Beef Enchiladas with an extra tasty, saucy filling, smothered with a homemade Enchilada Sauce. My time saving trick is to use one base Enchilada spice mix for both the sauce and filling!
This is a reader-favourite recipe included by popular demand in my debut cookbook “Dinner”!
Beef Enchiladas
I love that there are so many variations of Beef Enchiladas in this big-wide-world.
Simple ones, filled with a plain cooked beef filling then topped with enchilada sauce and (lots of) cheese. Fancy ones with the addition of chillies, beans, corn and even olives, sometimes even bacon. Hidden vegetable versions (don’t ever try that on me, I can pick them a mile away).
Shredded beef enchiladas, short rib ones.
And today I’m sharing mine. 🙂 It’s made with:
A simple homemade Enchilada sauce which is quick to make and so, SO much better than store bought;
A flavour loaded beef and bean filling which is made with ground beef (mince), a load of Tex-Mex spices, refried beans AND black beans. Bean overload? Definitely not! The refried beans add bulk while keeping the filling nice and juicy so we can have nice, big, plump enchiladas!
What you need for Beef Enchiladas
Here’s what goes in my beef enchiladas.
Just a note on a few of the ingredients:
Refried beans – the “secret ingredient” that really fills out the beef mixture so you can big, plump, generously stuffed enchiladas that are nice and juicy. I use this in my Chicken Enchiladas too – works a treat!
Black beans – to fill it out a bit and add a different texture to the filling. Diced vegetables are great to add too – especially red peppers / capsicum.
Homemade Enchilada Sauce – made with either tomato passata or canned tomato sauce (US, I like Hunts), plus a good hit of Tex-Mex spices.
Beef – This is a recipe for beef enchiladas so it’s made with ground beef. But it can be substituted with pork, chicken or turkey!
Here’s my little time saving trick: one spice mix to flavour both the beef filling AND the Enchilada Sauce.
How to make Beef Enchiladas
There’s a good back of Tex-Mex spices in this! Some of it is used for the homemade Enchilada Sauce, and the rest is used to flavour the Beef and Bean Filling.
Try these on the side
Grilled Corn or try this Mexican Corn
Ahhh. These Beef Enchiladas. I really hate using the words “these are the BEST!” for any of my recipes because we all have different palettes, and what I may think is the “best” might not be to someone elses’ taste.
But truly, to me, to this day, even after having consumed more than my fair share of Enchiladas at Tex-Mex restaurants across America, I still think these are better. Way, WAY better than the mainstream chain restaurants!
Hope you had a great weekend! – Nagi x
Watch how to make it
This recipe features in my debut cookbook Dinner. The book is mostly new recipes, but this is a reader favourite included by popular demand!
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Beef Enchiladas
Ingredients
Spice Mix
- 1 tsp each onion & garlic powder (Note 1)
- 1 tbsp each cumin powder, paprika and dried oregano
- 1/2 – 1 tsp cayenne pepper (optional, spiciness)
Enchilada Sauce
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 3 tbsp flour , plain/all purpose
- 2 cups (500ml) chicken stock / broth , low sodium
- 1 1/2 cups (375 ml) tomato passata OR US 1 can (8 oz) canned tomato sauce (eg Hunts) (Note 2)
- 1/4 tsp each salt and pepper
Beef
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 2 garlic cloves , minced
- 1 onion , finely chopped (~1 cup)
- 1 lb / 500g ground beef (mince)
- 400g / 14oz refried beans (1 can, I use Old El Paso)
- 400g / 14oz black beans, drained (1 can, Note 3)
Enchiladas
- 8 tortillas (or burrito wraps)
- 1.5 cups (150g) grated melting cheese, or more (I like Monterey Jack, tasty or cheddar cheese)
- Cilantro/coriander leaves , roughly chopped (optional garnish)
Instructions
- Mix together Spice Mix ingredients. Set aside.
Enchilada Sauce
- Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add flour and mix to combine into a paste. Cook for 1 minute, stirring constantly.
- Add 1/2 cup chicken broth, whisk straight away then it will turn into a thick smooth paste quite quickly.
- Add remaining chicken broth, passata, salt, pepper and 2 tablespoons of SPICE MIX. Whisk
- Increase heat slightly to medium high. Cook for 3 to 5 minutes, whisking regularly, until the sauce thickens to the consistency of thick syrup (see video). Remove from stove.
Filling
- Preheat oven to 180C/350F.
- Heat oil in a skillet over high heat. Add garlic and onion, cook for 2 minutes.
- Add beef and cook for 2 minutes, breaking it up as you go. Add remaining Spice Mix. Cook for a further 2 minutes or until completely brown.
- Add refried beans, black beans, about 1/4 cup of Enchilada Sauce + salt & pepper. Mix (Note 4) and cook for 2 minutes then remove from stove (see video).
Enchiladas
- Smear a bit of Sauce on the bottom of a baking dish (stops sliding).
- Place filling on the lower third of a tortilla. Roll up then place in the baking dish, seam side down. Repeat with remaining Filling & Tortillas.
- Pour Sauce over the Enchiladas, top with cheese, bake for 10 minutes covered (Note 5) then 10 minutes uncovered. Serve hot!
Recipe Notes:
Nutrition Information:
Originally published June 2016. Updated August 2019 with new photos, new video, new process photos and refreshed writing – no change to recipe, I wouldn’t dare!
Mexican Mania
Life of Dozer
Rain, hail or shine, Dozer blasts through the dog door out into the backyard to chase rabbits and bark at birds.
Luckily, he has a raincoat to help keep him dry(ish) on wet days!
I was REALLY excited to make these, especially with the flavorful sauce from scratch! The only thing I would do differently next time is omit the refried beans and maybe switch to the smaller corn tortillas to make up for having less filling? I really did enjoy the recipe aside from that, so hopefully it will be even better next time! Ty for sharing! 😊
Just wanted to share that my almost 14 y/o son loves this recipe! He helped me meal plan recently and added this to it. He cooked with my help the first time, then made it himself the next time with me just standing by. It’s his go to now. 😍
I have made this recipe twice now and both times my husband says the sauce is tasteless..
What should I do Nagi?
Are you making it with tablespoons and not teaspoons of cumin, paprika and oregano?
Hmm…perhaps your husband needs to be told to cook dinner himself next time??:-)
Are you adding the spices to the passata? ive made this countless times and it is very flavourful.. ensure you use fresh spices and a proper measure spoon. For years my mother cooked tasteless food due to levelling spoon meaaures lol.
I made this tonight for the second time and I thought the sauce was lovely. Did you add some salt? Sometimes this is all that is needed to give an added oomph and certainly to bring out flavour in tomato passata.
Hi Helen, this has been tested a number of times and my recipes wouldn’t be published if they were tasteless, I pride myself on recipes that are full of flavour. Are you making any adjustments to the recipe by any chance? N x
Hi there
I’m just wondering big this recipe would work without the refried beans?? I do have black beans though
I use refried beans but smear it on the tortilla then the beef mixture
If* not big
Thanks Nagi
I have no doubt the recipe is good.
No..
I’m wondering if its my passato?
I was just wondering – my apologies – no blame intended.. Just wanted to know if I should increase the spices or change the sauce?- where to start?
thank u(:
I’d adjust the husband
LOL!!!
Just a little salt makes a huge difference to the sauce
Helen – just a thought…maybe the spices you are using are a little old and have lost their flavour?
Question. I have pre-made enchilada sauce. How much would I need for 4 servings?
Hi Hannah, about 4 cups for this recipe. N x
I’m wondering where all the sodium comes in? In reading recipe, hardly any added salt. Kim guessing cheese and canned ingredients?
Hi Jeanne, the stock, refried beans and definitely the cheese would be the culprit here. N x
This was sooo good, my only regret being I had less cheese on mine, can’t wait too eat them again
Amazing recipe. Loved it. Thank you!
So good I ate it again for breakfast!
Hello Nagi! Was wondering is the enchilada sauce made with smoked paprika?
Hi Anna, smoked or sweet will work fine in this recipe. N x
This recipe came out amazing! Such comfort food. Thank you, Nagi!
Help I don’t have any chicken stock. Can I use low sodium vegetable stock instead?
You’re so welcome Rebecca, thanks so much!! N x
So yummy! I have young kids so I only used 1/16 tsp cayenne and 1/8 tsp cumin since spicy is not their thing. Wow! This recipe is a keeper!! The sauce tastes like enchilada sauce one buys in a can, but so much better. Will definitely make this my go-to enchilada recipe.
Do you use corn or flour tortillas for this recipe? Thank you
She used flour, but corn is traditionally used, it’s just a personal preference.
These Enchiladas were unreal! So delicious and plump. The red sauce was super easy to make, and much better than store bought. They were a huge hit and will be going in my “To make again” pile!
Oh my GOSH the flavor is kickin’!
I followed the recipe to the letter. The only thing I’ll do differently next time, is to decrease the cayenne to 1/4 tsp, but only so I don’t have to smother it in sour cream to bring the heat down a tiny bit (it made the sauce really creamy and took the heat down JUST right, but my fat butt doesn’t need the extra calories. LOL!). Other than that, my family loved these! 😋
I made the beef enchiladas and they are amazing every time! Massive fan of your recipes easy to follow and taste delicious 😍
Excellent! My kids informed me I NEED to make these all the time – even with the beans. 😏
Sorry, the refrieds just made this too heavy and pasty. But 1 clunker out of dozens of fab Nagi recipes I’ve made for my delighted family isn’t bad! We love RecipeTinEats! 😘
Hey there. I live in Texas and have eaten and made many enchiladas. The trick to keeping your tortillas from drying out is to heat a pan of oil and quickly fry each side of the tortilla (like 10 seconds) before you fill it.
Absolutely. However, it’s corn tortillas that are quickly fried until soft in hot oil. This recipe uses flour tortillas, which can be used out of the refridgerator to roll up in enchiladas, and then baked in the oven, exactly as described in the recipe. Flour tortillas will make a much bigger enchilada with a softer shell. They are simply two completely different recipes. There are corn tortilla beef enchiladas and flour enchiladas. Completely different.
Hi Nagi! Just want to thank you for this amazing recipe. I made it for my incredibly fussy partner and he absolutely loved it! Will definitely be making this again.
Hi Nagi – I want to thank you for all the delicious recipes you post. As I have cooked many of them and always enjoy them, I now find myself looking through your recipes as my ‘google’ because I know they will taste delicious. My new favourite is your Vietnamese Chicken Salad – 5/5 stars delicious! Thank you. Caroline