Easy Beef & Cheese Enchiladas -

Here’s the Recipe

Serves 4

Prep time: 30 minutes (but can make ahead to bake later!!)

Cook time: 45 minutes

Total time: 1 hour and 15 minutes

Ingredients:

20 flour tortillas

1 pound ground beef

4 cups shredded cheddar cheese or Mexican cheese blend

1 packet of taco seasoning (or make my Homemade Taco Seasoning Recipe)

1 28 oz can of red enchilada sauce

2 tablespoons water

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and prepare 2 baking dishes or tins (or 1 that will fit 20 enchiladas) by spraying with nonstick cooking spray. Set aside.
Heat the enchilada sauce over medium low heat.
Brown the ground beef. Once browned, add in the taco seasoning and water. Mix together and turn off the heat. Add in about half a cup of shredded cheese and mix. Set aside.
Take 10 tortillas and warm in the microwave for 30 seconds.
Take the prepared casserole dish/tin and pour a spoonful of warmed enchilada sauce over the bottom and spread out. Do this with both dishes.
Take the first set of 10 tortillas and fill with cheese. You will add about a tablespoon or so of cheese into each tortilla on one end and roll to the other end. Place seam side down in the casserole dish/tin. Repeat for the remaining 9 warm tortillas. Set the dish aside.
Warm the remaining 10 tortillas in the microwave for 30 seconds.
Take the ground beef and cheese mixture and put in on one side of the warmed tortilla and roll to the other side. You will also use about a tablespoon or so of the mixture. Place seam side down in the 2nd prepared casserole dish/tin.
Take the remaining enchilada sauce and top the rolled enchiladas with the rest of it. You want to make sure all of the tortillas are covered.
Top the enchiladas with the remaining cheese.
Cover the casserole dishes with tin foil and bake for 30 minutes covered. Remove the tin foil for the remaining 15 minutes.
Remove from the oven and let sit for 5 minutes. Serve with rice, salsa, guacamole, and sour cream. Enjoy!

Notes:

You can use whatever kind of ground meat you would like. Turkey, chicken, pork, or beef! You could also get rid of the meat entirely and just use sautèed veggies and make it completely vegetarian. Use whatever your family likes. I have done it with beef, pork, and turkey and it turns out great every time! (Hubby doesn’t like veggies otherwise I totally would have made a version like that)
I have the recipe set up to make half just cheese and half beef. My hubby likes the just cheese version better so that is why I split it. If you want to make all cheese, just double the amount of cheese you will need. If you want to make all beef, use 2 lbs of meat.
This is totally make ahead! You can do all of the prep in the morning or even the night before and put it in the fridge until you are ready to bake. If you are using a glass casserole dish, just make sure to bring it up to room temperature before putting in the oven.
You can even freeze it! I would use disposable tins for this. Just do all of the prep and cover with foil and freeze! Thaw it out and bake like normal when ready to eat. I had so many of these prepped in the freezer before I had Cooper to make postpartum life easier.

Inspiration:

Growing up, my dad used to make a version of these enchiladas. When I moved out, I missed eating them and found a way to make them a bit easier. These are by no means authentic, but they are comforting to me every time I eat them. They take back home to when I was 10.

I love to eat these with Mexican rice or just a salad. I’ll also make salsa with it to top it or just have chips and salsa on the side. You can really pair it with anything that you would like. It is also a great way to mix up Taco Tuesday! I always try to rotate our meals enough so it doesn’t feel like we are always eating the same thing all of the time. So, adding a twist to Taco Tuesday helps break the pattern.

I love 3 things about this recipe. 1.) It is make ahead and freezer friendly. 2.) It is adaptable to whatever your family likes for the filling. 3.) I have a full 45 minutes of bake time where I can let it be and do something else. It really helps me either do a quick chore or spend more time with Cooper. And, being able to make this ahead means I can take advantage of his nap times and get all of the prep out of the way. As a busy mama, these are the recipes I live for. I hope you and your family like it as much as we do!