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An unexpected guest or two arriving at dinner time is your chance to impress, NOT stress! By using ingredients you have in your refrigerator and pantry, you can serve up a delicious and filling meal of ground beef enchiladas within an hour. This easy dish can be made with ground beef, ground chicken, or ground turkey. For easy cleanup, I use my microwave for cooking the filling. It takes around 5 minutes to cook ground beef in the microwave, stirring every couple of minutes. I cook the onion at the same time. No onion? Finely chop up some zucchini, celery, or carrots. You could even use canned or frozen corn. This recipe is very flexible and forgiving.
I love black beans in my enchiladas. Red beans or white beans will work equally well. Life is too short to stress out because of beans! Whatever you have, is fine. On that note, the same goes with the shredded cheese. Shredded Mexican blend is my choice as I always have it. Cheddar, Colby Jack, Monterey Jack are all good. Once, I only had slices of American processed cheese in the fridge – I cut the slices into strips and proceeded. (It didn’t look the same, but my boys loved it.) For extra color and flavor, I use a can of diced tomatoes and green chiles. If you want to use plain diced tomatoes or just a can of green chiles – go for it. No stress.
Spoon the filling along with some shredded cheese into flour tortillas. Tightly roll up the tortillas and place seam side down in a baking pan with a thin layer of enchilada sauce on the bottom. When all 8 tortillas are in the pan, top with the remaining enchilada sauce and sprinkle with shredded cheese. Bake 20-25 minutes until the cheese is hot and bubbly. Embellish the enchiladas with a dollop of sour cream, avocado slices, black olives, or cilantro (whatever you have on-hand.) To complete the meal, serve with a side of yellow rice or a green salad. Because of this recipe’s ease and flexibility, it rates a Looking Good on the Impress-O-Meter and a Relaxed reading on the Stress-O-Meter. Happy Cooking!
Easy Ground Beef Enchiladas
Course: INS Living Blogs, INS Living Recipes, INS Living: Beef-Pork-Poultry-SeafoodCuisine: MexicanDifficulty: Easy4 -6
servings20
minutes20
minutesGround beef enchiladas are simple and quick to make, using ingredients that you have on-hand.
Ingredients
1 lb ground beef
1 small finely diced onion
8 flour tortillas (heated or fried to soften)
2 (10 ounce) cans of enchilada sauce
1 (15.5 ounce) can black beans – drained
1 (10 ounce) can Diced Tomatoes and Green Chiles – drained
2 cups shredded cheese (Mexican Blend, Cheddar, Colby Jack, Monterey Jack)
Optional garnishes: Cilantro, sour cream, avocado, salsa, sliced black olives, yellow rice
Directions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a 9×13-inch (3 quart) pan with nonstick spray.
- Pour 1/3 can of enchilada sauce on the bottom of the prepared pan. . Save the remainder of the can.
- In a large microwave-safe bowl, break up ground beef with a spoon, add the onion. Microwave on high until meat is thoroughly cooked for approximately 5 minutes. (Cook 2 minutes, stir. Cook another 2 minutes, stir. Cook an additional minute). Drain.
- Add remaining full can of enchilada sauce, drained black beans, and drained diced tomatoes & chiles to ground beef mixture. Microwave on high for 2 minutes.
- Spread 1/8 of the beef mixture down the center of each tortilla; sprinkle with 1 tablespoon cheese. Wrap tortillas tightly around filling, placing seam side down in baking dish. Top with remaining enchilada sauce. Sprinkle with remaining cheese and cilantro (optional)
- Bake 20 to 25 minutes or until hot and bubbly. Let stand 5 minutes. Serve with desired garnishes.
Notes
- Ground chicken or ground turkey can be substituted for ground beef
- Zucchini, celery, carrots, or corn can be substituted for onions
- Red beans or white beans can be used in place of black beans
- Any variety of shredded cheese will work. The recommend varieties include Mexican blend, Cheddar, Colby Jack, Monterey Jack
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