Mexican Ground Beef Casserole

This is a recipe for our cheesy Mexican ground beef casserole. It is a bowl of pure comfort food made in your slow cooker! It’s like the enchilada filling you love, without tortillas or pasta. It’s a family favorite meal we make all the time!

This is so tasty! A hearty one pot meal that’s cheesy and easy to prepare in the morning. Just one of many easy Crockpot recipes we have here on The Typical Mom blog.

If you love ground beef recipes, this is something you should try. Want more heat? Use a roll of spicy Jimmy Dean sausage instead or half and half which we love. Heck we have even used a sliced kielbasa thrown in there, anything goes really.

A fun tweak to taco Tuesdays or any day of the week. Great one pot meal on chilly days. NO layering required like our Instant Pot Mexican Casserole but cooked all day long.

Ingredient Notes

Ground beef or spicy ground sausage is amazing too if you like a bit of heat. This will need to be precooked before adding it into your pot. You can make Crockpot ground beef first but same day you wouldn’t have time to make that and this unless you started really early in the morning.

Quinoa is used to make this instead of rice to add protein and it holds up better when cooking for a long period of time. You’ll just need to use the same amount of liquid to quinoa ratio so that will get nice and tender. It needs either water or broth to come out right, the latter is better.

Can you add beans?

Yes, I use a can of black beans or start from scratch and first make Slow Cooker Black Beans from dry. Any style will work really, kidney or pinto would work too but not traditionally used. Or you could serve them on the side as another option.

Red enchilada sauce can be mild or hot and is better than just tomato sauce as far as the flavors go. If you wanted some real heat in there you could use half birria taco sauce with it.

I like to add a bit of veggies in the form of sliced or diced onion and smoked chiles. They mostly add great texture and a bit more flavor for little to no money.

Beef broth is used for the liquid, needed to cook the grains in the pot. Better than water for flavor. Chicken stock or vegetable broth would work too. Mexican cheese blend with taco seasoning in it works great. And you can serve with a few flour tortillas or tortilla chips on the side

Cheese is also optional but I can’t imagine this dish without it. I mean if you really want to take this over the top and ignore the calorie content, add a dollop of sour cream inside too. Makes it super rich and creamy.

Can you use chicken instead of ground beef?

Yes, if you wanted to use precooked or make Rotisserie Chicken Enchiladas instead of beef you could. I would recommend to follow the directions above or for deconstructed, add medium sized and cut them in half so they become fork tender. Top with green onions and/or fresh cilantro for a fun flare.

This would be a bit healthier, using chicken breasts instead of beef or ground sausage. I prefer the latter choices just because it’s what I am used to but there is room for variety in every recipe out there so I like to list other possibilities for everyone.

Can you use rice instead of quinoa?

Yes and no. I don’t think that rice cooks very well in a Crockpot so I would cook that separately near the end. When done, fold it inside with the other ingredients. This will give you the best overall texture for this dish.

Can you make Mexican ground beef casserole spicy?

Yes, you can add roasted jalapenos diced in at the beginning for heat or when serving. It is best if you go another step further with toppings when done too as you would other Mexican dishes.

How Long to Cook Mexican Ground Beef Casserole in Slow Cooker

For this and our Cowboy Casserole Crockpot I suggest that you cook on low and 6 hours is about right. The meat is precooked and beans are canned so all you are really doing is allowing flavors to meld together and get more tender though so if you were in a rush 4-5 hrs. would be fine too.

As far as How Long to Cook Enchiladas recipes I almost never recommend cooking on high, but when you are cooking grains it is better quicker so it doesn’t get soggy. It is quick and easy, typically in slow cooking it is for just that, sloooowwwwly allowing the sauce permeate the meat but in this case either way works.

How to serve Mexican ground beef casserole

I insist on slices of avocado or guacamole on top when it is served up too. Then again I will put this green goodness on Taco Meat and just about everything I can, with chips to scoop it up. Serve this in bowls with all sorts of other goodies on top too like; sour cream, pico de gallo salsa, green chilis, diced jalapenos etc….

If you want to supplement this meal with something so it goes further, make some baked potatoes and serve this inside. That way each person gets a smaller amount, has a bit less calories, and you can feed more at once.

With green chiles, quinoa, black beans, diced tomatoes and diced bell peppers you get all your main food groups in one bite. 😉 It’s a bit like the filling in our crockpot stuffed peppers but way less work to it.

Once your meat is cooked and browned you can just literally throw everything in. It’s a great one pot meal with a short cooking time as you’re just melding the flavors together. Whether you make it for Cinco de Mayo or just because for your whole family, you’ll surely love it.

If you have never made a dump dinner like this one we have done it time and time again. Another one that is similar but with a different meat is this crockpot cheesy chicken and rice.

What to Make with Leftovers

You could totally serve this over chips to make killer nachos with this. We also have another different way of making this sort of Mexican casserole of sorts. Of course we do right?? Since our foodie journey started by way of the pressure cooker, we have that method as well.

A bit different since we added pasta noodles to this one, it still feels in the same direction as this one so I thought we’d share.

Nutritional information is displayed above and is calculated using all of the ingredients, and amounts, listed. If you vary at all that will of course need to be adjusted. It is calculated by the recipe card itself so I cannot guarantee how exact it really is. Just eat in moderation and enjoy every bite y’all. This is a great Cinco de Mayo brunch item, or served as an out of the box idea for taco Tuesdays.