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Doing a Pantry Challenge often gets my creative juices flowing. Since I have told myself to make due with what I have, I have to think creatively — or eat bland, boring meals. These enchiladas are the happy result of thinking creatively in the kitchen.
Normally, I make enchiladas with cheese or shredded chicken or beef. But, I decided to try something different this week. I had a package of ground turkey, a hunk of cheddar, canned black beans, Las Palmas enchilada sauce and green chiles.
I also had the leftovers from a large package of corn tortillas. Served in soft tacos a week or so ago, the tortillas were terrible: crumbly and blah. But, in enchiladas they were fantastic! Go figure. They were so good, in fact, that was something that hubs commented on, “These tortillas are really good.” May wonders never cease.
Enchiladas come together quite quickly and they freeze rather well, so I made a few individual pans to freeze for One-Man TV Dinners. As we enter hockey season next month, it will be great for my son and hubs to grab them when they come home.
You will want to keep a few pans of these Turkey and Black Bean Enchiladas in your freezer, too. Love Mexican food? Be sure to check out these 60+ Budget-Friendly Mexican Dinner Ideas.
Turkey and Black Bean Enchiladas
Ingredients
- 1 lb ground turkey
- 1 tablespoon taco seasoning mix
- 1 4-ounce can green chiles (chopped)
- 1 15-ounce can black beans rinsed and drained
- ½ cup salsa
- oil for frying for the tortillas
- 18 corn tortillas
- 3 cup red enchilada sauce
- 12 oz cheddar cheese (shredded) (3 cups)
- 4 green onion chopped
Instructions
- In a large skillet, cook the ground turkey until browned.
- Season the meat to taste with the taco seasoning mix.
- Stir in the green chiles, black beans, and salsa.
- Meanwhile heat the oil in a large skillet until shimmering.
- Soften each tortilla in the hot oil, about 30 seconds per side, until leathery, but not crisp.
- Drain the tortillas on paper toweling.
- Spread a small amount of the enchilada sauce in the bottom of a 9×13-inch baking dish as well as two smaller individual pans. (You can also divide the 18 enchiladas into 2 9×13-inch pans.)
- Assemble the enchiladas by spooning about 2 to 3 Tablespoons of the meat filling into each tortilla.
- Sprinkle a small handful of cheese over the filling. (Reserve about 1 cup of cheese for the topping.)
- Roll the tortilla around the filling and place it seam side down in the prepared pan.
- Continue rolling the remainder of the enchiladas.
- Cover the enchiladas with sauce and sprinkle with the remaining cheese.
- Sprinkle the green onions over the top of the sauce.
- If freezing, cover the pans and allow the enchiladas to chill in the refrigerator before placing them in the freezer. To serve, thaw the enchiladas in the refrigerator before proceeding with the next step.
- If baking right away, bake the enchiladas in a preheated 350° oven for 15 to 20 minutes or until the cheese is bubbly.
- Serve immediately.
Notes
Nutritional values are approximate and based on 1 enchilada.
Sandi
When you say to add the taco seasoning, do you mean add it with water and simmer as the package says (although I use a homemade blend but it works the same way), or simply sprinkle the dry powder over the meat?
Jessica
@Sandi, sorry for the delay in getting back to you. Just sprinkle the dry powder over the meat. I use this: http://lifeasmom.com/2010/04/pinto-beans-taco-meat-and-roasted-garlic-mashed-potatoes.html
Carla
Made these last night! My guys were thrilled with them. I used the small flour shells as I’m not a fan of the corn tortillas (but at least now I know how to prepare them). I used Kristy’s recipe as our cans of sauce are all a tomato base and usually don’t like enchilada sauce (maybe that is why). Although I need to perfect my whisking skills and dropped it down to 1 tbl of chili powder (we are spice light-weights), it tasted wonderful on these enchiladas!
Jessica
So glad you enjoyed them!
Dee Johnson
Too bad I just used up all our corn tortillas tonight! Will have to try this another time when I have some more. Thanks for the recipe. 🙂
Dana
I do a similar thing to this. I make burritos though. I brown turkey and onion. Add some mexican tomato sauce, rice and black beans. Spoon onto a flour tortilla, top with more sauce and cheese. Microwave for a few minutes and top with cilantro. So good and faster than sitting in a drive through. We love them for nights where we have to go somewhere.
Jennifer
Thank you so much for this recipe.
We don’t like ground turkey. Someone gave us a pound of ground turkey and I had not idea what to do with it. Thankfully I saw your recipe and had all of the ingredients, so I gave it a try.
We loved it!
You can read all about our experience here http://frugalcooker.blogspot.com/2011/07/turkey-and-black-bean-enchiladas-pantry.html
Thanks so much!!
Becky
Thank you, thank you, thank you for recipes that utilize standard pantry ingredients and taste good! Until finding your recipes, our family was convinced that the rest of the country was eating really bad food LOL
Jessica
Wow, thanks!
jan
I believe I have everything in stock for this … well, not the big chunk of cheddar but I do have some shredded pepper jack to give it a kick. May have to add to the menu next week!
Candi
Sounds good! I’ve done Lentils with Ground Turkey and it turned out good too.
Kristy
Enchiladas are one of my favorites! Black beans too.
Plus you can easily make your own enchilada sauce with pantry staples of you run low! (think chicken stock and seasonings plus some thickener – much better than store bought) ALthough you might want to be careful with this – my family prefers the homemade version now!
Jessica
@Kristy, I dunno. Las Palmas is the bomb. I used to import it into Kansas before the Walmart started stocking it. Not sure I could make an equivalent as good.
Kristy
@Jessica,
Totally agree, we loved it. Then I made this…. So here it is, in case of emergency – just make it the day before….
Enchilada Sauce
makes about 2 cups
* 2 cups chicken broth
* 4 Tbs Chili Powder
* 1 tsp. ground cumin
* 2 heaping tsp. garlic powder
* 3/4 tsp. salt
* 1 pinch ground cinnamon (less than 1/16 tsp.)
* 1/3 tsp. sugar
* 5 Tbs. cold water
* 5 Tbs. white flour
Directions:
In a 2 quart sauce pan add the chicken broth, chili powder, garlic powder, cumin, salt, cinnamon and sugar (the sugar is a little secret to eliminate any bitter taste from the chili powder).
Use a whisk to mix everything well. Heat to a boil, reduce heat to a low boil and cook for 3 minutes.
Whisk frequently to make sure all spices dissolve. This is important for flavor and a nice smooth sauce.
While the sauce is on a slow simmer/boil, add 5 tablespoons of cold water in a small bowl.
With another whisk mix 1 tablespoon at a time of flour. Whisk vigorously to avoid lumps. If you have lumps here, you will definitely have lumps in your sauce.
After 3 minutes of cooking sauce, turn the heat up to high. Very slowly, pour the flour mixture into the boiling sauce. Here you must whisk the sauce vigorously while adding the flour to avoid lumps.
After all the flour is added, continue to whisk for one minute. You can turn the heat down to medium during this time. Just make sure the sauce is boiling.
Turn off the heat, this enchilada sauce recipe is done.
Jessica
@Kristy, thank you! I will try it. It doesn’t have tomato sauce which I think is wrong in enchiladas, so it may work!
Julie@teachinggoodeaters
@Kristy, Funny, I always assumed that Enchilada sauce had tomatoes (which I’m allergic too…) I found some green enchilada sauce that I bough a while back and haven’t used yet. I have some leftover rotisserie chicken (and I ALWAYS have more than enough black beans) so I’m going to have to give these a try- and then try making my own sauce the next time!
Jessica
I don’t believe that Las Palmas has any tomato sauce in it. “True” enchilada sauce is chiles, not tomatoes. 🙂
Laura
@Kristy, Thanks for the enchilada sauce recipe! I made it this weekend and finally made the enchiladas last night (first time for making either). My sauce did end up a bit lumpy, but it didn’t affect the end taste of everything. It was deliciously amazing!!!
I don’t eat meat, but some of my family does, so I made some enchiladas with chicken, some with pork, and then used this recipe http://www.tasteofhome.com/Recipes/Black-Bean-Veggie-Enchiladas for my filling.
Also, in case anyone wants an easier way to shred meat other than using forks- put hot meat in your kitchenaid with the cookie paddle attachment, turn on speed 4 or 6 for about 20 seconds. Perfectly shredded. I can’t take credit for this idea- it came from http://simplyhealthyfam.blogspot.com/2010/05/shredded-chicken-bbq-sandwiches.html
Sorry to include all the links if you don’t like people linking in the comments!
Brenda
I love the ided of freezing for husband and son, do they have to thaw for them to reheat or can they do it while they are frozen. I would love to have healthy food that my teenage boy can grab and heat up quick.
Jessica
@Brenda, you don’t have to thaw before baking. Not as dense as lasagna.
Shanna C
Wow! These look great! I oughta put some in MY freezer, too!