Easy Crock Pot Mexican Casserole

Crock Pot Mexican Casserole is an easy one pot meal packed with flavor and loaded with ingredients such as ground beef, rice, corn, black beans, salsa, and enchilada sauce.  Simply cook the ground beef then add the remaining ingredients to your slow cooker. Top with cheese, avocado, or sour cream! 

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Everybody has their favorite version of Mexican rice casserole.  This one is our favorite because it’s full of flavor and always turns out perfect.  It’s versatile, too.  Everybody can add their own toppings so everybody is perfectly pleased. Making this for Cinco de Mayo is a tradition but any day is a great day for making this easy Mexican dinner recipe!  And it qualifies for a Taco Tuesday meal.

Ingredients for Crock Pot Mexican Casserole

• Ground Beef
• Onion, Bell Pepper, and Celery
• Salsa
• Black Beans
• Southwest Corn
• Red Enchilada Sauce
• Butter
• Chili Powder
• Ground Cumin
• Minced Garlic
• Onion Powder
• Oregano
• Cumin Seed
• Black Pepper
• Long Grain White Rice
• Lime

How to Make Crock Pot Mexican Casserole

STEP 1. Brown the ground beef and drain.  Add to your crock pot.

STEP 2. Add remaining ingredients (except the lime).

STEP 3. Mix well and cook on high for 3 hours or low for about 5 hours (or until rice is cooked)

STEP 4. Spoon into a serving bowl and top with a squeeze of lime.  Add more of your favorite toppings such as shredded cheese, sliced avocado, sour cream, green onions, etc.  Serve with chips or use as a filling for tortillas.

Every time I use the crock pot for my favorite slow cooker recipes, I always ask myself, “why don’t I use this crock pot more often!”  I’ve had this crock pot for at least 5 years.  It’s not fancy, but I love it.

The crock pot, also known as a slow cooker,  is simply a magical meal maker!  There’s something special and delicious about a meal that’s been slow cooked all day.  This crock pot Mexican casserole is perfect for an easy meal any day of the week.  Here’s the before picture.

This recipe uses long grain white rice.  Long grain white rice won’t get mushy or stick together like regular rice does.  You can use brown rice instead but you will likely need to let this cook longer, perhaps as much as one additional hour, so please adjust the time as needed. 

The Salsa and Corn = More Flavor = More Better

I like to use salsa instead of canned tomatoes for this recipe.  Why?  Flavor!  Salsa has much more flavor than canned tomatoes.  Plus, you can choose your spice level.  Use mild, medium, or hot salsa.  Use whatever suits your tastebuds!

We use Southwest Whole Kernel Corn with Pablano and Red Peppers.  Why?  I’ll give you 3 guesses!  If you guessed it’s because this corn has more flavor than plain whole kernel corn, then you are correct!  I like to take every opportunity to add more flavor to a meal.  Bland is for the birds!

Time Saving Tip Alert! 

Have you tried the frozen chopped onion, bell pepper, and celery blend?  I tell you that this stuff is the only way for me.  Once I discovered this, I have yet to chop another onion (and I have not shed any tears since!).  Some people may gawk at the idea of using this, but if fresh onions and bell peppers are your thing, then continue to chop, chop, chop.  Fresh is better, I won’t even try to convince you otherwise.  But in my world, the pre-chopped, frozen version works for me!

What are the Benefits of a Crock Pot ?

• Superior at tenderizing tougher cuts of meat. Besides you can set it and forget it, there are many benefits of a crock pot! Let’s explore them:
• The crock pot will do all the cooking while you’re asleep or away from your  home.
• Only two pots to clean!  One pot to cook the ground beef, and the other pot being the slow cooker.
• It’s convenient to take to the office or another person’s home…just plug it up to reheat (or keep hot) that delicious food you just made.
• Slow cooking brings out more flavor most of the time.
• Your crock pot will use much less electricity than your oven or stove.

Who Invented the Crock-Pot?

The crock-pot was invented by Irving Nachumsohn in 1940!  He invented the slow cooker to cook a Jewish stew that is eaten on the Sabbath. He wanted to cook it the day before the Sabbath but it was prohibited for Jews to cook on the Sabbath.  So he invented the crock pot to cook it the day before!  Here’s the entire article from One Country, A Brief History of Crock-Pot, The Original Slow Cooker.

Get Your Crock Pot Mexican Casserole On and Get Creative

Now, you can enjoy this Mexican casserole as is, right out of the crock pot when it’s done.  Spoon it into a bowl, add a squeeze of fresh lime juice and some shredded cheese and enjoy.  Add some avocado and sour cream and you’re good to go. 

Some people have been known to eat this casserole with tortilla chips or corn chips.  Try it inside a taco shell. Others have used this casserole as a filling for their wraps.  I’m always interested to hear how creative people can be with food!  This is truly an easy dinner meal.  Now, let’s get crocking!

Crock Pot Mexican Casserole

This Crock Pot Mexican Rice Casserole is packed with flavor and loaded with ingredients such as corn, black beans, salsa, and rice. Simply cook the ground beef and add the remaining ingredients to your slow cooker. Turn the crock pot on and let it do its magic.

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Course: Main Course

Cuisine: American, Mexican

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 4 hours

Servings: 6

Ingredients

• 1 lb ground beef See Recipe Notes
• 2 cups chopped onion, bell pepper, celery blend See Recipe Notes
• 1 16 oz jar of salsa
• 1 15 oz can of black beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 14.75 oz can of southwest or fiesta corn, drained
• 2 10 oz cans of red enchilada sauce
• 2 tbsp butter
• 2 tbsp chili powder
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp minced garlic
• 1 tsp onion powder
• 1 tsp oregano
• 1/2 tsp cumin seed
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 1 cup long grain white rice See Recipe Notes
• 2 cups water
• 1 lime
• Your favorite toppings of choice: a few drops of fresh lime juice, shredded cheese, avocado, sour cream, greek yogurt, guacamole, lettuce, tomato, etc.

Instructions

• Brown the ground beef and drain. Add to slow cooker.
• Add remaining ingredients to the slow cooker. Mix well. Cook on high for 3 hours or low for 4-5 hours or until rice is cooked.
• Top with your favorite items such as a squeeze of fresh lime, chopped cilantro, avocado, shredded cheese, green onions, sour cream, lettuce, tomato, etc.  Eat with tortilla chips or corn chips.

Notes

NOTES: (1)  You can use cooked ground turkey, cooked ground chicken, or cooked chopped or shredded chicken instead of the cooked ground beef.

(2)  I like to use the frozen seasoning blend to save myself some chopping time.  However, you can use fresh bell pepper, onion, and celery if you desire.  I would use 1 cup chopped fresh onion, 1 cup chopped fresh bell pepper, and 1/2 cup chopped fresh celery.

(3)  If you plan to use brown rice instead of white rice, you'll probably need to cook it longer.  Perhaps as much as one hour longer using brown rice.

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If you try this recipe, leave me a comment and let me know how it turned out.  I’d love to hear from you.

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