love with this recipe since I saw the picture. It’s almost dinner time and I snuck a taste…..YUMMY! Serving with tortilla rolls and chips for those that don’t want to eat it like a chili. Amazing post. THANK YOU!” – Anilise
“Made this over spring break for some of my friends since we were all taking classes and needed a little cheering up. I was worried cause it was me cooking for three guys, but they didn’t even question the lack of meat. They used it as burrito filling and they all got thirds, and then they knocked on my door the next morning and invited themselves in for leftovers. Great recipe, really really yummy, easy to make, and great flavors. It’s a crowd pleaser for sure.” – Elisa
“Made this last night and it was sooo good! I browned some ground turkey and dumped that in, too, and it turned out amazingly well! You weren’t kidding when you said leftovers for daysssss because I have enough for me to eat for the next 5 meals (and I could not be happier about that!)!! Thanks for the awesome recipe!” – Lauren
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
I’m a pescatarian, and I don’t care for enchiladas usually.
I’m also a terrible terrible cook. My meals are usually premade or microwave.
Now I know I can’t really take credit since making this was pretty much me throwing canned items in a crock pot (first recipe I ever made in a crock pot) but it was the best food item that ever came out of my doing and it really does take five minutes or less! (Depending on how good your can opener is haha!)
Thanks for the great recipe 🙂 can’t wait to try more!
I made this yesterday and it was delicious! I added a few chicken breasts to the bottom of the crockpot and shredded them up before serving. My honey was sceptical at first but raved over it after the first bite! He said, “You’re gonna have to make this again!” We ate looking forward to leftovers tonight!
Just made a rendition of this with homemade enchilafda sauce. It is delicious! Thanks for the inspiration. I baked this one but I want to try it in the slow cooker next time.
I made this for dinner last week and absolutely loved it – incredibly easy and we had a ton of leftovers to feast on for days! Thank you!
I wasn’t so excited to try this recipe and it did not turn out well 🙁 I’m hoping you can give me some guidance. This is only the second time I’ve used my crock pot haha. I followed the recipe exactly, and left it cooking on low while I was at work (7 hours). When I got home and checked on it, it was very very soupy, but also burned around the edges (I didn’t think that would happen on “low”!) Maybe I need to use more quinoa, I’m not sure. Any tips are appreciated.
Thanks! –G
I made this in the instant pot and it turned out pretty good. I only added half the enchilada sauce because it looked like too much. And i added a 2nd can of beans. Cooked for 1 min, then npr. Then saute and add the cream cheese, which was good because some of the quinoa was not quite cooked, so this let it finish cooking. Added the shredded cheese at the table.
Thank you for your input!