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.
Restaurant style, not any one restaurant's recipe. D Magazine's 2006 guide to Dallas Tex-Mex says Miguel "Mike" Martinez, born in Mexico in 1890, opened the first Mexican restaurant in Dallas on September 15, 1918, in the neighborhood then called Little Mexico, and at first served American-style food. When he added tacos, frijoles, enchiladas and tamales, his Anglo customers wanted more meat, so, D Magazine says, he topped the cheese enchiladas with Texas chili. He named the place El Fenix, which Wikipedia says grew into a Texas chain).
That plate (cheese enchiladas under a beefy chili gravy, with rice and beans) became the Texas combination plate. Wikipedia says Tex-Mex of the 1950s ran on combination platters with American-style cheeses. Nick Kindelsperger's Serious Eats recipe, used here, makes the gravy from whole dried chiles and stirs in a little browned beef, which he says made the sauce remind him of Texas chili.
Why it works the kitchen science
Whole chiles, a light roux
Serious Eats swaps chili powder for toasted whole chiles and cuts the flour to 2 tablespoons, so the gravy is silky and bright instead of grainy and dull.
Fry, then dip
A few seconds in hot oil gives the tortillas enough structure that the sauce dip seasons them without turning them to mush.
Step by step
- Step 1
Heat a 12-inch cast-iron skillet over medium heat. Slit the chiles open so they lie flat and toast them in batches, pressing with a spatula, about 5 seconds per side, without burning. Put them in a bowl, cover with hot water, weight with a small plate and soak 30 minutes.
- Step 2
Meanwhile, brown the beef in the skillet over medium heat, stirring often, about 5 minutes, until it reads 160°F. Lift it out with a slotted spoon. Leave 2 tbsp fat in the pan (add oil if short), cook the onion 4 to 5 minutes until soft, add the garlic for 30 seconds and scrape it all into a blender.
- Step 3
Drain the chiles, discarding the soaking water, and add them to the blender with the cumin, oregano, pepper, salt and 1 cup of the stock. Blend on high 1 to 2 minutes, until smooth (add 1/2 cup more stock if it won't move). Press through a mesh strainer and discard the skins.
- Step 4
Heat 2 tbsp oil in the skillet over medium heat until shimmering, whisk in the flour and keep whisking about 2 minutes, until light golden brown. Whisk in the chile purée, the remaining 3 cups stock and the beef. Bring to a boil, then simmer, stirring now and then, about 30 minutes, until dark red and as thick as gravy; thin with water if needed.
- Step 5
Heat the oven to 375°F with a rack in the lower-middle position. Heat 1/2 cup oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat to about 350°F. Fry the tortillas one at a time 5 to 10 seconds per side, just until leathery, not crisp, and drain on paper towels.
- Step 6
Dip each fried tortilla in the gravy, lay a line of 1/4 cup cheese and 1 tbsp onion across it, roll it up and set it seam side down in a 13 by 9-inch baking dish.
- Step 7
Spoon the remaining gravy over the enchiladas and top with the remaining cheese and onion. Bake 10 to 15 minutes, until the cheese melts and bubbles and the center of the middle enchilada reads 165°F. Serve 2 per plate with Mexican rice and refried beans.
Tex-Mex Restaurant-Style Cheese Enchiladas with Chili Con Carne Gravy
Serves 6 · 12 enchiladas (2 per combination plate) · 1 hr 50 min total
Chili con carne gravy
- 2 oz dried ancho chiles, stemmed and seeded
- 2 oz dried guajillo chiles, stemmed and seeded
- 2 dried arbol chiles, stemmed and seeded (2 chiles, not 2 ounces)
- 1/2 lb ground beef (80% lean)
- 1 medium yellow onion, roughly chopped
- 6 garlic cloves, minced
- 2 tsp ground cumin
- 1/2 tsp dried oregano
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 2 tsp kosher salt
- 4 cups chicken stock or low-sodium broth
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil
- 2 tbsp all-purpose flour
Enchiladas
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil, for frying
- 12 corn tortillas
- 1 lb cheddar, grated
- 1 cup chopped yellow onion
Method
- Heat a 12-inch cast-iron skillet over medium heat. Slit the chiles open so they lie flat and toast them in batches, pressing with a spatula, about 5 seconds per side, without burning. Put them in a bowl, cover with hot water, weight with a small plate and soak 30 minutes.
- Meanwhile, brown the beef in the skillet over medium heat, stirring often, about 5 minutes, until it reads 160°F. Lift it out with a slotted spoon. Leave 2 tbsp fat in the pan (add oil if short), cook the onion 4 to 5 minutes until soft, add the garlic for 30 seconds and scrape it all into a blender.
- Drain the chiles, discarding the soaking water, and add them to the blender with the cumin, oregano, pepper, salt and 1 cup of the stock. Blend on high 1 to 2 minutes, until smooth (add 1/2 cup more stock if it won't move). Press through a mesh strainer and discard the skins.
- Heat 2 tbsp oil in the skillet over medium heat until shimmering, whisk in the flour and keep whisking about 2 minutes, until light golden brown. Whisk in the chile purée, the remaining 3 cups stock and the beef. Bring to a boil, then simmer, stirring now and then, about 30 minutes, until dark red and as thick as gravy; thin with water if needed.
- Heat the oven to 375°F with a rack in the lower-middle position. Heat 1/2 cup oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat to about 350°F. Fry the tortillas one at a time 5 to 10 seconds per side, just until leathery, not crisp, and drain on paper towels.
- Dip each fried tortilla in the gravy, lay a line of 1/4 cup cheese and 1 tbsp onion across it, roll it up and set it seam side down in a 13 by 9-inch baking dish.
- Spoon the remaining gravy over the enchiladas and top with the remaining cheese and onion. Bake 10 to 15 minutes, until the cheese melts and bubbles and the center of the middle enchilada reads 165°F. Serve 2 per plate with Mexican rice and refried beans.
Adapted from Nick Kindelsperger, "Tex-Mex Cheese Enchiladas With Red Chile Gravy", Serious Eats (June 2014; updated February 19, 2025), serves 4 to 6. We follow it as written: 2 oz each ancho and guajillo plus 2 arbol chiles toasted about 5 seconds a side and soaked 30 minutes; 1/2 lb ground beef browned about 5 minutes; onions cooked 4 to 5 minutes in 2 tbsp of the fat; a 2-tablespoon roux; 4 cups stock; a 30-minute simmer; tortillas fried 5 to 10 seconds a side in 1/2 cup oil, dipped, filled with cheddar and onion and baked at 375°F for 10 to 15 minutes. We write it for 6 combination-plate servings. Serious Eats gives no fat content for the beef (we use 80 percent lean) and calls for a 9 by 11-inch pan (we use 13 by 9). The 160°F and 165°F checks are ours. This is a restaurant-style recipe; it is not El Fenix's, Felix's or any restaurant's own recipe. Serious Eats. Ingredient list follows the source; the method is in our own words.
All sources (4)
Tips
- The arbol amount is 2 chiles, not 2 ounces; readers who misread it got a very hot sauce.
- The gravy keeps 3 days in the refrigerator; it gets better overnight.
- A Serious Eats reader suggests American cheese or a cheddar blend for a smoother melt.
- For the whole combination plate, add a crispy taco or a tamale beside the enchiladas.
The rules people argue about
What the sources agree on, what they don't, and what is just a good story.
- This is El Fenix's recipe. Disputed, and we never say so: El Fenix has not published its recipe; this is a restaurant-style version adapted from Serious Eats. Label it "restaurant style, not any one restaurant's recipe".
- El Fenix put chili on cheese enchiladas first. Disputed: D Magazine credits Mike Martinez with topping cheese enchiladas with Texas chili, but gives no date, and Houston's Felix, whose founder opened his first restaurant in 1929, also built its name on cheese enchiladas with chili gravy (Houston Press).
- El Fenix opened in 1918. Documented: D Magazine and Wikipedia (September 15, 1918).
- Real chili gravy has meat. Disputed: Serious Eats and D Magazine's El Fenix story put beef in; Homesick Texan says chili gravy usually has none (see Tex-Mex Cheese Enchiladas with Chili Gravy).
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