Easy beef enchilada recipe! This recipe is so good with a completely homemade enchilada sauce that doesn’t take a blender to make. SO EASY! Plus 3 ideas for making beef enchilada freezer meals!
We love tex-mex in the Kelley household and this beef enchilada recipe is one of our favorites! I have been working on developing the perfect beef enchilada for our family for some time. I wanted something easy and all homemade, but still flavorful and delicious.
Sometimes enchilada recipes with homemade sauce are complicated and overwhelming! This beef enchilada recipe gets you a flavorful homemade sauce, without any steps that are crazy complicated or require using a blender. I actually cook the meat and sauce together for max flavor, and then just strain the filling.
EASY!!
Once the filling is strained, you just add in the other fillings. Cheese, of course.
Cilantro, if you love it like me. If it makes your mouth taste soapy, just leave it out! 🙂
This filling is so delicious, I also use it for quesadillas. Life. Changed. Right??
I like to use the smaller tortillas for this beef enchilada recipe, and I have recently come to love and cook more with corn tortillas. I toast them over my burner for this recipe and then dip them in the sauce before rolling.
I grew up eating beef enchiladas made with the larger flour tortillas, which are delicious! If you don’t have time for the method I outline here, just use some small flour tortillas! It will still be delicious and no one will hold it against you – I promise.
Be cautious not to overfill the beef enchiladas. I like just a few tablespoons. They roll more easily and then you can eat more. Obviously one of my life goals…Ha.
Pour the remaining sauce over the top of the beef enchiladas, the sauce in these pics was a little thinner than normal because I messed around with the sauce recipe.
HA. They were still delicious but I’ll stick to this version of my beef enchilada recipe from now on!
Top those babies with cheese and pop ’em in the oven! Then wait. Anxiously. On pins and needles. Nervously. Excitedly.
Because they are just so dang good.
Don’t hesitate to switch up the kind of beef you use either – I often use leftover shredded beef or steak in these and it is fantastic as well. If you were feeling really crazy, you could even go for pork or chicken. The sauce goes well with anything!
This is one of my favorite recipes to transform into a freezer meal!!
I have three different ways I like to do this:
- Our family only eats half of this beef enchilada recipe for one meal. Most often, I’ll simply place half of the filling mixture in a quart zip-top bag, label it, and freeze it flat. I do the same thing with half of the sauce. Then all I have to do to make this is thaw it, add a couple tablespoons of water to each, assemble the enchiladas and bake!
- If I do want to assemble the entire recipe, I’ll put half in a 8×8 baking dish and cook it up for dinner. I assemble the other half in a disposable 8×8 baking dish and place it in the freezer. If you don’t have a disposable baking dish, just line a regular dish with foil or parchment. Once everything is frozen, you can pull it out with the foil or parchment and place it in a zip-top bag. Obviously, you’d place it back into a dish for baking. I place these frozen in a cold oven, preheat to 300 and bake for 20 minutes, increase the temperature to 400 and bake until bubbly. I don’t like to let these thaw before baking, I think it makes them too soggy.
- If I’ve baked an entire recipe and there is a lot leftover, I divide them up into individual portions for a quick dinner or lunch. I love using disposable bread baking dishes for this, or you can even just use a piece of foil you’ve turned up the edges on, just bake them on a cookie sheet or in a baking dish. I bake these in the oven using the same method as in step 2, just adjusting the first time down by 5 or 10 minutes if there are only a few enchiladas I’m reheating.
There you have it! The best and easiest homemade beef enchilada recipe. Looking for some other enchilada recipes? Check out my Easy Pork Enchiladas or my Easy Chicken Enchiladas {Honey Lime}.
More easy, ground beef recipes!
- Homemade Beef Stroganoff
- Ground Beef Nachos
- Korean Beef Bowls
- Ground Beef Tacos
- Easy Ground Beef Dinner Ideas
- Homemade Meatloaf Recipe
- Instant Pot Beef Stroganoff
- Easy Ground Beef Dinner Ideas
- Prime Rib Recipe
- Instant Pot Beef Stew
- Steak Salad with Balsamic Vinaigrette
- Easy Chili Recipe
- Beef Tenderloin Recipe
- Beef Short Ribs Recipe
- Homemade Lasagna
- Marinara Sauce
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Beef Enchilada Recipe
Equipment
Ingredients
For the Sauce and Filling
- 1 pound ground beef
- 1 tablespoon oil optional
- 1 onion medium, minced fine
- 1 small jalapeño chile seeded with the membranes removed, minced fine
- 2 garlic cloves minced fine
- 3 tablespoons chili powder
- 3 teaspoons ground cumin
- 2 teaspoons ground coriander
- 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 can tomato sauce (15 ounce can),
- 1 cup beef broth
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1 cup cheese shredded, cheddar or monterey jack
- 1/2 cup cilantro chopped
For Assembly
- 12 6-inch corn tortillas OR flour tortillas (details for each in the instructions)
- 2 cups shredded cheese I like cheddar or monterey jack
Toppings
- Sour cream
- Chopped cilantro
- Lime wedges
- Avocado
- Lettuce
Instructions
For the Sauce and Filling
- In a large skillet, begin browning ground beef.
- When it is almost browed completely, add the onion and the jalapeño chile and sauté. You may need to add more oil at this point.
- Add garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.
- If necessary, remove any excess oil.
- Add spices and cook for 1-2 minutes until they bloom and become fragrant.
- Pour in tomato sauce and beef broth and simmer until flavors meld, about 8-10 minutes.
- Season with salt and pepper and taste to determine if you need more or less.
- To separate the sauce and the filling, place a fine mesh strainer over a heat-proof bowl and pour the sauce and meat through. Press the meat with a spoon to remove as much liquid as possible.
- Pour filling into a bowl and combine with cilantro and 1 cup of the cheese, stirring quickly to avoid large clumps of melted cheese.
For Assembly
- Spread about 1/3-1/2 cup of the sauce in the bottom of a 9x13 baking dish.
- If you are using corn tortillas, I like to turn on one of my gas burners to medium-low and set the tortilla on top for a few minutes until it is brown and the edges are slightly charred. Turn it over and repeat of the opposite side. If you have an electric stove, you can do this by putting the tortillas on a cooking sheet in a single layer and broiling for a few minutes in the oven.
- If you are using flour tortillas, skip this step and begin with step 5.
- Dip the tortilla in the sauce and coat on both sides. Transfer to a plate.
- Fill with about 3 tablespoons of filling.
- Roll up and place seam side down in the baking dish.
- Repeat until filling is gone.
- Pour remaining sauce evenly over the enchiladas and sprinkle with remaining cup of cheese.
- Bake at 400 for 20-25 minutes until bubbly and the cheese is melted.
Marcy says
Corn tortilla lover right here! Growing up homemade tacos were always done with corn tortillas. I’ll have to give this recipe a try (cuz ya know – corn tortillas) as I’d love to have a good beef enchilada recipe. Most I’ve tried in the past fell flat for my tastes.
Alli says
I hope you love it!
Sammi Windley says
It’s hard to find a good beef enchiladas recipe! Glad this one is really good.
Karen says
I made these the other night and they turned out SO good! I’ll definitely make them again. My husband even said “I like the little hint of cilantro in it!” I didn’t even think he knew what cilantro was, haha! Thanks Alli!!
Alli says
I’m so glad they turned out so well!! Haha, sometimes Andy surprises me with his ingredient prowess 🙂 Thank you!