Crock Pot Chicken Enchiladas are a great delicious dinner that your whole family is going to love. My homemade enchilada sauce and great tips will make this a recipe you fall back on over and over.
One of my favorite kinds of recipes to share with you is the ones that are kid approved. I make my kids eat everything. But! Not everything I love gets a winning endorsement gold star seal of approval from my three.
These Crock Pot Chicken Enchiladas do!
What is even more rare is when ALL THREE love a dinner recipe. This slow cooker dinner recipe gets that box checked!
If you are struggling with what to make for your family this week, make this! I have everything you need in this post to make this recipe turn out perfectly, including different ideas for making shredded chicken.
Crock Pot Chicken Enchilada Ingredients
This recipe requires only a few ingredients, making it a great weeknight dinner. Please refer to the recipe card for the full amounts and instructions at the bottom of the post.
- Enchilada Sauce (more on that below)
- Diced tomatoes
- Shredded Chicken (more on that below)
- Diced Green Chiles
- Taco Seasoning
- Tortillas
- Cheese
If you keep shredded chicken in the freezer, you can keep almost everything to make this in your pantry. That way you only need to add tortillas and cheese to your grocery list.
How to Make Slow Cooker Chicken Enchiladas
- Spray the crockpot with cooking spray.
- Add just enough enchilada sauce to the bottom to coat it.
- In a large bowl mix together the chicken, 3/4 cup of cheese, green chiles, diced tomatoes, and taco seasoning.
- Place 1/3 cup of the mixture in a 6 inch tortilla. Roll up tightly and place in the bottom of the slow cooker.
- Repeat with the remaining tortillas.
- Once you have filled the bottom layer of the slow cooker, add a little more enchilada sauce and a little cheese. Then make a second layer of enchiladas.
- Once you have rolled up all the enchiladas, top with the remaining sauce and cheese.
- Cook on low for 2 to 4 hours.
Homemade Enchilada Sauce vs. Store Bought
The other day a neighbor asked me if she could borrow a can of enchilada sauce but said:
“But is it as good as yours? I am really picky about enchilada sauce and I only like your recipe.”
I’m biased of course, but I don’t think that store-bought or canned enchilada sauce is as good as my enchilada sauce recipe. It’s missing a depth of flavor that my 20 minute sauce brings.
That said, don’t skip out on this recipe because you didn’t have time to make homemade sauce! Your family will love it with store-bought.
Shredded Chicken
This recipe calls for cooked shredded chicken. There are a few ways to make it.
Pro Tip: Cook more chicken than you need and freeze the left over shredded chicken. See how below.
Boil Chicken Breasts
Place the chicken in enough water to cover it and simmer it for 4 to 10 minutes. Make sure it registers 165 degrees with an instant read thermometer.
Baking Chicken
Place chicken in a baking dish and cover with foil. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes at 400 degrees.
Use the Instant Pot
You can also make shredded chicken in the instant pot. Learn how to make shredded chicken in the instant pot.
Use a Rotisserie Chicken
Shredding a rotisserie chicken is a great easy way to get shredded chicken for a recipe like this. I like to buy more than one at a time and freeze a lot.
Freezing Shredded Chicken
As mentioned above a way to make this recipe faster is having frozen shredded chicken on hand.
To Freeze Shredded Chicken:
- Shred the chicken.
- Spread out on a wax paper lined baking sheet to cool.
- Once cool, transfer the baking sheet to the freezer.
- Freeze for an hour.
- Take out and transfer to a sealable container. You may need to break it up a little bit.
- Store in the freezer for up to three months
Thawing Frozen Shredded Chicken
When you are ready to use it, place in the refrigerator overnight. Or, put in a sealed container inside of a cold bowl of water, changing the water every 30 minutes until the chicken is thawed. It will take less than two hours.
Other Enchilada Recipes
If your family can’t get enough enchiladas, make sure you also make:
If you make these Crock Pot Chicken Enchiladas or any of my other recipes, leave me a comment and let me know what you think.
Recommended Tools
- Slow Cooker: This is the crockpot I have. I like it so much I have two!
- Mixing Bowl: I’ve had this mixing bowl for years. It’s the perfect size.
- Measuring Spoons: I’m obsessed with these measuring spoons.
- Cheese Grater: We love this one with the container that fits perfectly on the bottom.
Slow Cooker Chicken Enchiladas
Ingredients
- 1 pound chicken cooked and shredded (see notes in the post about making shredded chicken)
- 15 ounces diced tomatoes drained
- 4 ounces diced green chiles
- 1 tablespoon taco seasoning
- 2 cups enchilada sauce
- 12 6 inch flour tortillas (see note about using corn tortillas)
- 8 ounces cheddar cheese shredded
Instructions
- Spray your crockpot with cooking spray.
- In a medium bowl, mix together the chicken, drained diced tomatoes, chiles, taco seasoning, and 3/4 a cup of the cheese.
- Pour a small amount of the enchilada sauce – just enough to coat the bottom – into bottom of the slow cooker.
- Add 1/3 a cup of the chicken mixture to each tortilla and roll tightly. Place seam side down in the preparred slow cooker.
- After filling the bottom of the slow cooker with a layer of chicken enchiladas, add a little bit of sauce and cheese. Now add another layer of enchiladas.
- When all 12 tortillas have been added to the baking dish, top with the remaining sauce and then the reamining cheese.
- Cook on low for 2 to 3 hours. Please note that all crock pots are different and yours may need a little less or a little more time. All of the ingredients in this recipe are fully cooked, you are just looking to heat it all up and combine flavors.
Notes
Marie Mancini says
WOW, love these crock-pot recipes! My family loves Enchiladas!
Thank you so much for these receipes.
You are very welcome!
Cynthia Scott says
Can I use Rao’s spaghetti sauce instead?
I would not recommend spaghetti sauce as a substitute.