Beef Enchilada Casserole
If you are looking for a dish that is cheesy, gooey, savory, hearty, flavor packed that gives your taste buds a healing hug, this is your dish! This Beef Enchilada Casserole is filled with protein, cheese, beef, black beans, cheese and and the perfect blend of spices! The spice level is so easy to control, which makes this something that the whole family will love!
First step in meal planning is to make sure you have what you need before you need it. So, here's a grocery list of the ingredients. Take this with you to your kitchen and make sure you're all set.
This recipe was born because I wasn't as prepared as I thought, and boy am I glad I wasn't fully prepared! Plan A was to make the enchiladas from THIS RECIPE but use ground beef instead (its a super yummy protein substitute! I got all the things ready except the tortillas, I went to grab them and there weren't any......... "awesome"...... I searched around my cupboards and found 8 little corn tortillas..... eight..... *sigh*. I decided to make due with what I had and the Beef Enchilada Gods showered me with deliciousness! You'll notice that the recipe says 10 corn tortillas.... That's because I wish I had that many. Hahaha! Eight worked, but ten would have been perfect. I decided since I was using corn tortillas, I wanted to spice it up a little, so I added chili powder and cumin in with the cream cheese. GAME--CHANGER! So, SO, so good! I also added more shredded cheese because, why not!
This is a very filling casserole! We ended up with quite a bit for leftovers and I am not even mad about it. A good meal that helps stretch a penny... Don't mind if I do! The leftover/reheat abilities of this dish are amazing! I would say a solid 8.5/10 simply because its not straight out of the oven, its straight out of the microwave. **wink**
If you have looked over the recipe below and wonder why on earth I included mushrooms. I didn't add too many, they are super mild, help stretch the meat further and blend right in with the meat! This makes hiding healthy vegetables from the eyes of my picky eater so easy! Any time I can successfully hide veggies in a dish, I will. I feel like I am nearing the master level of "top secret vegetable hiding ninja".
To prepare this casserole, you'll need to layer. Below are the layers in order. You will follow the order twice, which will total 6 layers. See the recipe for detailed instructions.
SUGGESTED SIDES:
- Garden Salad
- Corn
- Spanish Rice
- Tortilla Chips and Salsa
- Green Beans
- Refried Beans and Sour Cream
- Corn Tortillas can be substituted for flour tortillas. Just cut flour tortillas so that they fit well. You won't need as many regular sized flour tortillas. If you use the street taco sized flour tortillas, you will need 10, like the recipe calls for.
- Chili powder and cumin can be subbed with 1/2 packet of taco seasoning.
- Mushrooms are optional. I just add them because they hide well in the meat and it gives my family some added nutrients.
Bon Appetit!
