Cheese enchiladas are such a simple comfort food. They’re warm, creamy, cheesy, and just all-around amazing. Plus, the combination of tortillas and cheese is just something I never get tired of. 😏 To ramp up the flavor in this easy cheese enchiladas recipe, I added some mild green chiles, a few spices, and a little sour cream for extra creaminess, and then I drenched them in my homemade enchilada sauce. The result was seriously delicious for something so incredibly simple.
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Ingredients for Cheese Enchiladas
The best thing about this cheese enchilada recipe is that it’s super simple. Here’s all you’ll need to make these super scrumptious enchiladas:
- Tortillas: Enchiladas are traditionally made with corn tortillas, but if you prefer flour you can certainly use those as well. I find that corn tortillas hold up better in the sauce and give a delicious corn flavor to the dish.
- Cheese: Cheese is the bulk of the filling for the enchiladas and you can use just about any type of melting cheese, so raid your refrigerator for leftovers and make sure no cheese goes to waste! We used a combination of cheddar and pepper jack, but you can take a look at our list of good cheese options below for more ideas.
- Diced Green Chiles: A can of diced green chiles adds a ton of flavor, texture, and color the cheese filling. You can use either spicy or mild diced green chiles.
- Sour Cream: Sour cream combines with the cheese to create an extra rich, creamy, and delicious filling for the enchiladas.
- Spices: We used a simple mix of garlic powder, cumin, and salt to season the enchilada filling.
- Enchilada Sauce: Enchilada sauce drenches the enchiladas in flavor and saucy goodness. Red enchilada sauce is the best, but you can certainly try green enchilada sauce as well. We used our simple homemade red enchilada sauce for this recipe because it’s way more flavorful than canned sauce, but canned is an option as well.
What Kind of Cheese to Use
This recipe is super flexible, so it’s a great way to use up any odds and ends of cheese that you may have in your fridge. You’ll need about 12oz. (one and half 8oz. blocks) of cheese for this recipe and you can mix and match cheese types. So today, I used a whole block of cheddar and a leftover half-block of pepper jack that I had in my fridge. Here are some other types of cheese you could use:
- Queso Blanco
- Monterey Jack
- Queso Asadero
- Queso Fresca (use in smaller amounts in combination with a creamy-melty cheese)
- Chihuahua Cheese
- Colby Jack
Are Cheese Enchiladas Spicy?
These cheese enchiladas can be spicy, depending on the ingredients used. If you need to make sure your enchiladas are mild, pay attention to the canned green chiles and enchilada sauce. Canned green chiles can be either spicy or mild (usually indicated on the label) and the same is true for enchilada sauce. Check the label on the can or the ingredients used in the recipe, if you’re making homemade (cayenne pepper is spicy and chili powder can be either spicy or mild).
Add More to Your Cheese Enchiladas
Cheese enchiladas are a simple vegetarian meal, but they can also be a blank template for other ingredients to be added (vegetarian or not). Here are some other ingredients that you can toss into the cheese enchilada filling, if you want to try something new:
- Beans
- Chopped spinach
- Chopped cooked chicken
- Chorizo
- Ground beef
- Sautéed zucchini
- Bell pepper
- Sweet corn
- Avocado
- Scrambled eggs
What to Serve with Cheese Enchiladas
I topped my enchiladas with a little more sour cream, guacamole, and green onion for extra color on the plate, but those toppings are totally optional. Since an all-cheese enchilada can be a little on the heavy side, I would definitely pair them with some fiber-filled side dishes, like Quick Seasoned Black Beans, Cucumber and Black Bean Salad, or Cowboy Caviar. A little zesty Cilantro Lime Rice on the side would also lighten up the flavors a bit!
Cheese Enchiladas
Servings 4 3 enchiladas eachIngredients
- 12 small corn tortillas ($0.80)
- 12 oz. cheese, shredded ($3.44)
- 1 4oz. can diced green chiles (drained) ($0.89)
- 1/4 cup sour cream ($0.19)
- 1/4 tsp garlic powder ($0.02)
- 1/4 tsp ground cumin ($0.02)
- 1/8 tsp salt ($0.01)
- 1.5 cups enchilada sauce ($0.60)
Instructions
- Toast the tortillas in a hot skillet, one at a time for a few seconds on each side, or just until lightly browned.
- Add ¾ of the shredded cheese to a bowl (saving the remainder to top the enchiladas). Also add the drained green chiles, sour cream, garlic powder, cumin, and salt. Stir the ingredients to combine.
- Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Add about ½ cup of enchilada sauce to the bottom of a large casserole dish and spread it around until it covers the surface.
- Fill each tortilla with about 3 Tbsp of the cheese filling, then roll to close, and place them in the casserole dish. Continue until all of the tortillas have been filled, rolled, and placed in the dish.
- Pour the remaining 1 cup of enchilada sauce over the enchiladas, then top with the remaining shredded cheese.
- Bake the enchiladas for 20 minutes in the preheated oven, or just until they are heated through and melty. Do not overbake the enchiladas, as this can cause the filling to separate and curdle. Serve hot with your favorite toppings* and sides!
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Notes
Nutrition
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How to Make Cheese Enchiladas – Step by Step Photos
I highly suggest toasting your corn tortillas before you begin. This takes the flavor of the corn tortilla from bland and raw to deliciously toasty with a more pronounced corn flavor. I just do this in a hot, dry skillet. Once the skillet is nice and hot, it only takes about 15-30 seconds per side to get just a little color on the tortilla.
Shred 12oz. cheese and then set aside about ¼ of it to use as a topping for the enchiladas. Combine the rest of the cheese in a bowl with ¼ cup sour cream, one 4oz. can of diced green chiles (drained), ¼ tsp garlic powder, ¼ tsp cumin, and ⅛ tsp salt.
Stir the filling ingredients together until well combined.
Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Add ½ cup enchilada sauce to the bottom of a casserole dish and spread it around to cover the surface.
Add about 3 Tbsp of the cheese filling to the center of each tortilla, then roll it closed and place it in the casserole dish. Continue until all of the tortillas are filled, rolled, and in the casserole dish.
Pour another one cup of enchilada sauce over the enchiladas. I like to leave some of the tortillas exposed to get extra toasty, but you can cover them completely, if you prefer.
Add the remaining shredded cheese on top of the enchiladas.
Bake the enchiladas for 20 minutes, or just until heated through. Make sure not to overbake the enchiladas, as this can cause the filling to curdle.
Serve hot with your favorite toppings and side dishes (I topped them with green onion, sour cream, and guacamole)!
Can you make these ahead of time?
My concern is that the tortillas would soak up too much moisture and get a bit soggy before bake time. You could prep the filling and sauce ahead of time and just assemble right before baking!
This was quick, perfect, and delicious. Thank you for the recipe.