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Easy Beef Enchiladas
I learned all about avocados yesterday. I learned that there are thousands of varieties- Hass being the main one. I learned that an avocado is the only fruit that will not ripen on the tree (it will ripen on your kitchen counter instead). I learned that- to determine ripeness- you should gently squeeze an avocado in the palm of your hand (don’t squeeze with your fingers). Ripe fruit will be firm, yet yield to gentle pressure. And I learned that the Cinco de Mayo holiday is a very, very busy time for avocado sales.
Cinco de Mayo is a big holiday here in Southern California. Truthfully, most people don’t know the origin of what this Mexican holiday really represents, but rather they use it as an opportunity to consume Margaritas, overdose on guacamole and eat things like tacos, burritos and enchiladas. Here’s a quick and easy dinner recipe for you… so that you can celebrate Cinco de Mayo this week along with me: Easy Beef Enchiladas. Here’s the how-to:
Heat oil in a large skillet, and add a pound of ground beef.
Break the meat apart and let it brown.
Tilt the pan to let the oil pool along the edge of the pan. Use a spoon to scoop out the oil and get rid of it. You don’t need any of that extra fat in there. Remove the meat to a bowl.
Add chopped onion and finely chopped zucchini to the hot skillet, and cook until the vegetables are slightly softened. Trust me on the zucchini. No one in your family will even notice it, and it’s really good in this recipe! If you hate it, I suppose you could leave it out… but I hope you’ll choose to trust me 
Add the vegetables to the bowl with the beef and stir them together.
Add 1/2 cup enchilada sauce to a 13×9-inch pan. I make homemade enchilada sauce… SO good… and SO much better than the metallic-can tasting stuff. It’s simple to make.
Tilt the pan to swirl the sauce around and make sure it coats the entire bottom of the pan.
Assembly time! You’ll need corn tortillas, the meat/veggie mixture, cheddar-jack cheese and enchilada sauce.
Spoon beef mixture down the middle of a tortilla.
Sprinkle cheese on top.
And drizzle about a Tablespoon of the enchilada sauce.
Roll up the stuffed tortilla tightly and place seam-side-down in the sauce-coated pan. Continue with all of the tortillas until you have created 12 enchiladas.
Drizzle the remaining sauce on top of the rolled-up enchiladas.
Spread the sauce around so you get a nice coating all along the top. At this point, you’re going to cover the dish with foil and bake for 30 minutes.
Take the enchiladas out of the oven, remove the foil cover and sprinkle cheese on top. Put it back in the oven to melt all that cheese.
Just like that.
Serve these enchiladas with whatever you’d like. I served them on a simple bed of shredded iceberg lettuce with some freshly sliced avocado. My husband added a generous spoonful of sour cream. And my kiddo– one who would never, ever willingly eat zucchini if it were placed in front of him– ate this meal as-is and with great enthusiasm. Apparently he didn’t spy the zucchini in the midst of all of that wonderful sauce and cheese.
Have a great, Cinco de Mayo, avocado-consuming week!
Easy Beef Enchiladas
Yield: 6 servings (2 enchiladas per serving)
Prep Time: 30 min
Cook Time: 35 min
This simple recipe for beef enchiladas is a delicious, family-friendly meal. This recipe is gluten-free adaptable... see tips below.
Ingredients:
1 pound lean ground beef
1 1/2 cups diced onion
1 1/2 cups (about 2 medium) finely diced zucchini
12 corn tortillas, heated or fried in oil to soften
2 1/2 cups enchilada sauce, canned or homemade
3 cups cheddar- jack shredded cheese
Serve as desired with: shredded lettuce, avocado, cilantro, sour creamDirections:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a 9x13-inch pan with nonstick spray.
2. Heat oil in a large skillet. Add ground beef; break apart with a spoon or spatula to crumble the meat. Saute the meat on medium heat until browned (about 5 minutes). Tilt the pan and spoon the fat out of the pan; discard. Remove cooked meat to a bowl.
3. Return pan to medium heat and add onion and zucchini. Saute until just softened, 3 to 4 minutes. Remove the vegetables from the pan and add to the meat mixture; set aside.
4. Add 1/2 cup of sauce to the prepared pan. Spread it around so it coats the entire bottom of the pan.
5. Assemble the enchiladas: Place tortilla on a work surface. Spoon 1/4 to 1/3 cup of the meat mixture down the middle. Sprinkle 2 Tablespoons of cheese on top of the meat. Drizzle 1 Tablespoon of sauce on top. Wrap the tortilla around the filling tightly and place it seam-side-down in the pan. Repeat with remaining tortillas and filling until you have finished filling 12 tortillas. Place the tortillas side-by-side in the pan- it's okay if they are all snuggled in there tightly.
6. Pour remaining enchilada sauce over the top of the stuffed enchiladas. Cover the dish with foil and bake for 30 minutes.
7. Remove pan from the oven and take off the foil. Sprinkle remaining cheese on top; return to the oven and let the cheese melt (about 5 minutes).
8. Serve immediately with desired condiments.
Tips:
*If you are preparing this recipe as GLUTEN-FREE, just make sure that you are using brands of enchilada sauce and corn tortillas that are designated as GF
*Be sure to check out my recipe for homemade enchilada sauce.
Source: RecipeGirl.com
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I'm Lori Lange, recipe developer, food writer and Mom. I'm sharing over 2,500 of my favorite recipes and theme menus with you. 
Jenny Flake — May 2, 2011 @ 7:19 AM
I LOVE enchiladas, these look simple and delicious! Have a great Monday Lori!! xoxo
Shefaly — May 2, 2011 @ 7:39 AM
Wow! Not only am I salivating over enchiladas now, at 9:30 in the morning, but I’m impressed how you managed to take all those photos and write a recipe within 24 HOURS of Camp Blogaway!!! Glad I found your site!
Lori Lange replied: — May 2nd, 2011 @ 8:07 AM
lol, remember I told you guys that I stay up late on Sunday nights?? I was so tired… Wish we made time to chat- next time!
Mel — May 2, 2011 @ 8:17 AM
First, looks delish! Second, I put zucchini in practically everything, can’t believe I have never thought of putting them in enchiladas! I love making enchiladas but the various sauces I have tried have either been too complicated or just didn’t appeal to my family’s taste buds. Yours is both – simple and looks yummy. I am definitely making this, possibly tonight, since I already have everything on hand. Thanks for the great recipe!
Lori Lange replied: — May 2nd, 2011 @ 8:27 AM
Excellent! Hope you enjoy them as much as we did. And the enchilada sauce is so darn easy to make- I think you’ll like it.
Barbara — May 2, 2011 @ 9:27 AM
Love the addition of veggies to the meat! Like you, I think Cinco de Mayo is just an excuse to part … like St. Patrick’s Day. We don’t celebrate (not being of Mexican heritage) but I will try your enchiladas soon, with a margarita!
Maria — May 2, 2011 @ 9:38 AM
Mexican food is my staple food right now. These look great!
Katrina — May 2, 2011 @ 12:38 PM
This looks like such a great dinner! Love this.
Tracy — May 2, 2011 @ 3:36 PM
I am all about easy! This looks delicious…I am all over Mexican food right now!
Jackie — May 2, 2011 @ 5:15 PM
I’m not usually a fan of Mexican food but the photos looked so good I had to try it. It was delicious. Better than anything I’ve eaten in a Mexican restaurant. I finely grated a small zucchini so that my picky eater wouldn’t notice it. It made the meat very moist and the picky eater ate two big helpings! I was worried when I was assembling it as some of the tortillas cracked but after cooking they became so soft that you couldn’t notice. I added some taco seasoning and beef broth to the meat to spice it up a bit. I even made the enchilada sauce from scratch like you recommended. So tasty and so easy! I add a couple of drops of hot sauce.
averagebetty — May 2, 2011 @ 5:43 PM
I am so ready for Cinco de Mayo now! I love your recipe for Enchilada Sauce too. It was wonderful meeting you in person at Camp, having admired your work for so long.
Lori Lange replied: — May 2nd, 2011 @ 11:34 PM
Ah, thanks- I feel the same. Love your energy and I hope we get to hang out again soon!
Sandy Blaxland — May 3, 2011 @ 5:01 AM
Thanks for the recipe, especially for the sauce. I love Mexican food but it’s hard to get any variety way up here in rural NS Canada. I’ll make these this week!
Mikaela Cowles — May 3, 2011 @ 9:53 AM
Don’t you kind of want to eat them before you even bake them? It’s good you had the patience because enchiladas are so yummy. It’s going to be a good Cinco de Mayo indeed.
Memoria — May 3, 2011 @ 3:14 PM
Um, your enchiladas looks amazing. Great photos, and I love the backsplash!
Erin — May 3, 2011 @ 3:55 PM
We love all things Mexican and Avocado in our house, but especially enchiladas. I am going to have to try your sauce recipe for sure, I have yet to find one I really like. And I am so putting zucchini in there next time! Thanks
A Bowl Of Mush — May 3, 2011 @ 4:31 PM
Looks like really perfect enchiladas! Yum!
Lindsey@Lindselicious — May 3, 2011 @ 7:22 PM
All the cheese on your enchiladas is making me happy! I definately want to try your homemade enchilada sauce, I normally go towards the green chile type, but the BF loves the red. (Go figure) I will try next time for him!
Niki — May 4, 2011 @ 6:25 AM
I always have trouble rolling my enchiladas/burritos/etc up and getting them to stay. Then I get discouraged and don’t want to make them again. But this looks so yummy I think I’ll give it a try.
Cookin' Canuck — May 4, 2011 @ 9:12 AM
The added veggies are a really nice spin on regular enchiladas. My husband would love this meal.
Will — May 4, 2011 @ 2:23 PM
Never thought about there being profession recipe developers! Actually I never really thought much about recipes until today when I wrote a post stating that there are only two kinds of cooks. Now reading a bit on and about this site, I wonder. You are a recipe guru but probably fall into the category of cook I am in. Kind of hard to reconcile cooking and recipes sometimes!
Lori Lange replied: — May 4th, 2011 @ 2:33 PM
Interesting observation. A prof recipe developer is one who is paid to develop recipes. Brands pay me & I develop for them. Often times I just develop them for the heck of it and put them on my site to share with the world. See my “about” page if you’re interested in seeing who I’ve worked with
Heather — May 4, 2011 @ 6:55 PM
These look great and love the addition of the veggies! Perfect for the little ones and perfect for Cinco de Mayo!
Happy Cinco De Mayo Lori!
Jessica — May 5, 2011 @ 1:10 AM
Lori! Wow! It is hard to make enchiladas look good in a photograph, but yours look amazing!
Can’t wait to see you at BlogHer in a couple weeks. Really looking forward to your session!
Barbara — May 5, 2011 @ 9:37 AM
Isn’t this a new blog design? I love it.
I also love this recipe and Hass avocadoes!
Kate Elliott — May 5, 2011 @ 3:56 PM
These look great, and very easy – even for me, who never seems to get Mexican cooking just right! Can’t wait to try them out!
Elisa Sandgren — May 5, 2011 @ 5:26 PM
This looks easy and great! I’ll have to try it out!
Kristina Vanni — May 7, 2011 @ 7:30 AM
Great seeing you again at Camp Blogaway! I noticed you have a few outstanding Mexican Recipes here on your site. If you get a chance, check out the Better Recipes weekly contest…the theme this week (ends today!) is Mexican Meals! You have a great blog and I look forward to browsing all the fab recipes
Tracey — May 9, 2011 @ 8:57 AM
Hi Lori
It looks like you may use the corn/wheat blend (hand made and sold at a local grocery store in S.D. Didn’t know if I could use the name) They are soft and flexible and tasty! Is this the type you use???
Thank you! Have a blessed week!
Emi — May 10, 2011 @ 6:24 AM
This was easy and yummy! I am 14, and this was easy, and even my picky little sister said it was ok- whick is pretty impressive for her!
Robyn — May 11, 2011 @ 10:17 AM
Made these last night, they were to die for! I love trying out new enchilada recipes, and these did not disappoint. We only had a few left, which I can’t wait to have for leftovers today!
Wani — May 17, 2011 @ 10:27 AM
YUM!! Enchiladas are one of my faves! I like changing things up from time to time. I’ll have to give this recipe a try! Thanks!
Emily — May 22, 2011 @ 5:32 PM
These. Are. Phenomenal.
We make them for dinner tonight, including the homemade enchilada sauce. SO GOOD! Can’t wait to check out more of your site!
Jill — May 23, 2011 @ 6:27 PM
These were soooo good! The zucchini was unexpected! Sauce was wonderful, as well. Thanks! This is a definate repeater!
Paula (Salad in a Jar) — May 27, 2011 @ 11:07 AM
We just had enchiladas last night without veggies because I couldn’t really think of any that would be good with them. Next time, I’ll copy you and hide them inside. Genius!
Kate Elliott — June 5, 2011 @ 4:36 AM
Tried these with my mom (who doesn’t like sauce on ANYTHING) and my very picky two little girls – everyone LOVED them and went back for more! Totally delish, and I love the homemade sauce too! Would you mind if I posted these on my site, http://www.katescuisine.com, with a link and credit to your blog, of course? My readers would love it, I think! Thanks for sharing!
Lori Lange replied: — June 5th, 2011 @ 6:04 AM
a link to the original recipe would be just fine. Please do not re-post the recipe onto your site though. Appreciate it
Kate Elliott — June 6, 2011 @ 5:55 AM
Posted the link along with a link to your enchilada sauce, I hope that’s okay too. They were both so good!!!!
Lynda Rosen — July 22, 2011 @ 8:33 AM
Can this be made ahead and frozen? It looks delicous!
Lori Lange replied: — July 23rd, 2011 @ 6:40 AM
Haven’t done it, but I would imagine that you could prepare them up until the point of baking, and then wrap them well to stick in the freezer. Defrost before baking.
Jeanne — August 4, 2011 @ 4:58 AM
One of your readers said their tortillas cracked – one trick my mom taught me in how to make luscious enchiladas is to swipe the tortillas through a puddle of enchilada sauce (on both sides) which moistens the tortilla, adds flavor, and makes it so there’s no cracks! Another trick is to just warm the tortillas in the microwave for about 30 seconds.
Lori Lange replied: — August 4th, 2011 @ 7:19 AM
Great tips!
Jody — September 4, 2011 @ 3:31 PM
These are awesome–best meal I’ve had in a while! My husband loved them too. I used your homemade sauce recipe and followed your enchilada recipe exactly except I added some spices to the meat while it was cooking. They tasted great leftover too. I actually looked forward to coming home to pop some in the microwave 4 days in a row. Highly recommended.
Richella — September 7, 2011 @ 3:55 PM
Just made these tonight and they were fantastic!
Leah — October 5, 2011 @ 7:29 AM
Fantastic recipe! I just made these last night and the sauce was amazing! My husband loved them, and I can’t say that about every recipe that I’ve tried. The only thing I did different was add half a package of taco seasoning to the beef. Thanks for sharing your recipes!
Rebecca — October 16, 2011 @ 7:49 AM
I’m from Texas and currently living in Chile. I’ve been craving TexMex like crazy lately so I decided to make these for an international-food-themed dinner with Chilean friends. Most had never even heard of enchiladas, but everybody LOVED this dish. I made the sauce from scratch as suggested, spiced up the beef a bit with taco seasoning, and added a little special something (aka cream cheese!). I spread just a little bit of cream cheese on each tortilla before adding the mixture. It was exquisite! Thank you for sharing!
Lori Lange replied: — October 16th, 2011 @ 10:38 AM
Sounds like a delicious addition- thanks for the tip!
CC — November 22, 2011 @ 8:03 PM
Best. Dinner. Ever… My husband said. Nice job. The homemade sauce is the key. And I used ground turkey instead of beef since I don’t eat red meat. Simply amazing and not super heavy. YUM!
ROXANNE — November 29, 2011 @ 5:46 PM
WOW… YOU’RE RECIPES ARE GREAT AND i LOVE THAT THERE ARE PICTURES INCLUDED IT REALLY HELPS A LOT IT’S LIKE TAKING A CLASS! YOU’RE AWESOME!
Lori Lange replied: — November 29th, 2011 @ 10:41 PM
Patty — December 6, 2011 @ 1:00 PM
Wow! I made these for dinner last night, absolutely fabulous! Instead of two zucchini I only did one but added a yellow bell pepper. My husband didn’t think the zucchini would be good but he loved them! The homemade sauce was so easy and tasted great! I told my sister about this because she has to have gluten free but loves Mexican and zucchini! She had never thought of adding zucchini to enchiladas either! Thank you for a fabulous dinner recipe! I will definitely have to make this again!
Bonnie — December 30, 2011 @ 8:05 AM
I just have to say how much I love the layout and how easy it is to print the recipes. Some websites are such a pain and I have to copy and paste into Word. Thank you so much for saving time for me!
Lori Lange replied: — December 30th, 2011 @ 9:17 AM
Thank you- I’m still frantically trying to edit some of the older recipes into the new print format (so you may come across a few that are not nice to print yet), but it will all be done asap!
Bonnie — December 30, 2011 @ 8:08 AM
*It does print pretty small, but I’ll take it!
Lori Lange replied: — December 30th, 2011 @ 9:17 AM
I’ll talk to my designer about that. Maybe I can up the print font a notch!
Michelle — January 3, 2012 @ 11:22 AM
I tried these last night. They were wonderful! Loved the homemade enchilada sauce!
Marika Fleshman — January 7, 2012 @ 1:25 PM
I love this recipe!!! but I think you forgot to mention to heat up the corn tortillas. My first attempt my corn tortillas fell apart as I rolled them and it took me a min to figure out why?
Lori Lange replied: — January 7th, 2012 @ 3:00 PM
Hi Marika, In my list of ingreds… the tortillas are listed as “heated, or fried in oil to soften.” yes, it’s much easier when they are more pliable!
Marika Fleshman — January 7, 2012 @ 1:30 PM
Oh, girls if you copy and paste the recipe, pictures and all into Microsoft Word, it prints out just lovely
Bobbie — January 21, 2012 @ 9:44 AM
Your ingredient list says corn tortillas but the picture is flour tortillas. I’m confused.
Lori Lange replied: — January 21st, 2012 @ 10:48 AM
I actually used a brand that is a corn & flour blend for the photo (Tortilla Factory Brand, I think?), but you can use corn.
TAP — January 22, 2012 @ 5:17 PM
Just made this and it is easy and delicious. I also added taco seasoning to the beef, which worked well.
Elizabeth — January 24, 2012 @ 1:09 PM
can you substitute flour for corn tortilla? thanks for the simple recipe!
Lori Lange replied: — January 24th, 2012 @ 8:49 PM
Flour should work just fine too.
Jill — January 31, 2012 @ 5:16 PM
I was so looking forward to this meal………don’t know what I could have done wrong, as I followed all the directions, but it was horrible.
Lori Lange replied: — January 31st, 2012 @ 5:35 PM
I don’t know either… what exactly was wrong? Did you make the homemade enchilada sauce? Did you fry the tortillas?
Jill — January 31, 2012 @ 6:11 PM
Yes I made the homemade enchilada sauce……and I think that is what was wrong. (I thought it was just me and I didn’t say much at first, but after a bite or two by the other 4 family members, they were making faces so I knew it was just not me) I measured everything in the sauce exactly. The taste of the sauce was not pleasant at all. I double checked all the spices afterwards (as I still had them out on the counter) to make sure I didn’t pick up the wrong spices, but all were correct. I am searching for words to describe the taste and the smell, but I simply cannot effectively come up with words to describe it. My husband suggested that we try this again once more in a few weeks, buying all new spices and trying a different broth.
Lori Lange replied: — January 31st, 2012 @ 6:22 PM
Yeah, I would say something must have gone wrong there w/ the sauce or the brands you used (maybe the broth was bad?)… because I use that enchilada recipe all the time for a lot of things and it works well. You might think about giving it another shot.
Katie From Cali. — February 8, 2012 @ 3:02 AM
Looking for great recipe for my vegetarian hubby.. just switched out the meat for vegie meat, lol.. came out great.. =D He had to double check that i didnt use real meat.. he loved it so much!! LOL… Thanks!!
Sarah — February 10, 2012 @ 4:47 PM
Just popped your enchiladas in the oven. I added some beans to mine. I can’t wait to try.
Genevieve F — February 11, 2012 @ 7:44 PM
Hi from Quebec. Thanks for the great receipe – made for a nice family dinner.
Merci!