Beef and Bean Enchilada Bake

Prep Time15

Cook Time45

Total Time1

Servings: enchiladas

Author: Constance Smith - Cosmopolitan Cornbread

Ingredients

5 oz charp cheddar cheese shredded
½ c finely diced onion
½ green bell pepper finely diced
1 lb lean ground beef
1 Tb +1 teaspoon chili powder divided
1 teaspoon ancho chile powder
1 teaspoon chipotle chili powder
1/16 teaspoon cayenne pepper a big pinch
2 c refried beans
1 Tb extra virgin olive oil
16 oz tomato sauce
6 oz tomato paste
2 c chicken broth
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon black pepper
pinch sugar
½ c sour cream more for serving
16 small corn tortillas warmed

Instructions

To begin, shred the sharp cheddar cheese. Set it aside for now.
Dice onion and green bell pepper. These should be diced fairly small. Set them aside for now.
In a medium skillet, brown the ground beef until it is no longer pink. As it cooks, break up the beef with your spoon or spatula as much as possible – you don’t want any big chunks to make rolling your enchiladas difficult.
When the beef is no longer pink, sprinkle in a tablespoon of the chili powder, the ancho chile powder, chipotle chile powder, and cayenne pepper. Stir these thoroughly into the meat and cook for about 2 more minutes to bring out all of that gorgeous, spicy aroma.
Pour the ground beef into a mixing bowl. Add in the refried beans and stir it together. Add in half of your shredded cheese and stir that in as well. Set this mixture aside for the time being.
In the same skillet that you cooked the beef, drizzle in a tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil and add in the diced onion and pepper. Cook these on medium low heat for about 5 minutes, or until they are tender and the onion has a little color to it. Pour in the tomato sauce and add in the tomato paste.
Whisk these all together until smooth.
Pour in 2 cups of chicken broth and stir to combine.
Sprinkle in the remaining teaspoon of chili powder, the salt, black pepper, and pinch of sugar. Give it another stir.
Bring this mixture to a gentle simmer and let it bubble for about 5 minutes on low heat. You don’t want this to splatter, you just want the flavors to meld together.
Remove it from the heat and whisk in the ½ cup of sour cream.
Pour about 2/3 cup of the sauce into your beef mixture and stir it to combine.
Ladle a cup of the sauce into a 9 x 13 baking dish.
Now let your oven start heating up to 400 degrees while you put the enchiladas together.
Now for the fun part! If you have little ones at home, this is a great way to have them help you out in the kitchen. Rolling enchiladas is simple as can be.
Grab 16 small corn tortillas. You want these to be warm, so I suggest wrapping the stack in two damp paper towels and microwaving them for 45-60 seconds. Warming them up makes the tortillas more pliable so they don’t crack as you work with them.
Take a tortilla and place about ¼ cup of the beef & bean mixture lightly off center. I find that a muffin scoop works perfectly for this.
Use a spoon or little spatula and spread it into a bit of a line.
Roll the tortilla up like a cigar and place it in the baking dish, seam side down.
Do this with all of the remaining tortillas.
Spoon 2 cups of the sauce over the top of the enchiladas. Spread it around with the back of a spoon.
Sprinkle the remaining cheese all over the top.
Cover the dish with foil and bake for 30 minutes.
Serve these delicious enchiladas with additional sour cream and the remaining red sauce that you have been keeping warm on your stove.
Enjoy!

See This Recipe:

https://cosmopolitancornbread.com/beef-and-bean-enchilada-bake/

Nutrition