Crock Pot Smothered Beef Enchiladas

Our Crock Pot Smothered Beef Enchiladas begin with savory beef in a chipotle enchilada sauce that is slow cooked until fall apart done. Next, we wrap the meat, cheese, refried beans in tortillas and smother with cheese and sauce. After that, This savory, mildly spicy, rich dish is baked until melt in your mouth done.

It all starts with the beef in this Crock Pot Smothered Beef Enchiladas recipe!

We chose beef chuck steaks for these Crock Pot Smothered Beef Enchiladas, but even a chuck roast, cut into pieces and trimmed, works beautifully. No matter the beef cut, you will want about 2 lbs worth, either way.

Sometimes it all comes down to the price of meat in making the final decision. Really, the cows must eat in fields of gold or something!

The beef for these amazing enchiladas cooks in the Crock Pot for hours in a flavorful Chipotle based sauce until it is melt in your mouth tender. In addition, the beef is easier to shred when it is nice and tender.

The meat soaks up all of the glorious flavor and is truly the heart and soul of this Crock Pot Smothered Beef Enchiladas recipe!

If there is leftover meat, no worries!! Seal it up, and toss it is the freezer for next time!

The unique flavor of Chipotle

We enjoy the smoky subtle flavors of Chipotle and the fact that they are not blazing hot. They go well in slow cooked meals or BBQs and sauces. Chipotle sauce is unique in how earthy and smoky yet slightly sweet the flavor is. That is to say, the complex flavors of the chipotle are a great addition to many Mexican dishes where flavor vs heat matters.

Looking for more info? Check out this excellent site here: https://www.pepperscale.com/chipotle-vs-jalapeno/

Prep time for making and baking the enchiladas

Once the beef is nice and tender to fall apart done, take it out and shred the meat. We used our handy dandy forks. While this takes a little longer to use regular forks, it does work. Use what resources are available to you.

We have a never ending wish list such as owning a pair of OXO Good Grips Meat Shredding Claws: https://amzn.to/3biS9Ip but someday. It is fun to look though.

We strain the leftover sauce from the Crock Pot and put aside. We will be using this flavorful sauce later.

Once the meat is shredded and the sauce strained and saved, then it is time to prep the enchiladas for baking.

In a nutshell, we layer our tortillas with refried beans, meat, and cheese and then roll them up. Place the rolled up tortillas in the pan and then pour the saved sauce over the tortilla bundles. Top with a thick layer of cheese and bake.

Wrap up of our Crock Pot Smothered Beef Enchiladas

While this recipe is a little time consuming with multiple steps, it is so worth it! We started out early and let our valuable Crock Pot do most of the work. Then it was a matter of assembly lining and packing the enchiladas before throwing everything into the oven to bake.

We really enjoyed the texture and flavor of the beef enchiladas. The meat is so tender and combines well with the refried beans and cheese. The chipotle sauce is rich and flavorful without resulting in scorched tongues.

Best of all, we had leftovers for the next day!

Looking for something quick and easy yet with some zip? Try our Black Bean Spinach Quesadillas or Cilantro Lime Chicken and Black Bean Quesadilla recipes!

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The morgan Sisters

Crock Pot Smothered Beef Enchiladas

Recipe by Tanya MorganCourse: DinnerCuisine: MexicanDifficulty: intermediate
Servings

4

servings
Prep time

30

minutes
Cooking time

7

hours 
baking time

25

minutes
Total time

7

hours 

55

minutes

Crock Pot Smothered Beef Enchiladas begin with savory beef in a chipotle enchilada sauce slow cooked until fall apart done. Wrap the meat, cheese, refried beans in tortillas and bake.

Ingredients

  • 2 lbs beef chuck steak or roast (if roast, cut into pieces and trim)

  • 1 tsp each of salt and pepper

  • 1 tbsp of olive oil

  • 1 large yellow onion, halved and sliced

  • 4 cloves garlic, thinly sliced

  • 1 package of taco seasoning, low sodium

  • 1 tbsp minced chipotle pepper (you can buy already minced in adobo sauce)

  • 1 32 oz can enchilada sauce, we used the green sauce

  • 1 19 0z can refried beans

  • 8 tortillas, either 10 inch or 12 inch ( we used 10 inch for this recipe )

  • 3-4 cups of cheddar or colby jack cheese

  • Sour cream, lime wedges, freshly chopped cilantro, and extra cheese to garnish if desired.

  • Lime Cilantro Rice, Optional. See last of the directions below.

Directions

  • Season the meat with salt and pepper. In a large skillet, add the olive oil and brown the meat on all sides. Place in the bottom of a crock pot. Add in the garlic, onions, taco seasoning, chipotle peppers, and the enchilada sauce. Cook on low for 7 to 8 hours, or high for 4 to 5 hours.
  • Remove the meat from the crock pot. Shred with two forks, and set aside. Drain the sauce thru a sieve over a large bowl, then put the onions and garlic in with the shredded beef and mix well.
  • Preheat oven to 400 F. One at a time, take a tbsp or two of refried beans and spread down the middle of a tortilla. Add a couple of tbsps of the shredded beef, and then a 1/3 cup of cheese. Roll one side in, then fold both sides in enclose the filling. Finish rolling, keeping the tortilla snug around the filling. Place into a 9×13 inch pan. Repeat, snugging the filled tortillas up against the ones already in the pan.
  • After the pan is full, top with the rest of the cheese. Then pour all of the strained sauce all over the enchiladas, covering as much of those bad boys as you can! Place the pan in the oven and bake for 20 to 25 minutes, simply to melt the cheeses, and let those amazing flavors combine.
  • We served our Enchiladas with Lime Cilantro Rice. Super simple. Prepare rice as directed, and when it is just done, toss in the zest from a lime, and 2 tbsp of freshly chopped cilantro. Allow to sit for a minute or two before serving. This keeps the flavors fresh, vs that cooked in flavor.
  • Provide dishes of lime wedges, freshly chopped cilantro, more shredded cheese, and sour cream for garnishments. Enjoy!!
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