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My Ground Beef Enchiladas recipe is a wholesome Mexican-inspired beef dish loaded with freshly seasoned lime rice, ground beef, and savory enchilada sauce! This enchiladas recipe is the perfect main course for your next family gathering, dinner party, or fiesta! Using simple ingredients and coming together in under an hour, I guarantee you will want to make these enchiladas all the time.
Jump to:
- Best Beef Enchiladas
- Beef Enchiladas Ingredients
- Lime Rice Ingredients
- Enchiladas Sauce Ingredients
- How to Make Lime Rice for Enchiladas
- How to Make Enchilada Sauce
- How to Make Enchiladas
- Best Beef Enchilada Recipe Tips
- Make-Ahead Ground Beef Enchiladas
- Can I freeze enchiladas?
- Ground Beef Enchilada Recipe FAQs
- Mexican Beef Recipes
- 📌 Pin it for later!
- 📋 Recipe
Best Beef Enchiladas
My family loves when we sit down to enjoy homemade beef enchiladas - I get asked for them all of the time! I take flour tortillas and stuff them with ground beef, lime rice, and shredded cheese. Then, I roll and bake them in a savory enchilada chili sauce. The results are totally irresistible!
Each component of this dish adds a different element of flavor. From the fresh lime juice in the lime rice to the blend of seasonings in the enchiladas sauce, this is a well-balanced and hearty dish perfect for a weeknight dinner!
Don’t forget, this is a great recipe to make with the family! Kids will love helping you assemble and roll the tortillas. I like to help them ladle the sauce right over the enchiladas before they bake! It’s such a fun way to introduce them to the kitchen.
Thanks for such an easy enchilada recipe. I used regular rice instead of the lime rice and it was still delicious. It was a huge hit with my family.
Leigh
Beef Enchiladas Ingredients
- Ground beef
- Flour tortillas
- Shredded cheddar cheese
- Cilantro (optional)
Lime Rice Ingredients
- Water
- Basmati brown rice uncooked
- Salt
- Lime (juice and zest)
- Cilantro (optional)
Enchiladas Sauce Ingredients
- Olive oil
- Flour
- Chili powder
- Onion powder
- Garlic powder
- Cumin
- Dried oregano
- Vegetable broth
- Tomato paste
How to Make Lime Rice for Enchiladas
- Bring water to a boil in a small pot on the stove.
- Reduce heat and add rice and salt. Cover and simmer for 20 minutes or until the rice is tender and the water has been absorbed.
- Zest half a lime over the rice. Stir lime zest, lime juice, and cilantro into the rice.
How to Make Enchilada Sauce
- In a small pan, heat olive oil over medium-high heat. Add flour and whisk until well blended. Add chili powder, onion powder, garlic powder, salt, cumin, and oregano and whisk until well blended and smooth.
- Pour in the vegetable broth very slowly while whisking. Make sure no big lumps form. Add more vegetable broth if needed to make the desired smooth consistency. Add the tomato paste and whisk until the sauce is completely smooth.
- Bring to a simmer until slightly thickened. Remove from heat and serve.
How to Make Enchiladas
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease a 7 by 11-inch baking dish. Cook ground beef, seasoned to taste with salt and pepper, in a pan until browned, or use our Crockpot Taco Meat recipe to prepare beef ahead of time.
- Add cheese and cilantro and mix through.
- Construct enchiladas by adding a few spoonfuls of lime rice to a tortilla. Top with ground beef and some enchilada sauce. Don't over-stuff the tortillas!
- Brush the baking dish with enchilada sauce.
- Roll the tortilla and place seam-side down in the baking dish. Repeat with remaining 5 tortillas. They will fit snugly in the pan.
- Cover the pan with foil and bake 20 minutes. Remove foil and bake another 10 minutes.
- Garnish with fresh cilantro and serve warm.
I like a little fresh avocado crema or sour cream with a sprinkling of cilantro or Pico de Gallo.
Best Beef Enchilada Recipe Tips
- When rolling the enchiladas, don't over-stuff the tortillas. You want to be sure to completely wrap the tortilla around itself with the seam-side down. This is the best way to get the enchiladas snug in the baking dish.
- Don't drown your enchiladas in the sauce before you bake them. Remember, there is sauce already inside the enchilada, so when baking them you want just enough sauce to cover them. This will keep them from getting soggy.
- Reserve some of your cheddar cheese to sprinkle over the enchiladas during the last 10 minutes they bake in the oven.
Make-Ahead Ground Beef Enchiladas
Enchiladas are a perfect savory beef dish you can make ahead of time. Here are the simple steps you can follow when you want to work ahead:
- Follow the recipe according to the instructions by assembling the enchiladas and placing each rolled enchilada in the baking dish.
- Instead of covering the enchiladas with the enchilada sauce, keep the sauce on the side until you are ready to bake the enchiladas.
- Leave the assembled enchiladas in the refrigerator for up to 1 day.
- When ready to make the enchiladas, simply spoon the sauce over the enchiladas and bake according to the recipe instructions.
Can I freeze enchiladas?
When I freeze enchiladas, I typically freeze them before the sauce covers them. This will help keep the tortillas crispy and not soggy during the reheating process. Here's what I do:
- Simply stuff and roll each enchilada according to the recipe instructions.
- Individually wrap each enchilada in plastic wrap (rather than wrapping them together- it will protect the enchiladas from freezer burn).
- Frozen enchiladas can stay in the freezer for up to 2 months.
- Don't forget to also freeze your enchiladas sauce- this way you can assemble everything once you are ready to reheat.
- When ready to make the enchiladas, let both the enchiladas and the enchilada sauce thaw in the fridge overnight.
- Assemble and bake the enchiladas according to recipe instructions.
Ground Beef Enchilada Recipe FAQs
Traditionally, an enchilada is a Mexican recipe complete with a corn tortilla rolled in a filling and baked with a savory sauce, usually chili-based or cheese-based (such as mole sauce or chile con queso). My beef enchiladas consist of ground beef, shredded cheese, and lime rice, and are rolled in a flour or corn tortilla, then baked in a homemade enchilada sauce.
Enchiladas are best stored in the refrigerator, tightly wrapped or sealed in a container for up to 3 days.
As the recipe is written, my enchiladas recipe is not gluten free. To make this a gluten-free recipe, simply swap the flour tortillas for corn tortillas and when making the enchiladas sauce, use 1 tablespoon of cornstarch instead of 2 tablespoons of flour.
Though both tacos and enchiladas have similar rolling techniques, enchiladas are oven-baked in a savory chili sauce and topped with cheese. Tacos tend to be smaller and usually have an opening at the top of the shell to stuff with toppings. For a Mexican-inspired taco recipe, try my tacos de birria or Carne Asada tacos.
Mexican Beef Recipes
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Ground Beef Enchiladas
Equipment
- 1 small pan
- 1 small pot
- 1 zester
- 1 baking dish
- Aluminum foil
- 1 Wooden spoon
- 1 ladle
- 1 Whisk
Ingredients
Enchiladas
- 1 Ib. ground beef
- 6 flour tortillas
- ½ cup shredded cheddar cheese
- 2 tablespoons cilantro coarsely chopped
Enchilada Sauce
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 2 tablespoons chili powder more if you like it spicier
- ¼ teaspoon onion powder
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ¼ teaspoon ground cumin
- ½ teaspoon dried oregano
- 2 cups vegetable broth
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
Lime Rice
- 2¼ cups water
- 1 cup basmati brown rice uncooked
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ lime zested
- 1 teaspoon lime juice
- ½ cup cilantro chopped
Instructions
Enchilada Sauce
- In a small pan, heat olive oil over medium-high heat. Add flour and whisk until well blended, then add chili powder, onion powder, garlic powder, salt, cumin, and oregano and whisk until well blended and smooth.
- Pour in the vegetable broth very slowly while whisking. Make sure no big lumps form. Add more vegetable broth if needed to make the desired smooth consistency. Then, add the tomato paste and whisk until the sauce is completely smooth.
- Bring to a simmer until slightly thickened. Remove from heat and set aside.
Lime Rice
- Bring water to a boil in a small pot on the stove top. Reduce heat and add the rice and salt.
- Cover and simmer on low for about 20 minutes or until the rice is tender and the water has been absorbed.
- Zest half of a lime into the rice, then add lime juice and cilantro to the rice and stir.
Enchiladas
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease a 7 by 11-inch baking dish. Cook ground beef, seasoned to taste with salt and pepper, in a pan until browned or use our Crockpot Taco Meat recipe to prepare beef ahead of time.
- Add cheese and cilantro and mix through.
- Construct enchiladas by adding a few spoonfuls of lime rice to a tortilla. Top with ground beef and some enchilada sauce. Don't overstuff the tortillas.
- Brush the baking dish with enchilada sauce.
- Roll the tortilla and place seam-side down in the baking dish. Repeat with remaining 5 tortillas. They will fit snugly in the pan.
- Cover the pan with foil and bake 20 minutes. Remove foil and bake another 10 minutes. Garnish with fresh cilantro and serve warm!
Notes
- When rolling the enchiladas, don't overstuff the tortillas. You want to be sure to completely wrap the tortilla around itself with the seam-side down. This is the best way to get the enchiladas snug in the baking dish.
- Don't drown your enchiladas in the sauce before you bake them. Remember, there is sauce already inside the enchilada, so when baking them you want just enough sauce to cover them- this will keep them from getting soggy.
- Reserve some of your cheddar cheese to sprinkle over the enchiladas during the last 10 minutes they bake in the oven.
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