We recently invested in an (albeit, cheap) slow cooker.

We’d wanted one for yeeeeears but feared it’d become yet another kitchen appliance destined for the dusty realm of the back of the cupboard. And thus we kept putting it off.

Our recent move to the States landed us in the Land of the Slow Cooker — I swear every recipe book on the Target shelf is ’50 easy slow cooker recipes’ and so we opted to buy one.

It helped that I found one that had a pretty design and was on offer for $20.

This is the beauty if you’re wondering, the Crockpot 4.5 quart in black & white:

After several successful chilis and curries, I wanted to get more creative.

Just what else could I make?

After a little bit of research I realised one of our favourite dishes, enchiladas, was possible. We usually make them with chicken but with my recent desire to be vegetarian I came up with my own veggie filling that would be just as protein-filled.

And the best bit? The ingredients cost less than $10. Making a chicken version of this would cost waaaay more living in the US since meat is so expensive so I was very pleased with this!

All ingredients were purchased in our local Wegmans, and so would probably be even cheaper from Walmart.

With this recipe there was plenty of food between my husband and I, and there’d definitely be enough for four people. Side with some tortilla chips and dip for a perfect meal 🥰

Here’s my recipe — enjoy!

Veggie enchiladas

These enchiladas take only about 10 minutes preparation time, and 2-3 hours cooking depending on how full your slow cooker is.

Ingredients

• 1 pack of 8 flour or corn tortillas
• 2 10oz tins of Red Enchilada Sauce (or if you’re wanting to make homemade, here’s an recipe!)
• 1 medium sized red onion
• 1 tin (15oz) of black beans

• 1 tin (15oz) of cannellini beans
• 1 tin (15oz) of sweetcorn (or corn kernels if you’re in the US)
• 1 cup grated cheddar or mozzarella (can be left out if wanting a vegan dish)
• Herbs of your choosing: I used garlic powder, coarse black pepper, cumin and paprika
• 1 avocado for serving
• If desired, sour cream for serving

To make

1. Roughly chop up the onion.
2. Drain the tins of cannellini beans, black beans and corn.
3. Stir together the beans, onion and corn and mix in with a healthy amount of herbs of your choice. I used about 1 tsp of cumin, half tsp of paprika, half tsp of pepper and a sprinkling of garlic powder.
4. Pour a tin of enchilada sauce onto the base of the slow cooker, just enough so it coats the bottom. You might have some remaining depending on how small your slow cooker is. If you have a pretty small cooker and you’re only making 2-3 enchiladas, I would recommend using just one tin and use half a tin on the bottom.
5. Lay out your flour or corn tortilla and spoon a big heap of your bean/corn/onion filling in the centre. Top this with a sprinkle of grated cheese. Roll the tortilla or wrap it up like you would a burrito and place into the bottom of the slow cooker.
6. Repeat the previous step as many times as needed as per the amount of eaters! Between my husband and I, I used 6 tortillas but we had half of our meal as leftovers the next day. For four people, I would recommend using all 8 tortillas, especially if you’re big eaters! The wraps will probably end up being layered on top of each other depending on how wide your slow cooker is.
7. Pour the other tin of enchilada sauce over the top of the stacks. Or, as mentioned above, if you have a small slow cooker and are just using one tin, pour the remainder of your tin on top. 
8. Turn your slow cooker on high and then leave alone. I did 3 hours as my slow cooker was pretty stacked, but if you’re only making a few enchiladas you might want to just do 2 hours.
9. When the enchiladas are nearly done, cut open the avocado and spoon the flesh into a bowl. Smoosh the flesh with a fork and mix in a healthy serving of pepper, salt and garlic powder. It’s my simple quick version of guac.
10. To serve, (carefully) use a spatula to move the enchiladas onto plates.  This might get pretty messy!
11. Top with the  guac (and sour cream if desired).

Voila!

Easy peasy and cheap enchiladas that’ll feed the whole family.

They’re definitely not the prettiest or most Instagrammable dish but they are delicious.