Beef Tacos & Make Ahead Enchiladas
Why cook from scratch two nights in a row when one meal base can work double duty? On Night 1, enjoy a crowd-pleasing classic: seasoned beef tacos with all your favorite fixings. Then, take the leftover taco filling and roll it (literally) into a whole new meal: beef enchiladas smothered in cheese and baked until bubbly and golden. With just a few pantry staples and minimal prep, you’ve turned taco night into a next-day dinner win.
Beef Tacos & Make Ahead Enchiladas
Part of our Cook Once & Eat Twice Series, prepare beef taco mince once and prepare 2 different meals for your family on a budget.
Print Recipe
Ingredients
Beef Tacos & Toppings
- 1 tbs oil
- 1 kg beef mince
- 420 g can of 4 bean mix *see note
- 1 diced onion
- 2 cloves garlic or 2 tsp of dried garlic powder
- 1 cup frozen corn / canned corn
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp pepper
- 1 serve packet or DIY mexican seasoning *see notes
- 1 bay leaf
- 800 g can of crushed tomatoes
- 1 pkt taco shells
- grated cheese
- taco toppings to serve *for ideas see notes
- creamy taco sauce – Dairy free alternative for sour cream *see notes for recipe
Beef Enchiladas served with mexican rice and side salad
- leftover taco mince
- 1 pkt of tortillas (10 pack)
- 300 g jar of salsa
- 700 g grated cheese or less, depends how cheesy you like them.
- creamy taco sauce to serve – Dairy free alternative for sour cream *see notes for recipe
- leftover taco toppings sprinkled over shredded lettuce for a side salad to serve
Easy Mexican Rice
- 3 cups white rice
- 3 cups water
- 2 tsp chicken stock powder or 2 cubes
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- 1 tsp dried onion powder
- 1 tsp dried garlic powder or minced garlic
- 1 tbs tomato paste or 2 tbs tomato sauce
- ¼ tsp dried chilli powder (optional)
Instructions
To prepare Taco Mince
- Add oil to frypan and add diced onion, cooking over medium het until browned
- Add garlic and cook until fragant
- Add beef mince to frypannand cook until browned and crispy (this will add more flavour)
- Drain beans & rinse, adding to frypan along with the corn
- Add mexican seasoning, salt, pepper and bay leaf, cooking unti fragrant
- Add large can of tomatoes and simmer covered while you prepare the toppings
- Bake taco shells until golden, don't microwave them – this is a crime!
- Prepare taco toppings & creamy taco sauce if you'd like to try it, see notes for recipe
- Serve in your Mum's tuppaware dish from the 90's for a fun family night-in meal
- Store leftover mince and salads separately, ready to prepare enchiladas
To prepare make ahead enchiladas
- TIP: I find it easier to prepare these the same day I cook the taco mince as the mixture will be easier to spread compared to when it is cold. Once prepared, these are freezer friendly – I stored mine in aluminium trays as part of preparaaion for post-partum. Know anyone who is expecting a baby? Consider making a batch for the new family – it would be so appreciated I'm sure!
- In a large rectangular baking dish, spray with non-stick and spread half of a jar of salsa over the base to stop the enchiladas from fusing to the bottom
- Gather leftover mince, grated cheese and tortillas creating an assembly line of ingedients
- Add a large spoonful of mince down the centre of a tortilla, edge to edge – in the shape of a sausage roll. Hope that makes sense.
- TIP: If you don't have much leftover mince, you can spread some refried beans in a row next to whatever mince you have left. This is an economical way to bulk up the enchiladas without being xpensice .
- Add grated cheese on top of the mince
- Roll tortilla in half firmly to press the filling together, again in a sausage roll shape then roll to the edge to make the enchilada
- Place seam side down in the baking tray, on top of the salsa. Repeat until all tortillas are used
- As the tray is getting full, you can use the next enchilada to slide them closer together to make them all fit in. My tray is about 13 inches long.
- Add the other half of the salsa jar to the to oo enchiladas and spread out
- Add more grated cheese to the top, aiming for the centre of dish
- For extra crispy enchiladas, spray the edges of each enchilada ( which doesn't have the cheese or salsa on it) down each edge of the tray with spray & cook or non-stick.
- To make things 'aesthetic' you can sprinkle some dried parsely or smoked paprika down the centre also. This is a simple and cheap way to elevate your meal without costing a fortune.
- Bake until cheese is golden and tortilla edges are crispy or store in the fridge for another night or freeze for up to 3 months.
To prepare mexican rice
- Rinse rice in water until the water runs clear
- Add all ingredients listed into a rice cooker and cook as per instructions
- Once ready, fluff up with a fork.
- To elevate: Sprinkle with dried chilli, green herbs or spring onions
To prepare side salad
- Using up leftover ingredients from taco night, add remaining toppings to a bed of shredded lettuce. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. If you had the time, you could toss with olive oil, lemon juice, onion powder, garlic powder for extra flavour.
- Serve enchiladas next to a bed of mexican rice and a side of salad for a quick meal that is easy to prepare ahead of time.
Video
Notes
TIP: You’ll notice that I include variations to my recipes; this is simply because I don’t want you to feel as though you need to purchase extra ingredients to make this meal. I would rather you use whatever you have on hand to help keep your grocery budget on point this week, ya know? My style of cooking is more relaxed than rigid so a substitute here and there won’t damage the end result – so please don’t stress if you don’t have an ingredient either leave it out or be resourceful. That is how I discovered how to make my own DIY Mexican seasoning mix and creamy taco sauce. I no longer purchase salsa and sour cream on taco night either so that’s 3 ingredients I no longer purchase saving me $8 just to prepare 1 meal. If you’re interested in learning how to make them for yourself, see the links below.
DIY Mexican seasoning Recipe. See Recipe. Suitable for tacos, enchiladas or fajitas.
Taco topping ideas:
- Canned corn mixed with finely diced red onion. Squeeze over with lemon, add cilantro or eschallots if you have some handy
- Diced tomato
- Diced cucumber
- A combination of any of the above mixed together tastes great. My children just prefer to have them separate soo they can pick and choose their own toppings
- Shredded iceberg lettuce
- Spinach leaves
- Guacamole or diced avocado
- Pickled jalapeños – they are so easy to prepare and store
- Salsa
- Sour cream
- DIY dairy free sour cream alternative – taco sauce. See Recipe.
Servings: 6 people
