For An Easy Enchilada Dinner, Grab Your Skillet

Homemade enchiladas can really hit the spot when you're craving Mexican food. There's just one problem: They usually require a good amount of prep. Luckily there's a shortcut — instead of taking the time and energy to carefully fill and roll each one, you can make an enchilada skillet meal instead.

For example, there's Tasting Table's one-pan quinoa enchilada skillet recipe, developed by Miriam Hahn. It has just about everything that you would find in an enchilada — cheese, beans, veggies, and enchilada sauce, all of which is spiced to perfection — but it's served in a bowl instead of within a tortilla. The process is super simple: Everything comes together in one pan, starting with the veggies and finishing off with any garnishes.

As for the presentation, Hahn suggests serving your enchilada skillet like a bowl of chili. Top it with sour cream, fresh avocado, extra cheese, or any other additions that you think will complete the meal. This is also the perfect opportunity to eat chips for dinner — what better way to eat the enchilada skillet than using chips for dipping? Or, you can use the enchilada skillet as a filling to make an enchilada-burrito hybrid.

Now that you know about the enchilada skillet, you can reach for any of your favorite enchilada recipes and transform them into the skillet version. For example, Tasting Table also has a recipe for traditional loaded beef enchiladas. This recipe already starts by cooking ground beef in a skillet with onions. To turn it into a skillet recipe, simply add enchilada sauce and cheese — and any other veggies, beans, or additions that you want — to the pan to complete the meal.

Essentially, you can customize the enchilada skillet exactly to your liking. Swap out the ground beef for ground turkey or chicken or even a plant-based meat, or add diced jalapeños to the mix if you want some extra spice. Or, maybe you're inspired by our cheesy salsa verde chicken enchiladas and decide to swap out the red enchilada sauce for a salsa verde instead. The options are endless!