Beef Enchiladas (with Carne Guisada)

Enchiladas covered in red sauce and melted cheese, served with refried beans, pico de gallo, and lime wedges on a white plate.

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Beef Enchiladas (with Carne Guisada)

I thought I couldn't love Beef Enchiladas any more, but that was before I decided to fill them with Carne Guisada. Now I'm HOOKED. The beef in these enchiladas is incredibly tender and saucy, with cumin and garlic giving it an earthy aroma. THEN we go and wrap it up in charred corn tortillas and douse it with my easy homemade red enchilada sauce. Perfect for a weekend dinner when you have time to go low and slow, or make the filling ahead of time for a quick weeknight meal!

Prep Time20

Cook Time30

Rest time10

Total Time1

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: Mexican

Servings:

Calories: 735kcal

Author: The Food Charlatan

Ingredients

1 batch Homemade Red Enchilada Sauce* 15 minutes prep
1 batch Traditional Carne Guisada 3-8 hours prep
15 oversized corn tortillas 6-7 inches across
10 ounces Oaxaca cheese shredded
8 ounces Monterey Jack cheese cubed

To garnish

Pico de Gallo
cilantro
lime wedges
Mexican Cream or sour cream

On the side

Tejano Pinto Beans as a side dish
Mexican Rice as a side dish

Instructions

Prepare the beef: Make a batch of Traditional Carne Guisada. This takes about 3 hours on the stovetop, or about 6-8 hours in the slow cooker. I like to make this a day ahead. Or you can cook it all day and assemble the enchiladas in the evening. (Double it if you have the time! It freezes great!)
Make the sauce: Make authentic Homemade Red Enchilada Sauce (tap for the recipe). It only takes about 15 minute to throw this together. Add the sauce to a shallow bowl so it's easy to soak the tortillas in it. (A frying pan or a pie plate work well.)
Prep the cheese: Shred 10 ounces of Oaxaca cheese.* Use a sharp knife to cut 8 ounces Monterey Jack cheese into 3/4 inch cubes. (Or you can just shred it)
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
Prepare the pan. Spray the edges of a 9×13 inch casserole dish with nonstick spray. Get out a sheet of foil and spray one side of it with nonstick spray.
Prep the tortillas. If you have a gas stovetop, turn a burner on to high heat** with your 15 oversized corn tortillas at the ready. Place one tortilla directly on the flame. Use tongs to flip it after about 10-20 seconds. Flip it back again after it starts to get a few blackened marks. Continue flipping as necessary until the tortilla is warm, pliable, and lightly charred. Place the tortilla in a tortilla warmer, or in a sealed ziplock bag (any tightly enclosed space where it can steam itself.) Continue with all 15 tortillas. I usually do multiple tortillas at a time on 2-3 burners. One of them will light on fire eventually; this is how I keep life wild over here.
Make an assembly line in this order: 1) warm tortillas; 2) red sauce; 3) beef; 4) Oaxaca cheese.
Assemble the enchiladas: Dip a pliable tortilla directly in the enchilada sauce, flipping it to coat both sides. Place the soaked tortilla in the prepared casserole dish. Add about 3 spoonfuls of beef to the center of the tortilla. Don't be shy about adding the sauce with the beef. It's good stuff and hey these are enchiladas, we are embracing the saucy life.
Sprinkle the beef with about 2 tablespoons of Oaxaca cheese. Roll up the tortilla and place it seam-side-down in the corner of the pan. Continue with all the remaining tortillas until everything is gone. Use all of the Oaxaca. Depending on how much beef you made, you might end up with some leftovers. (Tacos for lunch tomorrow!)
Top with sauce. Once all the enchiladas have been assembled, pour the remaining enchilada sauce over the top, getting the corners.
Top with cheese. Sprinkle the cubed Monterey Jack Cheese over the top of the enchiladas.
Cover the enchiladas with foil that has been sprayed with nonstick spray, you don't want to pull off all your cheese at the end!
Bake at 375 for 20 minutes. Remove the foil and continue cooking for another 10 minutes.
Broil. Turn the broiler on to high heat. Move the oven rack to the top position. Broil the enchiladas for 1-3 minutes, sticking around to watch! They can burn so fast! I love broiling casseroles to get those crispy brown spots on the cheese, but it's optional.
Let the finished enchiladas rest for about 10 minutes before slicing and serving.
Serve these enchiladas with all the fixins: Pico de gallo, cilantro, lime wedges, sour cream, and of course a side of Tejano Pinto Beans and Mexican Rice.
Storage: Store the enchiladas covered in the fridge. They will last 3-5 days just fine.
Freezing before baking: Prepare the enchiladas as directed in an aluminum pan, if you have one (that way you aren't holding one of your nice casserole dishes hostage in the freezer.) Seal well with plastic wrap (double wrap for sure) and foil. Enchiladas will be good for about 2-3 months in the freezer.
To serve, let the container or dish sit out on the counter for 20 minutes. Remove the lid or plastic and foil, re-cover with foil, and put it in a cold oven. Set the temperature to 350 degrees. The cook time will be roughly twice that of normal since they're frozen. Cook them covered for 45-50 minutes and uncovered for another 15, broiling for 2 minutes at the end if you like them to get crispy around the edges like I do.

Notes

*Enchilada Sauce: You need about 2 and 1/2 to 3 cups of enchilada sauce!

*Oaxaca Cheese: You can substitute this cheese with more Monterey Jack or Mozzarella.

**No gas stovetop? If you don’t have a gas stovetop, use the microwave. Pour 2 tablespoons of oil into a small bowl. Use your fingers to rub the oil all over both sides of a corn tortilla. It doesn’t need to be drenched, but make sure both sides glisten with the sheen of oil.

Set the tortilla on a plate, and continue with the remaining tortillas. Cover the tortillas with a damp paper towel and microwave for one minute. You want them to be pliable enough that they don’t crack when rolled. If they are still a bit stiff, keep heating in the microwave in 20 second increments until soft.

Nutrition info: If you are really tracking your calories, I would use the nutrition facts from the Red Enchilada Sauce and the Carne Guisada, and then add in the calories from the cheese and tortillas here. The program I use for calculating nutrition has some limits!

Nutrition