One Skillet Enchilada Ground Beef Casserole

Nothing is better than a skillet piled high with saucy meat, flour tortillas, and gooey cheese. This one-skillet ground beef enchilada casserole is perfect for family dinner!

Easy Ground Beef Enchilada Casserole

Stop the bus. Hold the phone. Wait right there, missy. I’m about to introduce you to your new favorite family dinner recipe and the best part is, I froze it and it totally worked so it’s also a freezer meal.

For a little while, Cade lived in Arizona where there’s a lot of Mexican-inspired foods, so I thought for sure he’d have some good recipes or a love of Mexican food when we got married, but he didn’t really. I mean, he loved to eat Mexican but he was more drawn to southern or Italian recipes.

The longer we’ve been married the more he has been pulled back over to Mexican food and this one-skillet ground beef enchilada casserole is for sure one of his new favorites.

Our good friend from Country Cleaver wrote a new cookbook called, Cast Iron Gourmet, and if you haven’t gotten it yet, you pretty much should. There’s a strawberry chocolate panini that is calling my name.

Oh!! And the pesto-and-mozzarella-stuffed dinner rolls look like gooey, cheesy, nuggets of awesomeness.

There’s everything from breakfast and sides to main dishes and desserts and I’m not kidding, I suddenly want to buy every cast iron skillet in every size and color.

If you haven’t cooked with cast iron before, well first of all you should stop reading this and buy our favorite Lodge Cast Iron skillet off of Amazon and get on that because the flavor and even cooking will sell you for life. But also, Megan covers everything you’ll need to know about it so you’ll never have any questions about what you’re doing.

Blast, I got off subject. Let’s chat more about this ground beef enchilada casserole, shall we?

Ground Beef Enchilada Casserole Ingredients

This Mexican casserole with tortillas is a cinch to make and requires very few ingredients. Here’s what all we used in this ground beef enchilada casserole recipe: 

• Ground beef
• Taco seasoning 
• Yellow onion
• Cremini mushrooms
• Red enchilada sauce
• Pinto beans
• Cheddar cheese
• Cotija cheese
• Flour tortillas 
• Fresh cilantro

How to Make Ground Beef Enchilada Casserole

Here’s the deal, it’s all about the meat in the beginning. You just cook it up with seasonings then dump in things like onions, pinto beans and enchilada sauce and cook for 2-3 minutes until thick and bubbly.

Now you’ll stir in two kinds of cheese, and don’t even think about skipping the cotija. It adds a whole new level to the dish that I can’t possibly explain, so just trust me on it.

After everything is well combined, pour it all off into a bowl and add a spoonful back into the skillet, spreading it all over the bottom so the tortillas don’t stick. This is similar to a lasagna, so layer tortilla, sauce, we added extra cheese at this step but that’s not necessary.

Keep layering until you reach the top and then pop the sucker into the oven for about 20-25 minutes. It’s going to be glorious at this point.

You can top it with sour cream, Greek yogurt, crema, cilantro and even avocados would be good or just eat it as is. The best part, hands down is the crispy edges of tortilla and cheese. Ohhhhh mama!

Can I Use Ground Turkey Instead of Ground Beef? 

Absolutely! We have tested this recipe with both ground beef and ground turkey before and we loved them both. Use whichever you prefer. 

Can I Make This Enchilada Casserole Vegetarian? 

You might be able to, but we’ve only ever made it with ground meat. But I imagine you’d just add extra beans to make it a filling vegetarian meal. 

How Long Will Ground Beef Enchiladas Keep in the Fridge?

This easy enchilada casserole will keep 3 to 5 days in the refrigerator. 

How to Freeze Ground Beef Enchilada Casserole

To make freezer-ready enchilada casserole, assemble the casserole in a tin baking dish and then wrap the whole thing in plastic wrap. When you’re ready to enjoy the frozen casserole, heat it directly from frozen. 

Tips for Making Ground Beef Enchilada Casserole

If desired, you could easily make this ground beef enchilada casserole gluten-free by using corn tortillas instead of flour. The texture of the dish may change slightly, but I imagine it’d still taste delicious! 

Depending on the size of your cast iron skillet, your casserole may have more or less layers than ours did. A smaller skillet will require additional layers, and a larger skillet will require fewer layers. Either way works! 

This ground beef enchilada casserole is essentially a meal in and of itself, but you may want to consider serving it with steamed rice or veggies to round things out. 

More EASY BEEF RECIPES: 

One-Skillet Ground Beef Enchilada Casserole

Recommended Products