Slow Cooker Beef Enchiladas

In the mood for Mexican food? Make Slow Cooker Beef Enchiladas in the crockpot filled with tender shredded beef, corn, and black beans then topped with cheese and a homemade enchilada sauce.

More often than not, I’m usually making some form of Mexican food (or Tex Mex) at home.

Usually it’s steak fajitas, air fryer chicken fajitas, or chicken fajita salad.

Other times it’s these Slow Cooker Beef Enchiladas with a homemade enchilada sauce.

I’ve been making crockpot enchiladas for the past 10+ years with my fajita seasoning.

My mom loves them, so she usually requests them for dinner. Usually it’s chicken enchiladas, but this time it’s shredded beef enchiladas.

So there isn’t any confusion, crockpot beef enchiladas refers to cooking the beef chuck roast on low and slow. You still need to assemble and bake them in the oven, but at least cooking the meat is hands off.

Although I usually make a big 13×9 pan for family, 95 percent of the time I cook for myself, so I’m bringing you my scaled down easy beef enchiladas for two.

I recently saw a enchilada for two recipe that literally made two enchiladas.

As much as I’m a huge fan about smaller portions, sometimes it’s simply not realistic. I can eat 2-3 enchiladas myself, let alone sharing with another person.

Even with homemade Spanish rice as a side, I’d still be hungry.

That’s why mine makes 6 small enchiladas, which is ideally 3 per person. I like to call my recipes realistic dinners for two.

Of course if you do want a smaller serving size, you can easily cut the recipe in half.

With cinco de mayo coming up in a few days, you make this shredded beef enchilada recipe and serve it with some frozen mango margaritas.

Or make your crockpot beef enchiladas the next time you crave Mexican food but don’t want to go out for dinner.

What are enchiladas?

Enchiladas are a Mexican dish of corn tortillas rolled with a filling then covered with sauce and cheese. Enchilada filling can range from beef and chicken to beans and vegetables.

Ingredients For Slow Cooker Beef Enchiladas

To make your beef enchiladas in the crockpot, you’ll need the following ingredients:

• Beef: Use chuck roast for optimal flavor (more on that below)
• Fajita seasoning: Flavors the meat. Making homemade seasoning is easy, but you can also use a packet.
• Onion and garlic: Aromatics to flavor the beef
• Beef broth: Ensures the meat doesn’t dry out and is more flavorful than water
• Jalapeno: Adds some spice
• Black beans and corn: Adds more substance to the filling
• Tortillas: I learned from watching Top Chef authentic enchiladas are made with corn tortillas, not flour. However, if you’re not a fan of corn you can use small flour tortillas.
• Enchilada sauce: I opted for my homemade enchilada sauce, which you can make while the beef is cooking. You can also use your favorite sauce.
• Shredded cheese: Every enchilada needs cheese!
• Green onion and cilantro: For garnishing

Which beef should I buy for shredded beef enchiladas?

Because I’m cooking the meat low and slow in the crock pot, I used chuck roast for my shredded beef enchilada recipe.

Chuck roast is cut from the cow’s shoulder region. Because the cow uses its shoulder a lot, it’s full of muscle. Full of muscle means the cut is full of marbling fat and connective tissue.

Marbling fat is full of flavor. However, this also means it’s a tough piece of meat and takes awhile to cook and break down into moist, tender beef. Hence the slow cooker.

How much beef should I buy to make enchiladas for two?

The hardest part about making easy beef enchiladas for two is you only need about 1/2 pound of beef. However, you’re usually forced into buying several pounds at once.

Ask the meat counter to cut you a smaller piece. If you can’t, buy the smallest roast, divide them into 1/2 pound portions, and freeze what you don’t use.

You can then use the beef to make Slow Cooker Shredded Beef Sandwiches.

How To Make Slow Cooker Beef Enchiladas

You’ll need a crockpot to make your shredded beef enchiladas. I use this 6 quart slow cooker (affiliate link) if you don’t own one yet.

Here’s how to make crockpot beef enchiladas:

1. Season beef and add to a 6-quart slow cooker then top with onion, garlic, and broth.
2. Cover and cook on high for 4-6 hours or on low for 8-10 hours or until cooked and easily falls apart.
3. Shred beef then add jalapeno, black beans, and corn.
4. Lightly fry tortillas in a small skillet then dip into enchilada sauce, coating both sides.
5. Fill tortillas with shredded beef, fold and roll, then place in the casserole dish seam side down. Cover with remaining enchilada sauce and cheese.
6. Bake at 350F for 15-20 minutes until bubbling and cheese has melted. Garnish with cilantro, green onion, and jalapeno slices.

Refrigerate leftover beef enchiladas for up to 3 days.

How do you keep enchiladas from getting soggy?

The key to not having soggy tortillas for your crockpot beef enchiladas is cooking them ahead of time before filling, which I learned from Bon Appetit.

You want them lightly brown but still pliable. Otherwise, you’ll have tortilla chips.

Then as counterintuitive as it sounds, you dip each tortilla in enchilada sauce before filling and rolling.

This is to help evenly distribute the sauce (and replaces spreading sauce into the bottom of the casserole dish).

It’s a little extra work and your hands will get messy, but it really is the difference between fine and great crockpot enchiladas.

What To Serve With Beef Enchiladas

In addition to Spanish rice, serve your slow cooker enchiladas with chips and one of these dips:

• Fresh Garden Salsa
• Queso Without Velveeta
• Chorizo Cheese Dip

First published April 17, 2018