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!
We’ve made this tonight and have lots of leftovers. Are they able to be frozen?
I have not made Enchilaas in the past although I have eaten my share 🙂
I thought these were delicious. Made exactly as written and very tasty!
Absolutely amazing. Thank you for your wonderful recipes. Thank you more for what you are doing for people in need. You are a beautiful soul. Much love xx
Made this yesterday for friends and it was a big hit. Didn’t change a thing. And I used the COOKBOOK. Woohoo. But I have a question. You have the garlic sautéing before the onion. I find garlic burns more quickly so always start my onion first. Do you not have that problem?
My oldest daughter suggested this recipe to me recently. I made it last night exactly as written. My youngest daughter and son in law said they were the best enchiladas they ever had. Thanks for an great recipe!! Will be trying more of yours.
Cooked for tea tonight and it was delicious. Your recipe is perfect and love the layout in the book. Can’t wait to try some of the other recipes in your lovely cook book. Thanks 🥰.
I cooked this last night, changed absolutely nothing in the recipe,( I just received your Dinner cookbook..YEAH!!). and it is just unbelievable!! I have made beef enchiladas in the past, but nothing compared to this!! Flavors just burst and my family and myself loved it!! You never disappoint!! Thank you!!!
Very tasty; both hubby and I loved it! I cut the recipe down to 2 servings (still made a lot for 2 but we also had mexican rice with it). Followed the recipe except didn’t use refried beans, just mashed the other 1/2can of black beans. The wraps came out a little soggy so next time will toast them up first as suggested by another reviewer.
I enjoyed this and some of your other recipes as well. I have to say though, that these are not enchiladas. They look similar but Enchiladas are made with corn tortillas, not flour, and definitely not burrito wraps, whatever they are. No beans, and just because the sauce is red doesn’t mean tomatoes are an ingredient. This recipe is more like an American burrito, which is where burritos and flour tortillas were invented anyway. And the sauce is just a tomato sauce.
Hi Ysidro. Following this comment I’ve looked at other recipes and of course, there are so many variations calling themselves enchiladas. I have one now that seems like it follows what you’ve said here but I have a question.
Can you tell me why the sauce is called ‘red’ when there are no ingredients (in the recipe that I’ve found) that would justify giving it that name?
Red sauce to me means tomatoes, like Nagi’s recipe here.
I made your beef enchiladas for the first time today. So delicious! I will be adding this to my recipe list. Looking forward to receiving your cookbook in the U.S. soon. Thanks for all the great recipes!
Hi Nagi & Dozer! Greetings from Scotland – just made these tonight for my husband and I – they were a big hit! Easy, really tasty, and a perfect reminder of my Tex Mex days. I didn’t have any refried so that was left out. I’m unable to get Enchilada sauce here in the UK (I can’t find it anyway) so I was thrilled with your recipe. Thank you !!
Hi Linda. I’m in Scotland too and couldn’t find refried beans in a tin, so I’m just about to try this recipe to make some for the Enchiladas recipe for dinner tonight. Hope this link helps. 😁
https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/refried-beans
I have only tried two of these meals. They were so good I can hardly wait to try more.
Please send more. Thanks
As an Oklahoman, these enchiladas were to die for! They had just the right balance of sauce, cheese, and spice, and the tortillas were just right. I can understand why this is a frequently requested recipe!
As an Oklahoman, these enchiladas were to die for! They had just the right balance of sauce, cheese, and spice, and the tortillas were just right. I can understand why this is a frequently requested recipe!
This is such an easy and tasty meal! My whole family loves it!
Really liked it, used canned enchilada sauce-big mistake! Put the tortillas under the broiler for 2 mins first. Great supper for a cold winter night.
Made this for dinner tonight and it was delicious. I used a combination of cheddar and havarti (my two personal favorites) and they were so good.
Yesterday I prepared this wonderful recipe for our 48th wedding anniversary dinner – a private affair as we invite family & friends only for those ending in five or zero. I loved the ease of preparation – and purposefully over-sauced so as to have gravy to spare for future mashed potatoes. And, thanks for the heavenly cookbooks!
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?
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!