Enchilada Casserole

If you follow me on Instagram you might have seen that my sisters were in town over the weekend. I loved having them here and when we weren’t shopping we were cooking and eating! They all share my love of cooking and mexican food. This enchilada casserole is just one of the recipes we made over the weekend. It has a simple enchilada flavor that while warm, is not overly spicy.

The base of this casserole is a homemade enchilada sauce that simmers while you prep the other ingredients, like browning the ground beef and shredding the cheese. Like I mentioned before the sauce is warm but not spicy, so if you like a little bit of heat maybe try adding some jalapenos. Homemade refried beans would also be a delicious addition to this dish if you have some available.

I served it topped with sour cream and with a side of tortilla chips. But other good options would be lettuce, tomato, salsa, avacado, and maybe even some black olives.

Enchilada Casserole

Ingredients:

3 teaspoons olive oil
1/2 cup chopped onion or 1 tablespoon dried minced onion
2 cloves minced garlic
1/4 teaspoon sugar
2 tablespoons chili powder
2 teaspoons cumin
16 ounces tomato sauce
1 cup water
1 to 1 1/2 pounds ground beef
6-9 medium flour tortillas (I used 6 8-inch tortillas)
4 cups shredded cheddar cheese
1-2 cups refried beans

Directions:

1. Heat oil in a medium saucepan over medium-low heat and sauté onion until tender. Add garlic and cook until fragrant.
2. Add sugar, chili powder, cumin, tomato sauce and water to the saucepan and simmer covered for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
3. While the sauce is simmering, cook the ground beef in a skillet over medium-high heat, drain any excess fat.
4. Stir 1/3 of the sauce into the ground beef.
5. Spread 1/3 of the sauce on the bottom of a 9×13 baking dish.
6. Cover the sauce with a layer of tortillas that have been spread with 1/2 of the refried beans.
7. Spoon 1/2 of the meat mixture over the tortilla layer and sprinkle with 1 1/2 cups of cheese.
8. Next is another layer of tortillas that have been spread with the remaining refried beans.
9. Spoon the remaining 1/2 of the meat mixture over the tortilla layer and sprinkle with 1 1/2 cups of cheese.
10. Top with tortillas and then the remaining 1/3 of the sauce and cover with the remaining 1 cup of cheese.
11. Bake uncovered at 350 for 20 minutes or until it is heated through and the cheese is melted.

Slightly adapted from a recipe from Tiffani.