Beef Enchiladas made with tender shredded beef cooked in a simple homemade enchilada sauce, then layered in tortillas and cheese to make delectable enchiladas. You’ll never use canned enchilada sauce again!
I have tons of great time saving slow cooker recipes including slow cooker lasagna, slow cook pork chops, and slow cooker soup.
The best part about these enchiladas is how easy the beef and sauce are to prepare. Just place the beef in the slow cooker and pour the simple sauce on top. Let it slow cook all day long and your house will smell amazing.
How to make Beef Enchiladas:
- Season the roast on all sides with salt and pepper and place in the bottom of your slow cooker.
- Whisk together beef broth, salsa, cumin, chili powder, onion powder, and garlic powder. Pour over roast.
- Cover and cook on LOW for 8 hours or until beef is tender and shreds easily. Remove to large plate and shred. Pour remaining broth from the slow cooker into a saucepan over medium heat. Slowly whisk in cornstarch slurry. Cook for a few minutes until sauce begins to thicken. Taste and add additional salt and pepper, or other seasonings, as needed.
- Assemble enchiladas: Pour ½ cup of sauce over the beef and toss. Fill each tortilla with a spoonful of shredded beef and a spoonful of shredded cheese. Roll up and place in the pan, seam-side down. Pour desired amount of sauce over the enchiladas. Top with remaining cheese.
- Bake for 30 minutes, until bubbly.
Traditional authentic Mexican enchiladas are made with corn tortillas. My family loves these with flour tortillas, but both work great! I love to spoon homemade Pico de gallo on top and a scoop of sour cream.
Instant Pot Beef Enchiladas:
Prepare the beef and sauce according to recipe instructions. Add them to the Instant Pot and cook on Manual/High Pressure for 75 minutes, with a 10 minute natural release. Proceed with recipe instructions for assembling and baking enchiladas.
Serve Enchiladas with:
- Authentic Mexican rice
- Refried beans
- Chips with homemade Salsa and Guacamole
- Horchata
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Recipe
Shredded Beef Enchiladas
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 pounds chuck roast
- salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 2 cups low-sodium beef broth
- 1 cup salsa , your favorite kind, or substitute a can of diced tomatoes with green chiles
- 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
- 2 teaspoons chili powder
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
- 2 Tablespoons cornstarch + 2 Tablespoons waters , mixed together to make a cornstarch slurry
- 10- 12 flour tortillas , or 12-15 corn tortillas (warmed on a dry hot skillet first)
- 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
- 1 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese
Instructions
- Season the roast on all sides with salt and pepper and place it in the bottom of your slow cooker.
- Whisk together beef broth, salsa, cumin, chili powder, oregano, onion powder, and garlic powder. Pour over roast.
- Cover and cook on LOW for 8 hours or until beef is tender and shreds easily. Remove roast to a large plate and shred.
- Pour the sauce from the slow cooker into a saucepan over medium heat. Slowly whisk in cornstarch slurry. Cook for a few minutes until sauce begins to thicken. Taste and add additional salt and pepper, or other seasonings, if needed.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- Pour ½ cup of sauce over the beef and toss. Fill each tortilla with a spoonful of shredded beef and shredded cheese. Roll up and place in the pan, seam-side down.
- Pour desired amount of sauce over the enchiladas. Top with remaining cheese. Bake for 30 minutes, until bubbly.
- Serve topped with optional garnishes of pico de gallo, sour cream, avocado, chopped cilantro or green onions and a side of Authentic Mexican Rice.
Notes
Nutrition
Did You Make This Recipe?
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Have you tried this recipe?!
RATE and COMMENT below! I would love to hear your experience.
I originally shared this recipe March 2016. Updated August 2020 with process photos and improved instructions.
Recipe originally adapted from Mel’s Kitchen Cafe.
I’m not exaggerating when I say these were the best enchiladas I’ve ever had! The sauce was beyond amazing. My husband’s a hunter so I used a venison roast instead of beef but I don’t think it makes any difference. Cannot recommend this recipe enough! Thanks for sharing it!
Excellent and easy to follow recipe. I used left over pot roast. Absolutely yummy!
Delicious and really easy. Thanks for sharing this!
Delicious and so easy to make
This is really easy turned out perfectly! I made the beef in the instant pot for 60 min with slow release. The sauce is amazing. SO much better than canned. Served with sour cream, salsa, and avocado. I also left the rest of the leftover sauce out for people who wanted more. I served 6 and they all loved it. Definitely a good recipe for a crowd.
It turned out great! I was skeptical, but very good! I will definetly be making this in the future. Yum!
Easy to make, tastes great
Huge hit! Also made the Pico (a must) and served with a dab of sour cream. Oh so good! Very simple and easy with just a little planning ahead to account for slow cooker time. New family favorite I’m excited to have again real soon.
The house smells amazing!! I haven’t gotten to the part to shred the beef, but far enough to taste the beef. So full of flavor. THIS IS GOING TO BE GOOD!! Thank you for sharing a wonderful keeper😃🙏🤤🤤
The Authentic Mexican Rice recipe is one of the best I have ever tasted! I will use this recipe from now on. I used chicken stock instead of water, and I subbed the serrano peppers with cumin. It was a hit! Thank you.
The best Enchiladas we’ve ever had and so easy to make. I’ll never buy canned sauce again!
This meal is absolutely one of our favorites!!!! We just double the sauce because we LOVE sauce. But this is for sure a staple in our house! 🙂
I made this for super bowl. Wow what a hit. The flavor was amazing. I did mine in the crockpot. My husband who is very picky loved them. Thank you
Sorry but I was disappointed in the flavor. I followed directions and I used a very nice chuck roast. At least i tried it.
I made a couple things today … first time visiting your page online … girl. You a bomb cook. I just seen this was from Mel’s kitchen. She is a great cook too then. The meals were delicious. (I made the classic French toast) & prepared the shredded beef enchiladas for tomorrows dinner.
Thank you 😊
Better than any enchiladas ice had in a restaurant. And I’m very picky.
I cook for an elderly man, and getting some variety into his diet can be a challenge. He LOVED these! Pleased to add them to the rotation and I’m also excited to make them for my grown family! Thank you for sharing!
OOOOMMMMGGGG!!!!!
TH
IS WAS BETTER THAN ANY MEXICAN RESTURAUNT I HAVE EVER BEEN TOO! and I have been to many since this is my favorite food group. I cut the recipe in half and used some shredded beef I had in the freezer. I made two good size burritos since it was just Hubby & I ( what a mistake). We had no left overs. Thank you for a great recipe we will use it and share your site to many.
Love this recipe. The sauce was delicious. I put it in The blender to make it smooth since I have one kid who won’t eat anything if they see a chuck of tomato. The shredded beef was great. I had enough sauce to do a second pan of enchiladas so I did cheese in corn tortillas. Both were a huge hit.
I have made chicken enchiladas for years and this was my first attempt at beef ones. WOW they did not disappoint. Doubled the recipe and followed it exactly and it was delicious!!
We loved it with the shredded beef! My husband was impressed! Can we sub for regular ground beef in this recipe? Hmm? Thanks so much we love all of your recipes.
Sure, but I would cook it first and remove the grease, so you don’t really need the slow cooker…
These have a great flavor and the meat was very tender. The sauce is a bit too runny so the tortillas were a bit soggy. I might add more cornstarch next time or less broth. My kids gave it 5 stars! Thank you!
Plot twist, I subbed the beef for 3 frozen chicken breasts. Also subbed the broth for chicken. Turned out pretty good and made for an easy meal!
My husband and I both loved this meal. In place of the crock pot. I cut the roast into 8 big chucks, browned them in a dutch oven and simmered in the sauce for 2.5-3 hrs. And I added a 1/4 tsp of Chipotle Powder for just a tad kick. Sooo good. It’ll be in our rotation for sure. Thanks for sharing!!
I was wondering about instant pot.
I made this for my family last night and they loved it! Thank you!!
SO YUMMY! For sure adding this recipe to my go-tos!
These are so easy and so good! I made the recipe exactly as written, which is unusual for me (something usually jumps out at me as a “red flag”), and I’m so glad I did. We don’t like overly spicy things, and this was just right. I used Herdez mild salsa verde, because that’s our favorite. I left the house for a while during the 8 hours of beef cooking, and when I returned I could hardly wait for it to be done so I could taste it. Next time I’ll use a bit more cheese, as mine didn’t look quite as gooey as the pic.
I just made these for dinner and they were so tasty. We’ll be enjoying the leftovers for the next couple of days too!
We didn’t care for the sauce on the enchiladas, as it tasted more like Sunday dinner than Mexican fare. If I make it again I’ll use red or green enchilada sauce. The meat was tender and flavorful.
These taste better than many restaurants we have visited. This dish will be one of your favorite meals. So authentic! Enjoy!
I planned to make this in my IP but realized the cord was missing! I used my Dutch oven and cooked the meat etc. for about 3 hours and it turned out amazing!!!
This is a family favorite. This flavorful, savory dish makes the whole house smell delicious as it slow cooks. Easy to make. It’s not spicy. So to please your heat-lovers add jalapenos or serve them as a topping.
Made these tonight. Couldn’t have been easier…. or more delicious! Thanks for such easy to follow instructions 😊
I made these and the IP authentic Mexican rice and both were PHENOMENAL. I ate them for dinner and then had leftovers for breakfast and lunch the next day because they were THAT good. The only change I made was making the roast in the instant pot for 1 hour, 10 minutes instead of the crockpot. Thanks for sharing this!!
Can you use a beef arm roast? Will it shred and e tender with this cut?
I have never cooked with a beef arm roast, my guess is it will be fine.
I’ve made this and it was delicious. Would I be able to prepare enchiladas in morning and refrigerate for evening cooking?
Sure!
Absolutely Awesome! Easy and the sauce is delicious! Such authentic flavor! Wanted to rate it a 5 star but it wouldn’t let me.
I love this recipe it’s ingenious how everything is set up for you when you are ready to prepare! I have also changed it sub chicken and Verde Salsa works just as good as the beef!
I love this recipe and have been using it for years! It is my go to for enchiladas. Just wondering if you have an adapted recipe or cook times for the instant pot?
I haven’t but hope to soon!
I’m trying it now. As is. Sometimes less is more and simpler is tastier. I’m just using my bf’s left over overnight slow cooker roast..he even sets it on a timer w intervals.
We’re all pot roasted out now…so on w the recipe!
I just have a quick question..
Do you fry ur tortillas a lil before you stuff em?
Thanks 😉
..I am…btw…
“)
I don’t, but you definitely can!
My entire family loves this recipe so much that I’m making for out of town guests this week! I love that it is so easy and will allow me time to show them around the town while it cooks. Thank you ?
Amazing! Just made this but I put green chiles in the meat. Will make this again.
The recipe was excellent. Very easy to make. However, I did make a few changes. In the filling, I added some sour cream (about 2 tbs), at least one extra cup salsa and half the corn starch. They were fantastic!
Hi Lauren, my family will love this recipe. One question: Is there any easy way to shred beef, or do you just need to let the roast cool and tear it apart by hand?
Thanks — Judy
I’ve heard some people use electric beaters, or you can get bbq “meat claws” that great for shredding big pieces of meat. Hope you enjoy the enchiladas!
I just made this and literally the meat just pulled away after 8 hours in the crockpot and 1 on warm. I got lazy and went back to it, using just one fork, and it completely shredded up as I twirled it around. It took less than one minute for three lbs of meat. HTH!
Hello!!
I”m wondering if ground beef could be substituted in this recipe? Thanks!
I found this recipe looking for gluten-free, soy-free recipes and I’ve decided that putting the diet restrictions aside, one of my favorite recipes. I’ve made it a dozen times now and this is now the only way I think enchiladas should be made. Outstanding recipe!
Thank you so much Bobbi, I’m thrilled you like them so much 🙂
Amazing… I substituted chopped beef pieces and boiled for 2 hours. I love this recipe, thank you.
These enchiladas came out soooo good! I doubled the recipe so that I could make enough to freeze a batch. This rendered a total of 18 enchiladas made with super size corn tortillas. The only thing I did differently from the recipe is I seared the chuck roast in a cast iron before putting it in the crockpot, which I would definitely recommend.
This recipe is a real keeper. The sauce was so tasty, and paired with refried beans and rice, these enchiladas could have come from any Mexican restaurant in town! Thanks a bunch!
This recipe is fantastic. Everybody loves them. I have been looking for a good enchilada recipe for a while, and now I’ve found it. Thanks Lauren, next time I’ll try your rice as well.
Hi,
Could I make this with shredded chicken but just switching out the roast for boneless skinless chicken breasts?
Thanks!
Ashlie
Hi Ashlie. That should be fine. Just adjust the cooking time. It should only take 2-3 hours!
Thanks! I made this after commenting and it turned out great, and so easy! I want to try making it again in an instant pot. Do you know if this is possible?
Has anyone tried this with shredded chicken?
Hello there! When you mention sauce, do you mean marinara sauce or which type of sauce? Sorry I’m completely new to cooking but NEED to make these! They look so good!
Hi Lorraine, when the meat is finished cooking in the slow cooker there will be a lot of sauce in the pot as well. You pour the sauce into a saucepan (step 4) and you thicken it with cornstarch. Then you use that sauce to make the enchiladas in the following steps. Enjoy!
This has become a family fave! Every time my daughter and her family come to visit her first food request is for these enchiladas. And we LOVE this enchilada sauce! Thank you so much!
I’m so happy to hear that–Thanks for sharing Mari!
So looking forward to trying this. One question for you…have you ever prepared these and frozen them to bake later? I’m just curious if this could be done.
I have not tried this! I generally have success freezing food, but I am not sure how these would turn out.
I think for sure you could freeze the filling, and then roll in tortillas when you have defrosted it for a meal. Freezing the entire thing will take up more freezer space and may leave the tortillas mushy.
Actually I made one change – that is, I left out the onion powder (husband can’t tolerate onions) but I added a little extra garlic powder.
My poor husband is from California, but we live in Canada, and man does he miss Mexican food. I’ve tried making (and eating) enchiladas before as a treat for him, but honestly I never liked them. Decided to try this recipe exactly as you have listed it, and we both LOVE these enchiladas. So happy it turned out to be a treat for both of us 🙂
Fair warning though, If you, like myself, don’t have your gallbladder try to take it easy with these or you might have some trouble (I’m writing this at 3:30 am due to digestion issues, lol)
Look up “no gallbladder natural enzymes”. You might find some awesome help. I still have my gallbladder, but have some issues and take some myself. In the process of making this recipe, smells delicious.
I made these for friends and will make them again this weekend. Everyone loved them!! The best thank you!!
I made this recipe with corn tortillas and served it to the men at work for a birthday celebration. I put out sour cream, sliced avocado and chopped cilantro for toppings. It was loved by all and was so easy to make! I’ll make it again and again! I love that it can be changed with the salsa you choose – thank you!
Wonderful! And what a great idea for a group birthday lunch! Thanks for sharing.
Love this shredded beef enchilada dish. Making it for the second time tomorrow. You can use the shredded beef in tacos or eat it as a main stand alone beef dish. I use corn tortillas as we prefer them to flour. The sauce is 1000 times better than can sauce. Thank you for this recipe. It is becoming a family favorie and will be handed down for generations to come.
Jennilou, thanks so much for sharing this! I am so glad you and your family have come to love the recipe!
Hi! What kind of Salsa do you use? I’m new on this?
Thank you!
Hi Vanessa, I usually use Kirtland signature salsa from Costco but honestly any variety of salsa will be delicious.
Would a salsa verde be just as good? The only salsa we use is picante lol
Sure! Sounds delicious.
I have made enchiladas with ground beef for years. But always had the beef pieces in them when I eat out. I finally decided to try putting a roast in the crock pot with seasonings. But of course wasn’t sure what seasonings, so I got on my tablet and started looking. I found your blog. So far I have done all that your recipe called for, except, I used corn tortillas, added some peppers and onions and green chilies. The sauce, I have already decided, this will be my sauce for every enchilada I make! The rest, well It will have to wait, because I prepped them for church, I will let you know how they were received. But I’m thinking after years of looking, I found the enchilada of my dream!!
Thank you! Now if you could find me a Mexican rice recipe…….?
Thanks, Denise
Thanks so much Denise! I’d love to hear how everyone likes them. And, you’re in luck! I lived in Mexico for a few years and was taught the perfect authentic Mexican rice recipe from a local chef. You can find it here: https://tastesbetterfromscratch.com/authentic-mexican-rice/
Can I get the recipe for your sauce Denise?
Looks delish. Just pinned it for crockpot recipes. thanks,Anna
These were so yummy!!! I wasn’t sure st first with the sauce but over the enchiladas it is so good!! I served it with corn and black beanssnd that topped it off!! Thankyou!!
Thanks Rachelle– happy to hear you liked them!
Could you make with corn tortillas?
Hi Bonnie, yes you could. They make not hold together quite as well as the flour, but they will taste delicious!