Our easy Cheese Enchiladas recipe transforms corn tortillas, red enchilada sauce, and cheese into the most delicious 30 minute meal the whole family will love!
I could live off Cheese Enchiladas.
I could live off Cheese Enchiladas.Sometimes the simplest recipes hit all the right notes, and nothing beats classic cheese enchiladas smothered in a homemade red enchilada sauce. The ingredients are simple and it all comes quickly, with no thawing or chopping. You can make them next-level by using our homemade enchilada sauce, or store-bought is great too, for a really quick and easy dinner.
I'm a Mexican food aficionado and have so many favorite Mexican-inspired recipes, like Chile Verde, Tamales, Tacos Al Pastor, Chilaquiles, Elotes or Pozole Verde.
How to make Cheese Enchiladas:
Assemble: Heat a dry skillet then warm both sides of the tortilla in pan, until softened and pliable. Or, use my easy recipe to make your own corn tortillas. Pour ¼ cup of the enchilada sauce in the bottom of a 9×13″ dish. Fill each tortilla with a handful of cheese then roll tightly, placing it in the pan with the seam side down. Pour the rest of the enchilada sauce on top then sprinkle remaining ½ cup cheese on top.
Bake at 350°F for 20-25 minutes, until hot and bubbly. Remove from oven and top with shredded cabbage, cotija cheese, chopped tomatoes, and a drizzle of sour cream. Enjoy with a side of refried beans, Mexican Rice, and Horchata.
Make Ahead and Freezing Instructions:
To Make Ahead: You can prep homemade cheese enchiladas several days in advance if you'd like. I recommend arranging the enchiladas in the baking dish then covering well, and storing the sauce in a separate airtight container. Then pour on the sauce and cheese when ready to bake. If you want to assemble it with the sauce, you can a few hours before baking.
To Freeze: Follow the recipe instructions through assembling, but don't bake it. Cover the pan with plastic wrap then tinfoil and keep in the freezer for up to 1 month. Let it thaw completely overnight in the refrigerator before uncovering and baking.
Recipe Variations:
- Bean and Cheese Enchiladas: Fill each tortilla with a scoop of homemade refried beans then sprinkle on the cheese and roll up.
- Chicken and Cheese Enchiladas: Fill each enchilada with cooked, shredded chicken and cheese, or check out my Loaded Chicken Enchiladas recipe.
- Cheese Enchiladas with Green Sauce: Use salsa verde or green enchilada sauce instead of the red.
Serve With:
- Authentic Mexican Rice
- Pico de Gallo
- Homemade Refried Beans
- Restaurant Style Salsa
- Horchata
- Tres Leches Cake
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Recipe
Cheese Enchiladas
Ingredients
- 12-14 white corn tortillas
- 5-6 cups shredded cheddar cheese
- 20 ounces red enchilada sauce , homemade recommended, or canned
- 1 cup cabbage , thinly shredded
- 1 roma tomato , diced
- 1/4 cup Cotija cheese , crumbled, for topping (optional)
- sour cream , for topping
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- Warm corn tortillas on a hot dry skillet for a few seconds on each side, until pliable. Remove to a plate as they're warm and cover with a kitchen towel.
- Assemble: Pour ¼ cup of the enchilada sauce into the bottom of a 9×13'' pan. Fill each corn tortilla with a handful of cheese (reserving about ½ cup for sprinkling over the top, at the end). Roll tightly, and place seam side down in the pan. Pour remaining enchilada sauce over the top. Top with remaining ½ cup of cheese.
- Bake for 20-25 minutes or until hot and bubbly. Remove from oven and top with shredded cabbage, cotija cheese, tomatoes, and sour cream.
- Serve with a side of Refried Beans and Mexican Rice
Notes
Nutrition
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I originally shared this recipe August 2016. Updated September 2022 and December 2024.
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Wow!! Wow!! WOW!!! Everything about this recipe: easy to out together, reminded me of my childhood and my mama’s home cooking!!! This is something she made frequently!!! So SO GOOD!!!
Homemade Spanish rice and beans and you have a great meal with your enchiladas. Taco shop style ( I live in San Diego and we have authentic Mexican food here. I grew up with my grandmother making tortillas and beans everyday as a staple food. ) I’m making a cookbook for my six year old daughter and this is going in it as a quick good main dish. We already make chicken enchiladas using leftover meat from a whole chicken but somehow forgot about plain old cheese enchiladas. If you don’t mind I am going to add this to the book. On a side note, to quicken things up you can microwave the tortillas to save time ( I avoid using the microwave most of the time but it works). Thank you 🙂
I’m excited to try these. I would like to add ground beef or chicken. How would you season the meat
Yum! I would season both with salt and pepper, and maybe a little bit of garlic powder on the chicken. Enjoy!
Lauren,
With so many recipes out there, I chose to follow yours for a number of dishes since I like your style of cooking, explaining and organizing! I did make the enchilada sauce from scratch using your recipe and the enchiladas were perfection! I got many compliments from appreciative guests and had made an extra batch which we enjoyed the following days.
Thank you much,
Anita
Thanks so much for sharing Anita! I’m so flattered you chose to use so many of my recipes for your guests!
We made this for SeisDeMayo 🙂 and loved it. The sauce was super easy to make and tasted so much better than store bought. We also made the rice and that was a hit too! My BF has been wanting to learn how to make Mexican Rice and is super stoked to have found these recipes. Tomato Bouillon, who knew?!
Thanks for sharing Debbie! So happy to hear you made the enchilada sauce, enchiladas and Mexican rice! Sounds like a fantastic meal to me! Thanks for your comment.
There is a local restaurant here that serves cheese enchiladas in red sauce with the best pork roast with roasted peppers, onion and tomatoes. I’ve wanted to recreate their dish for quite a while. The problem that I am having is finding the right cheese. It’s a queso of some sort but not the liquid kind. Would you happen to know which cheese I am talking about?
Sounds amazing. Is it a white cheese? Is it used for inside the enchiladas or sprinkled on top? Sprinkled on top would be cotija cheese and melted inside could be oaxaca cheese.
It is so amazing! Tastes even better the next day too. I’m trying out a carnita recipe for the pork portion since i cannot find a single recipe that resembles it (fingers crossed!)
Yes, it is a white cheese and it is for inside. I have never heard of Oaxaca before. Now I will be on the hunt for it. Thank you so much! I actually have some cheese enchiladas in the oven right now but used generic shredded queso since it was the only thing I could find (*sigh).
If all else fails, I’ll be asking for the exact recipe from the restaurant 🙂
Hi Lauren,
Do you bake covered or uncovered?
Making these in a little bit! ?
Uncovered! Hope you love them!
Its donna, my kids want cheese enchiladas, with no enchilada red sauce. So do I just stuff their flour tortillas with cheese , roll, and more cheese on top? But should I pour some enchilada sauce on the bottom anyway?
That would work but you could also just make quesadillas 🙂
I never used flour and oil to thicken enchilada sauce, but I’ll try that tonight, thanks!
As it happens – my wife and I are traveling to Park City Monday, so we’ll be sure to check out El Chubasco while we’re there. Thanks for the tip!
Hi Tom,
I hope you had the chance to try El Chubasco. Their cheese enchiladas are the best! Thanks for your comment.
Made these Friday night for dinner with cilantro lime rice and an avocado and tomato salad.
Great recipe best enchiladas I have made and so easy
Just made these tonight. Very good!! I just put avocado on mine. Easy to make.
I did not like the Citija cheese and thought fees for better with salt and Cholula sauce