The BEST Cheese Enchiladas recipe uses corn tortillas, red enchilada sauce, and plenty of cheese! This meal is easy, delicious, and made in just 30 minutes!

Looking for more Mexican food? Try my Chicken Tinga, Fajita Bowls, or Wet Burrito!

A white rectangle baking dish filled with Cheese Enchiladas and topped with shredded cabbage, cotija cheese, and tomatoes.

Why I love this recipe:

  • Quick – This meal is ready to eat in just 30 minutes! Perfect for a busy weeknight or whenever you want an easy dinner.
  • Delicious – These cheese enchiladas remind me of the ones I fell in love with when I lived in Mexico.
  • Simple – Only a few ingredients needed for this meal the whole family will love!

How to make Cheese Enchiladas:

Warm Tortillas: warm corn tortillas on a hot dry skillet, for a few seconds on each side, until softened and pliable.  

A frying pan with a corn tortilla in it to make cheese enchiladas.

Assemble Enchiladas: Pour ¼ cup of the enchilada sauce into the bottom of a 9×13” pan. Fill each corn tortilla with a handful of cheese. 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, chopped tomatoes, and a drizzle of sour cream. 

A white rectangle baking dish filled with Cheese Enchiladas and topped with shredded cabbage, cotija cheese, and tomatoes.

Serve with a side of Mexican Rice, refried beans and Horchata!

A plate with two Cheese Enchiladas next to fresh refried beans.

What kind of tortillas for enchiladas?

In Mexico enchiladas are typically made with corn tortillas, but if you enjoy flour tortillas, those will work great.  It’s important to warm the corn tortillas to make them easier to roll for enchiladas, and to prevent them from cracking. To warm the corn tortillas, place them on a hot, dry, skillet or griddle and cook them for 15-30 seconds on each side.

Make Ahead and Freezing Instructions:

To Make Ahead: Cheese enchiladas can be prepared several days in advance, if desired. For best results, place enchiladas in baking dish, and store in the fridge, separately from the sauce. Alternately, assemble the entire dish, with sauce on top, a few hours in advance.

To Freeze: Assemble enchiladas then cover in plastic wrap and tinfoil. Freeze for up to 1 month. Let thaw overnight in the refrigerator before uncovering and baking.

Recipe Variations:

  • Bean and Cheese Enchiladas: Add a scoop of my Homemade Refried Beans in the tortilla with the cheese.
  • Chicken and Cheese Enchiladas: Add shredded chicken to the enchiladas, or check out my Loaded Chicken Enchiladas recipe.
  • Cheese Enchiladas with Green Sauce: Swap out the red enchilada sauce for salsa verde or green enchilada sauce.

Serve With:

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Recipe

Prep 10 minutes
Cook 20 minutes
Total 30 minutes
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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. 
  • 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

Make Ahead Instructions: Cheese enchiladas can be prepared several days in advance, if desired. For best results, place enchiladas in baking dish, and store in the fridge, separately from the sauce. Alternately, assemble the entire dish, with sauce on top, a few hours in advance.
Freezing Instructions: Assemble enchiladas, then cover in plastic wrap and tinfoil. Freeze for up to 1 month. Let thaw overnight in the refrigerator before uncovering and baking.
Variations:
Bean and Cheese Enchiladas: Add a scoop of my Homemade Refried Beans in the tortilla with the cheese.
Chicken and Cheese Enchiladas: Add shredded chicken to the enchiladas, or check out my Loaded Chicken Enchiladas recipe.
Cheese Enchiladas with Green Sauce: Swap out the red enchilada sauce for salsa verde or green enchilada sauce.

Nutrition

Calories: 278kcalCarbohydrates: 17gProtein: 14gFat: 17gSaturated Fat: 10gPolyunsaturated Fat: 1gMonounsaturated Fat: 4gCholesterol: 50mgSodium: 766mgPotassium: 109mgFiber: 3gSugar: 4gVitamin A: 849IUVitamin C: 4mgCalcium: 372mgIron: 1mg

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I originally shared this recipe August 2016. Updated September 2022.

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Lauren Allen

Welcome! I’m Lauren, a mom of four and lover of good food. Here you’ll find easy recipes and weeknight meal ideas made with real ingredients, with step-by-step photos and videos.

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Comments

  1. 3 stars
    1/4 cup chili powder is insane. I used just 3 teaspoons and people were commenting on how spicy it was. 1/4 cup will render it inedible. Also my enchiladas were dry so it may have been better to add the sauce after baking the tortillas or something.

  2. I’m wondering how these are making them with thin flour tortillas? I’m making them today and just wondering if they will turn out? Thanks!

  3. 5 stars
    I’ve made this a couple of times and it is easy and comes out great. The most recent time I used half monterey jack half cheddar and I added some roasted vegetables in place of some of the cheese. I’ve made several recipes from your site now all winners.

  4. 5 stars
    Made these for supper and served with your instant pot Mexican rice and some instant pot black beans I had in the freezer! Just my husband and I and we ate well over half of it!!!😳 😄

  5. 5 stars
    I gave it a go, added a little beef. They were amazing! The recipe was easy to follow and things turned out great. I also liked that prep was easy, there weren’t a lot of dishes to clean up and the process from start to finish didn’t take a long time.

  6. 5 stars
    Sooo good! Clean plates all around! Family raved and asked for more! Next time I’ll make extra for lunches.
    Hubby loved the nostalgic taste…just like tv dinner but better!

  7. 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!!!

  8. Not bad … But still much prefer cheese n onion enchiladas. Also enchilada sauce from scratch is so much a better taste

  9. 5 stars
    Made these last night for dinner, they turned out great! Also beautiful presentation we served this alongside pork pazole and refried beans… delicious! Posted pic on Instagram 😊

    1. Can’t wait to try it. Question:I am looking for an enchilada sauce that is more “orangy” colored than the red sauce. My favorite from 20 years ago.

  10. 4 stars
    Really enjoyed these this evening as part of the weekly plan. They were super easy to put together and tasted great. The only drawback was our enchilada sauce was spicier than anticipated (not the fault of the recipe) and so it was a bit less kid friendly than I hoped. My main modifications were blending several cheeses I had (cheddar, mozza and havarti) and I grated in half a zucchini I had for a bit of veggie. Will definitely make again- much easier than I thought! Thank you!

  11. 5 stars
    Tried this for lunch today, was very tasty and extremely cost effective, will be making this again for sure. Thanks for the recipe!

  12. If you make them in advance do you still put the sauce in the pan first? Wouldn’t they get soggy?

    1. You can just spray the bottom of the pan lightly with cooking spray, add the enchiladas, and reserve the sauce to add separately, later.

  13. Lauren, I haven’t tried your recipe yet, but after baking this, would it be possible to freeze the leftovers for extra meals? There are only two of us in my household.

    1. Yes, you can freeze these after baking OR freeze the portion you plan to save before baking and bake them later!

    1. The Cotija is optional. If you can’t find any the closest substitute is feta but you can also leave it off. Enjoy!

  14. 5 stars
    Delicious enchilada sauce. Loved the way they turned out. I did have a problem with the enchiladas tearing as I wrapped them.

    1. The sure-fire way is to soften each corn tortilla in a small skillet with a quarter-inch of warm canola or other mild oil in it. Put a tortilla in the oil for a few seconds, then drain the tortilla on a paper towel. Repeat.

      You also can try steaming them in the microwave, wrapped in moistened paper toweling, but the results are not guaranteed as they are with the oil-in-skillet method.

    2. You can microwave the corn tortillas for several seconds so they can soften in order to wrap them without tearing.

  15. Ready to rock this recipe. I feel confident after carefully reading your instructions. Will make an additional batch with left over turkey shredded of course. Thanks

  16. Your recipes are awesome Lauren ! Thank you ! I have tried several and have been winners with family !

  17. In the recipe it says corn tortillas, but in the video, flour tortillas are used. Are they interchangeable in this recipe? I know that corn tortillas are more authentic.
    Thanks.

  18. 5 stars
    Wow! What a winning meal…made these enchiladas tonight with your homemade enchilada sauce and your Mexican rice recipe. Got rave reviews by both vegetarian daughter and meat-loving husband. Thank you!

    1. Jane, the enchilada sauce is made of beef broth. What did you substitute for you vegetarian daughter. I also do not meat and would love to make this

        1. soupsonline.com has beef broth that is vegan and actually has no beef. My son is vegan and he loves it 🙂

        2. Simple, delicious and it looked pretty; who could ask for more?
          I absolutely will make again.

  19. 5 stars
    My husband have this cheese enchilada recipe all the time. I am so glad I found it. It is absolutely delicious.

  20. I find it very ironic and disappointing that on “Tastes Better from Scratch” you use a prepared enchilada sauce in your cheese enchilada recipe.

  21. Made this for lunch today for no meat Good Friday. Their in the oven now. I know they will be delicious.

  22. I am making these tonight for a Lenten supper. I added some sweated onions too. I’m making it as a casserole. I out sauce on the bottom of a 9 x 13 pan then 6 tortillas, a generous layer of cheese, onions, another layer of tortillas, sauce, cheese ontions, m9re tortilliasand then the remaining sauce on top. It is in the oven cooking right now. Hope it will be done in 30 to 40 mins. If good I’m taking to church next Friday for our dinner after Stations of the Cross. Wish me luck!

  23. Looks like a winner. Im going to make this tomorrow. However, I wonder when pre-cooking the tortilla, should there be a little oil in the pan?

    1. The corn tortillas are already a cooked, so a hot dry skillet is best to make them pliable for rolling enchiladas without ripping. If you use oil they will get crispy and may crack when rolling them.

    1. 4 stars
      I made these tonight. I make the corn tortillas pliable by dipping them in sauce first then filling them with cheese and rolling. I also used shredded iceberg lettuce instead of cabbage. I didn’t have cotija cheese so used pecorino Romano cheese instead for the topping.

  24. We love this recipe, thank you! I was wondering if we could make the enchiladas in advance & freeze them uncooked to bake when we’re ready to eat them?

  25. I have numerous Mexican friends including my very best friend from Veracruz and using raw, uncooked tortillas in an enchilada recipe like this without lightly frying them in oil first is illogical to them.

    1. This recipe doesn’t use raw uncooked tortillas. It uses cooked corn tortillas, that are warmed on a skillet to make them pliable.

  26. 5 stars
    I made these today with your red enchilada sauce. They were delicious! Like others, I will never buy red sauce again. I used a combo of Dutch Gouda and medium sharp cheddar. It was a perfect blend. Thank you!

  27. These are so easy and delicious, husband loves them. Also made the Mexican Rice and it is yummy. Have made these two recipes several times and everyone always comments how good they are! Thank you for the recipes.

  28. 4 stars
    Just made it (and the enchilada sauce) tonight.
    It was a hit! Made them with flour tortillas, ‘ cause my husband and stepson prefer them. They never even noticed the cabbage. I used a 1/2 lb. ground beef with onion and sweet peppers as well as cheese for the filling. They claim to like enchiladas spicy, but they liked these mild ones better. I served them with Costa Rican rice and beans. My husband and I went there for our honeymoon in 2017. I’ve been making them ever since.

  29. Can these be made the night ahead and cooked the next day. Also what size of tortillas do you use?

    1. Yes, but I would store the enchilada sauce separately and only pour it over the enchiladas just before baking so that the tortillas don’t get soggy.

      1. Corn tortillas don’t get soggy. If anything they will split. Must heat them up before rolling and keep them wet.

  30. 5 stars
    Made this (and your sauce) last weekend and am making it again! It’s delicious! I used homemade corn tortillas. This was better than many restaurants I’ve been to and I live in San Antonio, TX!

  31. Hi!! I have used a few of your recipes before and just logged on to get the cheese enchilada one for tonite when I saw you said your hometown was Park City! Me too! We moved back to Austin when I was diagnosed with bone marrow cancer, as my kids were in school here and elderly mom was as well….but have been healthy for 11 years so we talk daily about moving back to PC. We miss the mountains fiercely! Just wanted to thank you for you blog, recipes !!
    Nan Sebastian (was Bixler) and was in real estate development for 5 subdivisions in PC
    512.264.5336

  32. 5 stars
    Great sauce! I’m on a project on the Congo river (Africa) – tortillas are scarce here (as is cheddar). To make every square inch of tortilla count, and to share the wealth with the team, we make a layered enchilada casserole. To your awesome sauce, we add canned corn(drained), finely diced garlic and onions to the sauce. In a 9×13 casserole, we layer the sauce, tortillas (about 3 tortillas pieced together flat to cover the area), more sauce, cheddar; repeat twice more, ending with cheese on top. We’re not rolling the tortillas, so we don’t need to preheat or oil them. It takes only 9 tortillas to make a full 9×13 enchilada platter, so when someone arrives on site with 30 tortillas in their backpack, we can get 3 enchilada dinners out of it. “Muito obrigada” for the sauce recipe – we never have leftovers.

  33. 5 stars
    This enchilada sauce is the best! Definitely beats any store brand we have tried. We are from Texas and ground meat in the enchilada sauce is a huge thing here. Do you have any tips on how to best incorporate the meat into the sauce?

  34. 5 stars
    Funny thing, I’ve always made my enchiladas the same way, I just garnished them differently. I replicated my favorite cheese enchilada from the local restaurant where I grew up. It was easy and so tasty. I never actually thought about it being authentic at all! I’m glad you shared your recipe because now I can point to a website and show people that I actually was making them the correct way all along! Well done!

  35. Looks really good. Never knew it was this easy. I will need to add chicken to this to really enjoy it. I don’t doubt the flavors are there but the carnivore in me will not be satisfied. LOL

  36. Hi Lauren, was wondering if these enchiladas could be made ahead and frozen, and if so, before or after baking? Thanks! Excited to try these!
    Lauren ?

    1. Yes that would work. Freeze for up to 2-3 months. Bake from frozen for about 1 hour, covered, at 350 degrees F. Uncover and bake an additional hour or so, until hot and bubbly.

  37. 4 stars
    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 🙂

  38. I’m excited to try these. I would like to add ground beef or chicken. How would you season the meat

    1. Yum! I would season both with salt and pepper, and maybe a little bit of garlic powder on the chicken. Enjoy!

  39. 5 stars
    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

    1. Thanks so much for sharing Anita! I’m so flattered you chose to use so many of my recipes for your guests!

  40. 5 stars
    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?!

    1. 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.

  41. 5 stars
    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?

    1. 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.

      1. 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 🙂

      1. 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?

  42. 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!

    1. Hi Tom,

      I hope you had the chance to try El Chubasco. Their cheese enchiladas are the best! Thanks for your comment.

  43. 5 stars
    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

  44. Excited to be making this recipe tonight!!
    My bf is a stickler about trying new stuff but I’m making him!! Lol
    I’ll let you know how it goes

  45. 5 stars
    I live in Salt Lake City, and am from California. I tried this recipe, and it ROCKS! I put my own little spin, and added achopped avocado to the toppings. I also made some Spanish rice to accompany it on the side. AMAZING!!

  46. Never mind! The recipe must not have loaded fully the first time I looked at it because now I can see you say cheddar cheese.

  47. Are you allowed to tell me what Mexican restaurant you are talking about in Park City? I live near Park City and want to try what Mexican restaurant you’re talking about!

  48. I am preparing dinner for my 6 grandchildren, my teenage daughter and my Hispanic Texan husband at a nona sleepover this evening. Your recipe looks so yummy I’ve decided to try it out on my dearest loved ones. I will let you know how the enchiladas were received. I will do my absolute best to follow your recipe to the letter.

  49. Lauren, I’m pretty picky about my cheese enchiladas, too, and these look really good! I do leave off the cotija garnish, though; I’ve just never liked that stuff. But I love the shredded cabbage garnish!