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.
Most weeknight enchiladas in America come from a can of red enchilada sauce, a pound of ground beef and a bag of shredded cheese. This one, from America's Test Kitchen's Cook's Country magazine, skips the rolling and the oven: the tortillas are cut into strips, fried in the skillet, then simmered with the beef and sauce like Mexican chilaquiles and topped with cheese right on the stove.
The toppings are pure Southwest home cooking. Spanish Wikipedia describes "enchiladas chicanas (or gringas)" from the US Southwest as red sauce, meat, cheddar and black olives, baked, and English Wikipedia notes that sliced black olives sometimes finish New Mexico's stacked enchiladas too.
Why it works the kitchen science
Frying the strips first
ATK's headnote says frying keeps the tortilla strips from turning soggy while they simmer in the sauce.
One skillet
Browning the beef in the pan the strips fried in, then simmering everything in the sauce, gives you enchilada flavor in 30 minutes with no rolling and no oven.
Step by step
- Step 1
Heat the oil in a 12-inch nonstick skillet over medium heat until shimmering. Fry the tortilla strips, stirring often, about 7 minutes, until spotty brown. Move them to a paper towel-lined plate.
- Step 2
Add the beef, onion and salt to the empty skillet and cook over medium-high heat about 6 minutes, breaking up the meat, until browned and it reads 160°F.
- Step 3
Lower the heat to medium. Stir in the enchilada sauce and 2 cups of the fried strips and simmer about 5 minutes, until slightly thickened.
- Step 4
Scatter the remaining strips, the cheese, olives and scallions over the top. Turn the heat to low, cover and cook about 3 minutes, until the cheese melts.
- Step 5
Serve straight from the skillet with sour cream.
30-Minute Skillet Beef Enchiladas
Serves 4 · one 12-inch skillet · 30 min total
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil
- 12 corn tortillas, halved and cut into 1-inch-wide strips
- 1 lb ground beef (90% lean)
- 1 onion, finely chopped
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 (15-oz) can red enchilada sauce
- 6 oz Colby Jack cheese, shredded (1 1/2 cups)
- 1 (2.25-oz) can sliced black olives, drained
- 3 scallions, thinly sliced on the bias
- 1/2 cup sour cream, to serve
Method
- Heat the oil in a 12-inch nonstick skillet over medium heat until shimmering. Fry the tortilla strips, stirring often, about 7 minutes, until spotty brown. Move them to a paper towel-lined plate.
- Add the beef, onion and salt to the empty skillet and cook over medium-high heat about 6 minutes, breaking up the meat, until browned and it reads 160°F.
- Lower the heat to medium. Stir in the enchilada sauce and 2 cups of the fried strips and simmer about 5 minutes, until slightly thickened.
- Scatter the remaining strips, the cheese, olives and scallions over the top. Turn the heat to low, cover and cook about 3 minutes, until the cheese melts.
- Serve straight from the skillet with sour cream.
Adapted from America's Test Kitchen, "Skillet Beef Enchiladas" (published April 21, 2016; Cook's Country, June/July 2016), serves 4. We follow it as written: 12 tortillas cut into strips and fried in 2 tbsp oil in a 12-inch nonstick skillet over medium heat about 7 minutes; 1 lb 90 percent lean beef with onion and salt over medium-high about 6 minutes; a 15-ounce can of enchilada sauce simmered with two-thirds of the strips about 5 minutes; cheese, olives, scallions and the rest of the strips melted over low heat about 3 minutes. The 160°F beef check and the 1/2 cup of sour cream (ATK gives no amount) are ours. America's Test Kitchen. Ingredient list follows the source; the method is in our own words.
All sources (2)
Tips
- ATK suggests pepper Jack instead of Colby Jack for a spicy version.
- Add a drained can of black or pinto beans with the sauce to stretch it to 6 servings.
- Use the strips you set aside for the top; they stay crunchier.
- Leftovers reheat in the skillet over medium-low heat, covered, until hot (165°F).
The rules people argue about
What the sources agree on, what they don't, and what is just a good story.
- Canned enchilada sauce isn't the real thing. Folklore: it's the American weeknight standard; USDA even lists "Sauce, enchilada, red, mild, ready to serve" as its own food.
- Black olives belong on enchiladas. Documented as a Southwest US habit: Spanish Wikipedia's "enchiladas chicanas" and English Wikipedia's note on New Mexico stacks.
- Fry the strips before simmering. Documented: ATK's headnote.
- This is really chilaquiles. Folklore: tortilla pieces simmered in sauce resemble chilaquiles, but ATK calls it enchiladas.
Every other enchilada
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Tex-Mex Restaurant-Style Cheese Enchiladas with Chili Con Carne Gravy
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