How to Make Enchiladas – A Complete Guide

If you’ve ever wanted to learn how to make enchiladas, this guide has everything you need to know to make delicious enchiladas at home. 

Whether you love chicken enchiladas topped with a creamy salsa verde, spicy shredded pork enchiladas covered with an earthy red sauce, or simple ground beef enchiladas loaded with cheese, we’ve gathered all the tips, tricks, and techniques you need to make the best homemade enchiladas. 

What is an enchilada?

The history of enchiladas is the story of a dish that has evolved from the earliest days of Mexican cuisine to become a popular comfort food eaten across the United States, Mexico, and Latin America.

The origin of Mexican enchiladas started thousands of years ago, with people dipping corn tortillas in a chili sauce. The Aztecs are generally credited as being the first culture to start wrapping tortillas around other ingredients. 

The term enchilada first appeared in print during the 19th century and translates as “to season with chile.” Over time people started to fill them with vegetables, meats, and cheeses.

To help understand them better, people often ask what is the difference between burritos and enchiladas, and what’s the difference between enchiladas and chimichangas? 

There was a time when it could be said the difference was a burrito used flour tortillas and an enchilada used corn tortillas, but that doesn’t hold true anymore. As they’ve grown more popular and spread beyond their roots in Mexico, the Southwest United States, and Latin America, the types of tortillas used to make enchiladas, tacos, and burritos have evolved.  

The choice of tortillas has grown to include ones made with whole wheat, cauliflower, beetroot, all sorts of different types of corn and flour, and even some made of both corn and flour. 

Wikipedia’s take is that an authentic enchilada is a “Mexican dish consisting of a corn tortilla rolled around a filling and covered with a savory sauce.” And while that is a good historical definition, it misses the complexity of how they are made today.

Here is one way to answer the question based on how they’re currently made that tries to respect the historical importance of the dish to Mexican, Southwestern, and Tex-Mex cuisines.

Enchilada – Enchiladas are a traditional Mexican food with a corn tortilla wrapped around a cooked filling in a savory sauce. As they have grown in popularity and spread to new areas, enchiladas have become a dish with a cooked filling wrapped in a tortilla, baked in a sauce made with dried chilies, and topped with cheese. 

Burrito – A burrito is a dish with a cooked filling that also includes fresh uncooked ingredients such as lettuce, cheese, sour cream, pico de gallo, and guacamole wrapped in a large tortilla and eaten by hand without additional cooking. A wet burrito is a burrito that is covered in enchilada sauce and topped with melted cheese.

Chimichanga – A chimichanga is a dish with a cooked filling wrapped in a tortilla and deep fried.

How to make enchiladas

There are six basic steps for making enchiladas. These basic steps are fairly similar regardless of the type being made. The main variations between enchilada recipes depend on the choice of filling and sauce. Once a cook has learned these basic steps, they should be able to make hundreds of different enchilada recipes.

A simple way to think about making enchiladas is to think of it as an assembly line that starts by preparing the filling, sauce, tortillas, and other ingredients. Once the components are set, start assembling everything based on the recipe being used. 

Making the Filling

The first step in making homemade enchiladas is to make the filling. One of the best things about enchiladas, similar to tacos, is the filling is a place where cooks can be creative, mixing and matching different ingredients.

Some popular fillings include Shredded Chicken, ground beef, and pulled pork. Many recipes include some cheese with the filling when it’s wrapped. One of our favorite ways to enhance the flavor of a filling is to mix some enchilada sauce into the filling to help bring the flavors together. 

Here are a few tips for choosing ingredients. The ingredients need to be able to stand up to the initial cooking process when the filling is made and when it is baked as a part of the assembled dish. This is one reason traditional fillings try to avoid excess liquid, which can make the tortillas fall apart and turn soggy. 

Making Enchilada Sauce

There are many choices when it comes to enchilada sauce. The first is the type of sauce being used, with the most common being red or green. There are hundreds, if not thousands, of variations for red and green sauces providing cooks with lots of room to improvise and experiment. The second is whether or not to make the sauce yourself or to buy a prepared one. 

Whenever possible, make enchilada sauce from scratch. In our experience, homemade sauces are more flavorful and have a better texture than grocery store versions, which often taste tinny and can be a bit runny. 

Many enchilada sauce recipes can easily be doubled or tripled and frozen for later use without any loss of flavor.

Red Enchilada Sauce 

The traditional method for making an authentic red enchilada sauce is to use dried red chilies that are toasted, pureed, and cooked with a handful of other ingredients such as vinegar, onion, garlic, oregano, cumin, and salt. The sauce is then cooked down until it thickly coats a spoon.

The chilies used in different versions vary but often include a combination of Anaheim, Ancho, Arbol, Cascabel, Chipotle, and Guajillo.   

This Red Enchilada Sauce uses ground chilies to develop deep earthy flavors and is a great example of how simple these sauces are to make.

An area of disagreement among enchilada lovers about red sauces is if they should use tomatoes or tomato paste as a base or rely solely on chilies.

Green Enchilada Sauce

Green enchilada sauces are noted for their bright, citrusy flavors.  Green enchilada sauces are usually made from a combination of green chiles, jalapeno peppers, and tomatillos. These ingredients are often combined with onion, garlic, salt, cilantro, and lime juice.

Mole Sauce

Mole is a rich sauce made from a combination of chiles, nuts, and seeds. Moles are often noted for their rich flavors with nutty or earthy notes. In addition to being served on top of enchiladas, the sauce is often used as a braising liquid to infuse chicken, turkey, duck, or pork. 

Some other typical enchilada sauces include ranchero and chili con queso.

There are no hard and fast rules for enchiladas, which is demonstrated best in New Mexico, where it’s common to order the enchiladas of your choice Christmas style, which includes a combination of red and green sauces.

The simplest way to pair sauces and fillings is to pick a sauce or filling you’re in the mood for and then pick the other based on complementary flavors.

Preparing Tortillas for Enchiladas

One of the most common questions cooks have is how to prepare tortillas. The question is rooted in the age-old debate about what type of tortilla to use – corn or flour.

After reading hundreds of enchilada recipes as part of the research for this piece, a pattern started to appear. The closer the writer lived to the Southwest, Texas, or Mexico, the firmer they were in their convictions that only corn should be used.

While writers from other areas were much more likely to recommend flour while acknowledging the traditional role of corn, much of the discussion around using flour was about how messy it was to fry corn tortillas and how they can fall apart during the cooking process.

Another thing that stood out was how many of the writers recommending flour mentioned learning the recipe they were writing about from a parent or grandparent, demonstrating how enchiladas continue to evolve as they spread to new areas and how the debate about corn or flour is often rooted in how a person came to love enchiladas.

Corn Tortillas 

The traditional way to prepare corn tortillas is to lightly fry them in oil before adding the filling and rolling them up. It’s often said that all a cook should do is pass the tortilla through the oil. Done well, it concentrates the flavor of the corn, adding another dimension. It can also be messy and make the enchiladas taste greasy.

The best way we’ve found to prepare corn tortillas is to lightly toast them in a nonstick pan over medium heat. Once the pan has come to temperature, spray it with cooking spray and lightly toast the corn tortillas for 20 to 30 seconds per side.

Similar to frying them in oil, this warms them enough to hold them together while baking and improves the tortillas by giving them more of a toasted corn flavor. It’s a much simpler process than frying them while still providing the pliability needed for assembly and enhancing flavor.

In our search for a more straightforward way to prepare corn tortillas, we tried several ways of microwaving and warming them in the oven. All the tests resulted in them falling apart when they were filled and tasting somewhat mushy.

Flour Tortillas

Flour tortillas have become a popular option, in part because they are easier to work with than corn. A quick search of the top ten chicken enchilada recipes in Google shows that five of the top ten specifically recommend using flour, three recommend using either, and only two recommend using corn. 

The major knock against flour is they are less flavorful than corn and can taste gummy. As tortilla agnostics, we must say that well-prepared corn tortillas are more flavorful than good flour ones. But a poorly prepared corn tortilla is much worse than a poorly prepared flour one. 

A simple way to enhance the flavor of flour tortillas is to lightly toast them in a nonstick pan, following the same recommendations for corn. 

However, the simplest way to prep flour tortillas is to microwave them. Heating them makes them more pliable and easier to roll or fold up. 

We usually warm stacks of 8 to 10 tortillas by microwaving them for 25 to 30 seconds, then flipping the whole stack over and microwaving them for another 25 to 30 seconds. Flipping them halfway through means they warm evenly and don’t need to be covered with a damp paper towel.

Assembling Everything

Once the filling, sauce, and tortillas are ready, it’s time to assemble the enchiladas. Preparing everything before assembly means that the tortillas spend very little time in the sauce before being baked, which improves texture and prevents sogginess.

The most common method for assembling enchiladas involves spreading some of the sauce on the bottom of a baking dish that has been lightly prepared using cooking spray. This keeps the tortillas from sticking to the bottom of the dish.

Depending on the type and size of the tortillas, they can either be rolled or folded. Rolling them is the best method for smaller and corn tortillas. 

Rolling Tortillas

Rolling the tortillas involves placing the filling on one end and rolling it up. The rolled tortillas should be placed with the seam facing the bottom of the baking dish to keep it from unrolling.

Some recipes call for dipping the tortilla in the sauce or spooning a little sauce onto the inside before adding the filling. Spooning can be nice to hold everything together while dipping just creates a mess.

Step By Step 

1. Place a couple of spoonfuls of filling on the lower third of the tortilla. How much and whether there are other ingredients will vary by recipe.
2. Take the bottom edge and roll it up over the filling. The tortillas should be rolled tightly.
3. Place the filled tortilla into the baking dish with the seam facing the bottom to prevent it from coming undone.

Folding Tortillas 

Folding is a technique where the edges of the tortilla are folded over the filling, sealing everything inside. It’s a technique that works well with larger flour ones and fillings that like to spill out.

Step by Step

1. Place a scoop of the filling in the center of the tortilla, and top it with cheese and any other ingredients.
2. Fold it over the filling and pull it back on the top to consolidate everything.
3. Fold the edges towards the center and flip the package over, sealing the filling inside.
4. Place the enchilada with the folded side down in a prepared baking dish.

How to Cook Enchiladas

The most common method for cooking enchiladas is to bake them in a 350℉ (177℃) oven for 20 to 25 minutes. The amount of time and the temperature will vary by recipe, but baking is important to bring the flavors together.

While they bake, the flavors in the sauce, tortillas, and filling meld together, with the tortillas’ texture changing as the sauce bakes in, this transformation is what separates an enchilada from a wet burrito. 

It also provides time for the cheese in the filling and the cheese on the top to melt and turn a golden brown.

Top and Serve

Once the enchiladas have finished cooking, it’s time to serve them. Some of the most popular toppings include crema, sour cream, guacamole, and pico de gallo. 

Additional toppings can include finely minced cilantro, red, white, or green onion, often diced or served as round slices. Other typical toppings include slices of avocado, which can help balance spicer sauces, jalapenos, and olives.

Many people like to serve salsas or hot sauce on the side to let people adjust the heat and add their own flavors.

Frequently Asked Questions About Enchiladas

Enchilada Ingredients

The following is a brief description of common ingredients that include fillings and cheeses.

Fillings

The secret to a delicious enchilada filling is to pick ingredients whose flavors and textures complement each other and the sauce.

Chicken 

Chicken enchiladas often use sauteed or slow-cooked chicken that has been shredded. The Shredded Chicken is often paired with a green enchilada sauce and shredded cheese that melts well like Monterey Jack. Our favorite enchilada recipe is these Shredded Chicken Enchiladas with Salsa Verde.

Beef

There are many different ways to prepare beef enchiladas. One of the more popular is ground beef paired with a red enchilada sauce and a good melting cheese. This easy recipe for Ground Beef Enchiladas uses a homemade red sauce with a deep earthy flavor and just the right amount of heat.

Other common ways to prepare beef enchiladas include barbacoa, where the beef is slow-cooked and shredded, or cuts like flank steak that are grilled and served on top of cheese and onion enchiladas. 

Pork

Pork enchiladas can be made with traditional Mexican pork fillings such as chorizo, Carnitas, or Al Pastor. A good Pulled Pork or smoked pork will work once the pork has been shredded. 

Turkey

The two most common turkey preparations include shredded leftover turkey as a filling or seasoned ground turkey. These Ground Turkey Enchiladas combine ground turkey with pinto beans and a homemade red sauce for a healthier, more sustainable take on enchiladas.

Seafood

Seafood enchiladas are often made with shrimp and crab and served with a sour cream-based sauce and lots of melted cheese. There are also lots of versions that use different types of fish and lobster.

Vegetable 

An entire list could be devoted to the different types of vegetable-based enchilada fillings. A few of our favorite combinations include beans with roasted squash, cheese with roasted chilies, and roasted cauliflower with a fresh salsa verde.

The Best Cheeses for Enchiladas

So many cheeses are used in enchiladas that it’s impossible to say which is the best. The simplest thing to do when choosing a cheese is to choose one that compliments the filling and sauce being used and adds the right texture to the final dish.

Here is a breakdown of some of the most common cheeses used in enchiladas. For cooks who like to play with different cheeses, we’ve broken them down by whether or not they are good at melting or better at crumbling.

Melting Cheeses

Monetary Jack – One of the most popular cheeses used for enchiladas, this soft white cheese excels at melting. It has a number of variations, such as pepper jack, that include different types of chilis that add flavor and texture.

Asadero – is a white, semisoft version of Oaxaca cheese that melts well and is sometimes marketed as queso quesadilla.

Cheddar – Originating in England, cheddar is a relatively firm cheese that is often orange in color, melts well, and is regularly included in bags of shredded cheese that in the States are labeled as Mexican shredded cheese and are intended for use in enchiladas, tacos, and burritos.

Oaxaca is a popular Mexican cheese stretched and rolled similarly to mozzarella. It melts well and is often used in quesadillas. 

Crumbling Cheeses

Cotija – A firm cows’ milk cheese protected by Mexican law. Cotija is well known for its salty flavor and crumbly texture. It’s often grated over the top of enchiladas to provide a contrast in flavor and textures to rich fillings. Parmesan is a good substitute.

Queso Fresca – A fresh unaged cheese with mild flavors that balances well with spicier food. When heated, the texture becomes somewhat spongy and rubbery. It is often included in enchilada fillings. Mild feta will work as a substitute.

Storing & Reheating Enchiladas

Here is some general information on storing and reheating enchiladas. Most recipes will have recommendations specific to that recipe.

Most fillings can be made several days ahead of time, but it does depend on the recipe and the ingredients in the filling. The enchiladas themselves should be assembled right before they are baked and served. This helps to prevent issues like gummy tortillas.

In general, leftover enchiladas will keep in an airtight container for 4 to 6 days in the refrigerator. They can be reheated in a 350℉ (177℃) oven for 12 to 24 minutes, depending on the filling and the number of enchiladas being reheated.

A tip when reheating is to place them on a baking sheet and sprinkle some additional cheese over the top. Using a baking sheet versus a baking dish helps the moisture escape so the tortillas reheat properly. Adding fresh cheese helps them look and taste like they were cooked for the first time.

Most enchiladas will keep in the freezer for 3 to 4 months if they are placed in a freezer-safe container and defrosted in the refrigerator before being baked.

What to serve with Enchiladas

Here are a few side dishes that pair well with enchiladas. Simple to make, this Instant Pot Mexican Rice is a delicious twist on the classic. 

We love to cook with dried chilies; one of our favorite combinations is to pair them with Pinto Beans in a dish that can also be used as a filling. 

Guacamole is incredibly delicious when made with fresh avocados and served as a topping alongside some freshly made Pico De Gallo and crunchy chips.

When pairing enchiladas and drinks, we’re suckers for a Classic Margarita made with fresh squeezed lime juice or smokey Mezcal Margaritas made with a homemade Sour Mix. 

We also like to serve refreshing Cuba Librés and a pitcher or two of ice-cold Fresh Squeezed Lemonade.