Cheesy Enchilada Casserole
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- 70 Comments
I plan my menu out for the week every Sunday. I usually don’t realize until I get to the grocery store the next day that I have planned Mexican dishes for 3 or so of the 7 meals for the week. I love it. I just can’t get enough! My husband is learning to love it almost as much as I do, and he definitely liked this. So did the toddler! It is a keeper!
Ingredients
1 pound lean ground beef (90% lean)
1 large onion, chopped or season with Onion powder or minced onion
2 1/2 cups salsa
1 can (15 ounces) black beans or red kidney beans, rinsed and drained
1/4 cup reduced-fat Italian salad dressing
2 tablespoons reduced-sodium taco seasoning
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
6 flour tortillas (8 inches)
1 small can of drained corn, or about 1 1/4 cups of frozen corn (optional)
3/4 cup reduced-fat sour cream *Note: I used 1/2 cup
2 cups (8 ounces) shredded reduced-fat Mexican cheese blend
1 cup shredded lettuce
1 medium tomato, chopped
1/4 cup minced fresh cilantro
Directions
In a large skillet, cook beef and onion over medium heat until meat is no longer pink; drain.
Stir in the salsa, beans, dressing, sour cream, corn (optional), taco seasoning and cumin.
Spoon a generous layer of meat mixture on bottom of 2 quart baking dish. Sprinkle with grated cheese.
Place a flour or corn tortilla on top of meat mixture. Layer with half of the meat mixture, and cheese. Repeat as many layers as you like.
The last & final layer should be a healthy dose of grated cheese.
Cover with foil that has been sprayed with pam or other and bake at 400° for 25 minutes, or until hot & bubbly.
Let stand for 5 minutes before topping with lettuce, tomato and cilantro. Yield: 8 servings.
i make my menu on saturday or sunday too. and i plan WAY too much mexican for the weeks (a lot of times from your blog too)!
That makes three of us then! Thanks for the recipe – can’t wait to try it!
That looks delicious! I love Mexican food too and have about ten different enchilada recipes. Looks like I need to add this one to the list.
Mexican is my favorite. This looks delish!
Made this tonight and it was fantastic!! Thanks for a great addition to the rotation.
Looks great! What kind of Salsa do you use?
Hi Holly,
I just use the cheapest salsa they sell at WalMart. Any salsa that is “chunky” will do! And mild is best if you have kids!
Made this tonight, used soft taco kit that included salsa and didnt add anymore, other than that all was the same.. Hubby and 15 month old ATE IT UP. total hit will make this again. Thanks for sharing it..
Made this last night with corn tortillas (Celiac’s in this house) and it was a hit. Three generations loved it, and the leftovers were claimed for lunches already!
Mmm…this looks divine. Someone shared the link on Facebook; so glad they did!
Hi! I am very excited to try your recipe tonight.. This might sound like a silly question, but I just want to be sure I do this right… Do you lay the tortillas down, similar to Lasagna.. or are they rolled? Thanks!!
Hi Anonymous! It is totally not a silly question! Just lay the tortillas down flat- not rolling necessary!
Oops- I meant “no”, not “not”.
Thanks!!
the recipe didn’t mention the corn!!
I use corn…..yummy
I’m gonna have to try this with the boca crumbles instead of the ground beef. It looks amazing!
MAde this tonight. Thanks for sharing it is a keeper for us. We served with LOTS of fresh tomatoes and cilantro. Love the balance of savory and freshness!
I used chicken instead of ground beef. To get it super tender, I put my raw chicken breasts in the crock pot with the onion, a little garlic, seasonings, and salsa. Then, I cooked on low all day for moist, fall-apart chicken. This was delicious!
Could it be made the night before?
Can this be made the day of but not cooked until dinner time?
Hi Jordan!
I think that would work fine! I wouldn’t make it more than a day in advance so the tortillas don’t get soggy.
@ Jordan,
I think that would work fine! I wouldn’t make them more than a day in advance to avoid them getting soggy.
I have a question for the cheese? You said use 2 cups of cheese( 4 ounces). Isn’t 2 cups 8 ounces?How much did you use?
@Anonymous- So sorry about that! It should read 8 ounces. Thanks for catching that for us!
This is also a GREAT recipe to use up the last of the tortilla chips that have gone a little stale. You would layer them the same, just crunch them up a little. Makes this delicious dish just a tiny bit better…
Have you ever tried doing this as a freezer meal?
cannot wait to try this! thanks so much for the recipe
-Anna
theconfessionsofanewlywed.blogspot.com
Made this a few nights ago and it has to be one of my favorite new dishes!!! Thank you!! I am NOT a leftover girl and I actually like this one left over.
Just wanted to comment on how delicious this recipe is! It was a success and my family loves it, including my 19 month old!
Okay, this looks FANTASTIC! I always seem to incorporate too much Mexican as well and try to add some variety to our kitchen, but I can’t seem to do it consistently enough when recipes like this keep tempting me! Thanks for sharing, I’m excited to make this
Gonna make this tomorrow! But 2 cups of cheese would be 16 oz. wouldn’t it? I thought there was 8oz in 1 cup?
Sorry about that! Just use 2 cups of shredded cheese.
I had to modify this as I didn’t have the right beans(used refried beans instead) but we really enjoyed this!! I cleaned the kitchen and was about to put the leftovers away when my oldest came in and asked if he could have another small plate
Thanks!!
Made this for dinner tonight and my husband had a hard time pulling himself away from the table. He said it’s definitely a keeper!!!
So I *love* enchiladas and this looks amazing but, being from Texas I gotta ask, What place does Italian dressing have in Mexican food? Where did that come from?
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Can you make ahead of time and freeze this meal?
Hi Kelli!
I have never tried to freeze it before. I am not sure if it would work because the tortillas might get soggy when it thaws. Let us know how it goes if you try it!
Since ground beef is on sale at my store this week, I am going to cook the filling (minus sour cream) and freeze in a freezer bag lying flat. Then, I’ll thaw when it is on my menu, stir in sour cream, layer & bake.
Definitely want to give this a try. Thanks!
I make this once a week! Thank you so much for sharing!
I made this! Turned out great! I added scallions on top and also added some Spanish rice in with the meat mixture. I will definitely make it again!
I just made it for dinner and it was fabulous!! I added some sliced olives and diced green chilies too!! Thanks so much for sharing the recipe!!!
By chance do you have the nutritional value of this dish which looks delicious?
Hi,
We don’t have the nutritional facts but you can plug the ingredients into this website to find out. Thanks!
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/recipe/calculator
I found this recipe on Pinterest, tried it for dinner tonight. LOVED IT!!!! Husband scarfed it all down, so I’m guessing I can add it to my line-up!
thanks for a very yummy recipe! I follow you guys on Facebook, I’ll be checking out more of your recipes. Keep up the good work!
My question is if the you can start with the tortilla layer on the bottom like a pie crust? Anyone tried that yet?
Hi Susan!
I have never tried it but that is a great idea! I think it would totally work. Let us know if you try it!
I did. I put a thin layer of enchilada sauce down first and then tortillas. Worked great. Loved this dish – thank you.
This was definitely wonderful. A keeper for sure. Thanks.
this may be a silly question…but do you use a round or rectangular baking dish??
Hi Pamela!
You are fine! It is a regular rectangle baking dish. Hope you like it!
I use Las Palmas enchilada sauce. So much more authentic Mexican. I should know…. I’m Mexican.
Made this tonight. It was wonderful. Thanks for sharing.
I LOVE this recipe! I make it all the time for my family- thank you so much for the great recipe!
I made this yesterday and LOVED it! I used the black beans and a regular sized can of corn then topped it off with shredded lettuce, sliced olives, tomatoes, cilantro and green onions. Will definitely be making it again! Thank you for sharing this.
This was delicious! I made put it all together Sunday & cooked it on Monday for dinner & it held up great in the fridge – no problems at all with the tortilla’s – it was great!
Love…love…love!!! This a keeper and so easy to make!
I made this tonight for dinner, it was very good. Did not have enough salsa so I added Rotel. A little spicy but good. Thank you, I will try more of your recipes this week.
I just put this together and will pop in the oven a little later … the only modification I made was adding a little more cheese to the top layer and will use green onions opposed to the cilantro
oh my goodness, I absolutley love your blog! thankyou for all these super recipes & ideas! I hope to do the above mexican casserole tonight for my family! I have 4 sisters….I wish we were as close as you guys are. Dont take for granted. What a blessing!
I made this for my husband and one yr old son! They LOVE IT! Thanks a million! My Trini husband has a HUGE stomach that’s hard to fill! He’s been requesting this at least twice a week since I made it the first time!
This is a family favorite as well. I look forward to trying your recipe as you add some italian dressing into it and a little extra punch would be fun. Just to respond to the women asking about freezing, I freeze ours for our freezer club all the time. We do use refried beans, but I don’t imagine beans make any difference. I do highly recommend only using jarred salsa and not fresh. The only time we had an issue with it was with fresh salsa and it flooded the food when thawed. It is a Freezer Favorite with our group! It is an easy one to multiply and put several away for later. Always great when thawed.
Did you make this dish completely and freeze in the 2 quart baking dish?
I made this recipe and it’s out of this world, WONDERFUL thank u!!
Wonderful! Thanks for your sharing! http://www.food-machines.org/
TRIED IT! LOVED IT! I doubled the meat mixture because, well, I wanted thick layers of it in between the tortillas. I did have quite a bit extra but that’s ok. I just stored it and heated it back up the next day and put it on the extra tortilla shells. Even my most pick eater asked for seconds of this!
I’m trying this tomorrow I can’t wait. I have two picky eaters at home and based on the comments I’m really hoping they’ll enjoy it. ^_^
I made this Friday night, and my family ENJOYED it