Easy and Easier: Slow Cooker Mexican Lasagna

This is a guest post from Catherine McCord of One Potato and Weelicious.

Let’s discuss a few of my favorite things:

• My slow cooker
• Mexican food
• Just about any dish with the word lasagna in it

You with me? Great, let’s chat!

Now that I have three kids, I have less time to cook during the week than ever before. As a result, my slow cooker has graduated from being a good friend to the love of my life. Why? It basically takes all of the time, effort and clean up out of cooking. I can put just about anything in it, turn it on, go about the rest of my day and come home hours later to a delicious meal my troops will devour. That’s how this Slow Cooker Mexican Lasagna was born.

I love lasagna, but I also love to do fun spins on classic dishes. So with this recipe, lasagna noodles are replaced by corn tortillas (yes, this dish is totally gluten-free); traditional Mexican flavors like grated cheddar, cilantro, salsa, sweet corn and more stand in for their Italian counterparts; and lean ground turkey and cumin bring added texture and a distinctive taste. Another difference is how easy this dish is compared to making a traditional lasagna. Thanks to your crock pot, simply chop your ingredients, dump them in the slow cooker and give a stir. Your work here is done (and your kitchen will smell heavenly all day). And if you’d like you can even simply layer all the ingredients the night before, pop it in the fridge and then turn on your slow cooker the next morning.

That was the easy part in the title. Here comes easier: If you don’t have time at all during your busy week to prepare dinner (sound familiar?), I have another solution. About a year ago, I launched a meal kit delivery service out west called One Potato. After hearing from one too many members of the Weelicious community that the other meal kit delivery services were not family friendly, I knew there was a better way. Utilizing recipes from both Weelicious and my cookbooks, One Potato’s mission is to keep things simple with all of the pre-prepped ingredients for 3 organic family-friendly meals (examples pictured below) arriving at your door each week to help you get dinner on your table in 30 minutes or less. Lisa and her family tried One Potato last week, and I was so happy and proud when I saw the pictures she posted of her girls making it here!

If you live in California, Arizona or Nevada (or want to get a great holiday gift for someone who does) One Potato is offering 100 Days of Real Food families $20 off their first order at checkout with the code REAL20! Sign up here!

And now here’s the Slow Cooker Mexican Lasagna I got you all excited about – enjoy!

Slow Cooker Mexican Lasagna

Course: Main Course

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 2 hours 45 minutes

Total Time: 2 hours 55 minutes

Servings: 8

Author: Catherine McCord

This is a guest recipe from Catherine of Weelicious

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Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 onion large, diced
• 1 clove garlic minced
• 1 pound ground turkey lean
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 1 teaspoon salt kosher
• 1/2 teaspoon chili powder
• 1 egg whisked
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1 cup carrots peeled and grated (about 2 carrots)
• 1 cup frozen corn defrosted
• 1/4 cup cilantro chopped
• 1 12-oz package corn tortillas 12 tortillas
• 2 cups cheese Mexican blend
• 2 16-oz jars salsa mild and chunky

Instructions

1. Heat 1 tbsp of olive oil in a large sauté pan and cook the onions for 3 minutes. Add the garlic and sauté an additional minute.
2. Add the ground turkey meat, cumin, salt and chili powder and cook for 6-7 minutes until cooked through. Place turkey mixture aside and cool.
3. In a large bowl, whisk the egg and sour cream together. Add the cooled turkey mixture, carrots, corn and cilantro and mix to combine.
4. Spread a 1 cup of salsa on the bottom of the crock pot.
5. Layer 5 tortillas on top of the salsa, cutting them if necessary to fit the crock pot and covering the salsa completely.
6. Place half the turkey mixture on top of the tortillas and top with 1 cups of salsa and 1/2 cup of cheese.
7. Add another layer of 3 tortillas on top of the cheese. Pour the remaining turkey mixture on top of the tortillas and top with another 1/2 cup of cheese.
8. Top the lasagna with another layer of tortillas, pour the remaining salsa on top and cover with 1 cup of cheese.
9. Cook on low for 2 1/2 hours.

Recipe Notes

We recommend organic ingredients when feasible.