Enchiladas Con Carne

Name: Beef Enchiladas
Total time: 1 h 30 min
Yield: 4 to 6 servings
Cuisine: southwestern
Ingredients: 1/2 cup all-purpose flour; 2 tablespoons neutral oil, like canola; 1 pound ground chuck beef, ideally 20 percent fat; Kosher salt and ground black pepper, to taste; 1 medium white onion, peeled and chopped; 2 cloves garlic, peeled and minced; 1 jalapeño pepper or more to taste, seeds removed if you want it less spicy, stemmed and chopped; 1 cup chopped or canned crushed tomatoes; 3 tablespoons chile powder; 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin; 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano, ideally Mexican; 2 cups chicken stock, ideally homemade or low-sodium if store-bought; 1/2 cup neutral oil, like canola; 12 yellow corn tortillas; 3 cups shredded Cheddar cheese, or a mixture of 1 1/2 cups Cheddar cheese and 1 1/2 cups American cheese, like Velveeta; 1 medium-size white onion, peeled and chopped (optional)

By Sam Sifton

Updated Jan. 11, 2023

Enchiladas Con Carne — Melina Hammer for The New York Times

Total Time: 1½ hours
Rating: 5(3,506)
Comments: Read comments

There are a few cool tricks to this recipe, one of which I picked up from an old issue of Bon Appétit, one I learned from Robb Walsh, the great Tex-Mex scholar and restaurateur who runs El Real Tex-Mex in Houston, and a final one I learned by happenstance. First, for the thickening agent in the chile sauce, toast raw all-purpose flour in a pan until it is nutty and golden brown, then reserve it to stir in with the browned beef later in the recipe. Second, if you like truly melty cheese in the classic Tex-Mex tradition, use a mixture of American cheese, like Velveeta, with the Cheddar you use inside and on top of the finished enchiladas. Finally, if you’re fearful that a casserole of cheese, chili and fried tortillas may be a little rich for dinner, serve it with a bowl of tomatillo pineapple salsa on the side. The acidity provides a nice balance. (Note also that as with all recipes, but particularly this one, some planning and practice can get the preparation down to 60 minutes.)

Featured in: Enchiladas Are the Saucy, Cheesy Addition to Your Dinner Table

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Ingredients

Yield:4 to 6 servings

For the Chili Con Carne

½cup all-purpose flour
2tablespoons neutral oil, like canola
1pound ground chuck beef, ideally 20 percent fat
Kosher salt and ground black pepper, to taste
1medium white onion, peeled and chopped
2cloves garlic, peeled and minced
1jalapeño pepper or more to taste, seeds removed if you want it less spicy, stemmed and chopped
1cup chopped or canned crushed tomatoes
3tablespoons chile powder
½teaspoon ground cumin
½teaspoon dried oregano, ideally Mexican
2cups chicken stock, ideally homemade or low-sodium if store-bought

For the Enchiladas

½cup neutral oil, like canola
12yellow corn tortillas
3cups shredded Cheddar cheese, or a mixture of 1½ cups Cheddar cheese and 1½ cups American cheese, like Velveeta
1medium-size white onion, peeled and chopped (optional)

Ingredient Substitution Guide

Preparation

Step 1
Prepare the chili con carne: Put flour in a large sauté pan set over medium-high heat. Cook, stirring frequently, until it begins to turn golden brown and smell nutty, then pour it onto a plate to cool.
Step 2
Wipe out sauté pan and return it to high heat with 2 tablespoons oil. When oil is hot and shimmery, add ground beef to pan, and cook, breaking it up with a fork and stirring, until it is well browned, about 12 to 15 minutes. Season with salt and pepper, then use a slotted spoon to remove meat to a bowl, leaving drippings behind.
Step 3
Add onion, garlic and jalapeño to pan and cook, stirring to scrape up any browned bits of meat, for 10 to 12 minutes, or until vegetables are soft. Stir in tomatoes and cook until their liquid has evaporated, then add chile powder, cumin and oregano and stir to combine. After a minute or so, when mixture begins to turn fragrant, return browned meat to pan, along with toasted flour, and stir well to combine.
Step 4
Lower heat to medium-high and slowly stir in chicken stock, ½ cup at a time, until mixture has thickened and started to simmer. Lower heat again and allow chili to cook slowly for 45 minutes to 1 hour, until meat is tender. Add more stock or water if needed. Use immediately, or let cool, cover and refrigerate for up to a few days.
Step 5
When you are ready to cook the enchiladas, heat oven to 425 degrees. In a medium sauté pan set over medium-high heat, heat ½ cup neutral oil until it begins to shimmer. Using tongs or a wide spatula, place a tortilla in the hot fat; it should start to bubble immediately. Heat tortilla for about 10 seconds a side, until soft and lightly browned. Remove tortilla and set on a rack set over a baking pan, or just on a baking pan if you don’t have a rack. Repeat with remaining tortillas, working quickly.
Step 6
Assemble the enchiladas: Using a ladle, put about ½ cup chili in the bottom of a 9-by-13-inch baking pan and spread it out a little. Roll a few tablespoons of cheese into each tortilla, along with a tablespoon or so of chili, then place it seam-side down in the pan, nestling each one against the last. Ladle remaining chili over top of rolled tortillas and sprinkle with remaining cheese.
Step 7
Transfer to oven and bake until sauce bubbles and cheese is melted, about 10 to 15 minutes. Sprinkle chopped onions over the top, if using, and serve immediately.

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Ratings

5 out of 5

3,506 user ratings

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Comments

Marlys7 years ago

No,no,no! Velveeta is not American cheese! It is not even a cheese food. It is the lowest form of cheese, cheese spread(?), then comes imitation cheese. Please do not go to all the splendid work of making your own chili, then ruin it with a psuedo cheese. Pasturized processed American is as low as you should go in the search for melting. Mixing with cheddar of your choice should give you a terrific flavor you can serve over and over.

gale7 years ago

Try either brushing tortillas with oil, lay on sheet pan individually and baking until soft or the method in the recipe but only cooking every other one, laying a raw tortilla in between which gets softened in the residual heat. Less fussing with hot oil on the range top and they get cooked further in the oven. Gracias to my abuela.

KW7 years ago

Maybe blasphemous, but to speed things way up for a weeknight meal, you can just lay out the flat tortillas and layer chili and cheese a la lasagna. You can use spray oil on the tortillas, and/or brush oil on the top layer of tortillas. Once it's baked the difference in appearance is small, and in taste not at all. And if you don't like raw onions, put them on top before baking.

Bobby2 days ago

I doubled the recipe and made 2 batches: one with corn tortillas and the other with flour tortillas. Both were delicious!

MB2 weeks ago

Delish! I added a few good glugs of a Mexican style hot sauce for extra heat and acidity and toasted the tortillas in lard rather than oil. Next time I’ll halve the flour and use less fat for toasting the tortillas.

Laura1 month ago

I halved the flour based on comments and it was still very gummy with 2 full cups of broth. The 3T of chili powder also seemed excessive. Would not make again, and likely throwing away leftovers.

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