As comforting and delicious it can be to head to your favorite Mexican restaurant on any given night, it’s not the most realistic way to live-budget, health, or time-wise. Sure, the food you make may not be the same, but being able to customize it, have way more leftovers, and feel pride in your accomplishments make cooking for yourself that much easier! A super easy, delicious, and cost-efficient meal to make for yourself is enchiladas. You can choose whether you’d like them to be vegetarian, or meat, and pair them with some rice, chips, and salsa—don’t forget the guacamole. I’ve got the perfect recipe!
1 package corn tortillas
1 can of red enchilada sauce*
1 tbs canola oil
½ onion chopped
1 7oz can of diced chiles
1 pound of cooked and shredded, or canned chicken*
1 can of black beans-strained, not rinsed
1 bunch of cilntro
salt and pepper to taste
4 cups of shredded cheese
Oven to 350 degrees F.
Take a 9×13 pan, and spread ½ of enchilada sauce on the bottom.
Heat the canola oil in a pan, and cook the onion and diced chiles until soft and almost transparent. In a bowl, combine the cooked onions, chicken, beans, cilantro, and salt and pepper, and set aside.
Take 16 corn tortillas, spray with oil, and warm up on the microwave for 30-40 seconds to soften up.
spoon about 2 tbs of the mix into a tortilla, top with 1 tbs cheese, roll up and place in the 9×13 pan covered in enchilada sauce, seam down. Do the same, until the pan is full. Top with enchilada sauce and remaining cheese.
Bake for 30 minutes, or until cheese bubbles on the edges.
*Make this dish vegetarian by using salsa verde, instead of the red enchilada sauce(compliments the flavors better), adding 4 cups of spinach and 1 tbs of cumin while cooking the onions, and replacing the chicken with 1 can of strained corn, and 1 can of pinto beans.
These enchiladas are great topped with sour cream and guacamole, but also great on their own. To make the meal it should only cost $10-15 and can feed multiple people, or eaten as leftovers for a few days. A cheap and easy meal is what most of us are looking for, and it doesn’t hurt to impress a few others that may think you can’t cook, but as the Disney movie, Ratatouille told us all… anyone can cook! (Sorry, that was cheesy, but I had to.)