Easy Beef Enchiladas Recipe

Beef enchiladas are a super easy and delicious meal that everyone in the family loves.  They also make excellent freezer meals for quick weeknight dinners.

We love this simple beef enchilada recipe with just a handful of ingredients and amazing flavor.  Combining ground beef with seasonings and refried beans makes this a delicious and hearty meal.  When you are trying to stay frugal, meals like this are perfect for your budget.

This budget beef enchiladas meal starts basically with browning your ground meat, jalapenos, onions and seasonings. Tortillas can be a bit stiff and often crack when you try to roll them (especially if you are using gluten-free tortillas), but if you put them on a microwave safe plate and heat them for about one minute they will be soft and pliable for filling with this yummy mixture.

Turn on your oven to 375.  Pour 1 cup of enchilada sauce in the bottom of your baking dish. Brown your beef and add the jalapeños, cayenne, and onion. Drain any fat.  You can use a fine mesh strainer like this one so you don’t lose any of your meat! Warm your tortillas in the microwave for about a minute to soften them up.  If you skip this step, they are a little harder to work with.

Combine your ground beef mixture, 3/4 cup of colby cheese, 3/4 cup of cheddar cheese, and your refried beans.  If you prefer, you could use black beans (drained and rinsed) instead.  Place about 1/2 cup of the mixture in the center of each tortilla and roll up.  Place seam side down in your baking dish.

Top with the remaining sauce and cheese.  Bake for about 20 minutes until the sauce is bubbling and cheese is melted.  Garnish with cilantro, green onions, tomatoes. You could also use whatever fixings your family prefers, like black olives, shredded lettuce, sour cream, thinly sliced onions, guacamole, or whatever else strikes your fancy!

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Beef Enchiladas

Prep Time 15 minutes

Cook Time 45 minutes

Total Time 1 hour

Servings 12

Ingredients

• 3 cups Enchilada Sauce
• 1 lb Ground Beef
• 1 Onion diced
• 1 tbsp Olive Oil
• 1 tbsp diced Jalapenos
• 1/2 tsp Cayenne Pepper
• 1/2 cup refried beans
• 1 1/2 cup shredded Colby Jack cheese
• 1 1/2 cup shredded Cheddar Cheese
• 10-12 Tortillas
• 2 tbsp chopped Cilantro
• 2 tbsp chopped Green Onions
• 2 tbsp chopped Tomatoes
• Salt and Pepper to taste

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 375.
2. Pour 1 cup enchilada sauce in bottom of baking dish.
3. Heat oil in a skillet over medium heat and add ground beef, jalapenos, cayenne and onion.
4. Cook until browned and drain.
5. Warm tortillas by heating in microwave for 1 minute.
6. Combine ground beef mixture, 3/4 cup colby, 3/4 cup cheddar and beans.
7. Place about 1/2 cup of mixture in center of each tortilla and roll.
8. Place each, seam side down, in baking dish.
9. Top with remaining sauce and cheeses and bake 20 minutes until sauce is bubbling.
10. Garnish with cilantro, green onions and tomatoes.

These beef enchiladas are great by themselves, or served with a large salad and a side of Mexican rice.  Make double batches of these enchiladas and freezer for future meals (freeze before baking & thaw before cooking)!  They are the perfect weeknight meal for your family, or a great choice for potlucks and dinner with friends!