Description
Easy Ground Beef Enchiladas with homemade chile sauce (or canned shortcut!). Filled with seasoned ground beef, peppers, onions, and melted cheese.
Ingredients
For the chile sauce:
- 2 cups water
- 7 dried guajillo chile pods, stems and seeds removed
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1 white onion, chopped and divided (use half for sauce, half for filling)
- 15 oz can tomato sauce (or two 7.5oz cans as pictured above)
- 2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp dried oregano
For the filling:
- 1 lb ground beef
- 1 T oil
- 1 red bell pepper, diced
- Remaining half of chopped onion
For assembly:
- 12-16 corn tortillas (depending on size of your pan)
- 16 oz shredded white cheese (jack, pepper jack, or cheddar), divided
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F.
- Boil 2 cups of water and add dried chile pods (stems and seeds removed) to rehydrate. Once rehydrated, add the pods, chile-soaked water, garlic cloves, half the onion, and tomato sauce to a blender and blend until smooth, about 2 minutes.
- Heat a large pan to medium-high heat and add oil. Brown the ground beef, breaking it up with a spoon as it cooks, about 5-7 minutes. Drain excess fat if needed.
- Add the diced peppers and remaining diced onion to the beef. Sauté, stirring occasionally, until peppers are tender and onions are translucent, about 5 minutes.
- Add the oregano, salt, and about half of the chile sauce to the beef mixture. Stir to combine and simmer for a few minutes to let the flavors meld then remove from the heat to cool.
- Microwave tortillas wrapped in a damp towel for 1:30 minutes to make them pliable.
- Spread 1 cup of the remaining chile sauce into the bottom of a 9x13 inch baking dish (or 3-quart casserole dish).
- Working with one tortilla at a time, dip it in the chile sauce remaining in the pan to soften it. Place a few tablespoons of the beef filling and a sprinkle of cheese down the center, roll tightly, and place seam-side down in the baking dish. Repeat with remaining tortillas, placing them side by side. (Some may crack—that's okay!)
- Pour remaining sauce over the rolled enchiladas and top with remaining cheese (you'll use about half the total cheese for filling, half for topping).
- Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes at 350°F.
- Remove foil and bake another 10 minutes until cheese is browned and bubbly. If it's not browning enough, turn to broil for 2 minutes, watching carefully.
- Let rest 5 minutes, then slice and serve garnished with sour cream, guacamole, salsa, cilantro.
Notes
Canned sauce shortcut: Substitute 2 (15 oz) cans enchilada sauce plus 1 (7 oz) can diced green chiles for the homemade chile sauce.
Storage: Store leftovers covered in the fridge for up to 4 days. Freeze for up to 3 months.
Make ahead: Assemble completely, cover with foil, and refrigerate up to 24 hours before baking. Add 10 extra minutes to covered baking time.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 2 enchiladas
- Calories: 578
- Sugar: 7.3 g
- Sodium: 1355.6 mg
- Fat: 30.3 g
- Carbohydrates: 38.9 g
- Fiber: 6 g
- Protein: 39.2 g
- Cholesterol: 120 mg
