Chicken cooked slowly in red enchilada sauce, shredded, then turned into a casserole with black beans, corn and strips of corn tortilla for a short finish on High.
Twenty minutes of prep, five or six hours on Low, and about half an hour to bring it together. Eight servings.
Why This Recipe Works
- Holding back the second tin of enchilada sauce is the whole structure of the recipe. Eight tortillas cut into strips need liquid to soften into, and a tin of sauce added at the end is exactly that.
- Corn tortillas rather than flour. Corn tortillas hold together as they hydrate and give the layered texture the dish is named for; flour tortillas break down into a gluey paste in the same half hour.
- The chicken is cooked alone first. Beans, corn and tortillas added at the start of a six-hour cook would be shapeless long before the chicken was done — this recipe simply refuses to make that trade.
- Cheese split a cup and a half in, half a cup on. The portion stirred through melts into the sauce and helps bind the casserole; the portion on top stays visible and browned.
- Cumin and garlic powder go in with the chicken at the start, where six hours can carry them through the meat rather than leaving them on the surface.
Two Cooks In One Crock
The first five hours cook a piece of chicken. The last half hour builds a casserole around it. They happen in the same pot at different settings, and the tortillas belong only to the second one.
Stage 1 of 4
Cook the chicken, on LOW
Steps 1–2 of 7
One tin of enchilada sauce, the thawed chicken, cumin and garlic powder. Five to six hours until it reaches 165°F. Nothing else is in the pot at this stage — no beans, no tortillas, no cheese.
- Start the chicken in one tin of saucePour 1 can enchilada sauce into the slow cooker and add the chicken. Sprinkle with the cumin and garlic powder.
- Cook on Low to 165°FCover and cook on LOW 5 to 6 hours, until the chicken reaches 165°F.
Stage 2 of 4
Shred and rebuild
Steps 3–4 of 7
Chicken out, shredded, back in. Then the second tin of sauce, the drained beans, the corn, the tortilla strips and a cup and a half of the cheese. The pot goes from a braise to a casserole in one step.
- Shred and return itRemove the chicken, shred it, and return it to the slow cooker.
- Build the casseroleStir in the remaining enchilada sauce, black beans, corn, tortilla strips and 1 1/2 cups cheese.
Stage 3 of 4
Bind it, on HIGH
Steps 5–5 of 7
Twenty to thirty minutes on High, until it is hot and the tortillas have softened INTO the casserole rather than floating in it. This is the stage that makes it a casserole rather than a stew.
- Finish on HighCover and cook on HIGH 20 to 30 minutes, until hot and the tortillas have softened into the casserole.
Stage 4 of 4
Melt and finish
Steps 6–7 of 7
The remaining half cup of cheese and the optional olives over the top, lid on for five minutes to melt, then cilantro. Sour cream and avocado at the table if you want them.
- Melt the topTop with the remaining cheese and the optional olives; cover 5 minutes to melt.
- Finish and serveFinish with the cilantro and serve with the desired toppings.
Ingredient Notes
- Red enchilada sauce, two 10-ounce tins
- Two tins used at two different moments. The first cooks the chicken; the second is what the tortillas soften into. Do not combine them.
- Corn tortillas, cut into strips
- Eight, cut into strips rather than left whole. Corn specifically — this is the layer that makes the dish a casserole and flour tortillas will not do it.
- Black beans, drained and rinsed
- One 15-ounce tin, rinsed. The starchy tin liquid would cloud the sauce and dull the enchilada flavour.
- Mexican-blend or Monterey Jack cheese
- Two cups, divided a cup and a half to half a cup. Either cheese works; both melt cleanly, which matters when half of it is going through the casserole.
- Chicken breasts or thighs, thawed
- A pound and a half, either cut and thawed rather than frozen. Thighs stay juicier over six hours; breasts are fine if pulled as soon as they hit temperature.
How to Make It
Start the chicken in one tin of sauce
Pour 1 can enchilada sauce into the slow cooker and add the chicken. Sprinkle with the cumin and garlic powder.
Cook on Low to 165°F
Cover and cook on LOW 5 to 6 hours, until the chicken reaches 165°F.
Shred and return it
Remove the chicken, shred it, and return it to the slow cooker.
Build the casserole
Stir in the remaining enchilada sauce, black beans, corn, tortilla strips and 1 1/2 cups cheese.
Finish on High
Cover and cook on HIGH 20 to 30 minutes, until hot and the tortillas have softened into the casserole.
Melt the top
Top with the remaining cheese and the optional olives; cover 5 minutes to melt.
Finish and serve
Finish with the cilantro and serve with the desired toppings.
Success Tips
- Keep the second tin of sauce closed until step 4.
- Thaw the chicken properly before it goes in the cooker.
- Cut the tortillas into strips rather than tearing them, so they soften evenly.
- Give it the full twenty to thirty minutes on High so the tortillas disappear into the dish.
- Save the last half cup of cheese for the lid rather than stirring it all through.
Serving Ideas
Spooned into bowls with sour cream and sliced avocado. Rice on the side if you want it stretched further, though it is substantial as it is.
Storage and Reheating
Refrigerate
Refrigerate up to 4 days. The tortillas keep absorbing sauce, so it becomes denser and more casserole-like overnight.
Freeze
Freezes for up to 2 months. Cool completely and freeze in portions; the tortilla texture softens further but the dish holds.
Reheat
Covered, in a low oven or the microwave, with a spoonful of extra sauce or a splash of broth to loosen it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I use flour tortillas?
Not in this recipe. Corn tortilla strips soften into the casserole and keep some structure; flour tortillas break down into paste over the same half hour on High.
Can I put everything in at the start?
The beans, corn and tortillas would be shapeless long before the chicken reached 165°F. The recipe splits the cook deliberately: chicken first, casserole afterwards.
My tortilla strips stayed dry and separate.
Usually because both tins of sauce went in at the start and there was nothing left for them to absorb. Hold the second tin back for step 4, and give the High phase its full time.
How do I make it hotter?
The heat comes from your enchilada sauce, which varies by brand. A hot rather than mild tin, or diced jalapeño stirred in at step 4, is where you would add it.
