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Make Ahead Meals: Beefy Enchilada Bake

April 29, 2008 by Laura 56 Comments

This post may contain affiliate links which won’t change your price but will share some commission.

We’re calling this Beefy Enchilada Bake. Why??

Anybody else have a husband who “won’t eat it if it’s a casserole?”

My sister-in-law, Kari,  told me of this recipe idea. But she said, “You can’t call it a casserole, or Randy won’t eat it!” Apparently it’s a common theme with husbands. Many don’t like casseroles. (My husband on the other hand, would probably eat it no matter what you called it. If there’s food in it – he likes it.)

So as Kari was making this, she decided, “It’s layered like a lasagna. I think I’ll call it Enchilada Lasagna.” (Fun name – I like it!)

Hey, call it whatever you want to. This dish is simple to prepare, really yummy to eat, and is great to make ahead of time, freeze, thaw and bake. I LOVE Make Ahead Casser Meals!

Beefy Enchilada Bake 

Beefy Enchilada Bake (aka Enchilada Lasagna)

Make Ahead Meals: Beefy Enchilada Bake
 
Save Print
Author: Laura
Serves: 6-10
Ingredients
  • 1 pound Ground hamburger meat
  • 3 Tablespoons arrowroot powder or cornstarch
  • ½ cup water
  • 1-2 teaspoons chili powder (depending on your taste)
  • salt
  • 3 cups tomato sauce
  • 8 ounces shredded cheddar cheese
  • 12 corn tortillas
Instructions
  1. Brown hamburger meat.
  2. Do not drain grease!
  3. Put cooked hamburger meat in separate bowl, salt and set aside.
  4. Sprinkle arrowroot powder into the grease and stir (if you do not have enough grease to absorb the arrowroot powder, add 2 T. butter).
  5. Keep your burner on medium to high heat.
  6. Pour in water and “smoosh” the clumps of arrowroot powder/grease around while you stir the water in.
  7. This will thicken and make a gravy.
  8. Pour in tomato sauce and chili powder.
  9. Stir well until bubbly. This is now your enchilada sauce!
  10. Cut corn tortillas into one inch strips.
  11. Dip tortilla strips in enchilada sauce and coat thoroughly.
  12. Cover bottom of baking dish with enchilada sauce coated tortilla strips.
  13. Sprinkle ⅓ of the cooked ground beef over the tortillas…then a little cheese.
  14. Repeat layers twice more: enchilada sauce coated tortilla strips, meat, cheese.
  15. If you have any leftover enchilada sauce, drizzle it over the top.
  16. Cover and bake at 350° for 30 – 40 minutes or until bubbly.
3.4.3177

There you go! A great meal that you can make ahead of time and pull out when you need it!

Because I’ve had several requests for more meals like this, and because I LOVE having meals like this, I’ve been playing a lot in my kitchen to come up with more great recipes that can save you time and energy! I’ll keep these recipes coming!

But I’m curious – does your family eat “casseroles”? Because I can come up with anti-casserole names. I’ll go think of some now…

(Easy Chicken HooHaa;  Tasty Noodley Goodley;  Cheesy Pleasey Chicken; Chunky Beef Bucket, Turkey Salad Surprise ; Couch Potato Cuisine…)

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Filed Under: Make Ahead Meals, Works for Me Wednesday

Comments

  1. Kate says

    April 29, 2008 at 10:03 pm

    Great post Laura. That, ahem, bake, looks delicious! My husband will eat casseroles (my dad never, ever would though). But, for some reason he will not eat goulash. So, in our house, anything that in any way resembles goulash is called “stuff in a pan.”

    Reply
  2. Char says

    April 29, 2008 at 11:41 pm

    Looks fantastic – we’re definitely having this soon! Now, do I freeze it AFTER I bake it? (See, I’m homemaking impaired). And please do share lots and lots more of these kinds of recipes! I want to start making a double batch every time I make one of these, so I always have an extra something in the freezer. :-)

    Reply
  3. Org Junkie says

    April 30, 2008 at 12:11 am

    Mmmmmm, sounds yummy. I love casseroles and thankfully so does hubbie!!

    Reply
  4. Jennie says

    April 30, 2008 at 3:46 am

    Thanks! This sounds great. I love recipes with basic ingredients that I can actually get overseas. I’ll have to make the tortillas, but I can get everything else. We really enjoy Mexican food so I’m sure this will be a hit.

    Reply
  5. The Happy Housewife says

    April 30, 2008 at 5:45 am

    This looks similar to something I make. I can call it whatever I want because my husband will eat anything!

    Reply
  6. Heather - Doodle Acres says

    April 30, 2008 at 5:59 am

    My husband doesn’t mind casseroles as long as it’s food, too!!!

    Wanted to tell you that my family loved the onion ring recipe with the whole wheat flour and I love the menu templates you shared. Your blog is quickly becoming one of my favorites!!! Thank you and please keep the recipes coming!!! :)

    Reply
  7. Memarie Lane says

    April 30, 2008 at 8:27 am

    My husband doesn’t care about the name of theh dish, but he won’t eat anything that’s “all mixed up.” He likes his food separate. I make casseroles anyway, and when he complains I just tell him “oh frickin well! Sometimes we’re going to eat stuff I like too!” :P

    Reply
  8. Kai says

    April 30, 2008 at 8:29 am

    Yum! I don’t eat beef, but I can definitely use soy crumbles in this recipe for a similar effect. I can’t wait to try it!

    Reply
  9. The Apron Queen says

    April 30, 2008 at 8:41 am

    Oh yum! Sounds delicious.

    I’m giving surfing lessons today. Come see! :D

    http://anapronaday.blogspot.com/2008/04/how-to-surf-waves-surfing-lessons-101.html

    Reply
  10. Jodi says

    April 30, 2008 at 8:47 am

    my hubby actually LOVEs casseroles – probably more than I do. i love finding new recipes that work to fix 2 at one time…one to eat and one “casserole” to freeze. Love it! thanks and happy experimenting!

    Reply
  11. Diane says

    April 30, 2008 at 8:52 am

    My husband will eat it if it’s food, too. Doesn’t care what it is called. I’m thankful. :-)
    He would kiss my feet if I made this for him. Think I’ll get a pedicure.

    Reply
  12. wendy says

    April 30, 2008 at 9:16 am

    We make this, and my family loves it. Just a note on things to add/change to make it different. We add yellow hominy and/or black beans – so good. You can use tortilla chips instead of the tortillas (not cheep or healthy but okay in a pinch.) It’s also so different but yummy if you use chicken, green enchalida sauce, sour cream and a can of green chilies.

    Reply
  13. Jennifer says

    April 30, 2008 at 10:05 am

    My husband will not eat casseroles either. That’s funny! This looks yummy – can’t wait to try it. Looks right up our alley.

    Reply
  14. candace says

    April 30, 2008 at 12:05 pm

    How would you go about freezing something like this for the best results, pre-bake or post?
    Thanks for the recipe.

    Reply
  15. Laura says

    April 30, 2008 at 12:27 pm

    I freeze it BEFORE I bake it…and it worked great!

    Reply
    • Kari Coppinger says

      December 8, 2013 at 7:37 pm

      Just made a similar recipe and came here to see if you had any advice on freezing before or after baking. Thanks for coming through, again and again and again!

      Reply
  16. Brenda says

    April 30, 2008 at 12:56 pm

    Laura, you probably already do this, but in case you don’t I thought I’d share…!

    When I make make-ahead things like these, I like to line the pan with foil, leaving enough excess foil sticking out that I can wrap it over and around the entire casserole/bake/whatever. I stick it in the freezer overnight and then take the entire cassrole, wrapped in foil, right out of the dish and then stick it in a Ziploc and write what it is on the outside.

    That way my pan isn’t stuck waiting in the freezer until we eat that particular casserole!

    One other hot tip… !:)

    You can pre-assemble casseroles like this in a 5 qt ice cream bucket. Start by lining the bucket with Saran wrap, and then put together a casserole in it. Next, fold the Saran down over the casserole… and then do it again by placing another lining of Saran Wrap in there so you can make another casserole in the bucket that sits right on top of the last one… and then if there is still room, do a third one!

    In the end, you’ll have three casseroles all ready to go, stacked one on top of the other, individually wrapped and in an air-tight ice cream bucket.

    Why do this? Well… the inside of the ice cream bucket is the same size as the inside of a standard round crock pot! Just take one out of the bucket, unwrap it stick it in the crockpot on low in the morning, and have supper ready that night!

    Easy squeazy! :)

    I got that idea here years ago – it’s the “Ice Cream Bucket Lasagna” recipe. http://snider.mardox.com/classics.htm

    Reply
    • Shawna says

      September 17, 2012 at 7:32 am

      Love your ideas! :)

      Reply
  17. Joelle says

    April 30, 2008 at 1:07 pm

    My husband likes casseroles, but doesn’t like Mexican food. So… hmmm… I could make this but call it casserole instead of enchilada. He just doesn’t like beans and cheese. Since this has neither, maybe we can do this one. (We’re also vegetarian, but I think I can find a substitute vege-meat to use.)

    Reply
  18. Marie says

    April 30, 2008 at 2:37 pm

    My husband will eat anything, no matter the name. Well except eggplant. Which is really a bummer because I love eggplant lasagna!
    Also Thank You Brenda for the pointers. Cooking is not one of those things that comes naturally to me. Thanks to you now all of my casserole dishes won’t be in the freezer!

    Reply
  19. Kelly says

    April 30, 2008 at 7:28 pm

    looks yummy! your alternate names cracked me up-hoohaa, bucket-heehee!

    Reply
  20. Sonshine says

    May 1, 2008 at 6:55 am

    LOL!!! Not only do I have a hubby that won’t eat casseroles, I have kids that won’t eat them either!

    That looks yummy!

    Reply
  21. Tracy says

    March 19, 2009 at 9:48 am

    I looked and looked, but couldn’t find what temperature the oven should be set at?

    Reply
  22. Danielle says

    May 27, 2009 at 10:29 am

    What can you substitute for chili powder? I never use it (nope, not even in chili!), and I don’t want to buy it for one dish.

    Reply
  23. Joy @ Frugal Menu Mamas says

    June 22, 2009 at 7:00 pm

    So, is this a freezer meal? Have you tried freezing it? Do you bake and then freeze or freeze then bake? :) Thanks!
    I have lots of make ahead meals (aka freezer meals) posted on my blog on Fridays! I am always looking for new ones. :)

    Reply
  24. Solarra says

    January 7, 2010 at 3:40 pm

    LOL:) If my hubby and kid didn’t eat casseroles, they would never eat;) I loooove casseroles:)

    Reply
  25. Angela says

    February 15, 2010 at 4:32 pm

    Looks great Laura!!! We love this kinda cassrole, although most recipes a too spicey for my kids this dosn’t look to be and I know the will love it!!! Thanks for sharing!!!

    In him, Angela

    Reply
  26. Teresa says

    March 10, 2010 at 11:36 am

    The recipe says to use arrowroot powder or flour, but do you think I could use cornstarch?

    Reply
    • Teresa says

      March 10, 2010 at 4:38 pm

      The cornstarch worked great. I just made this for dinner and it was very yummy. Everyone really liked it. Thank you for the recipe, I can’t wait to try it with chicken.

      Reply
      • Laura says

        March 10, 2010 at 5:04 pm

        Great! I hadn’t had a chance yet to get back to you and say “go for it!” on the cornstarch. Glad you tried it anyway!

        Reply
  27. Jill says

    March 29, 2010 at 9:20 pm

    My family loves casseroles and I love to make them because they are so convenient. I have a question for you? Do you use any other kind of flour in you whole wheat torillas? I just found out I am gluten sensitive. thanks

    Reply
    • Laura says

      March 31, 2010 at 7:45 am

      I haven’t tried any other flours…but I’m hoping to come up with a good corn tortilla recipe soon!

      Reply
      • Adina says

        April 3, 2010 at 1:21 pm

        We moved to Guatemala to be teachers at an international school.
        I learned how to make corn tortillas, they are super good fresh!
        I took step by step pictures and instructions here:
        http://www.all-about-guatemala.com/how-to-make-corn-tortillas.html

        We used a “comal” but you could also just use a skillet.

        Reply
  28. Lindsey in AL says

    March 31, 2010 at 6:03 am

    We all eat casseroles. Like yours, my husband will eat just about anything with food in it, although he prefers not to have the same thing more than twice in a week (ie. dinner one night and lunch the next and then no more leftovers thankyouverymuch!) My kids went through a phase where they thought they didn’t like casseroles because I served something called casserole that they didn’t like. So everything was a “bake” for a month or two. Now they’re back to normal.

    I am trying to fill my freezer with easy things to eat for dinner when our new baby arrives in June (#5) and this looks like the sort of thing we would enjoy. Thanks!!

    Reply
  29. Candi says

    March 31, 2010 at 7:52 pm

    I can’t believe I haven’t seen this on your site before! I love all your recipes and this is definitely going on my list for next month’s oamc day! yum!

    Reply
  30. Irene says

    November 21, 2010 at 3:56 pm

    I love casseroles, however, sometimes, I just empty out the veggie crisper, check and see what sort of meat and seasonings I have on hand and then, we have some variation on what we call “slop”. We make Oriental slop with cabbage, broccoli, rice, chicken and Chinese sauces and seasonings. Italian slop has any combo of Parmesan, some form of tomato, Italian sausage and pasta. You get the idea. Of course, you can take all of these, throw them in a casserole dish, and bake them and voila – Casserole, not slop.

    Reply
  31. Kathy Feusse says

    February 21, 2011 at 8:12 am

    I love this one! It is supper tonight!! thanks. and yes, we eat casseroles…my hubby is like yours…if it is food, he will eat it. So please keep these ideas coming!!!

    Reply
  32. Kari says

    March 2, 2011 at 6:22 pm

    Was looking for something to make tonight that I had the ingredients for. This recipe crossed my mind from having seen it in your menu plans. I completely forgot that I had shared the idea with you. This will be for tomorrow night. Tonight rice and Indian food (pre-made packets from Trader Joe’s, so glad you don’t judge me!) with hummus and Naan.

    Reply
  33. oh amanda says

    March 5, 2011 at 10:06 am

    Do you make your own corn tortillas? Do you have a recipe? Or can point me to one?

    :)

    Reply
    • Laura says

      March 6, 2011 at 10:16 pm

      I’m, in the process right now of figuring out a good and healthy corn tortilla recipe as a part of the Heavenly Homemakers Recipe Challenge. https://www.heavenlyhomemakers.com/heavenly-homemakers-recipe-challenge-2

      Hopefully soon I’ll have one figured out!! :)

      Reply
      • oh amanda says

        March 7, 2011 at 8:21 am

        And that is why I should look around before I ask! Thanks! :)

        Reply
        • Adina says

          March 11, 2011 at 8:29 pm

          http://www.all-about-guatemala.com/how-to-make-corn-tortillas.html
          has a tutorial for making corn tortillas if you are interested.
          We are in Guatemala and we make them all the time.

          Reply
  34. Kristin says

    March 25, 2011 at 1:27 pm

    My husband will eat whatever I make and he knows not to complain because he’ll be making dinner and he doesn’t have a clue what to do in the kitchen. In fact, we say that if anything happened to me he’d use my insurance money to hire a cook otherwise our kids would eat Kraft Spiral Mac n Cheese and pizza rolls everyday :) We make a version of this with ground turkey and I add in some veggies. I am anxious to try this!

    Reply
  35. ELENA MARSHALL says

    May 13, 2011 at 6:48 pm

    Okay, not only did I make one recipe, but two! The enchiladas were a huge hit as was the apple dip! :o) I hope I’ll be shopping soon! ;o)

    Reply
  36. DonnaJ says

    January 17, 2012 at 8:09 am

    We love casseroles! My daughter has a big aversion to kidney beans, so I usually try to keep them on one side of the dish ~ or she can pick them out. The Enchilada “thingie” looks great!

    Reply
  37. Adrienne says

    February 14, 2012 at 10:15 am

    Yum! Made this for dinner last night and it was great. I wonder if the arrowroot/flour is even necessary? The sauce itself was pretty thick and I think the tortillas would help to keep everything together. Anyone try it without the flour?

    Reply
    • [email protected] says

      March 20, 2012 at 11:22 am

      It should work fine to skip that!

      Reply
  38. Katie says

    April 9, 2012 at 5:32 pm

    Sooooo good!! My family absolutely loved this! Tastes just like enchiladas, and so easy!

    Reply
  39. Adrienne says

    March 4, 2013 at 4:50 pm

    Made this tonight! Really good!! Easy too:) froze one so hopefully it works out too:)

    Reply
  40. Megan says

    May 31, 2013 at 10:59 am

    I think I’m gonna stick this one in the Crock Pot…in the interest of not heating up the kitchen… ;)

    Reply
  41. Gina says

    September 25, 2013 at 4:08 pm

    I made this for dinner tonight and it was fabulous. I added cumin to the sauce and used whole wheat tortillas instead of corn. Next time I will double to have plenty of leftovers. I’ll attempt one for the freezer as well. Thanks for sharing!

    Reply
  42. Kim says

    October 31, 2013 at 8:49 am

    Laura,
    I would probably make this with venison, which is very lean and therefore produces very little grease. Would you recommend adding extra butter in place of the grease to make the gravy?
    Thanks!

    Reply
    • [email protected] says

      November 7, 2013 at 10:12 am

      Yum! Sounds good. I would add some butter to make the gravy.

      Reply
  43. Tara says

    October 4, 2014 at 2:53 pm

    This looks good and we love casseroles! However I am a fan of the non casserole names, especially Noodley Goodley!

    Reply
  44. Amy says

    August 13, 2015 at 2:53 pm

    What size baking dish does this require?

    Reply
    • Laura says

      August 13, 2015 at 3:45 pm

      I use a 9×13. :)

      Reply

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