Layered Enchilada Casserole (Freezer Meal)
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Layered Enchilada Casserole. Keeping a freezer stocked full of good meals is a great way to stay on track with meal planning and be prepared for busy days and evenings.
I love knowing that I always have 4 or 5 meals ready to just pop in the oven or drop in the slow cooker.
This Layered Enchilada Casserole is also one of the Top 10 Recipes on my site. People rave about how yummy this one is.
I make my freezer meals 2 ways. One way is to just make them all in a 2 day process. Compile my list, shop, and do meat prep. Then the next day I assemble them.
The other way I like to do it is over the course of a week or two. I buy the ingredients enough to double the recipes, then I make one for dinner and just double it and put one away in the freezer.
Then by the end of about 2 or 3 weeks, you have 10 meals frozen in the freezer ready to go for later. Your meals will do well in the freezer for 2-4 months.
I really love enchiladas. We eat a variation of them every week. My favorite thing about this dish is that I can mix it all in one bowl and layer it and bake.
No rolling, no sauce, no specific order. It tastes phenomenal and it makes a really awesome freezer meal. Make one for dinner and make one to freeze. Just double layer it with foil before baking it and freeze. Then just thaw it and bake.
PrintLayered Enchilada Casserole (Freezer Meal)
I really love enchiladas. We eat a variation of them every week. My favorite thing about this dish is that I can mix it all in one bowl and layer it and bake. No rolling, no sauce, no specific order. It tastes phenomenal and it makes a really awesome freezer meal. Make one for dinner and make one to freeze. Just double layer it with foil before baking it and freeze. Then just thaw it and bake.
Ingredients
2 cup cooked, shredded chicken (I just toss a few chicken breasts in the slow cooker in the morning to cook)
1 can diced tomatoes, drained (15 oz)
1 can black beans, drained (15oz)
8 oz cream cheese, soft
2 cup shredded cheese. ( I used a combo of 3 cheddar and Pepper Jack)
3 flour tortillas (I used 6 inch)
Instructions
1. Mix the chicken, tomatoes, beans, and cooking crème in a bowl. Combine well.
2. Place a ⅓ cup mixture on bottom of a pie plate or 8X8 freezer pan. I buy the foil ones. Top with 1 flour tortilla.
3. Top tortilla with chicken mixture and cheese. Repeat layers and end with chicken mixture on top and top with last bit of cheese.
4. Double wrap in heavy aluminum foil to prevent freezer burn. Label.
Cooking Instructions: Thaw and bake uncovered at 350 degrees 30 minutes or until heated through.
Liked my Layered Enchilada Casserole? Try the Quesadilla Casserole
↓↓↓ And don't forget to share this recipe with your friends and family! ↓↓↓
Thanks! I just made this. I used 10 oz sour cream and added 1/2 packet of taco seasoning to give it flavor. Used Mexican cheese. It's in freezer and look forward to cooking.
Just to clarify since my mommy/prego brain is a little slow these days, do you bake it before freezing or just assemble then freeze?
How many oz is a tub of the Santa Fe Cooking Creme? I couldn't find it, so I need to know how much sour cream to replace it with...Thanks!
10 oz. enjoy!
Made this tonight. Didn't have time to get chicken done, so used store bought chicken slices. This was delicious! Will definitely make this again!
Mine was still runny after cooking it longer than the recommended time, you cook it UNcovered the whole time, right? What am I doing wrong? 🙂
Our family LOVES this casserole and I've made it for my freezer meal group. I mentioned you in my blog today...http://emilydalen.blogspot.com/2013/01/friday-in-kitchen-cream-puff.html
For those of you who are worried about soggy tortillas (Like I am, I can't eat soggy things), something that you can do is prepare the chicken mixture and put it in a zip lock bag and put that in the freezer. When you are ready to cook take it out of the freezer and let the chicken mixture thaw. Then when you are ready to cook do the rest of the steps with fresh (never frozen) tortillas and cheese (another option with the cheese it to also freeze it in a separate bag from the chicken mix) .This is what I am planning on doing 🙂
How many people does this serve?
Do you cook it before freezing??
What are your thoughts on using tortilla chips instead of tortilla's? Several people have asked the question about the soggy tortilla's. Do you have that problem?
I made this tonight and it was delicious!! I found it on Pinterest. I modified it to my preference, thanks so much for sharing this recipe!!!
I am a FACS teacher and in my Foods class we are talking about nutrition and eating meals together. My goal is to do freezer meals for a lab and have each kid take one home.I want to put them in small loaf pans, half the size of an 8x8 pan. Should I decrease the temperature? I know it sounds dumb but, I don't want the kids to be excited to cook them and then burn them.
Maybe by 25*. But decrease the cooking time to 20-25 minutes.
Thanks for these recipes! (Found them on Pinterest). Making a ton of them today as I'm having a baby girl in 11 days! =) Will be nice to have a freezer stocked full.
Question: do the flour tortillas hold up in the freezer? I did enchiladas with corn tortillas and they completely dissolved in the freezer. It was a disgusting mushy mess.
Sure Julie. I have made it that way seveal times to feed my big family. It works great. Enjoy!
Is it as easy as doubling the recipe for larger families and putting it in the 9 X 13 foil pan?
I can my own chicken breasts and this recipe works great with the canned chicken! Thanks for posting!
This works great in round cake pans. 🙂 Line it with foil, freeze,and then pop it out and put in a freezer bag, if you will need the pan for something else. The round shape is perfect for the tortillas.
I made this on Sunday, froze it, and cooked it tonight and my husband loved it! Its just the two of us and I had a small decent portion of it, and my husband ate the rest( that's how much he loved it! Plus he had the metabolism of a 10 year old!) This is great for when we eventually have kids! Thank you.