lazy beef and cheese enchiladas

I love Tex-Mex, heck, I’m born and raised Texan, so I would eat this style of food every day if I could! I’ve made the traditional enchiladas with rolled corn tortillas filled with chicken, beef and sometimes just cheese; but enchiladas can be tedious and when we are really hungry we need short cuts.

I’ve turned the process of rolled enchiladas into a lasagna-type casserole and it doesn’t skimp on flavor. Tonight, I’ll tell you how to make this cheesy-beefy version.

lazy beef and cheese enchiladas

makes 5 – 7 servings

• 1 pound ground beef, I like 85/15
• 1 teaspoon oil, we use avocado but you can use vegetable
• 18 corn tortillas
• 1/2 a small onion, diced
• 1 teaspoon crush garlic
• 1 small can of diced green chiles
• 2 cups shredded cheese of our choice
• 1 large can of red enchilada sauce, I didn’t have any so I made my own – recipe below
• optional fixins: sour cream, cilantro and pickles jalapenos

1. Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.
2. Lightly grease a 9 x 13 casserole dish and set aside.
3. In a medium pan, cook and brown your beef and onion in a teaspoon of oil.
4. Add the crushed garlic and green chiles and mix until beef is cooked through.
5. If your beef mixture is watery, drain the fat. Mine was not and I used a slotted spoon when adding to the casserole.
6. Open your can of red enchilada sauce and heat over a small pot until simmering. If you don’t have store-bought enchilada sauce, you can make your own with ingredients you probably already have. Recipe below.
7. Now you can start layering your enchilada bake. Start by adding about 1/4 cup of red sauce to the bottom on your casserole dish, spread evenly.
8. Next, carefully dip a corn tortilla in the red sauce, making sure to coat the front and back and then lay at the bottom of the casserole dish. Repeat this step 6 times to cover the bottom.
9. Next, add half of your beef mixture on top of the tortillas, spreading evenly.
10. Next sprinkle 1/3 of your shredded cheese on top. That’s the first layer!
11. Repeat this process one more time.
12. Next, dip 6 more corn tortillas into the red sauce to top your casserole.
13. Pour the remaining red sauce evenly over the entire casserole.
14. Sprinkle your remaining cheese on top and cover with foil.
15. Place in the oven for 30 minutes.
16. Once the 30 minutes is up, remove the foil and add pickled jalapenos to the top and place back in the oven for 3 – 5 more minutes.
17. Last, slice up and serve with cilantro and sour cream!

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