These Ground Beef Enchiladas are so tasty and easy, you’ll never go back to canned enchilada sauce. Corn tortillas filled with flavorful ground beef, melty cheese and a killer homemade red enchilada sauce.
Beef Enchiladas Made Simple
This beef enchilada recipe is really so simple, that you might have all the ingredients you need already on hand. Start with a pound of extra lean good quality ground beef. I prefer to sauté the onions and jalapeños, then add the garlic just before adding the ground beef. This brings out the flavors of the aromatics. A small amount of sugar balances the acidity of the tomato sauce.
How to Make Beef Enchiladas – Time Saving Tip!
Prepare as much as you can ahead, dice and shred and have everything laid out. Once you have everything prepared, set up an assembly line to make the enchiladas. In this enchilada recipe, the beef and sauce is cooked together in one pot. For assembly, rather than separating the meat and the enchilada sauce, I use a slotted spoon to spoon the meat mixture into each tortilla, then top with cheese and roll. Once the beef has been evenly divided into the tortillas, use the remaining sauce in the pan to top the enchiladas and bake.
Good Quality Spices and Fresh Herbs
I love the flavor of cilantro, but if you don’t you can certainly skip it. For freshness, try chopped fresh parsley instead. I also like the extra flavor of smoked paprika in this recipe, but you can substitute regular paprika as well.
Frying the Tortillas for Enchiladas
In a small frying pan, lightly fry tortillas in a shallow amount of vegetable or canola oil. You just want the tortillas to be soft and pliable, not crispy. Lightly frying the corn tortillas prevents them from getting soggy once you bake the enchiladas. The oil acts as a barrier and keeps tortillas from absorbing too much liquid from the sauce.
Beef Enchiladas Recipe
The best part of this recipe is that it’s easily doubled or tripled. It’s a great dinner to make and take. Make one for home and one for a friend or neighbor. These beef enchiladas freeze really well too! Just assemble, let cool completely, cover tightly and freeze.
Seasoned ground beef, melty cheese and an easy homemade enchilada sauce.
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil plus additional for frying tortillas
- 1/2 cup onion finely diced
- 1 jalapeno minced and seeds removed
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 1 pound 93/7 lean ground beef
- 1 cup beef broth low sodium
- 2 8 oz cans tomato sauce good quality
- 2 tablespoons chili powder
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 2 tablespoons cilantro chopped
- 12 corn tortillas
- 16 oz Colby-jack cheese shredded
- sour cream for serving
In a large skillet, sauté onions and jalapeño over medium low heat until onions start to soften and turn translucent, 2-3 minutes. Stir in garlic and cook 1 minute more. Increase heat and add ground beef to skillet and brown until cooked through. Add beef broth, tomato sauce, chili powder, sugar, cumin, salt and pepper to pan and stir to combine. Let simmer over low heat for 10 minutes or until sauce has reduced slightly.
Meanwhile in a second smaller skillet, lightly fry corn tortillas in hot vegetable oil. Tortillas should still be pliable for rolling. Set tortillas aside with paper towels between each layer. Once sauce has reduced slightly, stir in 2 tablespoons of chopped fresh cilantro.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees and spray a 9x13 baking dish with non stick cooking spray.
To assemble enchiladas, start by adding 1/2 cup of enchilada sauce mixture in bottom of baking pan. Use a slotted spoon to evenly divide meat mixture into each of the tortillas, then divide 8 oz of cheese between all 12 enchiladas, roll and place seam side down in baking dish. Pour remaining enchilada sauce over rolled enchiladas and top with remaining cheese.
Cover dish with foil and bake at 400 degrees for 20-30 minutes, or until heated through and hot and bubbly. Sprinkle with additional fresh cilantro and serve with sour cream.
5 Easy Dinner Ideas for Busy Weeknights
My five FAVORITE recipes for busy families!
- Quick to make
- Light on your budget
- Easy to clean-up
- and...most important...absolutely DELICIOUS
It looks so delicious! I totally agree with you about it being easy to double or halved in size. My kids also like it because it’s like spaghetti and lasagna where they can just reheat it themselves any time they want when they feel hungry.
Obsessed with enchiladas! My teenagers love these!
OMG these turned out so delicious. Next time I’m going to make an extra pan and freeze them for later!
OMG this was soooo good. Even my kids gobbled it up!
Love this beef enchiladas recipe!
Made this for dinner last night and had nothing but smiling faces all around the dinner table! It was delicious and full of flavor!
Frying the tortillas is a must! We tried it both ways and frying them was the best!
These look like they will be a hit with the whole family!
My kids devoured these! Definitely adding to our normal rotation.
I know what I will be having for dinner tomorrow! This looks restaurant worthy, indeed!
This is one of the best enchilada recipes ever! So delicious!
Definitely the best enchiladas I have made. So good!
Do you think it would be good if I subbed flour tortillas? I don’t have corn tortillas.
I think the flour might get too soggy. Let me know if your tried it! Thanks!
Where do you get corn tortillas for these? I only find the little ones for tostadas.
I usually use the standard Mission brand yellow corn tortillas, not the mini street taco size. They measure about 5 1/2 inches if that helps.
I made this on Christmas Day and I must say these are the best Enchiladas. Will definitely make again. Thank you!!!
So delicious!!
We loved it.
Thank you
These enchiladas are so flavorful! I’ve made them numerous times and they’ve come out great each time. Thank you for the recipe 🙂
They came out great I rlly enjoyed making this sauce Ive been trying different methods and this one tastes good
I’m making them tonight for small group tomorrow… Would it be best to bake them tonight and reheat them tomorrow or just bake them tomorrow?
They would be great made-ahead and reheated!
Hi, i will love to try this looks so good. Can this be freeze for future meal? thanks in advance 🙂
Yes, they would be great for freezing!
This looks so cheesy and delicious! Definitely adding this to my weekly dinner rotation soon. 🙂
These enchiladas are amazing and easy! We loved them. The photography is amazing.
I’ve been totally into making my own enchilada sauce. It’s so much better than store-bought. Next time I’ll make a double batch.
These are the best testing enchiladas I’ve ever made. My 3.5 year old loves them. I’ve made them twice within the past 1.5 weeks because we enjoyed them so much. Easy and delicious. I’ve always added beans to the recipe, once to use up leftovers and the second time to stretch the recipe out and make it go further and be more filling. So so tasty!
These were great! Best enchilada recipe to date. So good! I will keep this in my rotation. Thanks!!
I made these last night and they were so delicious. Best enchiladas I have ever made. I used flour tortillas and they were not soggy at all. Thanks for this great recipe.
Diane
mmm…these beef enchiladas look incredible delicious! I can’t wait to try this!
We are adding this to the rotation..so yummy!! Love all the flavors! Looks super easy!
Mexican food is our favorite!! These were super simple and turned out perfectly!