Cheese Enchiladas filled with melty cheese and topped with homemade red sauce are pure comfort food. What’s even better is that they and totally easy to make and taste like they came from your favorite Mexican food restaurant!
Hey all, it’s Heather again from Heather Likes Food! Today I’m sharing with you one of my total guilty pleasures– Cheese Enchiladas! There’s just something about those soft, cheese-filled corn tortillas drenched in a homemade red enchilada sauce. They pair perfectly with a serving of Spanish Rice and a big helping of Chipotle Guacamole!
This recipe does include rolling individual enchiladas, so if you’re more of a one-pan meal type of person, try out this Chicken Enchilada Skillet to itch that enchilada craving. Otherwise, keep reading!
How To Make The Homemade Enchilada Sauce:
This recipe makes 1, 9×13″ casserole dish of enchiladas. The number of individual enchiladas will vary based on the size of corn tortillas you use. I used small corn tortillas for these pictures and made 12 enchiladas. To start, we need to make the sauce!
- Heat 3 tablespoons of oil in a non-stick skillet over medium-high heat. When the oil shimmers and is hot, add 1/3 cup of corn starch to the pan.
- Add 1/3 cup of chili powder and two teaspoons of ground cumin to the pan and stir until the cornstarch and spices are combined with the oil. Continue stirring and cooking until mixture is very fragrant– about 2 minutes.
- Pour chicken broth into the spice mixture.
- Stir and cook until no lumps remain. A whisk might come in handy here.
- Pour tomato sauce into the pan and stir until smooth, thickened and brought to a boil. Allow to boil for 1 minute.
- Stir in oregano and season to taste with salt.
How To Make Cheese Enchiladas
With the enchilada sauce made, now it’s time to assemble the cheese enchiladas!
- Spoon some enchilada sauce into a 9×13″ pan and smooth over the bottom of the pan.
- Grate cheese– I like to use a combination of Colby Jack and Queso Quesadilla (a Mexican cheese that can be found in most grocery stores).
- Dip the corn tortillas into the hot enchilada sauce until soft and transfer to a plate, one-by-one.
- Top each dipped tortilla with about 1/4 cup of cheese and roll, transferring each rolled tortilla from the plate into the baking dish.
- Once baking dish is full, spread remaining enchilada sauce over the top of the enchiladas.
- Sprinkle remaining cheese over the tops of the enchiladas and bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes or until bubbly can cheese is melted.
How Do You Keep Tortillas From Breaking When Making Enchiladas?
Tortillas break when they are not heated thoroughly. To avoid this, I dip each tortilla into the hot enchilada sauce before rolling up with the cheese.
Are Enchiladas Made With Corn Or Flour Tortillas?
Traditionally, cheese enchiladas are made with corn tortillas; however, other types of enchiladas may call for flour.
What Do You Serve With Enchiladas?
Cheese enchiladas are best served with refried beans, Spanish rice, pico de gallo, guacamole, sour cream, and maybe some shredded lettuce– just like you would get at your favorite Mexican restaurant.
Cheese Enchiladas
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons canola oil
- 1/3 cup corn starch
- 1/3 cup chili powder
- 2 teaspoons ground cumin
- 4 cups chicken broth
- 8 ounces tomato sauce
- 2 teaspoons dried oregano
- salt to taste
- 12 corn tortillas
- 5-6 cups Grated Cheese I use 1/2 Colby Jack and 1/2 Queso Quesadilla
Instructions
To Make The Enchilada Sauce
- Heat oil in a non-stick skillet over medium-high heat. When the oil shimmers and is hot, add corn starch, followed by the chili powder and ground cumin.
- Stir the mixture until the cornstarch and spices are combined with the oil. Continue stirring and cooking until mixture is very fragrant-- about 2 minutes.Â
- Pour the chicken broth into the spice mixture. Stir or whisk no lumps remain.
- Pour tomato sauce into the pan and stir until smooth, thickened and brought to a boil. Boil for 1 minute. Stir in oregano and season to taste with salt.Â
To Assemble The Enchiladas
- Spoon about 1/4 cup of the enchilada sauce into a 9x13" pan and spread over the bottom of the pan.Â
- Working one at a time, dip the corn tortillas into the hot enchilada sauce until soft and transfer to a plate. Top each dipped tortilla with about 1/4 cup of grated cheese and roll-up. Â
- Transfer each rolled tortilla from the plate into the baking dish. Â Once baking dish is full, spread remaining enchilada sauce over the top of the enchiladas and sprinkle remaining cheese over the top.
- Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes or until bubbly can cheese is melted.Â
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
This was so easy and absolutely delicious! I made it for a family birthday dinner of six. I froze the leftover sauce and made six more for my husband a couple of weeks later. Highly recommend this recipe!
My go to! I typically through in onions too.
I finally feel like I can make cheese enchiladas at home! Great recipe and super easy!! I might try adding a bit more tomato sauce but I’m super picky about cheese enchiladas and this recipe is worth making. This is yet another great recipe from The Salty Marshmallow!
FYI ..this sauce freezes well to make a quick dinner some other time!!
THANK YOU! I fell in love with cheese enchiladas, at a restaurant in Denver, when I was in junior high. Over the years I’ve ‘tweaked’ my Mom and Aunt’s recipes which have been loved by everyone I’ve served. Yet, they weren’t quite the ones I remembered and craved. These were!!! I’m in my ‘golden years’, which will let you know how long I’ve been jonesing for these! LOL. My sincerest thanks.
So I made this last night. The sauce is amazing. I had trouble with dipping the tortilla into the sauce without them breaking?? So I heated a bit of oil in a small skillet on med-high heat and put the tortillas in for a few seconds on each side. Then put the tortilla in my baking dish. Put a large spoonful of sauce on the tortilla. Put onions and cheese on next and rolled it up.I repeated this until the pan was full. Topped the pan full of enchiladas with the remaining chili sauce. I did not top with cheese at this time. I work so I wanted to be able to heat them for the next few days for dinner. So I plate two enchiladas top them with cheese added a side of black beans topped with cheese and added spanish rice. Put in a hot oven at 350 for about 15 minutes. They turned out to be SUPER!!! Thank you for sharing this recipe with me. I will use it often.
I have 3 different types of chili powder. I have the regular the Amercan version.
MC Cormicks. And. 2 other chipolte and anch. Which 1 would you recommend? I love spicy Mexican Food when you talk @ salsa, and tamales. Bit I prefer my enchilidas mild.
Hi! I think chipotle or ancho chili would be really tasty! But, if you do like your enchiladas mild, I’d go ahead with the regular version :).
This was so good! I’m spoiled forever, I can’t possibly eat store bought enchilada sauce. Thank you so much for sharing your recipe.
Can the enchiladas be frozen after cooking?
Hi! Good question. We actually haven’t tried this. But, I would say it would be best to freeze them before cooking. I don’t think they would reheat well a second time 🙂
great recipes