This recipe for beef enchiladas steps right out of the 1970s – fast, inexpensive, and a winner for my family of 6! My memory of this starts as a teenager, but I’m not exactly sure when my Mom began making it. I don’t believe it’s even written down anywhere! Like so many dishes from that era, and from my mother’s table – it was lacking in flavor and spice. I do love it for the memories it provides – but for sure it needs a bit of a “make over”!!
You will need some corn tortillas – no substitute, since flour tortillas will not hold up in the hot oil used to fry them. The corn will “crisp” up perfectly. These are very similar to a “tostada”, but my Mom always called them “enchiladas”. She would ask, while standing at the stove, “do you want 1 tortilla, or 2?”. She was referring to how many tortillas you wanted layered on your plate. So yes, she was making them to order, right there at the stove! From the hot oil, the tortilla was immediately dredged into warm red enchilada sauce, then placed onto a plate and covered with the meat and bean mixture. She would hand us our plate, then we would move to the toppings to complete our own dish. It was sort of like an “enchilada bar”!
The recipe starts with a mixture of ground beef, and a can of Campbell’s pork and beans. These are the 2 original essential ingredients. Once this is cooked down, I add some salt, pepper, cumin, chili powder, chipotle flakes, dried minced onion, and garlic powder. This is where you need to make this dish your own, with your preference for the amount of both seasoning, and heat. You can’t go wrong!
Another essential ingredient is a 10 oz can of red enchiladas sauce. This comes in “mild” and “hot”.
Recipe toppings:
Shredded lettuce
Chopped tomatoes
shredded cheese
chopped black olives
chopped onions
chopped cilantro
Sour cream
Set these up like an assembly line, in individual bowls.
Ground beef mixture:
1 lb ground beef
1 can (14 – 16 oz) Campbell’s pork and beans
Seasonings to your taste: Salt, pepper, garlic powder, dried minced onion, chipotle flakes or powder, cumin, chili powder, etc.
Brown the ground beef until no longer pink. Add seasonings, and beans. Stir together, and simmer for about 10 min. Add a little water if it gets too thick.
On the stove, set a small skillet with about 1 inch of vegetable oil. Heat over med low. Pour the can of red enchilada sauce into another small skillet or saucepan, and warm over low heat.
Fry 1 tortilla in the oil at a time, turning over with tongs after 10 seconds or so. Fry for another 10 seconds. This will splatter a bit! Pick up the tortilla, and place into the sauce. Dredge quickly on both sides, then place immediately onto a plate.
Top with the beef and bean mixture, then shredded cheese. Place a 2nd layer of tortilla, sauce, beef and beans, and cheese if you like.
Then finally, top with the lettuce, tomatoes, onions, olives, cilantro, and a little sour cream on the side of the plate.
