The Best Instant Pot Enchilada Casserole
This easy Instant Pot enchilada casserole is perfectly layered and feeds a family. Use shredded chicken or beef. This is one of those recipes that everyone will ask for again and again!
I can’t take all of the credit for this Instant Pot enchilada casserole recipe . . . actually I can’t take any of the credit.
These delicious Instant Pot enchiladas were a labor of love crafted by my mother and aunt for a quick family dinner as I watched in the kitchen.
They were determined to find the perfect Instant Pot chicken enchiladas that could feed a large group of people AND was appropriately layered like an enchilada casserole you’d make in the oven. And they did it!
To back up a little bit, chicken enchiladas are my favorite dish of all time.
When we were young, we’d get to choose the meal that we wanted our mom to make for our birthday dinner – and I would always pick enchilada casserole.
Chicken enchilada casserole, to be exact. It really never varied. And my mom always obliged because enchiladas were one of those recipes that fed our whole family (7 people!) without complaint. Everyone liked them.
The secret to this recipe is making sure there is enough liquid at the bottom of your pressure cooker so you don’t get that fateful error message. That liquid is also the reason this recipe is just so dang good!
Can I Use Chicken or Beef?
You can use either chicken or beef for this recipe.
If you use beef, you’ll want to get a chuck roast. Any size will do; you’ll use about 1.25 lb of the meat and you can just save the leftovers. You’ll press “Sauté” and then brown the meat on both sides for about 3 – 4 minutes.
Drain any oil and place the meat back into your pressure cooker. Add 1 cup of water and press “Pressure Cook.” Leave for about 35 minutes for a 1.25 lb piece.
If the chuck roast is larger, you may go up in time. Two lb takes about 45 minutes to cook and 3 lb, 60 minutes.
Whether you use chicken or beef, remember that you’ll want to save the liquid that comes off of the meat for the recipe. Don’t toss it.
Ingredients
- 1 1/4 lb chicken breasts or chuck roast, shredded
- Reserve liquid from shredding your meat
- 5 medium size corn tortillas, cut in half
- 2 cups shredded Mexican cheese mixture
- 1 10 oz can Ro*Tel diced tomatoes and green chiles
- 1 yellow onion thinly sliced
- 2 10 oz cans red enchilada sauce
- 2 4 oz cans diced green chiles
- 1 large can sliced black olives (optional; delete if you don’t like olives)
- Toppings as desired: sour cream, thinly sliced red radish, chopped cilantro, chopped green onion
If you’re ready to try this easy dinner, get the printable recipe card below!
Instant Pot Enchilada Casserole
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 1/4 lb chicken breast(s) or chuck roast, shredded
- Reserve liquid from shredding your meat
- 5 medium size corn tortillas cut in half
- 2 cups shredded Mexican Style cheese
- 10 oz Rotel Original Diced Tomatoes & Green Chilies 1 can
- 1 yellow onion thinly sliced
- 20 oz red enchilada sauce 2 cans
- 8 oz diced green chiles 2 cans
- 1 can sliced black olives optional
- Toppings of your choice
Video
Instructions
- Pour the can of Rotel into your pressure cooker. Add the saved reserve liquid (if needed) to cover the bottom of the pot to a depth of approximately 1/2”.
- Add 1/4 of the shredded meat, spreading across the bottom of the Instant Pot.
- Cover the meat with 1/3 of the sliced onion.
- Pour 1/2 of one can of red enchilada sauce on top of the onions and meat.
- Spread one can of the diced chiles and half of the sliced black olives on top (if desired).
- Place three halves of tortillas on top to cover everything.
- Repeat layering as above, ending with tortillas.
- Create one more layer with the last third of the meat, onion, enchilada sauce and 1 cup of shredded cheese.
- Cover with remaining tortilla halves. Pour remaining enchilada sauce on top followed by the remainder of the shredded cheese.
- Close the lid and set to Rice (Auto) for 25 minutes.
- Release the pressure (either quick or natural) and remove the lid. Let cool before serving.
Notes
Nutrition
If you try these, I’d love to know in the comments! If you’re looking for additional family dinners they’ll love, try these other recipes:
I sadly got a “Food Burn” indication on my instapot using this recipe. With the amount of food in the instapot, adding 1 cup of liquid is best to avoid the alert. Also I agree with adding in more tortillas as stated in other comments; mine came out soupy.