Bean and Cheese Burrito Casserole Slow Cooker Recipe
If you didn't get enough of a Mexican food fix yesterday for Cinco de Mayo, here's an easy recipe that will make everyone in the house happy.
and since today's Friday, it's probably more appropriate to have your celebratory margarita today, anyway.
Right?
or another.
it's okay. I don't judge.
The Ingredients.
serves 8
1 small onion, peeled and diced
1 green bell pepper, seeded and chopped
2 (14.5-ounce) cans diced tomatoes, undrained
1 (4-ounce) can roasted green chiles, undrained
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
8 flour or brown rice tortillas (brown rice tortillas are GF; read packing carefully)
4 cups cooked pinto beans (three 15-ounce cans, drained)
4 cups shredded Mexican blend cheese
optional garnishes: sour cream, sliced avocado, etc.
If you're going to use dry beans instead of canned, this is how you do it.
The Directions.
Use a 4-quart slow cooker. If you only have a large one, that's okay--but reduce cooking time a few hours.
In a mixing bowl, stir together the onion, bell pepper, tomatoes, chiles, and spices.
(hey steph, can I just use Rotel instead of the tomatoes and chiles?
Yup. The volume will be slightly different, but I really don't think that this will be a big deal while it's cooking.)
Put a layer of tortillas into the bottom of your cooker---you may need to tear them a bit to get good coverage.
Add a scoop of the onion/tomato mixture and layer on a healthy spoonful of beans and then a layer of cheese.
Repeat layers until you've run out of ingredients. Top with a healthy dose of cheese.
Cover and cook on low for 6 to 7 hours (if using a 6-quart, do 3 to 4 hours on low, then let it click over to warm--there's nothing really to cook--you're just heating thoroughly and getting the cheese to get that yummy crust).
Top with desired fixens'.
The Verdict.
I chose to keep this vegetarian because that's how the kids like it, but you can certainly add some shredded chicken or beef to the mix.
I like making casseroles like this near the end of the week, because we can use the leftovers for lunch when we're all home.
We tend to grab lunch on the run during the weekend (Costco hotdogs, anyone...?) and I'm trying hard to continue my meal planning---even on my "days off."
Have a wonderful weekend! Happy Mother's Day!
more Cinco de Mayo fun:
tamales (impress your friends!)
chimichangas (so much fun!)
I'm excited to try this one out! =]
ReplyDelete"Top with a healthy dose of cheese." What a wonderful sentence. I doubt I'll ever hear that anywhere else. ;)
ReplyDeleteBTW, don't the tortillas get all gooshy on the bottom?
Sounds wonderful...do you think it would work with corn tortillas?
ReplyDeletePerfect! I needed a new recipe for a 'meal' in the crockpot. I host Quilt Day several times a year and our current campaign is to make 1000 quilts for the children of Japan. Next Quilt Day is number 10 and I need something different than black bean soup and crockpot lasagna. Do you think I can double this recipe successfully in a 6qt crockpot? 12-20 people attend Quilt Day. I provide food and fabric. Crockpot meals make it easy for everyone to help themselves!
ReplyDeleteAt the risk of sounding like a troll...
ReplyDeleteI'm sure it's quite tasty, but your food photography skills make it look like something they'd serve at prison.
LOL! not a troll. I'm hoping to never see the food in a prison, and I hope you haven't either.
ReplyDelete@send me: happy to provide a sentence smile for you. ;-)
ReplyDeleteand yup. the tortillas on the bottom get kind of squishy, even more so the next day, or when reheated. I actually kind of like that about bean burritos, though. The starches mingle with the cheese to create this kind of oozey nirvana. lol.
@aaflood: Yes---you can certainly use corn tortillas.
enjoy!
So glad the FDA responded to your efforts! I've never knowingly met anyone who needs to stay gluten-free, but your blog has educated me and I was pleased to sign the petition. Keep on keepin' on!
ReplyDeletemmmmm...thank-you! :)
ReplyDeleteI just finished layering my crock pot with this recipe :) It is sure to be a hit with the kids at dinner tonight! Thanks for yet another amazing and simple recipe.......your site has been a gift for a busy single mom of 3.
Hi, (Posted this before but you may not have seen it) I LOVE your site and have tried A LOT of your recipes (have your crock pot yogurt in the fridge right now!, but we seem not to have any luck with the chicken recipes. Any recipe that includes chicken breast seems to turn out 'funny' tasting. I haven't tried using the chicken breast frozen to start with, they've always been already thawed, and am wondering if maybe this is the problem? Any advice you could give would be really helpful! Thanks so much!
ReplyDeleteOooooooh! Okay, I am so totally going to try this. Not only is it veg friendly, I have a feeling it will be Weight Watchers friendly, too!
ReplyDeleteI would try this one. thanks for sharing the recipe. Looks delicious and I'm sure it tastes even more.
ReplyDeleteYum.
ReplyDeleteOur Trader Joes doesn't carry the brown rice tortillas.
ReplyDeleteI doubt any recipe with 4 cups of cheese is WW friendly. LOL I was wondering about try it with less cheese? Meals for the whole family are dairy free right now and 4 cups of Daiya would be pricey!
ReplyDeleteLooks great! Thanks for posting.
ReplyDelete@Teresa... On the concept of using less cheese... I made it today and inadvertantly only used about 3 cups (didn't realize til I was at the top that I should have been putting more in each layer... guess I really should have just thrown all that was left on the top). Anyway, it was disappointing, and I'm attributing it to missing 25% of the cheese. We ended up eating with tortilla chips which was a nice added crunch. When I reheat leftovers this weekend I'll be throwing some of that leftover cheese on each serving. :-)
ReplyDeleteI made this last night for a family get-together, and it was a huge hit. I also made your carnitas recipe, and it was also amazing.
ReplyDeleteI think I inadvertently doubled the recipe (I'm not good at converting imperial to metric can sizes at the grocery store)because it almost filled my biggest crockpot with some filling left over! However, I still only used 4 cups of cheese, and it was just the right amount of cheesiness. I'm using the leftover fillings to make a second batch for tonight's dinner.
Regarding the quality of the photo - that's actually much more attractive than how mine turned out. It was basically a hot, gloppy mess on the plate, but it tasted fantastic. Both my dad & my brother went back for seconds, and the 2 of them have wildly different food preferences.
I found that the tortillas in the middle layers were squishy, cheesy goodness, but the outside ones in contact with the crockpot got browned and a bit crispy. That might be because I was using an 8-quart pot that gets pretty hot, even on the low setting.
I wanted to thank you, because your website is my go-to site when I am looking for ideas to feed a crowd. My extended family has vegetarian, gluten-free, diabetic, and some seriously picky eaters, and finding a recipe that works for everyone can be tricky. You haved saved the day many times. Thank you!
Aerin, thank you for writing in! I'm so happy to be of any help to you and your family. xoxo
ReplyDeleteI made this because it sounded really yummy. I was right. I thought I was supposed to use refried beans and that's all I had, plus a can of black beans. It worked really well. The first day it was pretty good, but the second day it got even better. Those flavors meld together and make an incredible combination! Love it! Thanks for the recipe. It will definitely be a favorite for us!
ReplyDeleteMade this for dinner tonight. Everyone,except our picky eater, enjoyed it. The only thing is the tortillas were gooey.
ReplyDelete