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!
Rachel says
Nagi, any chance of using a tomato paste & water combination in lieu of the pasata (darn Corona and no ability to get my hands on some).
THANK YOU x
Janie says
I am just finishing my enchiladas. They were so good. I made these exactly like the recipe, well I should say that I didn’t have onion powder but I just doubled the garlic, on I did throw in some corn. This reminded me of Texas. Thank you very much! So happy!!
Nagi says
Sounds perfect Janie! N x
Cyndi says
I’m so glad I found your site! I made these beef enchiladas for a family dinner which was intended for the 6 of us. However, at 3:00 I find out that 4 others would be joining us, so I needed to supplement the enchiladas with something else pretty substantial and fast! I decided to try another recipe of yours, the Mexican shredded beef, which I was actually planning for dinner the next day. But because of the wonderful notes for prep with an Instant Pot, I was able to throw it together for that evening. I was a bit nervous serving food from recipes that I had never tried before, as I often find new ones disappointing and a waste of ingredients, but these sounded so good that I couldn’t help myself. LOL! As it turned out, there was nothing to worry about! Everything was fantastic and gobbled up in no time. My sister even said that the enchiladas were “restaurant quality” and that she would love to be invited over for them again. My only regret was that it left me with no dinner for the next evening. LOL. I didn’t expect for ALL the shredded beef to be eaten! Thanks again for the recipes and the very helpful notes after each! I look forward to trying more of your recipes!
Lynn Lozer says
Can I ask why you’re having all these people over during lockdown?
Nagi says
That’s the BEST Cyndi!!! N x
Pat says
As a former Texan, my family and I are critical of enchiladas. Once again, your recipe was a Texas sized hit. Absolutely perfect. Thank you Nagi.
Nagi says
Thanks so much for the feedback Pat!
Lindsey Pegg says
Hi Nagi. Just made the beef enchiladas for dinner tonight. So yum! Thank you for the great recipes. I have a few lined up to try next. Give Dozer a pat for me.
Tomji says
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!
Nagi says
That’s SO great to hear Tomji, thanks so much!! N x
sherry says
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.
Lawanda says
Looks delicious
Nagi says
Thanks Lawanda! N x
Maxine says
Excellent using ground beef, loved the tomatoes sauce. Also look forward to Doser
Mimi says
This is absolutely delicious!! But the ends got stuck to the ban on the bottoms. How can I prevent that?
Laura says
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!
Avril says
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
Nagi says
Thank you SO much Avril, that’s so nice to hear! N x
adh says
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!
Nagi says
Wahoo, that’s great to hear! N x
Marisa Joshi says
Hi Nagi, I’m about to make this tonight – exciting!!! – you don’t mention lamb but can I still use it? Thanks!!
Nagi says
Sure can Marisa! N x
Margie says
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).
Nagi says
Sounds like a great idea Margie!!!
anita brown says
Do you use flour or corn tortillas?
Nagi says
Hi Anita, either will work find in this recipe – I tend to use flour as they are more readily available here. N x
Luise Massari says
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!
Nagi says
That’s awesome Luise! N x
Tracy says
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.
Nagi says
Perfect Tracy!!!
Leanne says
I have just made a vegetable version that i would like to freeze, do i cook first or freeze and then cook.
Nagi says
Hi Leanne, freeze first, then thaw and cook when you need – N x
Ian Stark says
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!
Nagi says
That’s so lovely to hear Ian – thanks so much!
Lorily O Capayas says
So good sharing your recipe and wanted to do it at home. Many thanks.
Nagi says
You’re so welcome Lorily!! N x