Sometimes you just need a good comfort food recipe… a recipe that is easy-to-make… and a meal that every member of your family will eat without complaints. I’ve got one one those recipes for you: Beef and Bean Enchilada Casserole

Beef and Bean Enchilada Casserole in a white baking dish

Beef and Bean Enchilada Casserole

This dinner idea is a simple one: rather than rolling the ingredients up into a corn tortilla, the ingredients are layered into the casserole dish instead. It’s the best of both worlds, all of the flavors of enchiladas in a quick and easy to make casserole.

🛒Ingredients needed:

  • ground beef
  • onion
  • chili pwder & cumin
  • canned pinto beans
  • canned diced green chiles
  • sour cream
  • flour
  • garlic powder
  • tortillas
  • enchilada sauce
  • mixed cheddar/Jack shredded cheese
  • optional toppings

How to Make Beef and Bean Enchilada Casserole - four picture collage

✏️How to make Beef and Bean Enchilada Casserole:

*The complete, printable recipe with all ingredients and instructions is at the end of this post.

  1. Preheat the oven to 350℉. Spray a 9×13-inch pan or 2-quart baking dish with nonstick spray.
  2. In a large skillet, cook the ground beef and onion together over medium heat until the beef is browned and the onion is tender. Drain any fat, if needed. Stir in the chili powder, cumin, beans, and chiles; set aside.
  3. In a medium bowl, whisk together the sour cream, flour and garlic powder.
  4. Place half of the tortillas in the bottom of the prepared dish, tearing them apart as needed to cover the bottom (overlapping is fine). Top with half of the meat mixture, spoon half of the sour cream mixture on top of the meat, and drizzle ¾ cup of the enchilada sauce on top of that. Repeat the layers one more time. At this point, you can cover the dish with plastic wrap and refrigerate up to 24 hours before baking (take off plastic wrap). Or you can bake now and enjoy!
  5. Cover with foil and bake for 40 minutes. Uncover, sprinkle with cheese and bake 5 minutes or so more, until the cheese is nice and bubbly. Serve immediately.

Adding cheese to Beef and Bean Enchilada Casserole

➡️Recipe Tips:

  • If you want to add some more layers…try adding corn, olives or feta cheese! Try substituting a can of chili beans for refried beans.
  • If you’re counting calories, you could try using low carb flour tortillas in place of the corn tortillas.
  • If you are preparing this recipe as gluten-free, be sure to use brands of pinto beans, enchilada sauce and corn tortillas that are known to be GF. Use an alternative thickener in place of the all-purpose flour, such as cornstarch or a GF flour blend.

Beef and Bean Enchilada Casserole just out of the oven

✔️What to serve with Beef and Bean Enchilada Casserole:

  • Since this is a casserole, it doesn’t need much with it, but I think a simple fresh green salad goes nicely with it.
  • If you’re in the mood for a glass of wine with this dish, I think a good Argentinian Malbec with its dark fruit flavors would be a great compliment.
  • Serve a small scoop of Vanilla Bean Ice Cream to top off this meal.

 

★How to Store:

Since this recipe makes 8 servings you very well may have leftovers. Store them in the refrigerator for 3-4 days or you can freeze it in a tightly sealed container for up to 3 months.

Beef and Bean Enchilada Casserole in a white baking dish

❤️Why I love this recipe:

  1. We love this recipe, usually served on a bed of shredded iceberg lettuce and then topped with sour cream, guacamole and chopped tomatoes.
  2. I love that it makes plenty so there are leftovers for lunches or maybe even for dinner on another night.
  3. If I’m feeling extra ambitious, I have a great recipe for Enchilada Sauce. It really amps up the flavor and I love that, plus, it’s a very popular recipe with my RecipeGirl readers too!

Casserole recipes you might like to try:

4.84 from 12 votes

Beef and Bean Enchilada Casserole

Totally easy dinner that is family friendly too!
Prep: 25 minutes
Cook: 40 minutes
Total: 1 hour 5 minutes
Servings: 8 servings
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Ingredients

  • 8 ounces lean ground beef
  • ½ cup chopped sweet onion
  • 1 teaspoon chili powder
  • ½ teaspoon ground cumin
  • One 15-ounce can pinto beans, drained and rinsed
  • One 4-ounce can diced green chiles
  • 8 ounces sour cream (light is fine)
  • 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
  • ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
  • Eight 6-inch corn tortillas
  • cups enchilada sauce
  • 1½ to 2 cups mixed cheddar/Jack shredded cheese
  • topping suggestions: chopped tomatoes, sour cream, guacamole

Instructions 

  • Preheat the oven to 350℉. Spray a 9x13-inch pan or 2-quart baking dish with nonstick spray.
  • In a large skillet, cook the ground beef and onion together over medium heat until the beef is browned and the onion is tender. Drain any fat, if needed. Stir in the chili powder, cumin, beans, and chiles; set aside.
  • In a medium bowl, whisk together the sour cream, flour and garlic powder.
  • Place half of the tortillas in the bottom of the prepared dish, tearing them apart as needed to cover the bottom (overlapping is fine). Top with half of the meat mixture, spoon half of the sour cream mixture on top of the meat, and drizzle ¾ cup of the enchilada sauce on top of that. Repeat the layers one more time. At this point, you can cover the dish with plastic wrap and refrigerate up to 24 hours before baking (take off plastic wrap). Or you can bake now and enjoy!
  • Cover with foil and bake for 40 minutes. Uncover, sprinkle with cheese and bake 5 minutes or so more, until the cheese is nice and bubbly. Serve immediately.

Notes

  • *If you are preparing this recipe as gluten-free, be sure to use brands of pinto beans, enchilada sauce and corn tortillas that are known to be GF. Use an alternative thickener in place of the all-purpose flour- such as cornstarch or a GF flour blend.
  • *Suggestions for additional layers: corn, olives, feta cheese
  • *Change-it-Up: Sub canned chili beans for the pinto beans (undrained).

Nutrition

Serving: 1g, Calories: 197kcal, Carbohydrates: 26g, Protein: 12g, Fat: 5g, Saturated Fat: 3g, Cholesterol: 27mg, Sodium: 586mg, Potassium: 387mg, Fiber: 5g, Sugar: 5g, Vitamin A: 484IU, Vitamin C: 4mg, Calcium: 90mg, Iron: 2mg

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

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4.84 from 12 votes (9 ratings without comment)

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94 Comments

  1. Patti says:

    I love this casserole. I took some to a sick friend, and they all loved it. They said it was their favorite thing they received. 
    I do change it up a little. I use black beans in place of pinto and I also add corn to it. I put the tortillas on the bottom, but the next layer I put tortilla chips  and also sprinkle some on the top. It adds a nice crunch.

  2. Sherrie says:

    This is sooo good. However, I like spice so I used adobe chili powder, and chopped jalapeños. Then I topped with chopped tomatoes, shredded lettuce, chopped green onions, and a little cilantro. Omg!!

  3. Pam says:

    I live in a country tha doesn’t have sour cream so I used half yogurt and half cream cheese -came out great!

  4. Melissa says:

    Any idea if this freezes well?  And if so…  Freeze before or after cooking?

    1. Lori Lange says:

      I haven’t tried freezing it, so I’m not sure!

  5. Sarah says:

    Just made this for dinner and loved it.  My husband is a picky eater (no fruits or veggies…it’s a struggle) and doesn’t like sour cream. I made half of it with the sour cream mixture for me (yum yum yum!) and half without for him.  My half looked and tasted like a casserole and was absolutely delicious.  His side was soupy and didn’t really hold together.  He ate it, loved it and said it tasted like chili, but definitely wasn’t what we were expecting.   I didn’t think the flour/sour cream mixture would make such a big difference, but it definitely does! 

    Turns out, he liked my side of the casserole, even with the sour cream.  Go figure!

  6. Alice says:

    This was so good. I used Greek yogurt instead of sour cream, black beans instead of pintos and ground turkey. It is now my favorite Mexican dish! Thanks.

  7. Terri says:

    Just received this recipe yesterday and can’t wait to try it. Question, will the corn tortillas still be crispy when baked or do they become a little soggy due to all the other casserole ingredients?! Thanks.

    1. Lori Lange says:

      Corn tortillas don’t really get soggy, but they won’t stay firm either. They retain some of the moisture of the sauce.

  8. Kristy F says:

    I’m not a fan of sour cream. Would cream cheese work just as well in this dish? Thanks!

    1. Lori Lange says:

      not sure.

  9. J Oh says:

    Made this for dinner last week and it was good! I was lazy and didn’t use the flour and it was fine for us. Plus we had left overs for the next night.

  10. Mary says:

    Two questions – do you use the soft corn tortillas or the crispy ones? And only a half pound of ground beef? That doesn’t seem like very much……

    Trying this tonight – I hope it turns out!

    1. Lori Lange says:

      Regular corn tortillas… and yes, only 1/2 pound. Hope you like it!