Using prepared ingredients saves you time when making these delicious Slow Cooker Butternut Squash Enchiladas! They only take about 10 minutes to assemble in your slow cooker for a delicious meat-free meal!
I love recipes that can be assembled in just minutes, because in this stage of life with a busy family, if it’s not quick, it’s not happening. While we do love our beef enchiladas and they are pretty quick and easy to make, sometimes you just want some veggies.
These veggie enchiladas are hearty, filling and require no advance prep to assemble. I love that I can assemble these in less than 10 minutes in the morning and come home to a delicious dinner waiting for us. Slow Cooker Butternut Squash Enchiladas will turn your meatless Monday into a day to look forward to!
How to make butternut squash enchiladas:
- It’s easy to toss together the cubed squash, canned tomatoes and black beans and cream cheese in a bowl (don’t forget to add the seasoning!)
- Spread about 1/2 cup enchilada sauce in the bottom of your slow cooker
- Measure out around 1/2 cup of the filling and place it in the middle of your tortilla
- Roll it and place seam down in your slow cooker (no need to wrap ends)
- Cover with sauce and cheese and let the slow cooker do the rest of the work
Ingredient notes:
- I’ve used both soft taco sized and burrito sized tortillas and either will work. This recipe will make 6-8 soft taco sized enchiladas and 4 burrito sized.
- You can use any prepared enchilada sauce you prefer or you can make my homemade sauce. My personal favorite jarred sauce is from Trader Joe’s. Sprouts also makes a delicious sauce but it is a bit spicy.
- You can use fresh or frozen butternut squash, but look for some that is already cubed if you use fresh. No need to spend time cutting. Most grocery stores have a section where you can choose prepared produce.
- I always suggest grating your own cheese from a block. This will ensure there are not any anti-caking agents which can impact the taste and texture of the cheese. It only takes a minute to grate up some cheese using a box grater.
How to make enchiladas in the slow cooker:
- I prefer using a casserole slow cooker for recipes like this because it works perfectly every time. If you don’t have one already, they are relatively inexpensive and there are so many things you can make in them.
- If you don’t have a casserole slow cooker, it is also fine to layer in a regular oval slow cooker, but you will need to keep an eye on cooking time the more you have stacked. It may take a bit longer to get the middle squash cooked until tender.
- If using a round slow cooker you will want to layer more like a lasagna
- Also, if layering, you may want to wait until about an hour before they are done to add the cheese as the longer cooking time could cause it to burn
My favorite topping for enchiladas are sour cream and chopped avocado!
Enchiladas are delicious served with refried beans or creamed corn!
Have you made this recipe? I’d love for you to leave a comment and rating below!
Slow Cooker Butternut Squash Enchiladas
Ingredients
- 14.5 oz canned diced tomatoes (drained)
- 15 oz canned black beans (drained and rinsed)
- 12 oz frozen or fresh cubed butternut squash
- 4 oz whipped cream cheese (or use softened regular cream cheese)
- 2 teaspoons chili powder
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon dried cilantro
- 8 flour tortillas (soft taco sized) (or 4 large flour tortillas or 12 corn tortillas)
- 12 oz enchilada sauce
- 1 cup shredded cheese
Instructions
- Mix together tomatoes, beans, squash, cream cheese and spices in a bowl
- Spread 1/2 cup of enchiladas sauce on bottom of slow cooker
- Divide filling equally among tortillas and place seam side down in slow cooker (you can stack if necessary)
- Top with remaining sauce and cheese
- Cover and cook on high for 2-3 hours or low for 4-6
Notes
- This recipe works best with a casserole slow cooker, however, you can stack the enchiladas in any 6 quart or larger oval slow cooker as well. If stacking, be sure to allow extra time for squash to fully cook.
- If stacking, add cheese in last hour due to the extra cooking time so that the cheese does not burn
- You can use any prepared enchilada sauce you prefer or you can make my homemade sauce. My personal favorite jarred sauce is from Trader Joe's. Sprouts also makes a delicious sauce but it is a bit spicy.
- You can use fresh or frozen butternut squash, but look for some that is already cubed if you use fresh. No need to spend time cutting. Most grocery stores have a section where you can choose prepared produce.
- I always suggest grating your own cheese from a block. This will ensure there are not any anti-caking agents which can impact the taste and texture of the cheese. It only takes a minute to grate up some cheese using a box grater.
Nutrition
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Jennifer,
I love the new addition of small photos showing the steps in making the recipes! I appreciate all your time and effort and the clarity of all the recipes. KUDOS to you!!
This is delicious except the squash is still very hard. I used fresh squash cut in small cubes. Not all frozen squash is pre-cooked so I didnt think it would be a problem. This issue makes me very disappointed. Any suggestions or clarifications you could make in the recipe to avoid this from happening?
Thank you
Hey there! I’m sorry to hear this. I actually just retest this recipe this week with fresh squash and it was still cooked through and tender. Can you give me a little more info so I can troubleshoot? What size shape of slow cooker? Did you cook on high or low and how long? What brand of squash did you use? I’ll see if I can figure this out!
Your photos look amazing! I really want to cook this dish! Thank you so much for sharing. 🙂