Mom's Beef Enchiladas

 I'm not going to lie, my mom's Beef Enchiladas are hands down my favorite food on the planet. I think back fondly to Thanksgivings where we were both working and had to stay home while the rest of the family was able to visit, so we'd make a batch of enchiladas and have a good time on our own. When I moved off to college my mom was always worried that I'd starve and on the weekends I'd come home we'd spend the weekend cooking and packaging meals into frozen dinner portions, beef enchiladas were always on the list.

My mom worked hard (and still does to this day) so we'd always use a can of Hormel Chili for the sauce to save time, but I think that this recipe pays homage to that while being a bit more from-scratch.

Make sure to check out the video for a full tutorial!

Ingredients - Enchiladas

12-15 Corn Tortillas
1 1/2 lb 90% Ground Beef (use 2 lbs or more if using 80 or 73%)
2-3 Cups Shredded Cheddar Cheese
1/2 Onion Chopped

Ingredients - Sauce

3 Tbps Oil
1/4 cup Flour
1/2 Tsp Black Pepper
1 1/2 Tsp Garlic Powder
2 Tbps Ground Cumin
3 Tbps Chili Powder
1 Cup Beef Broth
2 Cups Water
1 Tomato-flavored Chicken Bouillon Cube

Prepping the Sauce

Combine the oil and flour over medium heat in a sauce pan to form a roux. Whisk your roux until it reaches a light-tan color, then add your beef broth and water. Add your dry spices and finally the tomato-chicken bullion cub while continuing to slowly whisk and prevent your sauce from burning. Allow to come to a low boil then remove from the heat to thicken.

Sauté your onions until translucent brown, then add your ground beef. You can lightly season the beef with salt and pepper, but don't overdo it because the sauce is going to be the star of the show.

While your beef is browning, heat a medium frying pan with oil over high heat and begin cooking your tortillas. It's important that you don't fry them, but give them just a short cook in oil so that the tortillas become pliable. This should take just 3-5 seconds per tortilla. Set aside onto a paper napkin-lined plate. to cool and drain.

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

Once your beef mixture is cooked, add about 1 ounce of beef and 1/2 to 1 ounce of cheese to each tortilla, roll tightly, and place seam-side down in a 12x19 baking pan that has been sprayed with cooking spray.

Repeat this for as many tortillas as will fit in your pan, typically 1 dozen.

Stir in the remaining beef mixture into your sauce, if necessary, thin your sauce with up to 1 cup of water, bringing back to a boil to incorporate it evenly, then spoon the sauce over your enchiladas and top with the remainder of your cheese.

Cook on 350 until the cheese is melted, typically about 10-15 minutes, and serve with rice and beans.