Simple homemade Beef Enchiladas are full of Mexican comfort food flavors. This recipe includes a quick homemade red enchilada sauce and an easy ground beef filling that’s ready for the oven in 30 minutes. 

Beef Enchiladas in a ceramic baking dish.

Enchiladas originate in Mexico where people have been wrapping corn tortillas around fillings since Mayan times. You’ll find there are a wide variety of preparations, fillings, and sauces out there. This version uses corn tortillas that are filled with a mixture of ground beef, onion, chiles, and spices. Add in a little cheese and it’s smothered with a simple red chili powder enchilada sauce. This is a popular preparation that comes from Northern Mexico and the American Southwest.

Can I use store bought enchilada sauce?

This recipe calls for a quick homemade red enchilada sauce. It is super easy to make enchilada sauce at home and takes less than 10 minutes, but if you’d like, you can always use a store bought can. You’ll need one 15 ounce can, or about 2 cups.

Vegetable broth being poured into a pot full of enchilada sauce ingredients.
Ground Beef Enchilada Filling in a stainless steel pan on the stove.
Dipping tortilla into enchilada sauce
Beef Enchilada Filling with Cheese

Can I use flour tortillas instead of corn tortillas?

Traditionally, enchiladas are made with corn tortillas, but you can also use flour tortillas if you’d like. The texture will be softer than when prepared with corn tortillas. No heating of the tortillas will be necessary.