Love enchiladas but hate filling and rolling up all those tortillas? You NEED this Enchilada Casserole! It’s all the yummy, cheesy goodness of enchiladas but in a quick & easy casserole form!
I am a firm believer in family dinner time. I remember growing up, we almost always sat down together and ate as a family. It’s so hard with everyone’s schedules but the conversations are priceless.
One of my favorite dinners is probably Mexican food. There’s this awesome Mexican food place in Arizona where I grew up (actually, there are a few awesome ones there!) that I endlessly crave. I haven’t found anything comparable here in Los Angeles, but I’m still looking!
I heart enchiladas. I would say street tacos and enchiladas are probably my favorite Mexican food dishes, or as my mom would say, Spanish food. She cracks me up! Since I was a little kid, she’s called Mexican food, Spanish food. Finally my brothers got on her case so she finally started calling it Mexican food. (Love you, mom!)
Back to enchiladas…I love any flavorful dish that’s EASY. Not that I’m lazy, but it’s nice to be able to whip up a dinner in about 30 minutes. Every time I make traditional enchiladas, it takes me so long. Make the filling, fill the tortillas with the filling, roll up, place in a dish, repeat, repeat, repeat.
Not with this casserole! It’s all layered into a casserole dish!
So you brown your turkey and add some spices and a can of tomato sauce. Cut your tortillas into fourths and layer those, then a layer of the meat, then canned sliced olives and then finally cheese – 3x. Pour some water over the top (helps the tortillas not dry out) and bake.
BAM. Perfect enchilada casserole you can serve up in no time! Mexican food aka Spanish food 😉 at home that your family will gladly sit down at the table for!
Enchilada Casserole
Ingredients
- 1 lb. ground turkey or beef
- 1 medium onion diced
- 1/2 tsp. pepper
- 1 Tbsp. chili powder
- 1 8-oz can tomato sauce
- 4 flour tortillas
- 2 Tbsp. light spreadable butter
- 1 4-oz can sliced olives, drained
- 1 1/2 cup grated cheddar cheese
- 1/2 cup water
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400º F. Brown turkey and onion in a large saucepan. Drain any grease and add pepper, chili powder and tomato sauce.
- Lightly spread tortillas with the spreadable butter and cut into fourths.
- Spray a casserole dish with cooking spray. Alternate laying tortillas (butter side down) in the casserole dish, then a layer of meat sauce, then a layer of olives and then finally a layer of cheese. Repeat the layers three times.
- Pour the water over the top and bake for 25 minutes, uncovered.
- Slice up and serve with sour cream, lettuce, cilantro, tomato, etc. Enjoy!
Nutrition
Looking for more Mexican recipes? Then you’ll love these:
Taco Style Crock Pot Baked Potatoes
Easy Crock Pot Chicken Taco BowlsSlow Cooker Pork Carnitas
I definitely don’t love rolling up all those tortillas – so needless to say, I will be making this instead from now on. Your casserole looks and sounds so indulgent! Can’t wait to give it a try. Also, your blog is absolutely beautiful and your pictures are so dreamy and absolutely stunning!
Kathi – you are SO SWEET!! I feel the same about your pictures and blog! Thank you stopping by, I hope you try this casserole! It really is one of my favorites! XO!
This looks amazing! Wonderful pictures! We were just talking about it was “normal” for us to sit down and eat together as a family when we were growing up and how so many kids never did that!
I’m sure this enchilada casserole is amazing but what is even more amazing is your photography skills! You are so talented Jen! These pictures are so beautiful!
Jen, this is my kind of casserole! I love how easy it is to mke, I agree making enchilada are very time consuming and I just don’t have the time for all that! LOL I will be adding this delicious looking enchilada casserole to next weeks meal plan, my husband is going to love it! Pinned 🙂
Thank you, Jen. Much easier. Have a Fun Evening.
I was just looking for a good Mexican casserole for tomorrow night, and got your post! Looks and sounds great to me. Since I’m an enchilada “purist”- that’s my own definition..lol…I’ll be using corn tortillas instead of flour. Can’t wait to see how it turns out! Thanks for a great post….
Deb
I’m so with you – I’m not lazy, I just like efficiency 🙂 And I’m so thankful to have grown up eating family dinners and want to make it a permanent reality for my family too – a meal like this would be a hit for sure!
This looks like my favorite kind of dinner: Mexican and easy! Beautiful photos too, Jen. Yum!
Ok I am seriously obsessed with Mexican food too! I have enchiladas on the menu for tomorrow and cannot wait! This enchilada casserole is just priming the pump for me and love that it gets you out of rolling the enchilada. (Least favorite part) Pinned Jen, gorgeous photos as always!
Love Mexican Food! Can t wait, to make this!
Love it!! I can’t wait to make these. Thanks for the recipe!!
Can I just grind fresh tomatoes and use that instead is tomato sauce?
Sure!! You might need to add a little salt but that should work fine!
Looks so delish! Just curious if there’s a reason for using tomato sauce instead of enchilada sauce? Wondering if I can use either. You are the BEST, Jen!!! xo
Hi Chelsea!!! I haven’t tried enchilada sauce in this! I like how you can buy an 8 oz. can on tomato sauce but if you buy enchilada sauce, you have to buy a 15 oz (or something like that) so you’ll have some leftover. I am a HUGE fan of enchilada sauce though and I bet it would be delicious in this! If you do try it, let me know how if turns out!
Hi Jen, Chelsea had asked about using Enchilada sauce. I used it tonight and it came out great. I had a 10 oz can in my pantry and used a little less water (to make up the 2 oz difference) from the 8 oz tomato sauce. My husband said I could make this casserole anytime I wanted he LOVED it. Thanks for sharing this with all of us 🙂
Okay, I totally need this for dinner tonight!
I love family dinner time! It gets a little crazy around here, but it’s the #1 place we hear about our kids’ days! Now if only I could get them to stop making little comments about any vegetables I may happen to serve…..! :/
Holy moly, my family would go nuts for this Jen! Beautiful!
Thanks Kelly!! It’s really one of my faves, I hope you give it a try!
My hubby does not like cheese, but does like enchiladas. I think this will work sans the cheese! Menu for this week!
Hi. I have it in the oven now and have a question. What size casserole dish? I used a 9×7 baking dish and only got two layers which I’m fine with but just curious. Thank you!
Hi Lorri! I should add that into my recipe – I actually have made this in a 1.6 liter round casserole dish and a 2 quart oval casserole. I was able to get three layers in both but I don’t have a 9×7 to compare it to. I will update the recipe and add my casserole dish size – thank you so much for the comment! I really, really hope you like it!!
Jennnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn.
These photos made me SO HUNGRY!!! I super love Mexican food and this casserole is amazing. Love it! Can’t wait to try it!
Thanks Heather!!! It is seriously the bomb! I made it like 3x in a week because I couldn’t stop craving it!
Yum! Thanks for the recipe.
Exelent Idea! Thank you 🙂
Definite hit! My husband and I loved it. I used red enchilada sauce as well. (Found a great deal at Save a Lot.) Will absolutely be making this again. Thanks for sharing. It’s delisth!
You made my day, Mary! Thank you so much for your sweet comment! Now I’ll for sure try it with the enchilada sauce! 😉 Have a great week!
Made this last night for dinner along with the Lemon Yogurt cake for dessert. What a hit! Thank you for such a simple and quick dinner idea.
Aahhh!! I’m THRILLED you liked them! Your comment totally cheered me up – thank you so much, Elizabeth!
This looks so good and my daughter and I are making it right now.
I hope you liked the casserole, Erika! It’s one of our favorites!
Hi there! Recipe looks delish and going to make it tonight! I do have one question though….why are we cutting the tortilla’s in fours and could we use coconut oil to brush the tortillas in the place of the butter? Thank you!
It’s easier to manage the tortillas if they’re cut into fourths and spread amongst the casserole dish. I think coconut oil would work just fine. I hope you like it!
How Would I increase ingredients for serving eight? Looks delicious.
It will serve eight small helpings as is but if you want larger servings, I would add an extra half of the recipe or even double it. It’s great as leftovers!
Can I make this the day before and refrigerate?
Hi Barb! I’ve never tried making it a day in advance but I’m thinking it would be fine as long as you don’t add the water until you’re ready to cook it. I hope you like it – it’s one of our favorites!
Jen, you are amazing. Great recipe for a family of Mexican (or Spanish) food lovers.
In the L.A. area, try El Coyote Restaurant for some muy bueno food.
Holly
Thanks Holly!! I’ll have to try El Coyote!
We loved this dish! I added a cup each of black beans and corn to the meat mixture, along with 3 chopped chipotles for extra zip. So delicious! Thank you!
This is absolutely delicious and so was to make! Thanks for a new recipe!