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!
As a Texan, I would never make enchiladas with untoasted tortillas. Toast your tortillas on a comal, or hot skillet (preferably cast iron) before filling them and baking. They will not get mushy that way. Also, if you only need less than the full batch for a meal, only bake enough enchiladas as you’ll eat. Store the fillinf, sauce and cheese separately and then bake them fresh each time you eat them. So much better than reheated, mushy enchiladas!
This is exactly what I do when making enchiladas because we aren’t a fan of second day mush.
The recipe doesn’t specify if corn or flour tortillas are to be used. Which did you use?
Opinions are varied on this. 2 reviews Cleary believe only use corn tortillas. Another review specified toasting the tortilla in a cast iron skillet BEFORE filling. Several reviews either followed that suggestion OR wish they had…and will do that next time .
I’m searching for recipe ideas and came across your site…Your recipes look delish! I love how you’ve give given a submenu for important things on your site…recipes, video, and Dozier!! Now I also have something to share with my sweetheart…he adores dogs and just about all critters ha-ha!
Love this recipe. I used beef broth instead of chicken, used 1 1/2 cups of tomato sauce with extra dash of seasoning when I made that, I’ve had tried a number of store bought sauces not liking any of them. This was excellent.
Beef enchilada recipe awesome used roasted tomatoes in can blended with a bit of tomato paste.And chichi brand corn flour tortillas.I bet it would work with grd turkey too.Crazy good.Added avocado and Greek yogurt subbed out sour cream.
Best enchillas I’ve ever eaten!
Really filling too, I could only eat one and a half!
Thank you, I’ll be making these for all my friends.
Thanks for a great recipe! Served up my husband a big serving and he went back for seconds of “that good stuff”. Just as good today when I reheated some leftovers for lunch.
Fabulous – made it twice now, easy and delicious. Had the kids help me too. Made our own refried beans from another recipe (didn’t have pinto so used kidney beans – still fab).
Can you use gluten free wraps instead of regular flour tortillas for enchiladas?
I’ve used (gluten-free) corn tortillas for enchiladas, they turn out well.
Thank you, Adam.
Use coconut wraps!
Hi David, I’m not gluten intolerant but we made this with gluten free wraps once when we bought them by mistake. Tbh it wasn’t the same as the tortillas but we still found it delicious.
I’m from Texas with unlimited places to get enchiladas and I must say these by far are the best I’ve had in a long time. Good job!
I made these tonight and the whole family enjoyed them! I added a diced red bell pepper and a 4 ounce can of diced green chiles to the filling, and used Carb Balance whole wheat tortillas, which were very soft and fluffy. This is the first enchilada sauce I’ve actually liked & it was so easy. Topped with tomatoes, sour cream, cilantro and green onions. Will definitely make again!
waaaaaaaaay too much cumin in this recipe, its all I could taste
Just made this recipe in Palm Beach Queensland. I brought the spice mix with me from 🇨🇦
My Aussie friend loved it!
So delicious! Full of flavour. Thank you for sharing:)
Nagi, what size tortillas do you use? About 9-10″ maybe. We get 3 different sizes 6-7″, 9-10″ and something I’m guessing about 12″. They are all called tortillas.
Hi Naji from California!
I used your recipe for enchilada sauce on another post and used it for your beef enchiladas but I wasn’t sure how much of the homemade enchilada sauce I should use for your beef enchilada recipe?
In the filling it is 1/4c. I would think maybe 1/2 c in the bottom of the casserole dish and the rest is poured over top.
Make extra sauce – it’s even more delicious!!
Made this last night and it was so yummy!
This was fantastic! I took another reviewers recommendation and added a 1/2 tsp of chipotle powder and chili powder. The sauce was very spicy on its own with the cayenne and chipotle but mellowed in the dish.
Love that it’s so simple to put together .
I’m never buying canned enchilada sauce again.
Thank you,,,
Wonderful recipe! Made this tonight and was so moist and delicious. Thank you for all you do in sharing great recipes!
These were a hit with my family! Agreed that the refried beans are a secret ingredient. Is there any suggestions on how to keep the flour tortillas from getting soggy?
I used to live in LA so am familiar with tasty Mexican food. Now we are in Perth and found this, DELICIOUS!
This was delish. I’m looking forward to trying the chicken version. Your recipes are always the s**t. Thanks!