Cheater's Enchiladas


If you want a combination of meat, cheese, and tortillas with sauce, but don't want to spend time rolling the filling and making it look nice, have I got a recipe for you! This is a layered enchilada casserole, that gives you the same flavor blend and a foolproof presentation.

You'll need:
  • 12 oz red enchilada sauce
  • 2 c filling (meat or beans)
  • 2 c shredded Mexican blend cheese
  • 5 corn tortillas
I used a small springform pan because I'm a nerd and have a lot of springform pans, but you can use an 8 inch round cake pan or even a 9x9 square pan. Grease it with cooking spray. Then mix about a cup of cheese with the filling. I used small tongs to toss shredded chicken in with the cheese.

Next, open the can of enchilada sauce with a can opener and stir it up so the spices aren't settled. Then you'll use either a spoon or a small ladle to put enough onto the bottom of the pan to coat it lightly.

Put a corn tortilla on the bottom of the pan, and put another thin layer of enchilada sauce on top of it; this will keep the tortilla from getting dry, which will make it difficult to cut. Then put about a third of a cup of the filling.

The beautiful thing about this recipe, is you can make an enchilada sandwich and just put all the filling here if you wanted. Or you can do a mille-feiulle (crepe cake) with a thousand thin layers. I like to pile on the meat so that I have about 3 layers of the filling in the finished dish.

Spread the meat or filling out to the edges of the tortilla, then top with a handful of cheese. Then put another tortilla over it, and spoon some enchilada sauce to cover that tortilla.

Continue in this pattern - tortilla, sauce, meat/filling, cheese, tortilla, sauce - until you're out of filling.

Finish with the last tortilla, a coating of sauce, and another handful of shredded cheese.

Cover tightly with aluminum foil and bake 25 minutes at 350. (You can also refrigerate it up to two days until you're ready to took it - just add ten minutes to the cooking time.) Then uncover and cook another 5 minutes to finish melting the cheese.

Mix It Up: