Enchilada Casserole is one my go-to dishes when I’m stumped and want to do something other than just meat and veggies. Back in May I made this for Cinco de Mayo because we hadn’t had it in a while. Then I made it again as a freezer meal. It’s always a hit and we usually have leftovers because it’s so hearty.
So since we have a full house right now (all the kids are here) I made it with the hope that I would not have to cook for 1 day maybe. Here’s the recipe I use every time.
Ingredients:
- 1-2 lb ground meat (beef or turkey), cooked & seasoned with Mexican spice blend
- 1 cup black beans, cooked OR 1 14 oz can of black beans
- 3-4 Roma tomatoes, diced OR 1 14 oz can of diced tomatoes
- 1/2 bunch cilantro, roughly chopped
- 1 medium onion, diced
- 1 clove garlic, chopped
- 1/2 cup black olives, sliced (optional)
- 5-10 flour tortillas
- crushed tortilla chips (optional)
- shredded cheese (cheddar, colby jack, or even pepper jack)
Preheat the oven to 350° F. Spray a 2 quart baking pan with non stick spray.
Start layering ingredients in the baking pan, starting with tortillas on the bottom. They don’t have to fit perfectly and they can overlap. I do get a little anal and either cut or smush mine to fit into the corners
Add layers like this:
- tortillas
- ground beef
- onions, garlic, tomatoes, olives, cilantro
- cheese
- crushed tortilla chips
- tortillas
- black beans
- onions, garlic, tomatoes, olives, cilantro
- cheese
- crushed tortilla chips
- REPEAT layering 1-9 until ground beef and black beans are gone.
Depending on your tastes you may not use all of the veg. I almost always have some left over that I just add jalapeño to and make salsa for garnish.
Pop the casserole in the oven and bake for 20 minutes. Turn off the oven, top the casserole with more cheese (optional) and put it back in the oven for about 10 minutes or until the cheese is completely melted.
Serve with salsa, sliced avocado, extra tomatoes, and extra olives on the side and let the family choose what they want for garnish.
**Tip: instead of layering the vegetables separately, you could just make a batch of salsa and layer that in steps 3 & 8.
**Tip: you could include rice as well. We have cut back on carbs so I didn’t include it.
I have made my Enchilada Casserole with the tortillas as the bottom layer and with meat as the bottom layer. It’s delish either way. I have also made it with tortillas as the last layer on top before adding the cheese. Again, delish either way but serves more like a lasagna if tortillas are on the bottom & the top layer.
One last thing… these are all the exact same ingredients I use to make tacos and burrito bowls. I just add shredded lettuce to the lineup. So if you don’t feel like all that layering, this also serves as a Taco Bar. It’s fun & the family loves it!
I made a double batch of my Enchilada Casserole with the hope that we would have leftovers & I would not have to cook for 1 day maybe. It didn’t work. Everyone went back for seconds & thirds! It IS that good.
If you try it, let me know how you like it. If you make it already, do you do anything differently?
Yum-O!