Hey, y'all—these beefy green chile enchiladas are one of my favorite dishes. They’re easy and cheesy with a creamy green chile sauce that will knock your socks right off!
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🗝️ Key takeaways
- Green chile enchiladas put a delicious, hearty meal on your dinner table in less than an hour with just eight simple ingredients!
- This great meal freezes beautifully so it's perfect for busy weeknights and family get-togethers. Just thaw and bake!
- Wrap your tortillas in a damp paper towel and steam them in the microwave to keep them soft and flexible.
Seasoned beef, onions, and cheese wrapped in corn tortillas and smothered in a flavorful green chile enchilada sauce—need I say more?
I guarantee these beef enchiladas will also become one of your favorite comfort foods!
🧾 Ingredients
This is an overview of the ingredients. You'll find the full measurements and instructions in the green recipe card (printable) at the bottom of the page.
📖 Variations
- Use cooked chicken instead of ground beef.
- I prefer corn tortillas but you can use flour if you like.
- Make it spicer by using Pepper Jack cheese instead of Monterey Jack.
- You could use diced, cooked chicken or cooked ground pork in place of the beef.
🔪 Instructions
This is an overview of the instructions. Full instructions are in the green recipe card at the bottom of the page. Click on the image to see it full size.
Saute onion and ground beef in a large skillet. Fill each steamed corn tortilla with the enchilada filling and cheese.
Tightly roll up each tortilla and place seam-side down in the baking dish.
Combine soup, sour cream, and diced green chiles to create the sour cream sauce.
Spread the green sauce over the enchiladas in an even, thin layer. Bake at 375 F for 15 minutes. Top with cheese and bake 10 minutes more.
🤫 Cook's secrets -
Sometimes I'll bring a pan of V-8 juice to a simmer and dip the tortillas in there before rolling. It helps keep them soft and gives a little extra flavor.
🍴 Equipment
- 13x9-inch casserole dish
- skillet
- measuring cups and spoons
- microwave for steaming tortillas
🎥 Video
🥫 How to store leftover green chile enchiladas
Let the enchiladas cool to room temperature before storing them.
Wrap the baking dish in aluminum foil or put the enchiladas in an airtight container. Refrigerate for up to 4 days.
You can reheat leftovers in a 350-degree F oven covered with foil for 15-20 minutes. Unwrap them for the last few minutes of baking for a crispy top.
Or, cover the enchiladas loosely with a damp paper towel and microwave them on high for 1-2 minutes.
To freeze
To freeze leftovers, wrap individual servings in plastic wrap. Freeze in an airtight container or a freezer bag for up to three months.
Thaw frozen enchiladas in the fridge overnight before reheating.
To freeze unbaked
You'll find more information about this in the accompanying video. I love this recipe for doubling or tripling and always having a great casserole on hand, just in case!
- Follow the recipe through #11.
- Place plastic wrap over the casserole dish.
- Write the baking instructions on a 3x5 card. Put the remaining 1 cup of shredded cheese in a ziploc bag. Lay both on top of the plastic wrap.
- Cover with aluminum foil.
- Label, date, and freeze.
- Put the frozen casserole in the refrigerator the night before you are going to serve it.
- Before baking pull off the aluminum foil, card, bag of cheese, and plastic wrap.
- Follow baking instructions starting with #12.
Marye's Tip
Wrap the tortillas in a damp paper towel and heat in the microwave. Keep them covered as you use them to make sure they stay pliable.
💭 Things to know
- Remember to coat your baking dish with cooking spray so the enchiladas don’t stick or tear as you scoop 'em!
- Don't overheat the tortillas. Start with 30 seconds—you'll likely need to heat them for about a minute or so for a full pack.
- Make sure you saute onions and ground beef before adding them to the tortillas. Otherwise, the onions will be crunchy, and the beef won’t cook through in the oven.
- Y’all know how much I hate pre-shredded cheese from the grocery store—always use freshly grated cheese from a block! It melts and tastes so much better!
- Make the chili powder from scratch with dried chili peppers, cumin seeds, Mexican oregano, smoked paprika, garlic powder, and roasted cinnamon. It’s spicy and smoky—and easier than you think!
- Keep your casserole dish uncovered so the melted cheese gets a bit crisp and golden brown.
- You can add your favorite toppings, such as lime juice, shredded lettuce, diced tomatoes, chopped cilantro, guacamole, or extra shredded cheese.
👩🍳 FAQs
I recommend adding enough meat mixture to cover a third of each tortilla. You need to be able to roll ‘em up without the filling squishing out the ends.
I don't love flour tortillas for this recipe. You gotta make enchiladas with corn tortillas because they hold up better to the homemade green enchilada sauce and hearty beef mixture. Plus, they add more flavor to the dish. Flour tortillas will get soggy and mushy—no thanks!
The best onion to use in beef enchiladas is usually a yellow one. Yellow onions have a strong flavor that pairs great with beef and tasty spices. Plus, they don't get mushy when you cook them, so they add a nice crunch to the filling. But if you like white or red onion better, you can use those, too.
Sure! You can substitute the Monterey jack cheese with another melty cheese like pepper jack or cheddar cheese.
To make these ground beef enchiladas spicier, add extra chili powder and a dash of cayenne pepper, use pepper jack cheese instead of Monterey jack, use hot green chiles in the green chile enchilada sauce, or drizzle ‘em with mole sauce or your favorite hot sauce.
Absolutely! Assemble the enchiladas, then tightly wrap the entire baking dish in plastic wrap and aluminum foil to prevent freezer burn. You can freeze the unbaked enchiladas for 2-3 months. Let them thaw in the fridge overnight before baking. You’ll need to add 5-10 minutes to the baking time.
📚 Related recipes
- Easy Beef Enchiladas covered in Homemade Red Enchilada Sauce is a classic recipe full of authentic Mexican flavor.
- Chicken Enchiladas in Homemade Cream Sauce are packed with flavor from the Rotel tomatoes, spicy V-8 juice, and luscious sour cream sauce.
- Beef Enchilada Casserole has layers of seasoned ground beef, melted cheese, black beans, and corn tortillas covered in yummy red enchilada sauce—no rolling required!
🍽️ Serve with...
My easy Southern Cucumber Salad is a great way to add crisp texture and fresh, tangy flavor to your enchiladas dinner.
Use a slice of Air Fryer Garlic Bread to sop up extra green enchilada sauce—it’s crispy on the outside, fluffy on the inside, and ready in just 10 minutes!
Lime White Chocolate Tres Leches Cake is a dense, tangy lime cake soaked in a white chocolate mixture, then topped with rum and white chocolate whipped cream—talk about yum!
🍽️ Repurpose leftovers
Have leftovers? Make them into a quick and easy green chile enchilada soup. Here's how:
- Chop the enchiladas up in bite-sized pieces.
- Place in saucepan.
- Add a can of Rotel chiles and tomatoes.
- Fill the now empty can ⅔ of the way with milk and add that to the saucepan.
- Stir over medium heat until warmed through. Don't let come to a boil.
- Serve with grated cheese on top.
📞 The last word
When my kids were small, I didn't have much time to prepare meals, so I'd double and triple recipes and freeze the extras for another day.
Eventually I started doing once a month cooking - but that's a whole 'nother story.
This is one of my favorites. It's full of beefy Tex-Mex flavor and it freezes like a dream!
If you click on the number of servings in the recipe card you can adjust the measurements up or down for the exact number of servings you need.
If you love this recipe please comment below and give it 5 stars! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
📖 Recipe
Green Chile Enchiladas
Print Pin Recipe Rate RecipeIngredients
- 1 ½ pounds lean ground beef, I use 93/7
- 1 ¼ cups onion, chopped
- 1 tablespoon chili powder
- 12 corn tortillas
- 3 cups monterey jack cheese, grated from a block. Reserve 1 cup for topping.
- 10.5 ounces cream of chicken soup, don't dilute
- 1 ½ cups sour cream
- 4 ounces chiles, canned, diced
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375℉.
- Spray a 13x9-inch casserole dish with non-stick cooking spray.
- Add ground beef and onion to a skillet.
- Brown beef and cook until onion is soft.
- Add chili powder, salt, and pepper. Mix well.
- Heat tortillas in a damp paper towel in the microwave until soft.
- Spoon enough beef mixture and cheese on a corn tortilla to cover ⅓ of it.
- Lay the enchilada seam side down.
- Repeat until the beef and cheese is gone and tortillas are all rolled.
- Combine the soup, sour cream, and chiles to make a sauce.
- Spoon the sauce over the enchiladas, covering them evenly. You may stop and freeze for later at this point.
- Bake uncovered at 375℉ for 15 minutes.
- Sprinkle with reserved cheese and bake 5 to 10 more minutes until cheese is melted and enchiladas are heated through.
Nutrition Facts
Nutrition information is estimated as a courtesy. If using for medical purposes, please verify information using your own nutritional calculator. Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
This recipe has been tested several times. If you choose to use other ingredients, or change the technique in some way, the results may not be the same.
Keep this one close!
Beef Enchiladas
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HB says
Delicious! My family really enjoyed this, and the homemade sauce was really a nice touch.