Easy Cheesy Baked Beef Enchiladas
These Easy Cheesy Baked Beef Enchiladas are ridiculously easy, loaded with seasoned beef and gooey Colby Jack cheese, and there is NO frying tortillas over here! I use my little butter-and-bake trick to get flour tortillas lightly golden before covering them in enchilada sauce and even more cheese. And if you prefer chicken, you HAVE to try my Creamy Crack Chicken Enchiladas! They use the same easy baking trick and are one of my absolute favorites.
This is one of those dinners that tastes like you did way more work than you actually did. The filling is ground beef, onion, taco seasoning, enchilada sauce, refried beans, and cheese. Thatโs basically it! Then everything gets rolled up in flour tortillas, baked until lightly golden, covered in enchilada sauce and cheese, and baked again until itโs hot, bubbly, and ridiculously delicious.
And hereโs the best part: you do NOT have to fry the tortillas. Iโm telling you, once you try my butter trick, youโre going to want to make enchiladas this way every time.
Why My Flour Tortilla Trick Works
Traditionally, you might fry tortillas before filling them, but weโre not doing all that.
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I use burrito-size flour tortillas, brush the baking dish with melted butter, roll up the enchiladas, and then brush the tops with more melted butter. They go into a 400ยฐF oven uncovered for about 10 minutes.
That little blast of higher heat gets the flour tortillas lightly golden on the outside before we add all that sauce and cheese.
THEN we sauce them, cheese them, cover them with foil, lower the oven to 350ยฐF, and let everything get gooey and delicious. Easy peasy!
I used my go to cast iron skillet for this recipe and it turned out amazing !!!!
Break up the beef as it cooks and brown it together with the onion until the beef is cooked through and the onion has softened. Drain excess grease if necessary.
I used Society Fire and Smoke Taco Seasoning and La Costeรฑa Refried Pinto Beans
Brush a nice layer of melted butter all over the bottom of a 9×13-inch baking dish. Donโt skip the butter! This is part of the trick that gives those flour tortillas that delicious lightly golden outside without frying them.
I am obsessed with this Revolve Top that I am wearing in the photo above. I am wearing a size small!
More Delicious Enchilada & Side Recipes
Melissaโs Tips!
- Donโt skip the first 400ยฐF bake. Thatโs the whole trick! It gives the buttered flour tortillas a lightly golden exterior before adding the sauce.
- Freshly grate your cheese if you can. It melts so much better.
- Choose your taco seasoning based on the flavor you like. Fire & Smoke gives you a smokier, almost chipotle-like flavor. Regular taco seasoning gives you that classic taco/enchilada flavor.
- Save those refried beans! You only need about 1 cup in the beef mixture, so serve the rest alongside the enchiladas.
- Donโt drown the tortillas before the first bake. Butter first, bake until lightly golden, THEN add the enchilada sauce.
- Spoon up that sauce from the bottom of the pan. Trust me on this one.
- Make them as cheesy as you want. I used about a pound of Colby Jack because apparently restraint wasnโt on the menu that day.
How I Serve Them!
I keep the sides really simple because these enchiladas already have SO much flavor. I serve them with white rice and the remaining refried beans. Or you can make my delicious black beans and rice recipe!
But hereโs what you really need to do: when you take the enchiladas out of the baking dish, thereโs going to be this cheesy, gooey enchilada sauce down at the bottom of the pan. DO NOT leave that behind!
Spoon that cheesy enchilada sauce right over your enchiladas, rice, and refried beans. It ties the entire plate together and makes everything taste freaking delicious.
๐ค Common Questions
Absolutely, any taco seasoning works!
No! Thatโs the beauty of this recipe. Brush the baking dish and tortillas with melted butter and bake them uncovered at 400ยฐF for about 10 minutes. Theyโll start to turn lightly golden without frying.
Yes! I love Colby Jack because itโs creamy, mild, and melts beautifully, but Monterey Jack, cheddar, or a Mexican cheese blend would work too.
Easy Cheesy Baked Beef Enchiladas
Ingredients
Equipment
Method
- Preheat oven to 400ยฐF.
- Add ground beef and chopped onion to a skillet over medium heat. Break up the beef and cook until browned and the onion has softened. Drain excess grease if necessary.
- Add taco seasoning and stir. Cook for another couple of minutes.
- Add 1 cup enchilada sauce and 1 cup refried beans. Stir together and simmer over medium to medium-low heat for about 5 minutes.
- Melt the butter and brush the bottom of a 9×13-inch baking dish with some of the melted butter.
- Add Colby Jack cheese down the center of each flour tortilla. Top with beef filling and a little more cheese.
- Fold in the sides, roll tightly, and place seam-side down in the prepared baking dish.
- Brush the tops of the enchiladas with the remaining melted butter.
- Bake uncovered at 400ยฐF for about 10 minutes, or until the tortillas are beginning to turn lightly golden.
- Remove from the oven. Pour the remaining enchilada sauce over the tortillas and top generously with the remaining Colby Jack cheese.
- Cover tightly with foil and lower the oven temperature to 350ยฐF.
- Return to the oven and bake covered for about 20 minutes, until hot, bubbly, and melted.
- Serve with white rice and the remaining refried beans. Spoon the cheesy enchilada sauce from the bottom of the baking dish over everything before serving.
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Nutrition
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Made this? Tap a star to rate it – it only takes a second and it means the world!๐ How to Store Leftovers
Store leftover enchiladas covered in the refrigerator for up to 3โ4 days.
For individual portions, reheat them in the microwave until hot. If youโre reheating several enchiladas, place them in a covered baking dish and warm them in a 350ยฐF oven until heated through. Covering them helps keep the tortillas and filling from drying out.
