Crock Pot Chicken Enchilada Casserole

I think I enjoy Fix and Forget Friday as much as you guys do. It seems these days my schedule is totally full. It’s nice to have a meal in the crock pot so that I know when I get home dinner is ready to go…..as long as I have remembered to turn the crock pot on. In my defense, that only happened ONCE. And maybe it wasn’t even my fault. Maybe the cord somehow wiggled itself out of the outlet. It could happen. Today we’re making Crock Pot Chicken Enchilada Casserole. Yum! Barry gave this a 9 out of 10 (and that’s impressive ladies. Usually I only get an 8). Barry saves his 10 for Tiramisu and Berryhill Baja Grill in Texas.

You’ll need cooked, ground chicken, corn tortillas, chopped green chilies, cooked Great Northern beans, shredded cheese and chicken broth. If you would prefer, you could use cooked ground turkey…..but then the recipe would be called Turkey Enchilada Casserole. Or you could really go wild and use cooked ground beef….and then they would be called???? Pop quiz.

First, realize that it’s dark in your kitchen and you forgot to use the flash. Ummmmm, oops? Then grease your crock. I used olive oil, but you could use butter or something similar. Layer three tortillas on the bottom of your crock. You’ll have to overlap them a bit.

Top the tortillas with half of the chicken, 1/3 of the chilies, half of the beans, and ½ cup of cheese. It is just me or is layering things totally fun? That’s my favorite part about Lasagna. Actually no. My favorite part about Lasagna is eating it. I believe in honesty. It’s the best policy.

Pour half of the broth over the first layer. It’s going to give us some moisture so the casserole isn’t dry. Dry casseroles are the pits…..sorta like Christmas fruit cake. They last forever and you can kill someone if you throw it directly at their head.

After the broth, put down another three tortillas and the rest of the meat and beans, 1/3 of the chilies, and another ½ cup of cheese. Top this layer with the last three tortillas, the rest of the chilies and the remaining cheese. Over the top, put the rest of the chicken broth. Pretty easy stuff, right? Now your casserole is assembled.

Man, these pictures are really dark. I could have used Photoshop to fix them, but I’ll be honest……Photoshop scares me. Turn it to low and let it cook for 6 hours. We don’t have to go with 8 hours because the meat is already cooked.

After six hours, your dinner is ready! You’ll need to add a vegetable, but that’s usually the easy part. I made this for Barry when I was going to be gone, teaching a class. Here is his review:

Ummmmm…yummy?  How else can I review it?  I’m the husband who gets a home-cooked meal, prepared for me when I arrive from work and it is stinkin’ delicious.  So…is “stinkin’ delicious” a good enough review in man terms?  Okay, in a bit more detail, here are my thoughts.  It was NOT dry and had a good mix of flavors.  I debated putting some salsa on top, which would be totally appropriate, but then I just kept eating it without the salsa and was more than satisfied.  It was not very spicy, so if you’re looking for some kick, break out a jar of jalapenos and they would add some nice warmth to it.  But I bet you’ll do what I did and just eat it while you think of the various toppings you could add to change it up for when there are leftovers – if there are any.

Note from Stacy: there were leftovers. 🙂 I found the re-heated leftovers to be a tad bit dry. I fixed that with salsa and sour cream on top the next day.