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!
Hungry for more? Subscribe to my newsletter and follow along on Facebook, Pinterest and Instagram for all of the latest updates.
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!
Have made these many times so tasty and always have the spices at home. Will finish my cuppa and off to make them for dinner.
It would be good to add the salt and pepper in the spice mix, instead of only in the enchilada sauce. The beef filling mix needs some salt. Adding the S&P to the spice mix ensures all the components are well seasoned.
Thank you so much Nagi for another brilliant recipe. Even my fussy teen who doesn’t like beans devoured the enchiladas and asks for them on a regular basis! I love watching the Dozer updayes and seeing how he continues to improve.
These were delicious–even more so the next day. Had a lot of leftover filling, so mixed in some salsa, corn, chopped tomatoes and avocado and scooped it all up with oven-baked tortilla chips. Fantastico!
Boy was I popular when I served this. It was straightforward and delicious. Highly recommended
I made this tonight and made your pick de gallo salsa. Really really good. Thanks again for another brilliant recipe.
Holy moly! These are the best beef enchiladas I’ve ever had! I’ll definitely be making these again and again!
These looked so delicious, I’ve made enchiladas before but never with refried beans so thought I’d give it a try but sadly not a fan. Way too mushy, and to be honest reminded me of the kind of ‘filler’ you do tend to find in run of the mill Mexican restaurants. Might just stick to my usual (Nagi recipe of course) Mexican mince, bumped up with a tin of black beans and fresh corn kernels. I do LOVE the homemade spice mix though, since discovering it I’ve never looked back and can’t believe anyone would use the packet stuff when this is so easy. Always keep some premixed on hand for quick steak fajitas.
So amazing, loved these. I added some extra veggies – peppers and corn but the recipe as written would have been amazing as well. This one has been saved in my recipe tin 😉
I wonder if adding baking powder would make them lighter/fluffier?
Absolute yum 😋 Easy recipe to follow and cook, delicious and loved by the whole family. Thanks Nagi, will definitely make this again.
Not the best unfortunately….I should have left out the refried beans. Loved all the other recipes I have tried. This was disappointing
Made these tonight. So delish!! As someone who doesn’t like beans, I left out all beans and added a can of corn, red peppers and grated zucchini.
Delicious and easy to make. Has become a regular on the meal plan.
Hi, thank you for this tasty recipe but they stick to the baking dish every time even after a generous smear on it. Can you share any tips with me please? Thank you. ☺️
I had the same problem so next time I used a little spray oil first on the bottom of my tray.
You could try putting baking/parchment paper on the bottom of your dish 🙂
I made this for the first time last night. Thank you so much for a perfect Friday night meal. My family all loved it. I included the optional Cayenne pepper, I think it helped consolidate the extra yummyness.
These are delicious but I remember a similar recipe but with chopped up veggies (zucchini & others?) added to the mixture. Can you point me to that one please?
I’m sorry – it’s your chicken enchiladas I’m remembering. Thanks! lol
These are amazing!!! Thank you so much for another winner!!
I served it with rice, yogurt, cilantro, salsa, avocado but I don’t know if I even needed all that
Yummy! My family loved this recipe for dinner tonight.
Made these tonight. Huge hit with the family. This will be added to our regular monthly meal list.
I would normal ‘freestyle’ enchiladas, but for some reason I looked up a recipe tonight and so glad I did – these were next level! Easy process, and as always a few little ‘Nagi hints’ to make these perfection! 🙏