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!
Never had a bad meal from this website until now. I wanted beef enchiladas and ended up with bean enchiladas. Way too much refried beans in this recipe. Sorry Nagi, this was a dud for me.
My wife is not BIG on beans so I use 1/2 can black beans with 1/2 can refried beans. I fry up some (1/2 cup in total) of yellow, red and green peppers with the onion and garlic. Gives the dish some colour and less dense from beans.
Don’t ever use this recipe it is not enchiladas it’s something completely different and nasty
Super easy to put together, and my family loved it. Thank you for another delicious recipe!
Why is it that no matter how many serves you are cooking you have 1 can next to refried beans and black beans
Absolutely delicious! I made extra of the filling and sauce and froze them for future meals.
Hello. I made this for the first time tonight. It was really good!
Thank you for sharing such an easy and delicious recipe.
As with every other recipe I’ve made of Nagi’s, these were great! I made them with corn tortillas and they were delicious.
These are definitely going on my list of dinners I rotate frequently. Some of the best enchiladas I’ve had, and great macros too!
This is the best recipe for beef enchiladas ever! I made it tonight and we loved it!! That homemade sauce is amazing. This is the first recipe I have made of yours it definitely won’t be the last. Only thing I changed was I added jalapeños to the filling because we like some bite.
Just the bomb! They’re easy to make, taste great and feed a crowd. Another gem from Nagi!
I’ve made these many times- a family favorite. Wanting to take to a friend who just had a baby. Do these freeze well? If so, can you freeze the entire thing with sauce and cheese? How long will it take to reheat after frozen? Thanks!
Cooked it for the first time. Tastes so good. The refried beans really do bulk out the burritos. My family loved it.
I made this once and it was delicious!! Better than my chicken enchiladas recipe. Making it again tomorrow for a casual dinner party. Can’t wait!!
Can anyone please suggest a vegetarian version of this with possibly substituting mushrooms and onions for the beef? Many thanks,
Suggestions on freezing? Before baking? After baking?
Just made this again for the second time and while still good it seemed undercooked. I reviewed the cookbook version I used the first time (which was excellent) and the cookbook recommends the second bake be 15 minutes instead of 10, and adding in 1/2 tsp salt and pepper into the beef mixture. Those are the only changes I noticed and should help with the flavor!
Btw, we did not add the refried beans but did add all the other ingredients and it was superb!!!
We tried ourthis last night from your cookbook and it was soooooo delicious! We want to thank you for this fabulous meal. As there are only 2 of us, we have plenty frozen for awhile. I sent your cookbook to my 2 daughters and am now sending one to my daughter in law. Can’t believe I forgot to send to her. So glad you put together a cookbook. It is my go to place when deciding what to eat for dinner.
These are fantastic! I only did refried beans, and I already had enchilada sauce so I didn’t make that part. But the spices and filling are delicious. Topped with cilantro and Greek yogurt (sour cream sub.) Would definitely make again!
Absolutely incredible Nagi once again. I have made these in Australia and Canada without any major changes.
LOVE Them!
Made these yet again. With your corn ribs – what can I say? Just YUUUMMMMM