Loaded Beef Enchilada Recipe

What better way to end the day than with a big old batch of enchiladas? There's no doubt that enchiladas are one of the most popular items on the menu at Mexican restaurants, and the age-old question is always which do you prefer — chicken or beef? This particular recipe calls for a delicious beef and onion mixture paired with your traditional enchilada sauce, a flavorful salsa and sour cream mix, and of course, cheese that melts perfectly over the top of the tortillas.

Recipe developer Kate Shungu of Gift of Hospitality came up with this loaded beef enchilada recipe, which is filled to the brim with deliciousness. "Enchiladas are my version of comfort food! These are creamy, cheesy, and satisfying (especially on a chilly day)," Shungu shares. This is a pretty classic recipe, but Shungu does have some tricks up her sleeve, including a quick and easy two-ingredient sauce that adds extra creaminess to each and every bite.

If you make enchiladas quite a bit, this list should be old habit. Just grab ground beef, a small onion, diced green chiles, prepared salsa, sour cream, flour tortillas, enchilada sauce, Mexican blend cheese, and cilantro. "Any canned enchilada sauce is great for this recipe," Shungu notes. 

Place the ground beef and onion in a large skillet over medium heat. Cook, stirring occasionally to break up the meat, for 6–7 minutes, or until the meat is cooked through. Stir in the diced green chiles.

Preheat oven to 350 F. In a medium bowl, stir together the salsa and sour cream.

Pour a few tablespoons of enchilada sauce into the bottom of a 13x9-inch casserole dish. Swirl until the sauce covers the bottom of the pan.

Lay a tortilla on a flat work surface. Spoon 1–2 tablespoons of the sour cream mixture on top, and spread it around the tortillas. Spoon ½ cup of the beef mixture into the center of the tortilla, and roll it tightly. Place in the casserole dish. Repeat with the remaining tortillas.

Pour the remaining enchilada sauce over the top of the tortillas. Sprinkle with the cheese.

Bake for 10 minutes, or until the cheese is melted. Remove from the oven, optionally sprinkle with cilantro, and serve immediately.

Enchiladas are perfect for feeding a large crowd. Not only can you whip up a big batch of them at once, but you can make many of the components of this recipe in advance. You can make the ground beef filling a few days in advance and keep it in the fridge; same thing with the sour cream and salsa mixture. If you wanted, you could even roll them up and arrange them on the baking dish in advance! Just make sure they're tightly covered. Then, pop the baking dish in the fridge or freezer.

It's best to pour the enchilada sauce and cheese over them just before baking, otherwise you could end up with a soggy mess. And once you bake the full dish, the enchiladas are at the peak deliciousness when eaten straight away, but don't worry: Leftovers will keep in the fridge for a few days. So don't let those extra enchiladas go to waste!

One of the (many!) great things about enchiladas are their versatility. You can switch up what's inside the filling; you can play around with different sauces; you can top them however you please. We kept ours fairly straight forward with a red enchilada sauce and ground beef, but that's far from the only way to enjoy them.

Instead of beef, you could make these enchiladas with ground chicken for a slightly lighter (but certainly still filling) meal. If going the poultry route, however, it'd be best to stick with dark meat, as white meat, with its lower fat content, tends to dry out. This is also a good rule of thumb when making chicken burgers, by the way. And when it comes to what you cover the enchiladas in, consider swapping the red enchilada sauce for green. You could even make your own, homemade green enchilada sauce with tomatillos, hatch chiles, onion, garlic, and cilantro!