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    Home » Recipes » Main Courses with Meat

    This site contains affiliate links to various websites, including Amazon.com. read more

    How to Make Traditional Beef or Chicken Enchiladas at Home

    Published: May 1, 2013 · Modified: Mar 24, 2025 by Audrey · This post may contain affiliate links.

    Jump to Recipe Print Recipe
    Homemade Beef or Chicken Enchiladas are made from scratch, including the sauce and tortillas. So good you won't mind the extra effort.

    These Beef Enchiladas were a special treat growing up. I am not going to lie to you, they are a bit of work since everything is from scratch including the filling, sauce and tortillas. No prepackaged stuff here! But they are so delicious you won't mind the extra effort.

    plate of red enchiladas with other Mexican foods.

    You can speed things up by using store bought tortillas, just heat them a little before trying to roll them. For chicken, substitute thickly sliced boneless chicken breasts or thighs and shred with a fork before serving. For cheese enchiladas, omit the meat filling and add shredded Monterey Jack (or your favorite cheese).

    You can serve these with our Margaritas or Michaeladas for the grown ups or some Jamaica (Berry Hibiscus Tea) for a non alcoholic refresher.

    Enchiladas for Cinco de Mayo

    First, let's clear up the misconception that Cinco de Mayo is Mexican Independence Day. That is September 16. Cinco de Mayo marks the anniversary of the unlikely victory of the Mexican Army over the French at the Battle of Puebla in 1862.

    This recipe is from my grandmother. Nope, not the Texan, the one of FRENCH heritage. Yup, here's a French woman's recipe for Enchiladas for Cinco de Mayo. Well, I thought it was funny!

    plate of red enchiladas with other Mexican foods.

    Recipe

    Print Recipe Pin Recipe

    Ingredients
     

    FILLING

    • 2 pound ground beef (or thickly sliced boneless chicken)
    • ½ - ¾ cup onion (chopped)
    • 3 cloves garlic (minced)
    • 14 ½ ounce can of tomatoes
    • 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
    • 2 dashes pepper sauce
    • 1 tablespoon chili powder

    GRAVY

    • 1 quart beef or chicken stock ( )
    • 4 cloves garlic (minced)
    • 1 teaspoon black pepper
    • 1 teaspoon chili powder
    • cornstarch (as needed)

    TORTILLAS

    • 1 cup cornmeal
    • 1 cup flour
    • 5 tablespoons cornstarch
    • 1 teaspoon salt
    • 2 eggs
    • 2 cups milk
    • 2 tablespoons olive oil

    For Serving

    • grated Monterey Jack cheese or cojita cheese (optional)
    • chopped olives (optional)
    • fresh cilantro (optional)

    Instructions
     

    Filling

    • Brown the ground meat (or chicken) and drain off the fat. Add the onion and garlic and sauté until they are translucent. Add the other ingredients and simmer for one hour.

    Gravy

    • While the filling is cooking, simmer all gravy ingredients for half an hour and thicken with cornstarch.

    Tortillas

    • While the filling and gravy are cooking, mix and sift cornmeal, flour, cornstarch and salt. Beat eggs until light. Add milk and oil. Beat into dry ingredients. Pour into a pitcher.
    • Heat 8-inch skillet and cover bottom with oil or cooking spray. Pour 3 tablespoons of batter into center of skillet. Grasp handle and twist and turn until bottom of skillet is evenly covered with batter. Flip when light brown. Store cooked tortilla between paper towels until all are cooked. Oil or spray pan between tortillas.

    Assembling the Enchiladas

    • Dip each tortilla in gravy and fill generously with meat sauce. Roll with the ends on bottom. Place on individual serving plates. Cover enchilada with gravy and sprinkle with Monterey jack cheese and chopped ripe or stuffed green olives.

    Until next time, happy eating.
    ~Audrey

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    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. ClewisWrites

      May 01, 2013 at 1:38 pm

      Those sound delish! I think I'm going have to try that recipe soon!

      Reply
    2. thejennyevolution

      May 08, 2013 at 9:56 am

      What a party last week on Friday Flash Blog! Thanks for joining us. I hope you’ve visited some of the other community members and you're having a splendid week.

      Jennifer
      thejennyevolution.com

      Reply

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    audrey humaciu in kitchen

    Welcome, I'm Audrey, an avid "maker" that believes home made is better.

    Whether it's cooking, crafting, gardening, home décor, even blog design, I love getting my hands dirty and trying new things... even if I make a mess in the process.

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