by Texas Homesteader ~
This cheesy enchilada casserole is simple to put together and uses slow-cooker convenience. Ground meat, cheese, refried beans, tomato sauce, chili and corn tortillas makes this a simple yet delicious meal. Check out my easy recipe, y’all!
Wild Game Meat Option
When chatting with our youngest daughter recently about our typical menu here at the Homestead she remarked that we eat lots of pork and asked if we ever got tired of it. I guess I never really thought about it.
RancherMan is an accomplished hunter and we always have pork in the freezer. Sometimes there is other game in our freezer as well, but there’s never a shortage of wild pork.
It’s so lean and mild flavored that it’s super easy to incorporate into many dishes the same as you would other meats.
I’ve made pork roasts and meatloaf, pulled pork BBQ, pulled pork carnitas tacos, and grilled ribs. There are so many delicious savory recipes to use up our supply of pork. (I’ve got a nice long list of wild-game recipes at the end of this post)
Today I’m using that ground pork for an easy slow-cooker enchilada casserole.
You see, I had enchiladas on the menu but my corn tortillas weren’t cooperating and kept breaking instead of rolling up.
(UPDATE: I now make my own easy corn tortillas!)
Enchilada Casserole In Slow Cooker
I thought about a recipe for an enchilada casserole. Hummm… a casserole might solve some stubborn tortilla problems for me.
Since RancherMan & I had an appointment right around the supper hour I decided to make the casserole in my slow cooker.
My Version of the Recipe
Here’s how I ended up making my casserole:
I pulled out about 2 lbs of ground wild pork (you can use standard ground beef if you like) and my own homemade taco seasoning.
And I also pulled a couple of onions and 2 garlic cloves from the garden, a couple of cans of tomato sauce as well as a can of homemade pintos and a can of homemade chili.
I cooked the garlic & onions first in bacon grease on medium heat until they were translucent. Then I added the ground meat.
When the meat was cooked I drained what little fat had accumulated. I returned the meat to my cast-iron skillet & added about 4 tablespoons of my homemade taco seasoning.
Then I poured the tomato sauce into the skillet with the drained meat/onions. When all was thoroughly mixed I mashed a can of my homemade pinto beans and mixed it into the meat mixture.
Layering The Enchilada Casserole
Now I turned my attention to those dang stale crumbly tortillas.
I lined my large 8-quart slow cooker with those ornery corn tortillas, overlapping liberally in several places. Then I topped them with 1/2 of my meat/bean mixture.
And I sprinkled just a little shredded cheese on top and some sliced ripe olives.
Then I added another layer of overlapping corn tortillas and the rest of the meat/bean mixture. I topped with another light sprinkling of cheese and a few sliced olives.
Finally I capped the entire casserole with a final layer of overlapping tortillas, added a container of my homemade chili and a more generous coating of cheese.
I decorated the top with a handful of chopped chives and a few sliced olives.
The ingredients are already cooked so I turned the slow cooker on low. Then RancherMan & I left for our appointment, which took us away from home for about 2 hours.
When we arrived home the house smelled Dee-LICIOUS! I had planned to serve some homemade Ranch-Style Beans as a side dish but RancherMan said a hearty bowl of this casserole sprinkled with a few sliced jalapenos would fit the bill nicely for supper. Now that’s quite an endorsement.
And since I’ve once again used the cook-once-eat-twice method of cooking there will be plenty for us to enjoy for lunch tomorrow, then several servings for me to put in the freezer for quick suppers later. Gotta love it!
By using food I’d already prepared such as homemade pinto beans, chili and taco seasoning this recipe was very inexpensive.
And those containers holding the leftovers in the freezer are all reusable so it’s environmentally friendly as well.
But even if you have to purchase those ingredients it’s an easy recipe that comes together quickly. And really, who doesn’t love slow-cooker convenience?
Wild-Pork Slow Cooker Enchilada Casserole
We use ground pork from a wild hog harvested from our property, but you can use regular sausage or hamburger with the same great results. This recipe is enough to fill up a honkin' 8-quart slow cooker, so halve it if you have a smaller slow cooker. #TexasHomesteader
Ingredients
- 2 lbs Ground Meat
- 2 medium Onions, chopped
- 2 cloves Garlic, pressed
- 12-15 Corn Tortillas
- 2 15-oz Cans Tomato Sauce
- 4 Tablespoons Taco seasoning
- 1 15-oz Can Refried Beans (approximately 3 cups)
- 1 15-oz Can Chili
- 1 16 oz Bag Shredded Mexican Cheese (or to Taste)
- Ripe olive slices & chopped green onions for garnish (Optional)
Instructions
-
Cook onions & garlic until translucent and add ground meat. Continue on medium heat until meat is cooked. Drain grease and stir in taco seasoning. Add tomato sauce & refried beans to meat mixture. Mix thoroughly
-
Line a slow cooker with tortillas, freely overlapping. Spoon 1/2 of the meat/bean mixture over the tortillas and sprinkle lightly with cheese. Repeat tortilla, meat/bean and cheese layer using the other 1/2 of your meat/bean mixture.
-
Top this with more tortillas, freely overlapping, and spread a can of chili over the top. Sprinkle with about a cup of cheese. Decorate with sliced ripe olives and a sprinkling of chopped green onions.
-
Put lid on slow cooker and turn on low until all is heated through and cheese is melted, about 2 hrs.
~TxH~
This post categorized in 
Tagged in 
Pork Roast Recipes:
- Slow-Cooker Pork Roast w/Veggies
- Instant Pot Roast – Comfort Food FAST
- Slow-Cooker Pork Roast w/Red Wine
- Italian-Flavored Pork Roast
- Instant Pot Pepperoncini Roast
- (Easily Shredding Pot Roast FAST)
Recipes with Leftover Pork Roast:
- Carnitas Tacos
- (MYO Crispy Taco Shells in Minutes)
- Pulled Pork Enchiladas
- Hearty Meaty Stew
- Homemade Pork Tamales
- Pulled Pork BBQ
- (Homemade Honey-Sweetened BBQ Sauce)
- BBQ Rub & Beer-Based Mop Sauce Recipe
New Meals Remade With Leftovers
- Planned Leftovers: Easy Slow-Cooker Pork Roast
- How To Quickly Shred Leftover Roast
- Fast Food: Remaking Leftover Steak & Veggies
- Leftover Mashed Potatoes Into Potato Cakes
- Leftover Biscuit Dough? Make Cinnamon Rolls!
- Hearty Stew – Quickest Planned Leftover Meal Of All
- Pulled Pork Enchiladas From Leftover Roast
- Planned Leftovers: Carnitas Tacos From Pork Roast
- Leftover Meatloaf Made Into Quesadillas
- Leftover Chicken & Zucchini Noodles with Herb Bombs
- Chicken Tortilla Soup From Leftovers
- Homemade Chicken Pot Pie Made Easy
- Chicken & Dumplings Using Leftover Chicken
- Using It ALL – The Art Of Eliminating Leftover Food
- Leftover Navy Beans Into Delicious HUMMUS!
- Leftover Turkey & Dressing Into Patties
…and MUCH MORE!
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I made this for my family but used ground beef It was delicious. I didn’t have olives so I topped it with chopped chives from the garden. It made a lot so I have plenty for future meals. I might freeze some too for convenient meals when I just don’t want to cook.
These look really good! We hunt a lot of wild hog too. Thanks, for sharing! It is always nice to hear tips and recipes from someone else in East Texas!
Anne, it’s so good! RancherMan typically eats whatever I fix for supper without complaint. He’s usually complimentary of the meal. But when I serve THIS – he raves over & over again about how I can make this whenever and as often as I like! LOL ~TxH~
Another awesome looking dish! Thank you for sharing! See you tonight for Merry Monday! Julia
Yum!! Make anything Mexican Flavors and I’m in!! Thanks for linking up on My 2 Favorite Things on Thursday!! Hope you come back this Thursday and share some more!! I love having you! Pinned!
Awesome, I’m pinning this! I’m using my slow cooker every day this whole year, and this is just perfect!
This looks fantastic and once again you will have some spare to put in the freezer for later. Thanks for sharing at Good Morning Mondays. Blessings
Chicken Enchilada Casserole is one of my family’s favorites. Thanks for sharing your recipe at This Is How We Roll Thursday. Can’t wait to try this!
I travel a lot with my husband and I’m always on the look for new crock pot recipes. Looks good. Thanks for sharing on the Oh My Heartsie Girls WW
I never had wild pork, although I had some other game. I bet it tastes great! I’m so glad you linked it with us at Thursday Favorite Things!
Our wild pork is very lean and provided it’s a sow it’s pretty mellow in flavor as well. ~TxH~
That sounds like a yummy recipe! Thanks so much for linking up with us for Idea Box! Can’t wait to see future posts!
Oh my goodness, that looks good! We don’t have wild pork so much here in Virginia, but I will have to try this with the farm-raised pork.
Wild hogs are outta control here in NE Texas and they’re destructive little beasts, quickly rooting deep tractor-jarring holes in the pastures overnight. So we harvest them as often as we can for double-benefit – delicious low-fat protein and to reduce their damaging numbers. But farm-raised pork or even ground beef would be great in this recipe. Give it a try Amy. ~TxH~
This looks and sounds good… I laughed when I saw that you can’t stick to a recipe, but have to change it… I do the same thing. 🙂
Yeah, but you understood then since you do the same thing. LOL ~TxH~
That looks delicious, minus the olives, lol! We eat lost of venison as my husband and children hunt.
A secrete I found to make corn tortillas “behave” is to nuke them in the microwave for about 30 sec. working with 3-4 at a time. They moisten up beautifully. CJ
I think these corn tortillas had pretty much done their tour of duty in my fridge and they were just a bit too dry & brittle to roll like I wanted them to. I even tried adding a damp cloth in the microwave to steam a little moisture into them but with no luck. BUT they worked beautifully in my casserole so I was happy I could get them used up. ~TxH~
Well that’s just awesome Jamie – thank you! RancherMan & I really, really loved this recipe & it all came together quickly & made enough to freeze for later. Gotta love it… ~TxH~
This looks awesome! I’ll share the recipe with my daughters! I am delighted that you shared with Home and Garden Thursday,
Kathy
I loved this recipe so much! I thought it was the perfect meal for the busy mom. We are going to feature this recipe this Sunday at the Sunday Social! Go grab a button if you like : )
That’s awesome Angela – Thank you! RancherMan & I really did love this recipe and it makes enough to enjoy again and then freeze some for later. Gotta love Cook-Once, Eat-Twice (or more) suppers! ~TxH~
I am making this right now, with ground turkey rather than pork though (I do look forward to fresh wild hog meat in my near future). I used half the recipe and it pretty much filled up my large crockpot, yours must be huge! Thanks for sharing.
Yes ma’am, the slow cooker my sister gave us years ago was huge, it had to feed six of us! Even now with only 2 of us here I pull it out & use it often for the cook-once, eat-twice method of cooking. Hope you love this casserole as much as RancherMan & I did! ~TxH~
Now this is a dish I can get behind! I was just wondering about the tortillas (figuring you used soft tortillas) how did they serve up. Did they form a lasagna noodle like layer or was it more like tomalito (wet corn muffin) ? Also, like you I think of recipes as guidelines & suggestions. I do not have a slow cooker so I’ll use one of my many Dutch ovens (why have a slow cooker when you can have an excuse to collect Dutch ovens?).
I love dutch ovens! I only have 1 but I envy collections. The corn tortillas stayed the same consistency they would if they had been made into enchiladas – they held together fine, I’d guess like you described as “lasagna noodle-like layer”. I thought my casserole could have used just a little more tomato but it wasn’t dry, just not as moist as I would have preferred, so I added some tomato in the actual recipe that I shared. Let me know how you enjoy it! ~TxH~
Taylor this looks delish and like a meal my guys would love! You know they are both hunters and I am hoping this next hunting season will be the big year for them! Thank you so much for linking up to the “From The Farm” Blog hop too! Hope to see you next week!
Please add me to your mailing list. Thank you.
Hi Summer, thankfully getting on the mailing list is easy. At the top of the right-hand column under “FOLLOW US” there is an email icon. Just click that icon and enter your email address. The program will send you an email to confirm your wishes and after you respond to that you’ll be enrolled to receive an email each time a new post is out. So glad to have you following along! ~TxH~