Beefy Cheesy Enchiladas

This recipe is absolutely delicious and will appease even the pickiest eaters. I realized when making this that I haven't posted the most healthy recipes yet. I promise the next recipe will be much healthier and lower fat. Feel free to susbitute ground turkey for the beef if you want to make it a little healthier. I just happen to have a million pounds of ground beef in our freezer (we buy our beef and pork in bulk from an amazing local farm that sells grass fed beef and organically and humanely raised pork, seriously the most delicious meat on the planet). Since our freezer is filled to brim with ground beef  I wanted to use some of that up. This recipe is perfect for freezing and/or making ahead of time. I will post some make ahead/freezer tips at the bottom of this post.

Ingredients: ground beef or turkey, tomato sauce, cilantro, green onions, cheddar cheese, medium taco flour tortillas (10 ct.), onion powder, garlic powder, chili powder, ground cumin and oregano. You will also need some cooking oil, water, Creole/Cajun seasoning, salt, black pepper and cayenne pepper, which for some reason I failed to put in the picture above. Must have had a blonde moment.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Start with the sauce. I know, why make a sauce when you could just buy the canned stuff? Well, because it tastes so much better and then you actually know what's going into it. Plus, it is super easy and you will use spices that you probably already have in your pantry. In a medium sauce pan, cook over medium heat the tomato sauce and water. Once the water and sauce are combined, add the spices. Add 4 Tbsp chili powder, 2 Tbsp onion powder, 1 Tbsp garlic powder, 1 1/2 Tbsp ground cumin, 1 tsp salt, 1 tsp black pepper, 2 tsp Creole seasoning and 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper if you want a little kick. Stir to combine.

Turn heat down to low and allow sauce to simmer while you are making the meat mixture, about 10 minutes. After about 10 minutes, remove from heat and set aside.

Next, slice the green onions. Heat the cooking oil over high heat in a large, heavy bottomed pan. Throw the green onions in the pan.

Fry the onions until they are crispy and slightly golden brown, about 3-4 minutes. Remove the onions from the pan onto a clean plate. You can certainly skip this step and simply add the raw green onions to the meat mixture. By frying them, however, you get a nice nutty flavor from the onions that are delicious. Plus my husband is weird about onions. He likes them cooked, but not raw. So, I like to cook them beforehand just for him. What a good wifey I am!

In the same pan you fried the onions, throw in the ground beef along with 2 tsp onion powder, 1 tsp garlic powder, 1/2  tsp salt, 1 tsp black pepper, 1/2 tsp dried oregano and 2 tsp Creole seasoning. Cook the beef over high heat until browned, stirring and breaking up the meat pieces as you go. This will take about 5 minutes.

While the meat is cooking, chop the cilantro.

Next throw in all but 1 Tbls of the green onions and 1 Tbls of the cilantro to the meat mixture. Stir to combine and take the pan off the heat.

Shred the cheddar cheese. You could of course use the pre-shredded stuff, but I always shred my own cheese. The pre-shredded cheese has a powdery substance mixed in with it to prevent clumping that I am not a fan of. Plus, I think freshly shredded cheese melts much better than the pre-shredded stuff, but to each their own!

Throw 1/2 the shredded cheese (about 1 cup) into the meat mixture. Stir to combine and set pan aside.

Set up your assembly line.

Take two ladlefuls of sauce (a little over 1 cup) and completely cover the bottom of a 9x 13 baking dish.

Begin to assemble your enchiladas. Take two spoonfuls of the meat mixture and place it at the bottom of your tortilla. Roll the tortilla (please excuse my horrible nails).

Place filled enchilada seam side down in the sauce. Repeat this process until all 10 tortillas are filled. You should use up all of your meat mixture and be able to squeeze all 10 tortillas in the pan.

Next, ladle most of the remaining sauce over the enchiladas until they are completely covered. You will have about 1-2 cups of sauce remaining in your saucepan. Put the sauce in a storage container and place in the fridge or freezer. I like to drizzle leftover enchilada sauce over nachos or use it as a "taco sauce" the next time I make tacos. The sauce will keep in the fridge for at least a week, in the freezer for at least 3 months.

Top the enchiladas with the remaining cheddar cheese and garnish with the remaining green onions and cilantro. Bake uncovered at 375 degrees for 25-30 minutes until the cheese is bubbly and the sides are starting to brown.

 

 

After baking, let the enchiladas sit on the counter for 5-10 minutes.

 

 

 

Serve enchiladas with a dollop of sour cream and garnish with any extra cilantro. Enjoy!

 

Make Ahead Tip:

• This meal is perfect to make ahead of time. I usually make enchiladas the night or morning before I plan on serving them for dinner. Just make enchiladas as directed above, right up to the point before you bake them. Cover with tinfoil and place in the fridge. When it's dinner time, bake covered for 20 minutes at 375 degrees. Then uncover and bake an additional 20 minutes until the enchiladas are heated through and the cheese is bubbly.
• You can also freeze the enchiladas and keep for a busy time or give them to a family member or friend. This is my go to recipe to bring to anyone whose just had a baby. Again, make the enchiladas right up to the point before you bake them. If the sauce is still hot and steamy from cooking it, allow the enchiladas to cool on the counter. If you place a steaming dish in the freezer, the dish will develop ice crystals and may cause freezer burn. Once the dish is cool, cover with aluminum foil. When you are ready to bake, you can either defrost the dish overnight and follow the cooking directions above, or you could simply put the frozen dish in the oven at 375 degrees for 60 minutes, then uncover and bake for an additional 30 minutes until the enchiladas are heated through.

 

BEEFY CHEESY ENCHILADAS

 

Ingredients:

• Whole Wheat Tortillas, medium soft taco 10 count
• 1 Tbsp cooking oil, canola or peanut would be best
• Sauce
• 2 cans tomato sauce, 14 oz. each
• 1 1/2 cups water
• 4 Tbls, chili powder
• 2 Tbls, onion powder
• 1 Tbls, garlic powder
• 1 1/2 Tbls, ground cumin
• 2 tsp, Creole/Cajun seasoning
• 1 tsp, salt
• 1 tsp, black pepper
• 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper (optional)
• Meat Mixture
• 1 lb ground beef or turkey
• 2 tsp onion powder
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 2 tsp Creole/Cajun seasoning
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp black pepper
• 1/2 tsp dried oregano
• 1 Tbsp fresh cilantro, chopped
• 4 green onions, sliced
• 16 oz mild cheddar cheese, shredded
• Topping/Garnish
• 1 Tbsp fresh cilantro, chopped
• 1 Tbsp green onions, fried or raw
• Sour Cream

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. First make the sauce. Place the tomato sauce and water in a medium sauce pan over medium heat. Stir to combine. Once water and sauce are combined, add the sauce spices. Stir well until all spices are mixed in, then reduce heat to low. Simmer sauce while you make the meat mixture, about 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, take sauce off the heat and set aside.
3. Heat the cooking oil in a large, heavy bottomed skillet over high heat. Throw in the green onions. Fry onions until they are a bit crispy and are starting to brown. Remove onions from the pan onto a clean plate.
4. In the same pan you fried the onions, throw in the ground beef or turkey along with the meat spices. Brown the meat, breaking up the meat pieces as you go, this will take about 5 minutes. Once the meat is brown throw in all but 1 Tbsp of green onions and 1 Tbsp of cilantro. Mix well and take off the heat. Set aside.
5. Shred cheese and add 1/2 of the cheese (about 1 cup) to meat mixture. Stir to combine.
6. Spread 2 ladlefuls of sauce (about 1 cup) over the bottom of a 9 x 13 baking dish. Begin assembling enchiladas by placing 2 spoonfuls of meat mixture to the bottom half of the tortilla. Roll tortilla and place the enchilada seam side down into the baking dish.
7. Repeat this process until all the meat mixture and tortillas are used and your pan is full.
8. Ladle most of the remaining sauce over the enchiladas until they are completely covered. You will have about 1-2 cups of sauce leftover after this step. Place remaining sauce in a storage container and use for another meal.
9. Top enchiladas with remaining cheese, green onions and cilantro.
10. Bake, uncovered for 30 minutes until cheese is bubbly and the sides of the pan start to brown.
11. Serve with a dollop of sour cream and any remaining cilantro.