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!
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!
The filling of these beef enchiladas have extra oomph with the addition a refried beans, a good hit of spices and splash of Enchilada sauce!
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
- Corn Salad with Avocado
- Grilled Corn or try this Mexican Corn
- Everyday Cabbage Salad
- Broccoli Salad
- Pico de Gallo (Authentic Mexican Salsa)
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
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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!
2nd time making this recipe! 1st time we used beef and it was tasty. Sent my husband to get the ingredients for tonight’s meal and because of a misunderstanding he thought I wanted chicken and bought chicken thighs. I trimmed them up and cooked them in the instant pot for 10 mins. Shredded and made the rest as written. I did double the sauce and leave 3 cheese less because I’m currently dairy free. The chicken is delicious and I don’t miss the cheese too much 😋
Perfect family dinner! I served these with a simple lettuce, tomato and cucumber slant plus sour cream. My kids said ‘this is Enchilada heaven’. Your sauce tastes so authentic I feel like I’m quite the chef tonight. Thanks Nagi for another hit.
Amazing!!! Entire family loved it and my husband is looking forward to the next time I cook it. I’ve been wanting to make them for a long time and wish I had my mothers recipe before she passed. This is perfect and this is coming from a half Mexican LOL. I’m not a cook but this was easy to follow (with the help of my daughter) and taste great. Already printed it out to make again. Thanks!!
Beef was great
Made this tonight and it was a hit! My son said it tasted like restaurant quality. I’ve made many of your recipes and they are all so good, thanks!
This was delicious! My sons even ate the beans! Thank you, I will be keeping this recipe as a regular xxx
Primo Nagi! Thank you – YES THIS IS THE BEST enchilada recipe.
This was delicious and very easy to make. The entire family loved it! Thanks!
I made the enchiladas today for my family. What a fabulous recipe! You’re writing is so helpful, you cover every step to ensure success. The meal was full of flavour. I have cooked about 4 of your recipes now and plan to cook many more. Thank you..
I love your writing style. it is well done already
This looks fab, can’t wait to try it. Can you freeze leftovers?
Yes 100% Nicky!! N x
Just made these and they were absolutely delicious! Will be making these again!
Just made these for the first time last night & they are out of this world! I can’t get over how delicious the sauce is!!! I think the spice blend is the secret to such amazing flavor. I can definitely see experimenting with the filling ingredients, maybe trying with chicken, rice & beans, endless possibilities. Might even try a green version of the sauce using a tomatillo/green chili sauce instead of tomato sauce. Actually ended up making a 2nd batch of the red sauce as we like things extra saucy 🙂 Added a can of diced green chilies to the red sauce which was really good. Can’t wait yo try more recipes!
Really easy and delicious. Added diced capsicum and celery to onion in beginning and chopped baby spinach at end to up veg for fussy kids, everyone loved it.
Perfect Sally! N x
Easy recipes with loaded flavours. First time to make enchiladas, which turned out great. I could not find refried beans and it was fine.
I’m so glad you enjoyed it Rose! N x
I just made these for my whole family and they loved it! Thank you for this amazing recipe <3
Wow. I made this tonight! I didn’t have any tomato sauce so I just blended a can of crushed tomatoes. Otherwise followed the recipe exactly. It was absolutely delicious! My 18 month old ate more than me!
Hey Nagi,
Planning on making this for Friday night dinner. Tried out several of your recipes which turn out amazing every single time ❤. Question; can I use mozzarella in place of Cheddar? Thank you 🙂.
These are incredible! Have made them a few times. Here in the U.S. I used Hunt’s Tomato Purée. I use homemade black beans from the pressure cooker. (I make a batch and freeze them and use anytime a recipe calls for canned black beans. They’re awesome!). I’ve also split this recipe. Rolled. Put on top of a little sauce. Cover and froze. Froze the extra sauce separate. Before baking I thaw sauce and enchiladas over night, top with cheese and sauce and bake. Top with avocado, tomato, romaine, sour cream……. heavenly. Love your recipes!
Totally amazed by these – I’ve been craving good enchiladas for years after having them frequently in the States! Thanks so much, Nagi!