Ready to spice up your dinner routine? These easy homemade ground beef enchiladas are just what you need! Perfectly seasoned beef and zesty enchilada sauce are wrapped up in warm tortillas and then layered with cheese, sour cream, and cilantro. This recipe is sure to be a total crowd-pleaser and make it onto the regular dinner rotation!
Welcome to the world of easy ground beef enchiladas, where delicious homemade goodness meets simplicity! If you’re craving a really satisfying meal that’s a breeze to make, you’ve come to the right place. These enchiladas are all about perfectly ground beef, melted, gooey cheese, and YUMMY red enchilada sauce.
We love to keep things as easy as possible without compromising on flavor or ingredients. If you’re looking for more delicious Mexican recipes, check out our carne guisada, picadillo, and beef fajita recipes.
Ingredients Needed
Ground beef enchiladas don’t have to be super complex. They *can* be an easy option for any weeknight! Below, you’ll find everything you need to make easy ground beef enchiladas, along with any ingredient notes and applicable swaps. Exact ingredient amounts can be found in the recipe card!
- Olive oil – you can also use butter, ghee, or avocado oil.
- Onion
- Garlic
- Ground beef – we used ButcherBox’s ground beef here – it’s the best!
- Mild chili powder, ground cumin, and dried oregano
- Corn tortillas – we grabbed white corn tortillas because we find them to be the most pliable, but feel free to use yellow corn if that’s all you can find.
- Red enchilada sauce – Siete enchilada sauce is our favorite, but any red enchilada sauce will work great. If you’re feeling up for it, try our homemade version in this recipe!
- Shredded Mexican-blend cheese
- Sour cream – for garnish, feel free to skip!
- Cilantro – for garnish, feel free to skip!
What is the best ground beef to buy?
Our absolute favorite ground beef comes straight to our doorstep via ButcherBox’s incredibly convenient delivery service. Their ground beef is grass-fed, grass-finished, and delivered to your doorstep every month (or at an interval of your choosing). Click to learn more about why we always choose grass-fed and finished beef.
ButcherBox is our favorite way to get high-quality proteins because it is convenient, cost-effective, and we know we can trust their sourcing. Click HERE to sign up as a new member and get 2 pounds of 100% grass-fed and finished ground beef for FREE in every box for the first year of your membership.
How to Make Easy Ground Beef Enchiladas
Once your ground meat is browned, all you’ll need to do is dip, fill, and roll! The process is so easy. For all the details, find our super easy step-by-step enchilada guide below:
- Preheat the oven to 375°F.
- Saute the garlic and onion – add the olive oil to a pan over medium heat. Once hot, add the garlic and onion to the pot and saute for 4-5 minutes, until translucent and fragrant.
- Brown the ground beef – add the ground beef to the pot with the sauteed onion and garlic, and use a potato masher to break apart the ground beef as it cooks (our favorite ground beef kitchen hack). Continue crumbling the ground beef until it’s browned and fully cooked through.
- Add the spices – when the ground beef is cooked through, add the chili powder, cumin, and oregano. Stir to fully combine, and then let the ground beef enchilada mixture cook for 5 more minutes.
- Add enchilada sauce to the enchilada dish – spread a ¼ cup of enchilada sauce onto the bottom of the casserole dish.
- Assemble the enchiladas – pour the jar of enchilada sauce into a medium size bowl. Dip a corn tortilla into the enchilada sauce, set the dipped tortilla on a plate, and place a ¼ cup of ground beef onto the middle of the tortilla. Use your hands to roll the tortilla, then place the rolled enchilada seam side-down in the casserole dish.
- Add enchilada sauce – once all of the enchiladas are in the casserole dish, pour the rest of the enchilada sauce over top.
- Add cheese – sprinkle the cheese over top the enchiladas.
- Bake – bake the enchiladas uncovered at 375°F for 20 minutes.
- Garnish, serve, and enjoy – garnish the enchiladas with sour cream, cilantro, and any other garnishes that you love. Serve and enjoy!
Tips, Tricks, and Variations
Heat up the enchilada sauce – if you notice your corn tortillas breaking as you fill and roll them, try heating up your bowl of enchilada sauce so that the tortillas warm a bit as you dip them. Warmed corn tortillas are significantly more pliable than straight-out-of-the-package corn tortillas!
Use a different protein – ground beef enchiladas are DELISH, but if you’d prefer a different protein, go for it! Ground turkey or chicken would both be delicious (the recipe instructions would stay the exact same).
Omit the cheese – dairy free? No problem! Just skip the cheesy topping!
How to Serve
Enchiladas make for the ultimate one-pan meal! They’re loaded with healthy fat and protein (hello, ground beef + cheese!), energizing carbohydrates (looking at you, corn tortillas), and really delicious flavor (from ALL of the things). All of that being said, you don’t actually have to serve enchiladas with anything, if you don’t want to! Simply top them with sour cream and cilantro, and dig in!
If you are looking for a yummy accompaniment, though, chips and guac would be a great pairing!
How to Store and Reheat
Below, you’ll find instructions for storing your enchiladas in both the fridge and freezer and reheating them when you’re ready to go in for round two!
How to Store in the Refrigerator
Store any leftover enchiladas in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
How to Store in the Freezer
If you’re looking for a longer storage option, the freezer is your best bet. Store leftover enchiladas in an airtight container in the freezer for up to 3 months.
Another option here is to double your batch of enchiladas when you make them, and then freeze an entire batch for up to 3 months time. Pull out the entire batch the night before a busy day and you’ll have dinner ready to go the night-of!
How to Reheat
Reheat your leftover enchiladas in the microwave for 1-2 minutes or in a 375°F oven for 10-15 minutes.
If you’re reheating an entire pan of enchiladas from frozen, let them thaw overnight, and then place the pan of enchiladas in a 375°F oven for 30-40 minutes, or until warmed through.
Frequently Asked Questions
You can absolutely use pre-cooked ground beef for your enchiladas! Simply saute the garlic and onion until translucent and fragrant, add the pre-cooked ground beef to the pan along with the spices, stir and let cook for 4-5 minutes. Follow the rest of the recipe as written!
Preparing your ground beef enchiladas ahead of time is a great idea! To do this, make the ground beef enchilada filling, assemble the enchiladas, top with enchilada sauce and shredded cheese, and then cover and put in the refrigerator until you’re ready to bake.
Yes, these ground beef enchiladas are gluten free! In fact, every single recipe on our website was made with gluten free ingredients (some *can* be made with wheat-containing ingredients, but every photo you see was made with a 100% gluten free line-up!).
More Favorite Ground Beef Recipes
Delicious and Easy Ground Beef Enchiladas
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- ¼ white onion diced
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 1 pound ground beef
- 2 tablespoons mild chili powder
- ½ tablespoon ground cumin
- ½ tablespoon oregano
- 12 white corn tortillas
- 15 ounces red enchilada sauce
- 1½ cups shredded Mexican-blend cheese
- ½ cup sour cream for serving, optional
- Cilantro for serving, optional
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375°F.
- Add the olive oil to a pan over medium heat. Once hot, add the garlic and onion to the pot and saute for 4-5 minutes, until translucent and fragrant.
- Add the ground beef to the pot with the sauteed onion and garlic, and use a potato masher to break apart the ground beef as it cooks (our favorite ground beef kitchen hack). Continue crumbling the ground beef until it’s browned and fully cooked through.
- When the ground beef is cooked through, add the chili powder, cumin, and oregano. Stir to fully combine, and then let the ground beef enchilada mixture cook for 5 more minutes.
- Spread a ¼ cup of enchilada sauce onto the bottom of the casserole dish.
- Pour the jar of enchilada sauce into a medium size bowl. Dip a corn tortilla into the enchilada sauce, set the dipped tortilla on a plate, and place a ¼ cup of ground beef onto the middle of the tortilla. Use your hands to roll the tortilla, then place the rolled enchilada seam side-down in the casserole dish.
- Once all of the enchiladas are in the casserole dish, pour the rest of the enchilada sauce over top.
- Sprinkle the cheese over top the enchiladas.
- Bake the enchiladas uncovered at 375°F for 20 minutes.
- Garnish the enchiladas with sour cream, cilantro, and any other garnishes that you love. Serve and enjoy!
Recipe Notes
Tips, Tricks, and Variations
- Heat up the enchilada sauce – if you notice your corn tortillas breaking as you fill and roll them, try heating up your bowl of enchilada sauce so that the tortillas warm a bit as you dip them. Warmed corn tortillas are significantly more pliable than straight-out-of-the-package corn tortillas!
- Use a different protein – ground beef enchiladas are DELISH, but if you’d prefer a different protein, go for it! Ground turkey or chicken would both be delicious (the recipe instructions would stay the exact same).
- Omit the cheese – dairy free? No problem! Just skip the cheesy topping!
Nutrition
Excited to try this! Is it only 1lb of beef? The photo looks like 2lb and 12 corn tortillas sounds like a lot for only 1lb. Thank you!
It’s just 1 pound, Jenn! The recipe was adjusted after the photo was taken.
I’ve never made beef enchiladas and these were so good! A huge hit with the family. It was even easier to make with my frozen taco meat I dethawed!
We’re so glad you loved these enchiladas, Sarah!
Thank you for this recipe. There is beef broth in the ingredients but I do not see it listed in the steps, please advise?
You’re totally right! That should have been removed from the recipe – I’m so sorry for the confusion! No beef broth needed!
At what step do I add the beef broth? Is it after the meat is fully cooked?
No beef broth needed! That ingredient should’ve been removed from the recipe. I’m so sorry for the confusion!