Sometimes you just need a good comfort food recipe… a recipe that is easy-to-make… and a meal that every member of your family will eat without complaints. I’ve got one one those recipes for you: Beef and Bean Enchilada Casserole
This dinner idea is a simple one- rather than rolling the ingredients up into a corn tortilla, the ingredients are layered into the casserole dish instead.
How to make Beef and Bean Enchilada Casserole:
Layer corn tortillas, beef/bean/chiles/spices, garlic sour cream, and enchilada sauce. Then those layers are repeated one more time. In the recipe below, I’ve listed some options for other layers to include, as well as some change-it-up ideas.
Additional layers and change-it-up options:
If you want to add some more layers… try adding corn, olives or feta cheese! Try substituting a can of chili beans for refried beans.
A good couple of handfuls of cheese are added to the top at the very end of baking.
And that cheese gets all nice and melted and bubbly.
And then it’s ready for dishing out. My guys enjoyed this served on a bed of shredded iceberg lettuce and then topped with sour cream, guacamole and chopped tomatoes. It’s good stuff. Enjoy!
About Enchilada sauce:
You can certainly use your favorite brand of canned enchilada sauce for this recipe. Or you can make your own. I have a great recipe for Enchilada Sauce, and it’s a very popular recipe with my RecipeGirl readers too!
Here are a few more casserole recipes you might like to try:
- Chicken Enchilada Casserole
- Easy Taco Casserole
- Tex Mex Black Eyed Pea Casserole
- Ritz Chicken Casserole
- Tex Mex Chicken and Rice Casserole
- Cheesy Beef and Pasta Casserole
- Cowboy Casserole
- Chicken Spaghetti Casserole
Beef and Bean Enchilada Casserole
Recipe Details
Ingredients
- 8 ounces lean ground beef
- 1/2 cup chopped sweet onion
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
- One 15-ounce can pinto beans, drained and rinsed
- One 4-ounce can diced green chiles
- 8 ounces sour cream (light is fine)
- 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
- Eight 6-inch corn tortillas
- 1½ cups enchilada sauce
- 1½ to 2 cups mixed cheddar/Jack shredded cheese
- topping suggestions: chopped tomatoes, sour cream, guacamole
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a 9x13-inch pan or 2-quart baking dish with nonstick spray.
- In a large skillet, cook the ground beef and onion together over medium heat until the beef is browned and the onion is tender. Drain any fat, if needed. Stir in the chili powder, cumin, beans, and chiles; set aside.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the sour cream, flour and garlic powder.
- Place half of the tortillas in the bottom of the prepared dish, tearing them apart as needed to cover the bottom (overlapping is fine). Top with half of the meat mixture, spoon half of the sour cream mixture on top of the meat, and drizzle 3/4 cup of the enchilada sauce on top of that. Repeat the layers one more time. At this point, you can cover the dish with plastic wrap and refrigerate up to 24 hours before baking (take off plastic wrap). Or you can bake now and enjoy!
- Cover with foil and bake for 40 minutes. Uncover, sprinkle with cheese and bake 5 minutes or so more, until the cheese is nice and bubbly. Serve immediately.
Video
Notes
- *If you are preparing this recipe as gluten-free, be sure to use brands of pinto beans, enchilada sauce and corn tortillas that are known to be GF. Use an alternative thickener in place of the all-purpose flour- such as cornstarch or a GF flour blend.
- *Suggestions for additional layers: corn, olives, feta cheese
- *Change-it-Up: Sub canned chili beans for the pinto beans (undrained).
This was so easy to make and such a hit! I love that you can prepare it ahead of time too. I ended up subbing the spices for taco seasoning and paprika, and substituted the chiles for pickles japalenos which was delicious (but spicy!).
Will definitely be making again.
I made this tonight; it is wonderful! I used flour tortillas and refried beans since that is what I had on hand. Thank you!!
Loved
Does the beef enchilada casserole freeze well?
I’m not sure as I haven’t tried.
There seems to be a mistake on the hamburger measurement(?) I used 1 lb not 8 oz.
The recipe calls for using 8 ounces ground beef.
I am not a lover of the whole pinto bean. How do you think this recipe would be if I used refried beans and mixed it with the meat.
You can certainly try it!
Could this be prepared in a slow cooker ( crockpot)?
It is not a slow cooker recipe.
I am making this in my 9 x 13 slow cooker tomorrow!
This was delish!! Thanks so much for including the make ahead instructions! I like things I can prepare the night before so whoever gets home from work/school first just pops it in the oven! Great recipe!
I looked over the recipe about 10 times it didn’t say what to do with all that cheese so I put 1 cup on the first layer on top of sauce then the last cup on at the end didn’t realize all of it was supposed to go on the top but seems to have turnedout well great recipe. ?
glad it turned out for you!
Made this tonight using my leftover taco meat and beans, flour tortillas, left out the sour cream part. Also made your sauce with a few minor changes. Hubby liked it. Yeah! Have a winner.
Made this today. Refrigerated overnight. It seems soupy. I dreamed the meat & beans. Followed the recipe exactly. Any thoughts.
I’m not sure since I wasn’t there to see you make it. How did it turn out in the end? Soupy doesn’t sound right…
Made the casserole with chicken just as good. Double the sour cream mixture. Delish
I love this casserole. I took some to a sick friend, and they all loved it. They said it was their favorite thing they received.
I do change it up a little. I use black beans in place of pinto and I also add corn to it. I put the tortillas on the bottom, but the next layer I put tortilla chips and also sprinkle some on the top. It adds a nice crunch.
This is sooo good. However, I like spice so I used adobe chili powder, and chopped jalapeños. Then I topped with chopped tomatoes, shredded lettuce, chopped green onions, and a little cilantro. Omg!!
I live in a country tha doesn’t have sour cream so I used half yogurt and half cream cheese -came out great!
Any idea if this freezes well? And if so… Freeze before or after cooking?
I haven’t tried freezing it, so I’m not sure!
Just made this for dinner and loved it. My husband is a picky eater (no fruits or veggies…it’s a struggle) and doesn’t like sour cream. I made half of it with the sour cream mixture for me (yum yum yum!) and half without for him. My half looked and tasted like a casserole and was absolutely delicious. His side was soupy and didn’t really hold together. He ate it, loved it and said it tasted like chili, but definitely wasn’t what we were expecting. I didn’t think the flour/sour cream mixture would make such a big difference, but it definitely does!
Turns out, he liked my side of the casserole, even with the sour cream. Go figure!
This was so good. I used Greek yogurt instead of sour cream, black beans instead of pintos and ground turkey. It is now my favorite Mexican dish! Thanks.
Just received this recipe yesterday and can’t wait to try it. Question, will the corn tortillas still be crispy when baked or do they become a little soggy due to all the other casserole ingredients?! Thanks.
Corn tortillas don’t really get soggy, but they won’t stay firm either. They retain some of the moisture of the sauce.
I’m not a fan of sour cream. Would cream cheese work just as well in this dish? Thanks!
not sure.
Made this for dinner last week and it was good! I was lazy and didn’t use the flour and it was fine for us. Plus we had left overs for the next night.
Two questions – do you use the soft corn tortillas or the crispy ones? And only a half pound of ground beef? That doesn’t seem like very much……
Trying this tonight – I hope it turns out!
Regular corn tortillas… and yes, only 1/2 pound. Hope you like it!
Have you ever tried freezing this – could it work?
I haven’t. I think I’d be worried that it would get soggy.
This looks awesome- however, my husband does not like beans – would you recommend a substitute?
Corn?
LOOKS YUMMY ,CAN’T WAIT TOO TRY THIS!
I made this for a family gathering last night, and I used refried black beans instead. It was so good – and easy! Everyone loved it!
Do you have the break down of how many calories fat content etc
Not for this one- no.
This is really similar to one I’ve done and thought you might want to try this also. I use tortilla chips instead of actual tortillas. Just throw a few handfuls into the pan and then sprinkle all the ingredients around.
The recipe says the pinto beans should be drained and rinsed.
But down at the bottom, in the suggestions, it reads: *Change-it-Up: Sub canned chili beans for the pinto beans (undrained). Which should be undrained – chili beans or pinto beans – confused?
Recipe sounds wonderful!!
If you use pinto beans, drain and rinse them. If you use chili beans, you want all of the sauce included in the can, so don’t drain.
Has anyone tried substituting greek yogurt for sour cream? Will it work?
I haven’t tried it, but it might work. Will give it a different flavor for sure.
Do we really have to set it 24 hours or can i just cook it as soon as i finish prepared it?
No, you *can* refrigerate it up to 24 hours before baking, but it’s certainly not necessary to refrigerate it at all.
If I leave the flour out of the sour cream mixture, will it do ok?
It won’t thicken as much.
Just fixed this for my parents and sister, last night. Everybody liked it. Thanks so much!! However, I did without all the spices that would give it a kick . We’re not really a spicy food eating family. But it was good nonetheless!! Thank you. 🙂
It calls for 1/2 pound of ground beef. I thought this seemed like a small amount of beef. Is that correct? Thanks.
That’s correct!
This recipe was delist and super easy! I used vegetarian beef crumbles and taco seasoning as well as added some extra veggies with peppers and corn. Super easy amd yummy!
I’m going to try this with left over turkey first.
Made these tonight and all that was left was the empty baking dish! I doubled the spices in the meat, added a cup of chopped spinach, and subbed in lack beans for pintos. So delish, but most excited about the eopreparation and potential versitility of this crowd pleaser! This is definitely going to be in heavy rotationa at our house!!!
I loved this. Will definitely make again.
Um….yes. Yes I do want to eat this right now. Yummm!
I make essentially this same thing, only without meat (more beans!) and the addition of olives. We gave it the ever so classy name of “Enchilasagna” :oD Your version looks really yummy too, I like the corn tortillas!
This is my kind of dinner! All that melty cheese on top seals the deal!
This looks fantastic, Lori! I’m stockpiling recipes for the cold winter ahead, and this is absolutely making it into the lineup. Thanks for the inspiration!
I made this the other night and it was yummy! Perfect for these rainy fall evenings! Thank you!
Yum! I love these types of casseroles.
12 thumbs up from the 6 Autry’s! My husband’s family makes homemade tacos, which is a really involved process, but we all love them. This tasted just like those tacos, but it was so much easier and more of this dish was from scratch, which I like. Yummy!!
This was really good! I always go for black beans but the pinto beans were great in this. I served with diced tomatoes and shredded iceberg lettuce dressed with a little salt and red wine vinegar.
Corn & pintos, that is what would put this over the top for me. And some chopped cilantro, a squeeze of lime and a sprinkling of salt… I’m putting this on the menu for next week. I’m always looking for recipes that are crowd-pleasures and that can be adaptable to a soft mechanical diet for my client. Thank you 🙂
Shopping tomorrow just to pick up the supplies for this recipe. Mmmmmm
This looks so easy and so delicious! I am planning to make it for dinner this week!
This looks really tasty!! I love the photos too. So pretty and looks really warming and perfect for the cold months 🙂
Any thoughts on if this would work without the beans? Cannot get my son to eat them…
Leave them out? Add in some of the other suggested add-ins perhaps?
Yay! I love enchilada casseroles.
Looks and sounds delish. May have to substitute the beef for tuna because my husband is a vegetarian.
seriously gotta make this tonight!
Oh this looks fabulous! I have to make this for dinner one night this week!! Thanks for sharing!
Yum! I’ve been looking for a new go-to casserole recipe for the fall!
I’m going to try this and invite others to share. Sounds and looks yunmy and will be easy to make GF.
Oooooh my gosh these look like heaven!
This recipe looks great! The melted cheese on top seals it!
This looks delicious and easy to make. Love it.
I love easy recipes such as these for the weeknights when I’m coming home from work and exhausted. This looks so delicious and I love all that cheese on top!!
Great recipe, I have never made an enchilada casserole. I was making mexican for dinner tonight and thought I would try it in a casserole . I used flour tortillas and chicken in place of the corn tortillas and beef. It was delicious. I really liked the garlic sour cream, it tied the entire dish together. It really was so much quicker than individual enchiladas (or burritos). Thanks for another quick delicious dinner, perfect for a weeknight.
Love the layering idea, so much easier and no need to be precise, plus I can goop if up with extra cheese :). Great for a neighborly dinner idea too!
Thanks Lori, I must have miss it! This sounds amazing and easy!
Wow Lori – this is so smart and yummy! So perfect after long day at work.
I have to admit I hated enchilada casseroles when I was growing up… but now I love them! I’ve also been looking to add more beans to my diet and this recipe looks like a keeper! Can’t wait to try it.
Maybe I missed it, but what is the sour cream mixture? Do you mix the green chiles, sour cream and garlic salt? Thanks-this sounds amazing!
Sorry- I left out a line of detail, but it’s in there now.
I love meals like this! Perfect for weeknights 🙂
Deaaaaaaaath becomes me. Yum.
When do you put the flour in?
Mix it with the sour cream.
This is my kind of dinner! Perfect!
I love easy dinners and this is right up my alley!!! Thanks 🙂