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!
Kathy says
Can you freeze the leftovers?
Nagi says
Yes!
Rochelle says
Hi! I made these yesterday and they were great! I have tried sooo many different enchilada recipes and been left feeling like they weren’t that good… I did add some chili powder seasoning to the sauce and half a jalapeno to beef mixture. Great keeper!!
Nagi says
Yessss! So great you enjoyed this one Rochelle, thanks for letting me know! N xx
Wendy says
Hi Nagi,
What can I say but oh so delicious! Easy to make and so easy for a friday night’s meal. My family loved it. I have never used black beans before and they are far better than kidney beans. I just love your recipes, keep them coming.
Nagi says
That’s terrific to hear Wendy! Thank you for letting me know! N xx
Nat says
From San Antonio, Texas y’all! A tip of the ol’ Stetson, Nagi! This is a darned good recipe for enchiladas! All the right buttons are pressed!
Nagi says
MESSAGE OF THE DAY!!!! 🙂 N xx
Zamina says
This was so good! even my fussy 3 year old loved it. I’ve tried a heap of your recipes now and its really making my life so much easier to have this great variety of delicious reliable recipes. I am normally a terrible cook. love the blog. Thank you so much!
Nagi says
Whoot! Fantastic to hear you enjoyed this Zamina, thanks for letting me know! N xx
Martin D says
Made these tonight — oddly, I inadvertently made some “passata” of my own thinking for a pasta sauce a few weeks ago, so that’s a no-brainer, but better than using tomato paste or jarred tomato sauce. A suggestion: throw the 2 TBSP of spice mix in at start of enchilada sauce “roux” to help release the oils and fragrance and likewise the rest with the garlic and onion at start of beef mixture taking care not to burn any of it. I love this easy enchilada sauce, it’s not as greasy as other recipes I have tried. At any rate, I would never buy a canned/ jarred enchilada sauce when this is so easy from scratch and tastes so much better. ~love (hope Japan was amazing Nagi and you had some good times).
Nagi says
I’m so glad you enjoyed this Martin! Thanks for letting me know – and japan is amazing! Still here for another couple of days! N xx
Josie H says
Mmmmm! Nagi, this recipe is delicious! Very filling & has a great depth of flavour. I doubled the recipe so we have leftovers for a few days!
Also, this was super easy to make!
Nagi says
JOSIE! Now you have ME craving this and I want someone to make it for me!!!?
Jennifer says
If I wanted to prepare a day early. Would you suggest putting enchilada sauce on right before putting in oven?
Nagi says
Yes! Thanks for asking, I’ll add that tip into the recipe 🙂 N x
plasterer bristol says
These sound so good. Gonna have these for tea i think. Thanks for sharing.
Simon
Patricia Rathwell says
Just wanted to thank you! This is the first time I tried to make homemade enchilada sauce. I was out of paprika so I substituted ground chili ancho (being of Mexican descent I usually keep a variety of ground dried chilis aound) and ground red chile. I knew it would work. I also had Mexican oregano on hand too. So good!
Nagi says
Hi Patricia, I’m so happy to hear that! Thank you for taking the time to let me know – N x
Jamieanne says
Delicious, Nagi!!! I had a big Mexican food craving and this totally hit the spot, and it was sooo easy! Thank you for another winning recipe! 🙂 🙂
Nagi says
I’m so touched you tried this Jamieanne! Thank you so much for letting me know! N xx
Rodrigo1988 says
Musze sie wam pochwalić w końcu zrzucilam – 8 kilogramów.
Przewaliłam chyba cały polski internet zeby znaleźć cos na
odchudzanie i znalazlam. Wpiszcie sobie w google: xxally radzi jak szybko schudnać
Jasmine says
Hi Nagi. I made your Pork Carnitas Enchiladas and it was absolutely delicious. I also loved your frying pan approach to make the your Pork Carnitas crispy on the outside. Tried that one and loved it as well. Thank you.
I have a question if I may. I noticed that the Enchilada Sauce that you used for the Beef Enchiladas was slightly different with the one for the Pork Carnitas Enchiladas. The one for the Beef Enchiladas does not have sugar in it and also has lower proportion of tomato passata/water (broth). Was that intentional due to the difference in filling (pork vs beef) ? or Was it the result of you have tinkered with sauce recipe further and you liked your newer version better? I am a fan of your website. Thanks Nagi.
Nagi says
Hi Jasmine! I love that you’re so thorough – flattered! 🙂 I do always tinker with my recipes but I do have slightly different sauces for beef vs carnitas. They texture is completely different, carnitas already has flavour whereas beef is made from scratch and the beef one is definitely “saucier”. I hope that helps!
Krisztina says
Delicious !!!
I can’t wait to try your other recipes. .:)
Beth Napper says
I have made these several times and they are easy and absolutely a hit. I would love to replace the black beans with rice to try a different version.
Nagi says
Ooh YES to that Beth!! Brilliant!
Megan says
We were on our way home from a long day at work and stopped off at IGA to pick up some dinner for our dog child, Thomas “TJ” Jefferson (by the way, your woofle is beautiful, and I bet that coat came in extra handy for that Storm), when I was trying to come up with an idea for the humans in this house. I saw some pre-made enchiladas in the deli section and my partner told me they were easy to make. So off we hopped to the “International” aisle and we were lamenting at how expensive the self make packs were. I read the ingredients on the pack of the sauce jar and decided I could do this, and I went back to the passata sauce display (they were having a sale) and grabbed a jar, grabbed some chicken and skipped the self serve check out and talked to a real person.
When I got home, I looked at what I had and didn’t feel that same confidence I did in the store.
Jumped onto the google and looked up enchiladas sauce recipes.
Still feeling disheartened, I did what I should have done all along, and opened up your website.
Seeing the recipe for creme brulee, and thought this diabetic has had enough sugar with the chocolate bar at work (they were selling it for a charity, you can’t say no, right?), so I searched for your enchilada recipes. I found the white chicken recipe, and though it looked amazing (and will try later), I decided to use the beef recipe and slightly megan-ise your recipe (which is use what ya got…)
Considering this is the first time I have ever made enchiladas, these were amazing. My partner said they were the best ones he has ever had, and went right up to get seconds. Luckily I doubles the recipe so that there is enough for lunch tomorrow.
The humans in the house thank you for all you recipes, they are pretty much our diet at the moment.
Nagi says
WOO HOO!!! I am so glad you enjoyed it! Love that you “Meganised” it, I “Nagi” almost every recipe I use!! 🙂 PS Seriously telling me TJ didn’t get a taste test???
Isaiah Appel says
O My gosh! So I am sitting here like a fat panda now!. These are delicious. I feel like restaurants are hit and miss on the old staple, but this hits home. My wife said these were the best enchiladas she’s ever had and I have to agree with her. This will be going into the personal recipe folder. I did, accidently, get diced tomatoes, but I mashed them up well and the sauce turned out a little lumpy, but tasty regardless.
Nagi says
Hey! Pandas are SO CUTE!!!! I’m so glad you enjoyed this Isaiah, thank you for letting me know! N xx
Rebekah says
What do we serve with enchiladas? Or is it a meal on its own?
Nagi says
Hi Rebekah! I serve it with a simple salad usually 🙂 Just to get some greens into the meal!
Stephanie says
Absolutely delicious! Enjoyed by everyone in my family including my 2.5 and 5 year old boys. For some reason my enchilada sauce wasn’t as dark as yours and I cooked it down even longer than the recipe said to. I wasn’t sure what size tortillas to use but I bought 7″ tortillas and had enough filling to do about roll ups. Corn tortillas were much better than flour tortillas with this dish.
Nagi says
Yay! So glad you enjoyed it Stephanie, thanks for coming back to let me know! N x
Stephanie says
Oops that was supposed to say “eleven roll ups”. Sorry about that.
Nagi says
😉 Got it!!
Ann Burns says
I have never met an enchilada I didn’t like – tried your recipe for Beef Enchiladas on Sunday and loved the addition of the black beans. My mother’s recipe is very similar using refried beans, seasoning and enchilada sauce but she added some grated cheese to the mix as well. Next on the menu, Nagi, is your Satay Chicken Curry. Enjoy your blog so much – very impressed by the way you test everything and envious of your taste testers!
Nagi says
Thanks so much Ann! I am so glad you are enjoying my blog – thank you for trying my recipes! N x
Nagi says
Hi Dawn – I’m sorry you had trouble with this! It’s strange your filling was so runny – refried beans are so thick, almost paste like, it makes the filling very thick like the photos, not runny at all. Did you definitely use refried beans? Also the bake temperature is the 1st step under “Filling” – it says to preheat the oven to 180C/350F. I hope you found it tasty still! N x