Beef Enchiladas Verdes
Let me just say that again…these enchiladas are amazing!!
I know that I say it about a lot of my recipes, but out of all the beef enchiladas I’ve made, these are my favorite! I’m sure that the next ones I come up with, I’ll love even more though. That’s the creative process for ya, next best recipe is just around the corner.
I’m not lying though, these enchiladas are worth staying home for dinner and a movie. I’ve made this dish over and over for a dinner night with our friends and the plates are licked clean every time!
I do want to mention that you don’t have to use an immersion blender, like I mention in the recipe. I love mine and it is one of my favorite kitchen gadgets, so I use it all the time. But, if you don’t have one, don’t fret! Just quickly pulse veggies in the blender and add heavy cream and sour cream there. Return sauce mixture to the pot and heat through for a few minutes. Easy as that!
Storing and Reheating
- Store: You can easily store leftover enchiladas in the same casserole dish you baked it or transfer into an air-tight food storage container. Make sure to cover the casserole dish either with plastic wrap or with a lid that fits the dish to make it air-tight. Store in the refrigerator for 3-5 days.
- To reheat enchiladas, you can either reheat it individually in a microwave or you can reheat it in the same casserole dish in the oven. To reheat it in the oven, take plastic wrap or a lid off the dish and cover the top of the casserole dish with foil. Place a cold casserole dish with enchiladas into the oven so that the cold dish gradually heat up as the oven heats up.
- Reheat enchiladas at 350°F just until hot in the middle, for about 15-20 minutes.
Make It Ahead Instructions
- Enchiladas are actually a pretty good dish to make ahead of time. You can follow the recipe all the way to the baking step but instead of baking, cover the dish with plastic wrap (or a fitted lid) and refrigerate until ready to bake. When ready to bake, take the dish out of the fridge and discard plastic wrap.
- Let the dish sit on the counter for about 30 minutes and while the oven is pre-heating. Bake at 350° for 20-25 minutes.
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Beef Enchiladas Verdes
Ingredients
Meat Filling:
- 1 Tbsp vegetable oil
- 1 lb ground beef 85/15 or 90/10
- 1/2 medium yellow onion diced
- 2 large tomatillos diced
- 1 large jalapeno seeded and diced
- 2-4 garlic cloves minced
- 1/4-1/2 tsp red pepper flakes to taste
- 1/2-1 tsp chipotle chili powder to taste
- 1 tsp cumin
- Salt to taste
Creamy Tomatillo Sauce:
- 1 Tbsp vegetable oil
- 3 large tomatillos diced
- 1 jalapeno seeded and diced
- 1/2 medium yellow onion diced
- 2 garlic cloves chopped
- 2/3 cup heavy whipping cream
- 2 Tbsp sour cream
- 1 Tbsp minced cilantro
- 1/2 tsp cumin
- 1/4 tsp chipotle chili powder
- Salt
For Enchiladas:
- 8 flour tortillas
- 1 1/2 – 2 cups Mexican shredded cheese mix
- 1/2 cup shredded Monterrey Jack cheese
Instructions
Meat Filling:
- Heat up oil in a medium sauté pan over medium heat.
- Add diced onion and saute until transparent.
- Add ground beef, breaking it up as much as you can. Cover and cook until almost done, stirring and breaking up clumps often.
- Add diced tomatillos, diced jalapeno and minced garlic. Stir well.
- Add spices, stir well and cook until vegetables are soft and meat is fully done. (Strain off the juice.)
Creamy Tomatillo Sauce:
- Heat up oil in a small sauce pot.
- Add diced tomatillos, onion, jalapeno, and garlic. Cook covered, over medium heat, until vegetables are softened. Add cilantro and spies, stir well.
- Using your immersion blender, puree all the vegetables. (Be careful of the hot splatter.)
- Stir in heavy cream and sour cream. Blend more if needed.
- Preheat oven to 350° and lightly grease a 9×13 baking dish. Spread a little bit of sauce on the bottom of the baking dish.
Assemble Enchiladas:
- Scoop some beef mixture in a tortilla and add some Mexican mix cheese on top. Roll tortilla and place it in the baking dish, seam down. Repeat with remaining tortillas, cheese and beef.
- Pour remaining sauce all over enchiladas and sprinkle Monterrey Jack cheese on top.
- Bake for about 20 minutes.
Video
Notes
- Store: You can easily store leftover enchiladas in the same casserole dish you baked it or transfer into an air-tight food storage container. Make sure to cover the casserole dish either with plastic wrap or with a lid that fits the dish to make it air-tight. Store in the refrigerator for 3-5 days.
- To reheat enchiladas, you can either reheat it individually in a microwave or you can reheat it in the same casserole dish in the oven. To reheat it in the oven, take plastic wrap or a lid off the dish and cover the top of the casserole dish with foil. Place a cold casserole dish with enchiladas into the oven so that the cold dish gradually heat up as the oven heats up.
- Reheat enchiladas at 350°F just until hot in the middle, for about 15-20 minutes.
Nutrition
More Enchiladas and Verdes Inspired Recipes To Try
All images and text ©Lyubov Brooke for ©Will Cook For Smiles. Please do not use my images without prior permission. If using my posts in collections and features, please link back to this post for the recipe.
Disclaimer: Nutrition information shown is not guaranteed to be 100% accurate as most ingredients and brands have variations.
Can this recipe be frozen to cook later.
Hi Jodi! Yes, you can freeze and reheat it. Just a heads-up, the tortillas might get a bit soggy. If you scroll up in the post, I’ve included tips on the best way to reheat them.
Hi – I know it’s bad form to review a recipe when you’ve made modifications, but I thought it might be helpful to others. I was looking for a recipe for beef enchiladas that used flour tortillas, because like you, I find the corn tortilla taste overwhelming. I never knew that enchiladas, by definition, are corn tortillas – GTK.
I had to make my dish the same night as I found the recipe because I was bringing it to a friend who is recuperating from surgery. Because of that, I didn’t have all the ingredients as required. For one thing, here in Massachusetts, we rarely have tomatillos in the produce section. Maybe they would be there now because they should be in season, but I don’t think that it’s a big seller. I did, however, have a can of tomatillos that I had bought on the bargain table. I also did not have fresh jalapeno, but I did have canned of that also.
Because I wasn’t sure if my can of tomatillos was enough to make the sauce, I used a bottle (16oz) of Herdez Salsa Verde (mild). I did not want the dish to be too spicy because I wasn’t sure of my friend’s tolerance, so I did not add anything to the sauce except for the cream (I had half and half) and the sour cream.
I made the meat filling per the directions using the canned jalapeno (I realized too late that they were pickled, but I was actually ok with that) and canned tomatillos. I tasted the filling for seasoning, and WOW, very spicy – I used a whole tsp of the chipotle chili powder and all the seeds, etc. of the jalapeno, so maybe that is why?
I filled each enchilada as directed – I did find that the meat filling was sparse for 8 tortillas – they certainly did not look like yours in the picture with the meat bursting out of the end. I would say that it makes a healthy six enchiladas. I definitely had enough sauce. After cooking them, the sauce was still a bit runny, and the enchiladas were also soupy, they did not maintain their shape, so maybe it was too much sauce? But, the verdict was that they were delicious, two thumbs up – even from my youngest who is a picky eater. I will definitely make them again. I may tweak a bit – not sure what exactly, but I’m thinking maybe of adding cheese or cream cheese to the sauce to make it a little thicker, and I would add more beef or only make 6 enchiladas. While making the fresh salsa verde is most likely much better, buying it saved me a few steps, and I felt like it did not take away from the dish.
I doubled the green sauce and was glad I did. I subbed ancho chili for the Chipotle, which is too hot for my taste. Lastly, I put 2 cups of cooked rice on bottom of casserole, which with a side salad made a complete meal.
Yum! So glad you liked it and made it your own!
Someone asked about Tomatillos but the question was not answered. Soo – wanting to make these but no idea where I would get them. Is there a canned /version that would work?
Many thanks
Hey Holly!
I’m sorry about that! Tomatillos are in the produce section of the grocery store. They look like little green tomatoes but they are in husks. You can always ask your grocer where their tomatillos are located. I honestly haven’t had a problem getting them in my grocery store, maybe you can call yours to check with them first.
I believe there are canned tomatillos but they may be hard to find. Check the ethnic section of your grocery store, where they have Mexican products.
I made this recipe for family today and it was all eaten up- a definite sign that it was good! Dear husband’s comments about how good it was makes it a keeper for sure (he’s very picky). I try to keep to a recipe when making it the first time but had to leave out the jalapeños for a family member who can’t handle them. I also used some corn tortillas as well as the flour. We will be making this again!
Glad you liked them, Linda!
I’m not big on comments or reviews but this one needs a five star rating, I rarely make the same recipes because there is so much to explore out there. However, this recipe is a keeper and i have made it countless times for years . It’s one of my faves and everyone who tries it then deems it one of their faves. Fantastic recipe. Thank you for sharing your talent.
I am so glad you like the recipe, Kellie! Thank you so much for stopping by and letting me know, I really appreciate it!
Very good. One tiny tweak: I spread the cheese on the tortillas before the beef filling. That way when you put the tortillas in the casserole seam side down the cheese was on the top of each enchilada.
Good idea, Charles! I’m glad you liked them! 🙂
Amazing!
Thanks, Chris!