Tex - Mex Beef Enchiladas - ground beef filling with a chipotle sauce

 I have a serious love affair with Tex - Mex food and I especially love enchiladas. I rarely order them in restaurants, but love making them at home instead. I found these wonderful ground beef enchiladas at Everyday Food and couldn't wait to try them. My husband and I loved the smoky,spicy flavor the chipotle chili gave the sauce. It is spicy hot, but not a fire alarm hot, so it does cool down. And considering that we both don't do well with real spicy food, we had no trouble with these enchiladas. Loved them, will make again next week, in fact. Hope you'll give them a try!

Tex - Mex Beef Enchiladas

adapted from Everyday Food

Sauce:

2 tablespoons olive oil

1/4 cup flour

1 can (15 ounces) of low sodium chicken broth

1 cup of water

1/2 of a medium onion, minced, my addition

1 1/2 tablespoons chili powder

1 teaspoon dried cumin - my addition

1 small, canned, chipotle chili pepper in adobo sauce, minced- my chili was about 3-4 inches long

1 tablespoon adobo sauce

Beef Filling:

1 pound lean ground beef

1/2 of medium onion

2 cloves minced garlic, my addition

1 teaspoon chili powder, my addition

1 teaspoon cumin

salt and pepper to taste

8 ounces freshly grated cheese, I used a Cheddar Jack cheese

1/2 cup cilantro

about 10 corn tortillas

1. In a saucepan over medium heat, cook the onion in the 2 tablespoons of oil until softened. Stir in the flour and the chili powder, and whisk for about 1 minute while the flour cooks. Slowly pour in the broth and water, whisking as you pour. Add adobo sauce and minced chipotle pepper, the broth and water. Mix well; bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer about 10 minutes. Remove from heat until needed.

2. In a skillet, brown the ground beef and minced onion together. When meat is no longer pink, stir in the garlic and stir about 1 minute. Drain off any fat. Season the meat with the chili powder, cumin and salt and pepper.

3. To assemble the enchiladas:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Pour about 1/4 cup of enchilada sauce in the bottom of a 9x13 inch baking dish. Warm the tortillas. I stacked the tortillas on foil, wrapped them up and placed in oven for about 10 minutes. They were ready to use then. Stir about 1/3 cup of sauce into the beef mixture. Place a rounded 1/4 cup of meat on each tortilla. Add about 1 tablespoon of shredded cheese, and roll up. Lay seam side down in the baking pan. Spread the remaing sauce over the enchiladas. Cover with the cheese. Turn oven up to 400 degrees F. and place enchiladas into the oven. Bake for about 20 minutes until cheese is melted and enchiladas are bubbly. Remove from oven and garnish with cilantro. I also added some diced green onion. So good -  enjoy!

Also check out my Chicken Enchiladas with Sour Cream Sauce
and my Shredded Beef Enchiladas.

Chicken Enchiladas with Sour Cream Sauce

One of my family's favorite meals is enchiladas. I've already shared my Shredded Beef Enchiladas with you. It happens to be one of the most popular posts in Lynda's Recipe Box! Today, I'll share my favorite recipe for Chicken Enchiladas with Sour Cream Sauce. I've been experimenting with these for several years now and I'm finally happy with the results. The chicken filling has just the right amount of spiciness to go with the creamy sauce and melted cheese. The addition of Salsa Verde to the white sauce really is a flavor booster! This recipe is easy to adjust to your own tastes and ingredients that you have on hand. I prefer using corn tortillas, but you may substitute the flour tortillas, if you wish. The corn tortillas need to be softened before filling. There are a couple of ways to do this. Some cooks have good luck warming the corn tortillas in the microwave, however, it doesn't work for me. They still fall apart too much, so I always resort to softening them in a skillet with just enough oil to cover the bottom of the pan. Lay the tortilla in the hot pan and let it come to a sizzle and flip it over with tongs. Let the tortilla start to bubble and remove from the skillet and lay on paper towels to drain and cool. You'll need 10-12 corn tortillas for a 9x13 inch pan.

You may use leftover chicken or turkey for these luscious enchiladas. Or, you may use skinless, boneless chicken breasts. Either simmer them in water for about 15-20 minutes or bake in the oven. When done, shred or chop the meat. For a super easy idea, buy a rotisserie chicken from your local deli and take the meat off the bones. I like to cook a whole chicken in the crock pot for the meat because I love the flavor of the white and dark meat together, but any of these suggestions will work. I used the boneless chicken breasts this time, about 1 1/2 pounds, cooked, shredded and then coarsely chopped. To assemble, pour some white sauce in the bottom of baking dish. Fill each tortilla with chicken mixture and wrap up and place in baking pan. Pour more white sauce over enchiladas and top with cheese. Bake and devour! Let's make them!

CHICKEN ENCHILADAS with SOUR CREAM SAUCE

from Lynda's Recipe Box

For chicken filling;

About 3 cups of cooked, shredded chicken

1/2 cup of sour cream sauce, (recipe below), or just enough to moisten chicken

1 4 ounce can of chopped, green chilies

1/2 cup diced onion, lightly sauteed in small amount of oil (optional)

1 cup of shredded Monterrey Jack Cheese, or cheddar

salt and pepper to taste

Mix all ingredients in a large bowl.

Sour Cream Sauce:

2 tablespoons butter

2 tablespoons flour

1 large clove garlic, minced

2 cups chicken broth or stock, or 1 can purchased broth

1 -7 ounce can of Salsa Verde, or equivalent from a jar of Salsa Verde (green salsa)

1/2-1 cup of sour cream

salt and pepper to taste

Melt the butter in a large saucepan. Add the garlic and saute just til fragrant. Add the flour and stir to make a roux. Pour in the chicken broth and Salsa Verde and whisk until it comes to a simmer. Cook until sauce is thickened. It will be sauce like, not too thick. Remove the pan from heat and stir in the sour cream. Taste to see if you want to add more sour cream. Cool.

Other ingredients;

12 corn tortillas

2 cups of shredded Monterrey Jack or cheddar cheese

To assemble enchiladas:

Pour about 1 cup of sour cream sauce in a 9x13 inch baking pan. Soften tortillas in oil or in the microwave. Lay out tortilla and add about 1/3 cup of chicken filling to each tortilla. Wrap it up and lay it in the pan. Repeat with remaining filling and tortillas. It will take 10-12 tortillas.

Pour remaining sour cream sauce over the rolled enchiladas. You may not wish to use it all, go by your own preference here. Sprinkle more cheese over tops of enchiladas. Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for about 25- 30 minutes, or until bubbly. Cool a few minutes before serving. Garnish with chopped green onions and cilantro, if desired. Enjoy!

NOTE: This dish may be prepared early in day and refrigerated; then bake at dinner time a few minutes longer.

If you prefer some onion and peppers in the sauce, just add some diced jalapenos and onion to the butter and cook until softened, then stir in the flour and broth and finish. We love the Salsa Verde in the white sauce as it gives just enough spicy flavor to this delicious dish. The 1/2 cup of sour cream seems just right, flavorful, but not over powering.
I love serving these Chicken Enchiladas with my Tex-Mex Rice and a simple salad, plus some Guacamole Dip and chips. This is a great meal any time of year!

Shredded Beef Enchiladas

As you can see, I was on a Mexican food kick this week, and I thoroughly enjoyed every tasty minute of it! Sometimes, you just gotta give in to your cravings! In fact, I think I feel a pasta craving moving in, so I'll probably be posting pasta in a few days! But, I must share these Shredded Beef Enchiladas with you first as they are so delicious and addictive! The most time consuming part of this recipe is cooking the roast. But, I did mine in the crock pot, so I did not have to really watch it closely, so that was a big help! However, I did brown the roast, with spices, on top of the stove, and then placed the roast in the crock pot and cooked on low for about 6-8 hours. I actually did this 1 day ahead of making the enchiladas, but you of course can do this all in 1 day. So, I sprinkled the roast with spices, browned it in a large pan in some oil, and then transferred said roast to a slow-cooker. I then finely chopped 1 onion and 2-3 large cloves of garlic and threw them in with the roast, along with some broth. Cook until very tender and roast pulls apart easily. Then, you want to shred meat and add some canned green chilies to the meat.

I broke the meat apart in chunks and then shredded it. I also added black beans and cheese to the meat mixture, but I forgot to take a picture of it, so visualize that part in your mind, OK? Next, I took some corn tortillas and fried them in a little oil and drained them on paper towels. Then, I took the meat filling and spread on the tortillas and rolled them and placed in a baking dish that had enchilada sauce in it.

See, I've got a slit in one. My tongs tore a couple of the tortillas, but that won't hurt if the tear is small. So, roll up all the enchiladas nicely in a row, and then spoon some more sauce over each one. And of course, we need more cheese on these babies! I used a cheddar and jack cheese on the top because that's what I had. Use the cheese of your choice here.

Bake in oven for about 25 minutes and you are ready for an appetite pleasing feast that your family will love! By using the crock pot, I did not have to check the oven every so often to make sure there was enough liquid in the pan. But, you can do it either way, because they work equally well. So let's make this palate pleasing dish now, and your taste buds will thank you!

SHREDDED BEEF ENCHILADAS

For the beef, you'll need 1 chuck or round roast( I used a 2 1/2 pound roast)

chili powder

salt and pepper

cumin

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 onion, diced

1-2 cups of beef broth or water

1-2 canned of chopped chili peppers

1 cup shredded Monterrey Jack cheese, for filling

corn tortillas, I used about 24 ( have extra in case some tear too badly to use)

enchilada sauce, canned or homemade ( I wimped out and used about a 28 ounce size can, sorry!)

1 can black beans, drained and rinsed, if desired

2-3 more cups of shredded cheese for the topping ( I used Cheddar and Monterrey Jack)

Liberally sprinkle roast with salt, pepper, chili powder,and a little cumin. In a large dutch oven over medium heat, brown roast quickly in 2 tablespoon of oil. Don't let meat burn! Place the roast in a crock pot with the diced onion and the garlic. Add about 1 cup of beef broth or even water, and cover pot and cook on low until very tender and meat shreds easily, about 6 hours, or up to 8 hours, depending on size of roast. I used a 3 pound roast. When roast is done, remove meat to a bowl or plate and cool for a few minutes. Skim the onions and garlic out of the pot and add to the roast. Taking 2 forks, shred the roast into bite size pieces and if the meat is dry add some of the cooking liquid to the meat. You want the meat to be moist but not sloppy. Add the drained ,canned chili peppers and the cheese to the meat mixture and stir. Taste to see if you need to add more seasonings.

For tortillas: In a small skillet over medium heat, add oil to about 1/4 inch depth. When oil is hot, add 1 tortilla at a time to skillet. When tortilla starts to puff, turn over with tongs, and then remove tortilla to paper towel lined pan to drain. Continue with rest of tortillas.

To assemble these enchiladas, you'll need 2 9x13 inch baking pans. Place 3/4 cup of enchilada sauce in each pan to cover the bottom. Taking a tortilla, place a couple of spoonfuls of meat mixture along the tortilla and roll up. Place enchilada into pan and repeat. I fill the tortillas fairly full, but you must be able to wrap them some to contain the filling. After enchiladas are all rolled, spoon more enchilada sauce over the tops and add the rest of the cheese. Place pans in a preheated 350 degree oven and bake for about 25 minutes, until bubbly. Remove and let cool 5 minutes or so before serving. Enjoy! Serve with Tex Mex Rice and a salad, and maybe some Guacamole and chips!

If this recipe is too large for what you need, you can adjust this by using 2 cups shredded beef and 1/2 can of beans and that would be enough for 1 pan of enchiladas. However, I like having the extra for leftovers the next day, or they can be frozen. This may seem time consuming, but these enchiladas are worth the effort when your having that Mexican food craving that just won't go away! What are you craving?