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Mexican-style Enchiladas

While I’m white as mashed potatoes and sour cream, my family has Latinos on both sides. My dad’s mom would always make enchiladas for Thanksgiving and Christmas Eve. When she passed on, she also passed the torch. Now it’s my job to make enchiladas for my dad and siblings every Christmas eve.

Thanks for the recipe, Grandma! We love you, we miss you, and we honor your spirit each time we enjoy this meal you taught us.

This recipe uses the Mexican Ground Beef and Mexican Chicken recipes.

I recommend serving them with salsa, crema, and cotija.

This recipe makes 3 pans with about 6-8 servings in each pan.

If you have leftover tortillas, just make tortilla chips.

Enchiladas

Mexican-style beef and/or chicken enchiladas
Print Recipe
Prep Time 3 hours
Cook Time 1 hour
Course Main Course
Cuisine Mexican

Equipment

  • 3 9×13 baking pans
  • 1 small frying pan
  • 1 cookie sheet

Ingredients
  

  • 3 lbs Mexican ground beef
  • 3 lbs Mexican stewed chicken
  • 75 4" or 6" corn tortillas
  • 3-4 cups corn oil You can sub canola if you need to
  • 2 lbs cheese mix
  • 1 yellow onion optional
  • 2 4.25 oz chopped black olives optional
  • 2 28 oz red enchilada sauce

Instructions
 

  • Preheat oven to 350.
  • Pour oil into small frying pan and heat to 3-4 (low/med-low)
  • Lightly fry each tortilla in the warm oil – be careful not to cook them through!
  • You can pass the tortillas through the enchilada sauce here, but I don't, because it's just so freakin messy doing it that way, and it doesn't really add anything.
  • Line the baking pan with a layer of oiled tortillas
  • Scoop chicken or beef filling into an oiled tortilla and lay them tightly into the baking pan
  • You can get 7-8 enchiladas across the 9" pan, and 3 rows along the 13" pan with 4" tortillas. Using 6" tortillas you can only get 2 rows with a gap, so put some sideways in the gap.
  • When the pan is full of rolled enchiladas, pour 2/3 of a can of enchilada sauce over them.
  • Sprinkle handfuls of cheese over the sauced enchiladas.
  • Mince / chop the onion.
  • Sprinkle the chopped onion and chopped black olives over the enchiladas.
  • If not baking immediately, cover with saran wrap before covering with foil.
  • Cover in foil (but not saran wrap!) and bake for 30 mins.
  • Remove foil and bake another 15-20 mins until cheese browns.

Notes

You can prepare these ahead of time and refrigerate or freeze them before baking. 
If you freeze them, let them thaw before putting them in the oven. 
Place a layer of saran wrap over the enchiladas and under the foil or the acid in the enchilada sauce will eat the foil.