Slow cooker Mexican casserole
When I first took the lid off my slow cooker, I wasn’t sure if I was going to post about this recipe – it’s not the most attractive dish I’ve ever made, and it turns out it’s really tricky to photograph the inside of a slow cooker. But, then I had a taste and my jaw dropped (not literally, not with a mouthful of food anyway) – this Mexican casserole is one of my favourite things that I’ve ever made in my slow cooker. So please look past its somewhat scruffy appearance and the slightly dodgy photos, and just think about how it tastes!
The texture of this casserole is actually pretty hard to describe – it’s not quite eggy, not quite bready, not quite spongy… it’s just a fluffy mixture that’s surprisingly filling at the same time. Along with my favourite Mexican-style ingredients (black beans, corn, coriander, jalapeños), it makes an awesome low-effort dinner. As with all of my slow cooker recipes, there’s absolutely no pre-cooking required – literally just add everything to the pot, give it a good mix, and you’re done. Easy peasy.
The best thing about this casserole is the crust around the edge. You know that weird ‘magic cake’ thing, where you just make one mixture, and as it cooks it separates into three distinct layers? Well, this casserole does a similar thing – the middle stays soft and fluffy, and the edge crisps up to form the perfect cheesy crust. It’s not quite like a quiche (it’s a bit spongier than that because of the flour), but it’s in the same vague family. Second cousins, perhaps. In a way it’s like a healthier way to make a quiche – you still get a crust, but without having to use any pastry.
We served this casserole as a meal in itself, but you could use it as a side dish too – make it a real Mexican feast. Nom nom!
Slow cooker Mexican casserole
Ingredients
- 25 g butter melted
- 200 ml milk
- 2 eggs lightly beaten
- 4 tbsp plain flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp smoked paprika
- 1/4 tsp hot chilli powder
- Salt
- Black pepper
- 250 g sweetcorn kernels drained
- 400 g tin black beans 240g when drained, drained and rinsed
- 10 slices pickled jalapeños I used red, finely chopped
- 100 g grated cheese I used a mixture of cheddar and mozzarella
- Fresh coriander chopped, to serve
Instructions
- To a fairly small slow cooker (mine's 3.5 litres), add the first 9 ingredients: melted butter, milk, eggs, flour, baking powder, paprika, chilli powder and seasonings. Whisk well until smooth. Then add the corn, black beans, chopped pickled jalapeños, and grated cheese, and mix again.
- Cook for around 6 hours on medium, until the middle has set and the outside is crispy.
- Serve topped with fresh coriander if desired.
Fan of your slow cooker? Try my easy slow cooker saag aloo!
This was more like a frittata and wasn’t my favourite to be honest. I think it will be better cold, served sliced with a green salad. Ended up with about 3.5 hours on high then another couple of hours on low.
This recipe sounds yum and I’m thinking of doubling it for my larger slow cooker (and family)! Do you think there will be any problem doing this? I’m new to slow cooking. Many thanks!
I’m not a slow cooking expert either, I think it would be fine in a larger slow cooker, but you might need to reduce the cooking time, as the mixture will form a thinner layer in a larger slow cooker. Fingers crossed!
I just found your site and tried this recipe yesterday and…absolute success! I’ve brought in little tubs of it for a couple of my slow-cooking fan co-workers to try. Thank you so much for this yuimmy, easy, cheese-y dish!
Brilliant! So glad it worked out well for you, thanks for the lovely feedback :)
In my 3qt-ish crockpot, which only has low/high, it was quite done by 6hrs. Might not have needed that long, it looks quite well done. Unfortunate since I put it in about 10 hours before it was needed, thinking low would take longer than the medium time listed.
I can’t say for sure whether it’s overdone, or anything for the taste, as dinner isn’t for 3 and a half hours.
I made this for a weekend breakfast and didn’t fancy leaving my slow cooker to do the work overnight so I just made us two individual dishes and popped it in a moderate oven for just under an hour then half an hour a bit hotter to make sure the egg was cooked. Didn’t fancy cheese so left it out, but could have added an extra egg? I also left out the butter, and my goodness, the whole thing was super delicious. I use prepared coriander puree to reduce wastage and just squeezed a bit in before cooking. I have hot chilli powder and use it all the time, but users should beware it is HOT especially when using another spicy ingredient, like the jalapenos here. Will definitely make again with various off-the-cuff variations! I have pictures of my dish, if you are interested :)
Sounds yummy, so glad I inspired you! I can never follow a recipe either, even when it’s one of my own, so I totally understand the urge to adapt it :) I’d love to see your pictures! It’s probably best if you drop them on my Facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/easycheesyveg) or tag me on Instagram @easycheesyveg
I was very excited to make this recipe for a vegetarian friend that was coming over for dinner. The dish was ok – my guests seemed to enjoy it but I don’t think I would make it again without some tweaks. The crust did not come out crispy at all. I did double the recipe so maybe that had something to do with it but I also think the flavors could have been developed better. For one I would use fresh jalepenos rather than pickled, the pickled made some bites a bit bitter. I reheated the next on frying pan which helped crisp it more. Still not my favorite.
Thanks for the feedback! Sorry you didn’t enjoy it as much as I did – I do think that doubling the recipe probably stopped it crisping up as much. Hopefully you’ll find some other recipes here that you enjoy more :)
I threw this in the slow cooker overnight on low for 8 hours and woke up this morning to the most delightful aroma!! I tasted it and couldn’t believe how delicious it is! Thanks for the wonderful recipe :)
Thanks so much for letting me know, glad you like it! :)
I’m gluten free so I don’t eat regular flour. Do you think I could substitute coconut or almond flour?
Hi Cindy, I’ve never used either of those flours so I don’t know – but I always think it’s worth a try :)
I’m going try doubling it because i want to try it out for a potluck and this version said it only serves 3, hopefully it will still work out!.
I hope so Erin, it might need a bit longer to cook (maybe even cook it on low?) but hopefully it will still work ok! :) enjoy!
I made this for dinner tonight and it was great!! Yours looked a lot prettier than mine did, but it tasted really good :) I’m a vegetarian so that was my main dish and I cooked up some taco meat to go with my hubbie’s portion! Thanks for sharing!!!!
Woop thanks Becca! Really glad you enjoyed it :D
I think you mentioned 6 hours on medium – I have low or high settings on my crock(s) only – can you recommend a time and temp for that, or can anyone else? Did anyone else try using cornmeal not flour? I have some superfine ground cornmeal that is like flour almost. Would like to use it up! Thanks for any help! Can’t wait to try looks great!
I can’t say for certain, but I’d probably give it a go on low for a few extra hours. I hope someone else has some advice for your other question :) I always think it’s better to give something a go even if you’re not sure it will work – it might be perfect!
Would this work in a large slow cooker?
I’ve only tried it in a 3.5 litre slow cooker and I’ve never owned a larger one, so I’m not entirely sure how it would work. Maybe you could try doubling the recipe and cooking it on low for a longer time?
Looks absolutely delicious! Do you think you could make this in a rice cooker (which I have) rather than a slow cooker (which I don’t)? And any idea how to convert the cooking time if so?
Thank you! I’m afraid I can’t really advise on using a rice cooker because I’ve never had or used one before… but I always say you should try everything once, it might work perfectly! Or if not, at least you’ve got an excuse to get a take away ;)
I like that attitude!
Tried it in our too-clever-for-its-own-good ‘fuzzy logic’ rice cooker, and results were disappointing. Tasty enough, but cumbersome process and no nice brown crust.
Tried it again in our toaster oven – gave it about 2 hours on 275F/140C and then another half hour on 200F/100C, plus a little blast of ‘toast’ setting to brown the top. Left it sitting too long so it went a bit dry, but I think something like 2.5hours on 200F/100C might do the trick very nicely.
Next up might try making it with cornmeal rather than flour, because I really like that texture – Paula Deen’s horrifying Corn Casserole recipe is a once a year Thanksgiving treat. This might be a more nutritious alternative…
Thanks for sharing your findings! :)
What is the tablespoon equivalent for the ingredients measured in grams?
Hi Christine, I’m afraid there is no easy way to convert to tbsp because it depends on how dense the ingredient is (e.g. 25g of flour might be different in volume to 25g of butter). If you don’t have a set of kitchen scales, I’d really recommend you get some – they’re really cheap, and you can weigh things in grams or ounces. It’s also much more accurate than using tbsp or cups :)
As a very vague estimate, I’d say the corn and black beans are just less than a cup each, and the grated cheese is around 2 cups once grated :)
I don’t really use my slow cooker enough. How would you tweak things to make this work for more like a 10 hour cook time – is that even possible? It looks great and I’d love to start it before going to work in the morning and have it ready for dinner that night.
If you have a slightly larger slow cooker you could try doubling the recipe! That way it would take longer to cook through. I’m no slow cooking expert, but it’s worth a try! Or just cook it on low maybe?
I tried this the other night and it didn’t work at all. Eight hours on low, then it switched to the warm setting for another four hours or so. Burned to a crisp and we ordered a pizza instead. :(
Oh dear, I’m so sorry about that Ava :( Not sure what happened there!
Great recipe! I’d actually packed my slow cooker away since my husband turned veggie a few years ago… but this has got me thinking I need to dust if off again. I think the whole family would love to try this so i’m putting it on my meal plan for next week. Slow cooker recipes are just the best for when you’re busy!
I love one pot, slow cooker meals like this. Definitely looks and sounds delicious. Fantastic job!
Happy Blogging!
Happy Valley Chow
This looks lovely, I’ve never actually tried any egg recipes in my slow cooker – good to know they work!
Looks awesome to me. Most things that come out of my slow cooker look a mess but taste awesome, it’s a shame really, as I often want to share them, but don’t have your photographing finesse! I’ll have to give this a go now I’ve found somewhere to buy black beans :)
It took me forever to find black beans but I spotted them in the ‘world foods’ aisle of Asda and now they’re a staple for me :)
Is your 1/4 tsp. hot chili powder the type that is just hot pepper (like cayenne) or is it the flavor mix type chili powder(like chile powder, garlic and spices)? This sounds good.
It’s just called ‘hot chilli powder’ and is just a fine red powder, but going on the ingredients it looks like it also contains ground cumin, garlic powder and even some oregano – who knew!! You can’t taste any of those things at all!
haha crockpot meals can be some of the hardest to photo!! This sounds fantastic – I love when the edges get crisp and the center is nice and soft! And I can never get enough mexican meal ideas!
This recipe looks and sounds delicious. Could this be cooked in a conventional oven??
You could definitely give it a go! I’m not sure whether it would get quite the same crust on it, but it’s definitely worth a try :)
Yum! Do you have to crack the lid to allow the steam to escape to get that crispy crust?
I actually didn’t crack the lid at all, just left it closed and the crust developed on its own! :)
Pinned to try! And I’m totally fighting for the crunchy edges.
This sound so good! I love cooking in my slow cooker but am often stuck for inspiration other than all the bog standard boring stuff! The best bit is that, looking through the ingredients list, I already have most of it in the cupboard/fridge. Lazy, one-pot dinner looks like it’s on the cards for tomorrow – looks so delicious I think I’ll tell the rest of the family that I’ve been slaving all day though!
Lydia
I agree, love store-cupboard recipes! :)
I’m loving the mexican recipes lately. Can’t wait to try this :)
Haha yes I am on a bit of a Mexican kick at the moment ;)
My family would love this. They’d definitely fight over that crispy top.