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.
Ground Beef Enchiladas Made Simple
This ground 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.
Ingredients for Ground Beef Enchiladas
- Oil – Vegetable Oil, Olive Oil, or Avocado Oil
- Onion – finely diced yellow onion
- Jalapeno – finely diced with the seeds and membranes removed
- Garlic – minced, if you don’t have fresh garlic cloves garlic powder can be substituted. 1 teaspoon of garlic powder can be substituted for 4 cloves.
- Ground Beef – I use lean ground beef so I don’t have to drain excess fat after cooking the ground beef. I prefer to sauté my onions, jalapeños, and garlic before browning the meat and I don’t want to lose any of that flavor by draining. If you are using ground beef with a higher fat content, like 80/20, I recommend browning the ground beef as the first step.
- Beef Broth – good quality low sodium beef broth. If you don’t have beef broth, beef
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.
More Mexican Recipes
- Easy Mexican Rice Recipe
- Instant Pot Mexican Rice
- Slow Cooker Refried Beans
- Sheet Pan Chicken Fajitas
- Skillet Enchiladas
- Loaded Sheet Pan Nachos
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
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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.
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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.
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Preheat oven to 400 degrees and spray a 9x13 baking dish with non stick cooking spray.
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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.
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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.
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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!
This was really delicious!
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!
I know it’s been almost two years since you posted, but I’ll share for others who may be interested. I used the “soft taco” sized flour tortillas, and I fried them for maybe 1 minute per side until slightly crispy. I then filled them with the meat mixture and cheese. The tortillas had gotten a little color and looked great. I covered the dish in foil and baked as directed. When we took them out of the oven, the tortillas lost their crisp edges, as I had been careful to put the remaining sauce and cheese just on the middle of the rolls. I think next time I will try baking them uncovered. Hope this helps.
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
These were a big hit tonight! I used flour tortillas instead of corn and pickled jarred jalapeños instead of fresh. It was a flavorful, tasty dish that we will make again! Even my 4 and 8 year olds cleaned their plates tonight!
My family loves enchiladas and these are our favorites. We enjoy these more and more! I’m planning on making these again this weekend.
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!
These enchiladas are outstanding! I deleted all others in favor of these.
I drained the ground beef after frying then added spices and stir fried
till crusty and aromatic then added the tomato and beef broth and simmered.
Then strained the meat from the sauce; added cilantro to meat and ran tortillas
through remaining sauce with enuf left over to coat the bottom of pan and top
of tortillas. YUMMY!! Also added tiny bit of cinnamon..delish!
Thanks for a great recipe. All the flavors and textures came together magically!
My high schoolers and all their friends love these! Hit with hungry hockey players and softball players! Can’t tell you how many times I’ve made them! Winner! Winner!
This was such a tasty and simple family dinner. I love how I can easily change the portion; we have family coming this weekend so I will be making this again because it is perfect for a large group.
Yum! We make cheese enchiladas often, but I love adding meat. More hearty & so good!!
Delicious! Huge hit! Definitely need to double the recipe!
This recipe was great! Really tasty and easy. I added black beans to the ground beef mixture and only had flour tortillas on hand and did not pre-cook them, turned out fine. Will definitely make again, thanks for the recipe 😀
This was a huge hit at my house!! My whole family enjoyed it!
I love enchiladas! Usually, we have chicken enchiladas, These ground beef ones are excellent and super easy to make!
Sounds so delicious! Can’t wait to try this recipe with my family.
I made these in October and am doing again tonight. Great recipe! Homemade enchilada sauce is the only way to go in my opinion. Easy recipe, kid and adult friendly. Just perfect 👌
Soooo delicious!!!!
Thank you!
I have tried many enchilada recipes and this one puts them all to shame. Thank you so much!
These were amazing! The spices were spot on and my family devoured it – definitely adding it to the dinner rotation!
Thank you so much for a TRUE enchilada recipe; none of the Yankee flour tortilla business.
Making them ASAP.
This dish is everything to me! I have eaten Tex-Mex food my entire life because I’m a native Texan. I have always gotten the non traditional roja sauce whenever possible
Instead of rolling my enchiladas, I always stack them. It tastes the same to me. And this recipe is the culmination of my entire experience with this most delicious and magical dish.
made it works well only thing i change was to add mozzerella string cheese in the filling
I have been making this receipe for a year now and it is my family favorite. I spice it up even more with more jalopenos. It is the best and never buy canned again. I also freeze some for my husband to take up north and cooks great after being frozen. Thanks a bunch!!!!
The mixture did not yield enough to cover the enchiladas as stated. I’ll try doubling next time.
I have tried to find a enchilada recipe for many years. I am so excited to find this one that checks all the boxes! These are better than any others I have tried by far. They also freeze very well. We feel like we are getting a real treat every time we have them. I can stop the search! Thank you! I need to try more of your recipes.
Have tried many enchilada recipes…this is our new favorite! I doubled it to take a meal and for us to eat and freeze some…would be great to make for company…served with yellow rice.