This Beef Enchiladas recipe is a family favorite with a zesty ground beef filling wrapped in corn tortillas and baked until bubbly! Nothing beats homemade beef enchiladas for taco night. Serve them along with some cilantro tomato rice, everyone will come back for seconds.
Ground beef enchiladas are quick and easy but don’t be afraid to experiment with shredded pork or leftover baked chicken breasts!
Ground Beef Enchiladas
Ground beef enchiladas are one of our favorites dinners along with creamy chicken enchiladas. Take your tex-mex game to the next level with this easy recipe!
How to Make Beef Enchilada Sauce
- How to Make Enchilada Sauce: Making a beef enchilada casserole is super easy! I prefer to use Homemade Enchilada Sauce but if using canned sauce instead, I usually mix in a little more cumin, red chile, or even salsa.
- Tortillas: Traditional enchiladas use corn tortillas but if you’d prefer flour, those will work too. To keep corn tortillas from cracking when you roll them, be sure to heat them according to package directions. I usually heat them directly over my gas stove for a moment or two.
- Filling: Most beef enchilada recipes leave wiggle room for more or less of your favorite ingredients. I add pinto beans but black beans work well too.
How to Make Beef Enchiladas
Now for the fun part – assembling these enchiladas!
- Enchilada filling: Brown the beef and drain any fat. Add in beans, seasonings and a little sauce. Simmer until thick.
- To Roll Enchiladas: Heat the corn tortillas until they are soft and fill them with a little bit of cheese beef and beans. Roll them and place seam side down.
- Top with more enchilada sauce and cheese. Bake until melted and bubbly.
How long to cook enchiladas: You’ll want to cook these beef enchiladas about 20 minutes or so. When cooking enchiladas, you’re more just heating things through since they’re already cooked. Cool about 10 minutes before serving.
Serve with a dollop of sour cream, extra cheese and some cold cervezas (or Mango Margaritas)!
How Do You Store or Freeze Beef Enchiladas?
If there are any left, you mean! Store your beef enchilada casserole in an airtight container and place it in the fridge. For freezing an entire pan of beef enchiladas, it’s a good idea to line the casserole dish with aluminum foil before assembling the ingredients.
After they are baked, cool completely in the fridge and then cover and freeze. After your enchilada casserole is completely frozen, gently lift it from the casserole dish and wrap, label and return to the freezer.
You can also divide the portions and separately wrap and label them as well for a quick and tasty office lunch or quickie dinner for two!
More Recipes You’ll Love
- Beef Enchilada Dip – a delicious appetizer!
- Beef Enchilada Casserole – so easy
- Crockpot Shredded Chicken – great for enchiladas!
- Slow Cooker Chicken Enchilada Soup – so easy
- Cilantro Lime Rice – another great side!
- Veggie Enchiladas – perfect for a meatless meal
Ground Beef Enchiladas
Ingredients
- 1 onion diced
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 1 pound ground beef
- 15 ounces canned pinto beans drained and rinsed, optional
- 1 ounce taco seasoning 1 packet
- ½ teaspoon cumin
- ¼ teaspoon salt or to taste
- 2 ½ cups shredded Monterey jack cheese or cheddar cheese
- ½ cup shredded cheddar cheese
- 10-12 corn tortillas
- 28 ounces enchilada sauce
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F.
- Brown ground beef, onions and garlic until no pink remains. Drain any fat.
- Stir in beans, seasonings, ¼ cup enchilada sauce, and ⅓ cup water, salt. Simmer until thickened.
- Spread ½ cup enchilada sauce in the bottom of a baking dish. Heat tortillas according to package directions (or over a gas stove) until soft.
- Place 2 tablespoons cheese and ⅓ cup beef filling in each enchilada. Roll and place seam side down in the pan.
- Top with remaining enchilada sauce and cheeses. Bake 20-25 minutes uncovered or until cheese is melted and filling is hot.
- Cool 10 minutes before serving.
Nutrition Information
Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.
Course Beef, Main Course
Cuisine American, Mexican, Tex Mex© SpendWithPennies.com. Content and photographs are copyright protected. Sharing of this recipe is both encouraged and appreciated. Copying and/or pasting full recipes to any social media is strictly prohibited. Please view my photo use policy here.
Simply delicious! Thanks Holly for providing great recipes!
I could use ground turkey?
If you prefer! I think that would still taste great.
can i use refried beans instead of regular pinto beans. thanks
I haven’t tried it so I can’t say for sure Carolyn. If you try it I would love to hear how it turns out!
Homemade enchilada sauce, excellent. Recipe overall really good. Only complaint is it was way too much sauce so they were soggy. We like our enchiladas firmer. I would make again I would just not put all the sauce in it. Flavor was great.
Holy I am out of country,and have no oven ,only stovetop and microwave,how can I adapt to these?for enchiladas and burritos,help.
I haven’t tried it so I can’t say for sure Denise. I would make them as listed and then instead of putting in a baking pan I would put them in a skillet, pour the sauce over, and then cover and cook until heated through. If you try it I would love to hear how it turns out!
Can I use flour tortillas instead of corn? Flour tortillas are what I have on hand right now.
Sure, Erica. That sounds delicious!
Wonderful flavor, the family loved it. Adding the pinto beans stretched the beef and add a subtle additional flavor. This will be on our monthly rotation.
So happy you enjoyed it, Tammy!
REALLY liked this recipe. Quick, yummy and the perfect amount of spice. Omitted the salt, tons already in sauce and seasoning and it was perfect. Drizzled w some white queso cheese and chopped green onions. Would have loved to add chopped black olives on top but I was being lazy! Def one to keep on file.
This recipe is divine and packed with flavor. We added a little lettuce and sour cream to the top which broke the heat., as I made it a little spicy using mild enchilada sauce. The homemade taco seasoning is the cherry on top. Better than store bought! I would make this again.
Good idea adding the lettuce and sour cream, Lanette!
These are really very good and so easy to make, it will make everyone who eats them think that you really slaved over the stove which is quite he opposite of what you really did. Thanks for the recipe and making it so simple.
It comes out amazing!!! It’s the best enchiladas recipe I ever tried. Thanks Holly!
You’re welcome Jenna. Enchiladas are a close second to my love of mac and cheese!
OMG…….this is the 2nd recipe of yours that I have tried and my husband and I are so impressed! Last week we tried your Black Bean Soup and couldn’t believe the flavors. It’s a keeper. We had this recipe last night (can you believe it was 92 degrees outside and 85 degrees inside our house and I STILL turned on my oven and baked these.). The flavors in these enchiladas were outstanding. We were supposed to go out to dinner tonight at Outback but we decided to wait a day or two so we can have leftover enchiladas instead. That says a lot doesn’t it? :-) Hmmmm…..wonder what tasty morsel of yours I’ll try next week!
Keep up those tasty recipes!
Jano
Thank you Jano!! So happy you’re loving the recipes!
Made this today and it was delicious. I even made the enchilada sauce which was way better than canned. I used 5 10inch large tortillas and doubled the filling amount and placed them lengthwise in a 9×13 glass dish. When serving I cut then all in half and served 1 or 2 half tortillas. Thanks for the awesome recipe. I would make this again soon.
Looks delicious Holly! Quick and easy dinner recipes are lifesavers.
I hope you love this recipe if you get to try it Muna!