Beef (or chicken) Enchilada Recipe

I stumbled upon this recipe for Echilada sauce through Facebook a couple of weeks ago.   It came highly recommended and once I made it and tasted it I understood why!  It was a huge hit with everyone in our family, I actually made two different Enchilada sauces on the same night so we could do a taste test.  One of the recipes was very time consuming, which for me would put it in the special occasions category, I do not have much time so quick, easy and few ingredients are my motto.  I was very relieved when the results from our little family taste test came in and guess what?  The Easy Enchilada Sauce was by far the tastiest! We all loved it and I think you will too, in fact I would double it just to have extra around for eggs, topping Spanish Cauliflower "Rice", chicken, etc.   All credit goes to Healthy Living How To for this wonderful sauce, I have made a few very minor changes, like adding more beef broth and omitting the olive oil.  For her complete Recipe please visit here. 


There are two options as far as what to wrap it in, you can wrap it in cabbage leaves or make a batch of my Crepes which work great as coconut flour "tortillas".  They are really yummy in the enchiladas, but are more work, so you may want to make them ahead and refrigerate them.  I usually make my crepes really small in a small pan, so I would make them bigger for these.


Enchilada Sauce


2- 6 ounce cans tomato paste
2 1/2 cups beef broth
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp organo
4 TBSP chili powder (for a spicier sauce substitute some hot chili powder)
1 tsp sea salt


In  medium saucepan, combine all the above ingredients.  A whisk, works well to incorporate it.  Then over medium high heat bring to a boil and then turn down to low and simmer for about an hour to really deepen the flavors.

Beef Enchiladas 


2 small onions chopped

Crepe/"Tortilla" Enchiladas

1 diced pablano pepper
2 pounds ground beef
2 cloves garlic minced
1 cup Enchilada sauce
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp chili powder
salt and pepper to taste
1 large head of cabbage and/or crepes/"tortillas"


Garnishes:                                           
red onion
avacado
cheese ( if you do dairy)


In a large skillet brown your ground beef, onion, pablano, garlic, salt and pepper.  Cook until your ground beef is nicely browned and the onions are softened.  You may need to drain off some of the fat at this point depending on the fat content of your meat.  Then add 1 cup of Enchilada sauce, cumin and chili pepper and simmer on low.  
If you are using cabbage leaves, now would be the time to start a large pot of water boiling and preheat your oven to 350 degrees.  Core and peel the cabbage leaves carefully.  Once the water comes to a boil, add the leaves and remove from heat, let them sit for 10- 15 minutes and then remove one at a time to a clean dry towel and dab dry.  Then fill with some meat filling and fold/roll up.  Before placing it in a large glass pan place a small amount of the enchilada sauce in the bottom of the pan.  Then place the rolled enchiladas on in the pan and repeat the process until it's done, sometimes it takes me more than one pan to fit them all.  Then top them with addition Enchilada sauce, if you do dairy now would be the time to add some cheese before you place it in the oven.  Bake at 350 degrees, for 25 minutes.

Serve with your choice of garnishes and enjoy!  We love to have it with some Spanish Cauliflower "Rice" topped with Enchilada sauce.

Cabbage Leaf Enchiladas with Spanish Cauliflower "Rice"