These Easy Beef Enchiladas are a wonderful, family-friendly dinner.  Watch the video showing you how to make Easy Beef Enchiladas, then scroll down to the bottom of this post and print out the recipe so you can make them at home.

two beef enchiladas on a white plate with avocado and cilantro garnish- set on a striped placemat

How to Make Easy Beef Enchiladas:

ground beef in a skillet

Heat oil in a large skillet, and add a pound of ground beef.

cooking ground beef in a skillet

Break the meat apart and let it brown.

cooked ground beef in a skillet tipped to show collected oil in the pan

Tilt the pan to let the oil pool along the edge of the pan. Use a spoon to scoop out the oil and get rid of it. You don’t need any of that extra fat in there. Remove the meat to a bowl.

sauteing zucchini and onion in a skillet

Add chopped onion and finely chopped zucchini to the hot skillet, and cook until the vegetables are slightly softened. Trust me on the zucchini. No one in your family will even notice it, and it’s really good in this Easy Beef Enchiladas recipe! If you hate it, I suppose you could leave it out… but I hope you’ll choose to trust me 🙂

cooked ground beef, zucchini and onion in a white bowl

Add the vegetables to the bowl with the beef and stir them together.

pouring enchilada sauce into a pyrex casserole dish

Add 1/2 cup enchilada sauce to a 13×9-inch pan. I make homemade enchilada sauce… SO good… and SO much better than the metallic-can tasting stuff. It’s simple to make.

enchilada sauce in a pyrex rectangular casserole dish

Tilt the pan to swirl the sauce around and make sure it coats the entire bottom of the pan.

ingredients for beef enchiladas- filling, cheese and flour tortillas

Assembly time! You’ll need corn tortillas, the meat/veggie mixture, cheddar-jack cheese and enchilada sauce. Note that in the photos, I am using a corn-flour blend tortilla.  You can use any tortillas you want!

assembling beef enchiladas with filling on top of a flour tortilla

Spoon the beef mixture down the middle of a tortilla.

flour tortilla with beef enchilada filling and cheese on top

Sprinkle some cheese on top.

flour tortilla with beef enchilada filling, cheese and hot sauce on top

And drizzle about one tablespoon of the enchilada sauce on top of the filling.

rolled beef enchiladas in a casserole dish

Roll up the stuffed tortilla tightly and place seam-side-down in the sauce-coated pan. Continue with all of the tortillas until you have created 12 enchiladas.

pouring enchilada sauce onto assembled beef enchiladas in a casserole dish

Drizzle the remaining sauce on top of the rolled-up enchiladas.

beef enchiladas in a casserole dish ready for the oven

Spread the sauce around so you get a nice coating all along the top of these Easy Beef Enchiladas. At this point, you’re going to cover the dish with foil and bake for 30 minutes.

beef enchiladas in a casserole dish ready for the oven

Take the enchiladas out of the oven, remove the foil cover and sprinkle cheese on top. Put them back into the oven to melt all that cheese.

baked beef enchiladas just out of the oven

Just like that.

two beef enchiladas on a white plate with avocado and cilantro garnish- set on a striped placemat

Ready for eating!

two beef enchiladas on a white plate with avocado and cilantro garnish - on a striped placemat

Serve these Easy Beef Enchiladas with whatever you’d like. I served them on a simple bed of shredded iceberg lettuce with some freshly sliced avocado. My husband added a generous spoonful of sour cream. And my kiddo– one who would never, ever willingly eat zucchini if it were placed in front of him– ate this meal as-is and with great enthusiasm. Apparently he didn’t spy the zucchini in the midst of all of that wonderful sauce and cheese.

If you’re looking for recipes to serve with these Easy Beef Enchiladas, try my Mango Guacamole or this Enchilada RiceMexican Chopped Salad and Seasoned Black Beans are also delicious choices!

two beef enchiladas on a white plate with avocado and cilantro garnish- set on a striped placemat
5 from 16 votes

Easy Beef Enchiladas

This family friendly dinner recipe is sure to be a hit!
Prep: 30 minutes
Cook: 5 minutes
Total: 35 minutes
Servings: 6 servings (2 per serving)
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Ingredients

  • 1 tablespoon canola or vegetable oil
  • 16 ounces lean ground beef
  • cups finely diced onion
  • cups finely diced zucchini (about 2 medium)
  • 12 taco-size corn tortillas (heated or fried to soften)
  • cups enchilada sauce (canned or homemade)
  • 3 cups shredded cheddar-jack cheese
  • serve as desired with lettuce, sour cream, avocado, etc.

Instructions 

  • Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a 9x13-inch pan with nonstick spray.
  • Heat oil in a large, nonstick skillet. Add the ground beef; break apart with a spoon or spatula to crumble the meat. Saute the meat on medium heat until browned (about 5 minutes). Tilt the pan and spoon the fat out of the pan; discard. Remove the cooked meat to a bowl.
  • Return the pan to medium heat, and add the onion and zucchini. Saute until just softened, 3 to 4 minutes. Remove the vegetables from the pan and add to the meat mixture; set aside.
  • Add 1/2 cup of sauce to the prepared pan. Spread it around so it coats the entire bottom of the pan.
  • Assemble the enchiladas: Place a tortilla on a work surface. Spoon 1/4 to 1/3 cup of the meat mixture down the middle. Sprinkle 2 tablespoons of cheese on top of the meat. Drizzle 1 tablespoon of sauce on top. Wrap the tortilla around the filling tightly and place it seam-side-down in the pan. Repeat with remaining tortillas and filling until you have finished filling 12 tortillas. Place the tortillas side-by-side in the pan- it's okay if they are all snuggled in there tightly.
  • Pour the remaining enchilada sauce over the top of the stuffed enchiladas. Cover the dish with foil and bake for 30 minutes.
  • Remove the pan from the oven and take off the foil. Sprinkle the remaining cheese on top; return to the oven and let the cheese melt (about 5 minutes).  Serve immediately with desired condiments.

Notes

  • *I like to use tortillas for this recipe that are a corn/flour blend.  They're easy to roll (they don't break), and you don't need to fry them!
  • *If you are preparing this recipe as GLUTEN-FREE, just make sure that you are using brands of enchilada sauce and corn tortillas that are designated as GF
  • *Be sure to check out my recipe for homemade enchilada sauce.

Nutrition

Serving: 1serving (2 enchiladas), Calories: 456kcal, Carbohydrates: 38g, Protein: 35g, Fat: 18g, Saturated Fat: 10g, Cholesterol: 81mg, Sodium: 1378mg, Potassium: 549mg, Fiber: 5g, Sugar: 9g, Vitamin A: 1055IU, Vitamin C: 10.5mg, Calcium: 705mg, Iron: 3.3mg

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

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5 from 16 votes (1 rating without comment)

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224 Comments

  1. Nikki says:

    So, if you don’t like using canned enchilada sauce because you think it’s bad for you, then why do you use canned tomato sauce in your “homemade” enchilada sauce? You should make your own tomato sauce then. Just saying…

    1. Lori Lange says:

      didn’t say it was bad for you… I just don’t care for the metallic taste that canned enchilada sauce has. I don’t mind the canned tomato sauce, but you can certainly try making your own!

  2. kelly says:

    Been making this recipe foe the last 1.5 years (with your enchilada sauce recipe). It has quickly become the household favorite and also one we bring to friends with new babies! Love it. Thanks so much for sharing!!

    1. Lori Lange says:

      You’re welcome!

  3. Howayda Negm says:

    Thanks for sharing this , never ate it before , looks so tasty , will try it for sure 🙂

  4. Sandy A says:

    I made these last night and they were amazing! You are right about the zuccini. I made 3lbs of meat b/c we like having a Mexican feast, and I needed some for tacos. I used the zuccini in all of it and no one even noticed. By far the best Mexican food recipe I have ever found. Thanks for helping me channel my inner mejicana.

  5. Penny says:

    No seasonings? No salt, pepper, or taco seasoning?

    1. Lori Lange says:

      Not needed since the sauce is well seasoned.

  6. Michelle Gates says:

    Great recipe. The sauce I picked over powered everything else. Suggestions please.

    1. Lori Lange says:

      Make homemade sauce!

  7. Kelly says:

    Absolutely delicious! Made it tonight, kids loved it and so did us adults!
    This will now be my go to enchilada recipe! We also substituted ground elk as I had it on hand. Yum!

    1. Lori Lange says:

      wow, Elk! What a neat idea!

  8. Maureen says:

    Looks yummy. However, the tortillas in the picture are flour tortillas not corn tortillas. Corn tortillas require a cooking step of their own.

    1. Lori Lange says:

      Check out the tip in the recipe itself- I explain about the tortillas- this brand is a corn/flour blend (which makes it perfect for bending without breakage when you make enchiladas).

  9. Van P says:

    arrived at this site searching for beef enchiladas recipes..so happy I did! Made this for family and they absolutely LOVED. Like others, my corn tortillas fell apart (I didn’t have to time to warm up on stove top) so I layered tortillas (instead of rolled up-a la casserole style) but did everything else the same (with dollop of sour cream and more shredded cheddar for garnish)… SO good. This is a keeper! (even extremely picky 7yo son ate the zucchini!)

  10. cynthia says:

    It looks great! I can’t wait to try it.
    By the way, I love zuchinni 🙂