Quinoa Enchilada Crockpot: seasoned ground turkey, quinoa, fire-roasted tomatoes, salsa, beans, corn, enchilada sauce, and plenty of cheese. Top with cilantro, lime, guacamole, or your favorite enchilada toppings.
Pair this healthy meal with a simple salad like this Italian Salad or this Mandarin Orange Salad.
Quinoa Enchilada Crock-Pot
This meal is one of our favorites! It’s so easy to assemble and the slow cooker does all the heavy lifting! It’s such a great all-purpose meal — it can be eaten as is, layered in tortillas or lettuce wraps, cooked into actual enchiladas, or eaten as a dip with chips!
How To Make Enchilada Quinoa In The Crock-Pot
- Sauté onion and bell pepper in olive oil in a large skillet, then add ground turkey.
- Mix in spices and garlic, sauté briefly, and transfer to a slow cooker.
- Add uncooked quinoa, black beans, corn, fire-roasted tomatoes, salsa, enchilada sauce, and chicken broth (or water and bouillon).
- Stir everything together until evenly combined.
- Cook on high for 2.5 to 5 hours, stirring once midway if possible, until quinoa is cooked and liquid absorbed.
- Stir in freshly grated cheese until melted, then serve with your favorite enchilada toppings.
Quinoa Enchilada Crock-Pot Tips
- Use freshly grated cheese. Pre-grated cheese has a cellulose coating that keeps it from melting as nicely. While it can be used in this recipe, it will get a little greasy and won’t melt as smoothly.
- Cook on high. Unfortunately, this recipe doesn’t cook well at low temperatures; the quinoa absorbs liquid too slowly and cooks unevenly.
- Use fire-roasted diced tomatoes for more flavor.
- Don’t forget the toppings. They add so much flavor and texture to this dish. Use whatever you like on top of enchiladas; our favorite toppings for this dish are ripe sliced avocados, fresh cilantro, fresh lime, and fresh cherry tomatoes. Other options include sour cream, additional cheese, pico de gallo, guacamole, thinly sliced radishes, and green onions.
- Crock-Pot® is a trademarked brand of slow cooker that is often used generically. You can use any type of slow cooker you prefer.
Variations
- Add heat: A tablespoon or two of diced jalapeños, hot sauce, and/or fire-roasted diced green chilies are all additions that add in some heat. A spicier salsa and/or enchilada sauce can also be used.
- Reduce heat: By using mild salsa and mild enchilada sauce, I’d say this is a very mild dish. To further reduce heat, use only 1-2 teaspoons chili powder. (Use a non spicy chili powder like McCormick® (not sponsored)).
- Make a homemade enchilada sauce: If you prefer, make your own!
- Replace ground turkey with lean ground beef.
- Make it vegetarian: Leave out the ground turkey; no other changes are needed.
Alternate Cooking Methods
- Oven: Try this Quinoa Enchilada Bake; it’s very similar to this recipe but baked instead of slow cooked.
- Stove top: Follow steps 1-4 using a large pot. Add the rest of the ingredients and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat to a simmer, cover the pot, and simmer for 15-20 minutes or until the quinoa has “popped.” Stir mixture every 5-7 minutes and reduce heat if the quinoa is sticking or increase if the liquid isn’t being absorbed.
- Pressure cooker: I haven’t personally tested this recipe in the pressure cooker, but a reader commented that it worked well: “Made this yesterday in my electric pressure cooker: 9 minutes on high setting (added about 1/2 cup more water).” (Thanks Lisa!)
More Healthy Quinoa Recipes
- Crockpot Chicken Quinoa Soup Italian inspired
- Quinoa Chili with sweet potatoes
- Spring Quinoa Salad with a lemon vinaigrette
- Greek Quinoa Salad with a Greek-inspired vinaigrette
- Quinoa Fried Rice with a delicious stir-fry sauce
Quinoa Enchilada Crockpot
Equipment
- 6 quart slow cooker
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1/2 cup diced yellow onion
- 1/2 cup diced sweet bell pepper (I use red)
- 1 pound lean ground turkey
- 1 teaspoon minced garlic
- 1 tablespoon chili powder
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- Salt and pepper
- 1 and 1/2 cups uncooked quinoa
- 1 can (15 ounces) black beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 cup frozen corn
- 1/2 cup salsa
- 1 can (14 ounces) fire-roasted diced tomatoes, undrained
- 1 cup chicken stock (or chicken broth, or water)
- 1 can (19 ounces) red enchilada sauce (See Note 1)
- 2 cups Cheddar or Mexican blend cheese (I use 1 cup extra sharp cheese and 1 cup Monterrey jack cheese)
- 1/3 cup fresh cilantro, finely chopped
- Optional: 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice, sour cream, cilantro, etc. (whatever toppings you typically would like on enchiladas)
Instructions
- GROUND TURKEY: Line a slow cooker or generously spray with cooking spray. In a large skillet, add 1 tablespoon olive oil. Heat over medium-high heat and then add in the 1/2 cup diced onion and 1/2 cup diced red pepper. Sauté for 3-4 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add in the ground turkey. Cook and crumble until browned through. (Drain any grease if needed). Add in the 1 teaspoon minced garlic, 1 tablespoon chili powder, 1 teaspoon cumin, and salt and pepper to taste (I add 3/4 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper). Cook until fragrant, another 1-2 minutes.
- CROCK-POT: Transfer the ground turkey mixture into the crock-Pot (I use a 6-quart crock-Pot). Add in the 1 and 1/2 cups uncooked quinoa (make sure to rinse first in a fine-mesh sieve), the 1 can drained and rinsed black beans, the 1 cup frozen corn, 1/2 cup salsa, 1 can (undrained) diced tomatoes, 1 cup chicken stock (broth or water), and the 19-ounce can of enchilada sauce.
- COOK: Stir well. Cover the slow cooker and cook on high for 2 and 1/2 to 3 and 1/2 hours or until the liquid is all absorbed into the mixture. Once the liquid is absorbed, remove the lid and stir together everything again. Add in 1/3 cup diced cilantro, 2 tablespoons lime juice (if using), and the 2 cups cheese. Stir until cheese is melted.
- SERVE: Add your favorite enchilada toppings to individual plates: any additional cilantro or lime juice, sour cream, pico de gallo or diced cherry tomatoes, fresh avocado or guacamole.
- MAKE QUINOA ENCHILADAS: To make these into more traditional enchiladas: Warm up the tortillas, spread some cheese on one side, a large spoonful of the mixture on top of the cheese, and more cheese on top of the mixture. Roll it up, cook until crisp in a skillet over medium-high heat, and top with more salsa or enchilada sauce. Add sour cream, green onions, and cilantro if desired.
Recipe Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
How many cups is one serving? Thanks!
Made this tonight for dinner. It was VERY tasty! Will definitely make it again soon. I will probably use a bit less cheese next time, but otherwise would recommend the recipe as written. Thanks for sharing!
Yay! So happy to hear this! Thanks Bethany! 🙂
Would this be considered gluten, dairy, and egg-free recipe?
No there is dairy in it
Can I make this in the instant pot?
I haven’t personally tried it, but one reader said, “I sautéed the onions and peppers with the meat. Then I set it to multigrain for 12 minutes and let naturally release.”
I never rate things but this is one of my all time favorite recipes! It comes out perfect every time! I love the adjustments you made to it with cooking peppers, onions, and turkey with spices first. I love mixing the cheese in and my husband and I always say the flavor gets better with each bite. Thank you for this great recipe!
Yay! I am thrilled to hear this! Thank you so much for your comment! 🙂
what size crock pot do you use for recipe??
6 quart
Made this for our dinner tonight. It’s a hearty and healthy meal perfect for a cool, fall Saturday evening after working outside. I made it exactly like the recipe except I used only 1/2 the amount of chili powder and cumin since I don’t like spicy. I also omitted the cilantro as I’m one of those that think it tastes like soap. We currently have 4 adults living at our house and everyone gave it the pretty high compliment of “I’d eat that again”!
I’m so happy to hear this! Thanks so much for sharing your tips and subs Deborah! 🙂
I made this over the weekend. It was delicious and so easy! My husband loved it. Perfect for the fall. Thank so much! Can’t wait to try out more recipes from your website.
I’m so happy to hear this Jolene! Thanks so much for your comment! 🙂
My husband and I have had this recipe on our rotation for a while now and it’s awesome! It seems this post has been redone (it looks so nice! way to go!) but did you change some things with the recipe? Are more things cooked on the stove beforehand? Was it fire roasted tomatoes? Any chance you can share what changed? We’ve made it and I feel like it isn’t quite what we had before! Thank you
Can you freeze this and thaw to cook later?
I’m sorry I haven’t ever tried that so I’m not sure. Hopefully someone else can chime in here!