Skinny Enchilada Stacks
My mom loved enchiladas. We’d go for enchiladas a few times a month, which is actually pretty frequent, now that I look back on it. Personally, I could never handle really spicy food…but there was something about the gooey, cheesy enchiladas, drenched in sauce, that made me throw caution to the wind every time.
I’m not going to claim that I know how to make authentic enchiladas, or hell, Mexican food. These Enchilada Stacks are a great way to satisfy your craving for Mexican food without the extra work that comes with rolling each enchilada. The recipe is delicious - it tastes just like I remember, and is so easy to throw together. It might not look like the traditional thing, but trust me, it tastes just like the classic. Top off each serving with fresh Queso Fresco, tomatoes, avocado, lettuce, olives, and cilantro - the whole enchilada.
Believe it or not, this recipe is also #GlutenFree! Traditional yellow corn tortillas keep this nice and simple. I also used ground turkey instead of ground beef, and made my own taco seasoning. This is such a fun dish for entertaining or for a weeknight meal with your family. Chop up all the toppings and set up a little enchilada bar! That way everyone can customize their own :) Let’s get cookin :)
What You Need: (Serves 6-8)
- 2 ½ - 3 cups enchilada sauce - my grocery store only had Las Palmas, but my friend recommended El Pato or La Victoria enchilada sauce as the best
- ½ medium yellow onion
- 1 pound ground turkey (or beef)
- Yellow Corn Tortillas - for my baking dish, I used 14 tortillas, cut in half
- 2 cups (8 oz) shredded Mexican cheese blend
- Cacique Queso Fresco
- 2 cloves garlic
Homemade Taco Seasoning:
- 1 tsp chili powder
- 1 ½ tsp paprika
- 1 ½ tsp cumin
- 1 tsp onion powder
- ¾ tsp garlic powder
- ½ tsp sea salt
- dash cayenne
Toppings:
- 1 cup shredded lettuce
- 1 tomato
- fresh cilantro
- sliced black olives
- 1 avocado
What To Do:
- Dice half an onion and 2 cloves of garlic.
- Mix together the homemade taco seasoning. This helps to cut down on the extra sodium that comes with store bought ones. :)
- Heat a medium skillet over medium heat with a drizzle of EVOO. Dump in the onions and allow them to slowly soften. Add in the garlic as they start to turn translucent. Season with salt and pepper.
- As the onions turn clear, add the ground turkey into the pan and break it up with a wooden spoon. Season it with the taco seasoning mixture and continue to stir it all together until it’s incorporated.
- I had asked my friend for advice on making these as authentic as possible. One of his tips was to make sure you warm up the tortillas before placing them in the baking dish. He said that raw tortillas don’t cook up well when wet. So, on a nice flat pan, gently warm up the tortillas. If you were to make classic enchiladas, this also helps prevent tearing when you’re rolling them up.
- Cut each tortilla in half. I used 9 halves per layer for my baking dish.
- When you open a package of Queso Fresco, it’s generally in a large block. Break it up with your fingers - it crumbles up beautifully. If you haven’t had queso fresco, I definitely hope you try it out. It’s arguably one of the lightest, freshest cheeses and is such a great accompaniment to tons of dishes. It’s fresh, bright, milky, and mild.
The first time I ever had queso fresco was in Alicante, Spain, atop a smoked salmon sandwich. I was blown away and asked the server about the cheese, and have been hooked ever since.
- Set up a nice little working station with your tortilla halves, shredded cheese, queso fresco, cooked turkey, enchilada sauce, and baking dish.
- Start by adding a layer of enchilada sauce in the bottom of the pan.
- Place tortillas down in the bottom of the dish. It’s easiest to place them with the cut side facing outwards towards the edge of the dish.
- Pour a layer of sauce on top of the tortillas, ensuring that they’re nicely saturated.
- Next, a layer of ground turkey, then queso fresco, then shredded cheese and more sauce.
- When I shot this, I was a little nervous that a ton of cheese would make it too gloopy and that it might not be able to stand up once baked. That’s not the case. PUT TONS OF CHEESE IN EACH LAYER!
- Start the next layer, exactly the same way. Tortillas, sauce, meat, cheese, sauce.
- Keep going! I did 3 layers of tortillas. After the third layer, I topped it off the rest of the meat, sauce, and tons of shredded cheese.
- Cover with foil and bake at 375F for 20 minutes. Take the foil off after your timer goes off so that you can get some nice browning!
- Top off each serving with as much tomatoes, avocado, cilantro, queso fresco, lettuce, and olives as you want. Don’t forget hot sauce or sour cream as well! :)
