Cheesy Beef Enchiladas

I grocery shop one meal at a time most days.

I want to meal plan, like, as a person, but I just get too busy.

Or I do shop ahead, and half of it goes bad because I decide to order take-out every night, instead.

Growing up, I feel like my mom always had stuff on hand to throw together a meal, no daily grocery stop needed. 

One of my favorite dinners was something she called Pantry Enchiladas, made from the cans found in our pantry.

Are these authentic enchiladas, no, but I wouldn’t know that until college. A period in my life I would also go on to discover sushi, Brazilian waxes, and that I can’t drink dark rum. 

As a kid, these were comfort. 

The base of this sauce is one can of Red Enchilada Sauce, one can of Tomato Soup, and one can of Cream of Mushroom. 

Trust me, it’s good. 

Everything else here is a bonus: refried beans, cheese, and whatever fresh veggies you happen to have on hand. 

First up you are going to brown and drain your meat. 

And then you are going to do something I used to hate as a kid, but now fully appreciate as a grown adult; you’re going to mix in a can of refried beans. 

My mom always did this to stretch ground beef and make it more filling, and it took adulthood and meat prices for me to admit… she was right. 

This is also the time to season your taco meat. We all have our go-to style for this, I season mine with Chili Powder, Cumin, and BBQ Sauce. 

Let’s assemble things. Add your meat and bean mixture to a tortilla, top with cheese, and then roll it up and add it to the pan. 

Flour and corn tortillas freeze really nicely, and I try and always have a couple bags tossed in my freezer. When all else fails, tacos, amirite?

Truth: When I make these, I double the recipe because we eat two pans of these, easy. 

Whisk the cream of mushroom soup, enchilada sauce, and tomato soup together, and then pour it on top of the rolled tortillas. 

It will be very thick, and might even feel a little wrong, but keep going, trust me. 

Top the whole thing with tons of cheddar cheese and shove it into the oven. 

Remember that everything here is already cooked, so what you are basically doing is just melting the cheese into a really gooey state, and browning things up a bit. 

I like to set the oven to broil the last few minutes because I like the ends crispy. 

It’s a personal preference. 

Don’t quote me, but I think that if challenged, I could eat at least five of these. 

I’d have to undo my pants, and probably need a nap after, but it’d be worth it.