Hey ya’ll! I’m so excited to bring you this week’s featured recipe, Enchilada Casserole! I put this together one evening when I was running short on time and it occurred to me that this would be a really versatile recipe to complete either in the oven, or like I did, in the slow cooker. You could save even more time by preparing the meat mixture ahead of time and freezing it in an airtight container until ready to use!
Stretching time after work & school…
After having raised our five kids and juggling schedules with my full time job and my hubby’s full time job, I truly understand how valuable saving time really is. Especially when it comes to fixing meals for the family!
Let me start by saying that I love my slow cooker and it has come in handy so many times. Although this particular recipe only needs a short amount of time to complete the cooking process in the slow cooker, being able to use it in this recipe during the summer eliminates the need to use the oven! Bonus!!! I hate using the oven when it’s hot because, to me, it just defeats the purpose of running the air conditioning system and creates higher electric bills….Who needs that, right?
Anyway, I’ve captured the creation process of this yummy Enchilada Casserole…
First of all, chop the red bell pepper and onion….mmmmm. And then add to Dutch oven and caramelize before adding the ground beef.
While the ground beef cooks, coat the bottom of the slow cooker with the yummy enchilada sauce.
And then top sauce with four corn tortillas….
Prepare spices for meat mixture…
Saute onion and bell pepper; brown ground beef, then add yummy spices….
Then layer, layer, layer!!! 🙂
Oh my goodness! As a result of your efforts……delicious, cheesy, Enchilada Casserole!!! Yummm!!!
Lisa
Delicious, quick & versatile!
30 minPrep Time
45 minCook Time
1 hr, 15 Total Time
Ingredients
Instructions
- In a Dutch oven or large skillet, melt butter and add onion and bell pepper. Sauté until bell pepper is just tender and onion is opaque. Add ground beef and cook through until browned. Remove from heat and drain excess fat. Return cooked beef mixture to Dutch oven and over low heat, add the chili powder, granulated garlic, cumin, onion powder, smoked paprika and crushed pepper flakes. Stir to combine and incorporate well. When combined well and heated through, remove from heat and set aside.
- Preheat slow cooker on high setting and add half of one can of the enchilada sauce to the bottom of the slow cooker.
- Top sauce with corn tortillas, and then add 1/3 of the meat mixture evenly over the top of the tortilla layer. Cover meat mixture with 4 oz. of cheese.
- For the next two layers, add tortillas, sauce, meat mixture then cheese; for top layer add remaining four corn tortillas, top with remaining sauce and cheese.
- Place lid on slow cooker and cook through until casserole is bubbling and cheese is melted.
- To bake, preheat oven to 425’F. Grease a 9”x13” baking pan and layer as listed above. Bake for 30 to 45 minutes or until casserole is bubbly and cheese is melted.