Lazy Enchiladas

Can you make this ahead of time?

These lazy enchiladas reheat well and store in the fridge perfect for busy weeknights. Whether you’re running to soccer practice or coming home from a long day at the office, these delicious enchiladas leftovers can go directly in the microwave and will taste even better the next day. 

You can prep your meat the night before and toss everything together last minutes for a meal in under 30 minutes. Or you can cook the dish the night before and reheat in the oven covered in foil at 375 degrees Fahrenheit for 20 minutes until heated through. 

How to make this gluten and dairy free

Substitute with your favorite dairy free cheese shreds and gluten free tortillas. Violife has a great dairy free cheese shred and Mission also makes a gluten free tortilla option. 

Ingredients and Substitutes:

Ground Beef: you can easily swap ground beef with ground turkey or ground chicken. To make this recipe even quicker of a prep, use store bought rotisserie chicken. 

Enchilada Sauce: you can use your favorite enchilada sauce brand or homemade enchilada sauce. Red or green will both work great! I like using Mild Old El Paso Red Enchilada Sauce. 

Diced Green Chilies & Taco Seasonings: omit green chilies as needed. For this recipe you can use the seasonings listed or your favorite store bought or homemade taco seasoning. Homemade taco seasoning is a great macro friendly, low to no sugar option.

Cheese: lower the fat with reduced fat Mexican cheese. You can also use dairy free cheese to make this recipe dairy free. 

Flour Tortillas: my favorite tortillas for this recipe are Mission Flour Tortillas. They stay perfectly soft while baking and only crisp up on the edges. This recipe uses the standard size tortilla, not small taco size and not large huge burritos. One tortilla is 140 calories (4 P / 24 C / 3 F). Swap with your favorite flour tortillas or gluten friendly option. You can use carb smart tortillas or gluten free tortillas. The macros will change. 

Toppings: top with sliced black olives, chopped cilantro, red onion and sour cream. You can also top with Greek Yogurt in place of sour cream for added protein. 

Step by Step Instructions:

Step 1

Prep and Pre Heat: Pre heat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. In a pan over medium brown ground beef and break into small pieces. Mix all seasonings in a small bowl and add water. Mix together to create a paste. Once the beef is almost cooked through, add the seasoning paste and green chilies to the beef and mix well to combine.

Step 2

Prep baking dish: Spray a 9 x 13 inch baking dish with non stick spray. Add a thin layer of enchilada sauce to the bottom to help the tortillas avoid sticking to the pan.

Step 3

Layer enchiladas: Layer enchiladas. 2 tortillas over the enchilada sauce, half the ground beef spread evenly over the tortillas, half the remaining enchilada sauce, half the cheese. Repeat. You will end up with cheese on the top. 

Step 4

Bake: Once you have used all the ingredients in two layers. Add the dish to the oven and bake for 25 minutes until bubbly with slightly crispy edges. Cut through the tortillas and serve. 

Step 5

Serve: Each serving is roughly 231 grams. Garnish with desired toppings.

What to serve with enchiladas

These lazy enchiladas are great as a stand alone meal, however you can add traditional side dishes like beans and rice or my Easy Spanish Rice.

If you like this recipe be sure to check out some of our other easy meals!

• Easy Vegetable Quiche
• Pizza Mac and Cheese
• Sesame Ginger Chicken Pita