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!
Nagi, you’ve done it again! These enchiladas were so good! This is the third recipe of yours I’ve tried, and I’m hooked! Looking forward to making many more of your recipes… keep up the good work!
That’s SO great to hear Tomji, thanks so much!! N x
Who thought humble mince beef and beans could turn out to be a taste sensation. I couldn’t find black beans and subbed with red kidney beans. Mixed things up a bit, reducing the beans and adding corn kernels and chopped red pepper. I think the magic ingredient here is the refried beans. Left overs for lunch the next day were yummy. Thanks again Nagi. PS you made me laugh with the story about scoring a bag of toilet tissue.
Looks delicious
Thanks Lawanda! N x
Excellent using ground beef, loved the tomatoes sauce. Also look forward to Doser
This is absolutely delicious!! But the ends got stuck to the ban on the bottoms. How can I prevent that?
I’ve made MANY Mexican dishes, and this one was EXCEPTIONAL!! The home made enchilada sauce was fantastic, and I loved the ease of having the same spice mix for both the filling and the sauce. We will be adding it to our family’s rotation, as it was a BIG hit! Thank you so much Nagi!
Hi Nagi, your recipes are the best ever, everything looks so so good, your little videos are just great, makes everything look so easy to do, can’t wait to start cookin, your Dog is absolutely adorable X
Thank you SO much Avril, that’s so nice to hear! N x
Used Hunts tomato sauce as we could not find passata and worked great. Out of cayenne so used ancho chili powder for the filling. Very happy with how these turned out. Made for myself and husband but unexpected guests showed up right as it came out of oven and I was able to feed them all. Big hit! Going in our dinner rotation. Thanks!
Wahoo, that’s great to hear! N x
Hi Nagi, I’m about to make this tonight – exciting!!! – you don’t mention lamb but can I still use it? Thanks!!
Sure can Marisa! N x
Hi Nagi,
This one is a family favorite and one I go back to time and again. I just wanted to share a variation I did last night. I overestimated how much people would eat when I ordered takeout fajitas from a local Mexican restaurant earlier in the week and we had a lot left over. Because the meat was kind of tough I ground it up with the grilled veggies in the food processor. I used that instead of ground beef, and then I used what we had left of the restaurant beans instead of black beans. We also had some leftover spiced rice that I put in the filling mix. The rest of the recipe was the same. It was absolutely delicious (and a great way to use up a whole ton of leftovers).
Sounds like a great idea Margie!!!
Do you use flour or corn tortillas?
Hi Anita, either will work find in this recipe – I tend to use flour as they are more readily available here. N x
Instant classic for me! It is so tasty and easy to riff on. It’s even going into a family favorite cookbook we are putting together. Thanks so much!
That’s awesome Luise! N x
Just cooked this for dinner! Wow! It was full of flavour. We enjoyed this so much. I plan on using the spice mix to sprinkle on steak that we cook on our bbq.
Perfect Tracy!!!
I have just made a vegetable version that i would like to freeze, do i cook first or freeze and then cook.
Hi Leanne, freeze first, then thaw and cook when you need – N x
Wow! You just changed my life!
These Mexican dishes are great! I grew up in SoCal in the 50’s/60’s and been into Mexican food my whole life. You make it so much easier to make very authentic tasting food. Muchas gracias!
That’s so lovely to hear Ian – thanks so much!
So good sharing your recipe and wanted to do it at home. Many thanks.
You’re so welcome Lorily!! N x
Hi Nagi, love love love all your recipes! Can I freeze this one?
100% yes! A great emergency meal 🙂
I suck at cooking but this was simple to make and tasted amazing. I love your recipes. May I suggest that there is section regarding how long to store leftovers and if we can freeze the food? That would make your blog even better.
I’ve never made enchiladas before nor have I ever eaten them. Omg have I been missing out! These are delicious! I did add a grated zucchini and a can of corn but everything else was exactly as the recipe stated,
Just wanted to wish you HAPPY NEW YEAR, also wanted to say you are amazing!! I download every recipe you email me and use them, they are awesome!! Please don’t ever stop, I made your strawberry cheese cake for our family christmas gathering, wow it was gone in 5 minutes. Thank you again for making me a better cook. I love you and Dozer, all the best to you and your family, hope your move goes well.
Thanks so much Mary!!!