Tex-Mex Cheese Enchiladas with Chili Gravy
Corn tortillas rolled around Monterey Jack, cheddar and raw onion, baked under a smooth brown chili gravy of toasted ancho, cumin, garlic and oregano thickened with a roux: the classic Texas enchilada.
Texas changed the enchilada's sauce. Lisa Fain, the Homesick Texan, adapting a recipe from Robb Walsh's The Tex-Mex Cookbook, calls chili gravy a mash-up of a flour-based gravy and a Mexican chile sauce, credits Walsh with calling it the essence of Tex-Mex, and says it usually contains no meat: just fat, flour, broth and spices. In 2001 the Houston Press described the cheese enchiladas with chili gravy at Felix, the Houston chain founded by Felix Tijerina, as a thick brown gravy "neither Mexican nor American".
Wikipedia's Tex-Mex article dates the line between the two cuisines to Diana Kennedy's 1972 book The Cuisines of Mexico, and says Tex-Mex of the 1950s ran on combination platters with American-style cheeses. Tijerina, it adds, opened his Mexican Inn in Houston in 1929; the Felix chain closed in 2008. This home version from America's Test Kitchen keeps the gravy meatless and builds it from toasted whole anchos instead of jarred chili powder.
🇺🇸 This one is American
Corn tortillas rolled around Monterey Jack, cheddar and raw onion, baked under a smooth brown chili gravy of toasted ancho, cumin, garlic and oregano thickened with a roux: the classic Texas enchilada.
🇲🇽 The original
In Mexico, enchiladas rojas are corn tortillas dipped in a dried-chile sauce, folded around a little filling and finished with crumbled fresh cheese, onion and crema. No chili gravy, no melted yellow cheese. See the Enchiladas Rojas (Red Chile Chicken Enchiladas) recipe.
Why it works the kitchen science
A roux-thickened gravy
Cooking the ground chiles and spices in the oil and flour toasts them and gives the sauce its smooth, spoon-coating Tex-Mex body.
Two cheeses
Cheddar brings the sharp flavor and Monterey Jack the melt, so the filling is gooey without turning greasy.
Step by step
- Step 1
Toast the chiles and cumin seeds in a 12-inch skillet over medium-low heat, stirring often, about 2 minutes, until fragrant. Cool 5 minutes in a spice grinder, add the garlic powder and oregano and grind to a fine powder.
- Step 2
Heat the oil in the same skillet over medium-high heat until shimmering. Whisk in the flour, salt, pepper and spice powder and cook about 1 minute, until fragrant and slightly darker. Slowly whisk in the broth, bring to a simmer, then cook over medium-low heat, whisking often, about 5 minutes, until thickened and reduced to 1 1/2 cups. Whisk in the vinegar, season and keep warm, covered.
- Step 3
Heat the oven to 450°F with a rack in the middle. Brush both sides of the tortillas with the oil, stack them, wrap in a damp dish towel and microwave about 1 minute, until warm and pliable.
- Step 4
Spread 1/2 cup gravy in a 13 by 9-inch baking dish. Mix the cheeses and set aside 1/2 cup. Lay 1/4 cup cheese and 1 tbsp onion across each tortilla, roll it tightly and set it seam side down in two rows of six.
- Step 5
Pour the remaining gravy over the enchiladas and sprinkle with the reserved cheese. Cover with foil.
- Step 6
Bake about 15 minutes, until the sauce bubbles, the cheese melts and the center of the middle enchilada reads 165°F. Rest 10 minutes, sprinkle with the remaining onion and serve.
Tex-Mex Cheese Enchiladas with Chili Gravy
Serves 6 · 12 enchiladas · 1 hr 10 min total
Chili gravy
- 2 dried ancho chiles, stemmed, seeded and torn into 1/2-inch pieces (1/2 cup)
- 1 tbsp cumin seeds
- 1 tbsp garlic powder
- 2 tsp dried oregano
- 3 tbsp vegetable oil
- 3 tbsp all-purpose flour
- 1/2 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 2 cups chicken broth
- 2 tsp distilled white vinegar
Enchiladas
- 12 (6-inch) corn tortillas
- 1 1/2 tbsp vegetable oil
- 8 oz Monterey Jack, shredded (2 cups)
- 6 oz sharp cheddar, shredded (1 1/2 cups)
- 1 onion, finely chopped
Method
- Toast the chiles and cumin seeds in a 12-inch skillet over medium-low heat, stirring often, about 2 minutes, until fragrant. Cool 5 minutes in a spice grinder, add the garlic powder and oregano and grind to a fine powder.
- Heat the oil in the same skillet over medium-high heat until shimmering. Whisk in the flour, salt, pepper and spice powder and cook about 1 minute, until fragrant and slightly darker. Slowly whisk in the broth, bring to a simmer, then cook over medium-low heat, whisking often, about 5 minutes, until thickened and reduced to 1 1/2 cups. Whisk in the vinegar, season and keep warm, covered.
- Heat the oven to 450°F with a rack in the middle. Brush both sides of the tortillas with the oil, stack them, wrap in a damp dish towel and microwave about 1 minute, until warm and pliable.
- Spread 1/2 cup gravy in a 13 by 9-inch baking dish. Mix the cheeses and set aside 1/2 cup. Lay 1/4 cup cheese and 1 tbsp onion across each tortilla, roll it tightly and set it seam side down in two rows of six.
- Pour the remaining gravy over the enchiladas and sprinkle with the reserved cheese. Cover with foil.
- Bake about 15 minutes, until the sauce bubbles, the cheese melts and the center of the middle enchilada reads 165°F. Rest 10 minutes, sprinkle with the remaining onion and serve.
Adapted from America's Test Kitchen, "Tex-Mex Cheese Enchiladas" by Christie Morrison (published December 6, 2013), serves 6. We follow its gravy (2 anchos and cumin seeds toasted 2 minutes and ground with garlic powder and oregano, a 3-tablespoon roux, 2 cups broth reduced about 5 minutes to 1 1/2 cups, 2 teaspoons vinegar), its microwave-softened tortillas, its 8 ounces Jack plus 6 ounces cheddar, and its 450°F, 15-minute covered bake with a 10-minute rest. The 165°F check is ours. History from Homesick Texan, the Houston Press and Wikipedia as linked above. America's Test Kitchen. Ingredient list follows the source; the method is in our own words.
Tips
- ATK says the gravy can be made up to 24 hours ahead; reheat it with 2 tbsp water in the microwave 1 to 2 minutes, stirring halfway.
- Lisa Fain's Homesick Texan version uses chili powder, Colby-Jack and pickled jalapeños on the side.
- Serve with rice and refried beans for the full combination plate.
- Use 6-inch tortillas; bigger ones crowd the dish.
The rules people argue about
What the sources agree on, what they don't, and what is just a good story.
- Chili gravy has no meat in it. Disputed: Homesick Texan says it usually doesn't; D Magazine says El Fenix's founder topped cheese enchiladas with Texas chili (see Tex-Mex Restaurant-Style Cheese Enchiladas), and Serious Eats adds beef to its gravy.
- Tex-Mex is not Mexican food. Disputed: Diana Kennedy drew the line in 1972 (Wikipedia); Lisa Fain argues Tex-Mex is a cuisine of its own, about 150 years old.
- Tex-Mex uses yellow cheese. Documented: Wikipedia, 1950s combination platters with American-style cheeses.
- Chili powder or whole chiles. Folklore: Homesick Texan uses chili powder; ATK and Serious Eats grind or blend whole dried chiles. Both are Tex-Mex.
Every other enchilada
Enchiladas Rojas (Red Chile Chicken Enchiladas)
Corn tortillas rolled around shredded chicken and baked in a smooth red sauce of toasted guajillo chiles and tomatoes, finished with melted Chihuahua cheese, raw onion rings and cilantro.
Enchiladas Verdes (Green Tomatillo Chicken Enchiladas)
Corn tortillas passed through hot oil, rolled around shredded chicken and baked under a tart green sauce of simmered tomatillos, serranos and cilantro, then finished with crema, queso fresco and raw onion.
Enchiladas Suizas (Creamy Green Chicken Enchiladas)
Chicken enchiladas baked in a broiled tomatillo and serrano sauce enriched with cream, under a blanket of melted cheese, Mexico City's famous "Swiss" enchiladas.
Enchiladas Potosinas (Red Chile Masa Enchiladas from San Luis Potosí)
Small tortillas made from masa dyed red with ancho chile, folded around a cheesy tomatillo and chile filling, rested overnight, then fried crisp and served with crema, onion and guacamole.
Enchiladas Mineras (Guanajuato Miners' Enchiladas)
Tortillas dipped in guajillo chile sauce and fried, rolled around fresh cheese and onion, then buried under fried potatoes and carrots, lettuce and pickled jalapeños, with chicken and a tomato salsa on the side.
Enfrijoladas (Tortillas in Black Bean Sauce with Chorizo)
Warm corn tortillas dipped in a smooth black bean sauce, folded into quarters and topped with crumbled chorizo, salsa verde, fresh cheese, parsley and onion: Mexico's fast, comforting bean enchilada.
Enmoladas with Mole Coloradito (Mole Chicken Enchiladas)
Corn tortillas dipped in a brick-red Oaxacan mole of ancho chiles, roasted tomatoes, sesame, almonds, raisins, spices and Mexican chocolate, rolled around shredded chicken and sauced at the table.
New Mexico Stacked Red Chile Enchiladas with a Fried Egg
Blue corn tortillas fried soft and stacked flat with longhorn cheese, minced onion and a deep red New Mexico chile sauce, melted in the oven and crowned with a fried egg.
Sour Cream Chicken Enchiladas with Green Chile
Chicken enchiladas rolled with green chile sauce, smothered in Monterey Jack and more green chile, baked, then blanketed with a pint of sour cream and baked again until bubbling.
King Ranch Chicken (Texas Layered Enchilada Casserole)
Layers of oven-crisped corn tortillas and a creamy sauce of chicken, onions, jalapeños, cumin and canned tomatoes with green chiles, bound with Colby Jack and topped with crushed corn chips.
30-Minute Skillet Beef Enchiladas
Fried corn tortilla strips simmered in one skillet with ground beef, onion and red enchilada sauce, then topped with Colby Jack, black olives and scallions and served with sour cream, on the table in 30 minutes.
Tex-Mex Restaurant-Style Cheese Enchiladas with Chili Con Carne Gravy
Restaurant style, not any one restaurant's recipe: fried corn tortillas dipped in a beefy red chile gravy of ancho, guajillo and arbol chiles, rolled around cheddar and onion and baked under more gravy and cheese, the way Texas combination plates serve them.
Meatballs of the World
Italian-American Meatballs
Big, tender meatballs braised for an hour in red sauce over spaghetti. The one most Americans grew up with.
Pallottine (Abruzzo Meatballs)
Tiny meatballs, smaller than a marble, tossed right through square spaghetti alla chitarra. No bread at all.
Swedish Meatballs (Köttbullar)
Small, soft meatballs browned in butter, in a cream sauce made from the same pan, with lingonberry jam on the plate.
Danish Frikadeller
Pork meatballs shaped with a spoon and fried slowly in butter, crusty outside and soft in the middle.
Königsberger Klopse
German meatballs that are never fried: poached, then served in a creamy white sauce with capers.
Spanish Albóndigas in Almond Saffron Sauce
The tapas bar classic: small meatballs in a golden sauce thickened with fried almonds and bread.
Mexican Albóndigas with Chipotle and Mint
Soft meatballs with rice and fresh mint inside, simmered in a smoky tomato and chipotle broth.
Izgara Köfte (Turkish Grilled Meatballs)
Small, flat meatballs kneaded hard, rested cold, and charred on a hot grill pan.
Lion's Head Meatballs
Big, soft pork meatballs, stirred into a sticky paste, fried to set, then braised in a savory sauce.
Chicken Tsukune
Japan's chicken meatball: kneaded sticky, grilled on skewers, glazed with sweet soy tare, dipped in egg yolk.