New Mexico claims ownership to the creation of stacked enchiladas. Instead of rolled, fried tortillas are flat enchiladas, stacked with a mixture of ground beef and melted cheese and red chile sauce. In traditional New Mexico style, the enchiladas are then topped with a fried egg. Stacked enchiladas are guaranteed to bring your taste buds alive with true Southwestern charm.
Why Are Stacked Enchiladas Easier?
Common in New Mexico, stacked enchiladas use the same ingredients as traditional enchiladas like these Pulled Pork Enchiladas Verde, but rather than rolled inside of a corn tortilla, the ingredients are stacked. Which makes for an easier no-fuss, quick-fix experience.
For this recipe, these New Mexico stacked enchiladas use stand alone corn tortillas that have been fried then layered with enchilada sauce, ground beef and cheese. Once stacked, the enchiladas are then baked long enough to simply melt the cheese and bring the ingredients together.
The corn tortillas stay crispy in spots and soft and chewy in others by absorbing the sauce and the juices from the ground beef and fresh tomatoes.
And there’s that ooey-gooey cheesy part. The strong Southwestern flavors of this wonderful creation are truly enhanced when the yolk of the egg mixes in with the other ingredients.
This recipe is compliments of one of my New Mexico born and raised chef instructors at Culinary School. He referred to them as Santa Fe Enchiladas.
Being a New Mexico Stacked Enchilada purist, he always tops the dish with a fried egg cooked sunny side up or over medium. His family made stacked enchiladas with ground beef, but these can also be made meatless.
For the sauce, make your own New Mexico Red Chile Sauce using a medium heat Chimayo chile powder. Or New Mexico Red Chile Sauce made from dried chile peppers. You can also use this Easy enchilada Sauce in place of the Red Chile Sauce.
Let’s take a look.
Ingredients You’ll Need:
Ingredients to Make Stacked Enchiladas
- Red Chile Sauce or Red Enchilada Sauce
- Diced fresh tomatoes (optional)
- Ground Beef: Choose a lean blend. 93-7% works well here.
- Sweet Onion
- Shredded Lettuce (for garnish – optional) Iceberg lettuce is a good choice here.
- Hatch Chile Peppers: Roasted, peeled, and diced
- Oil for frying tortillas. A neutral oil works well here. Canola and Vegetable oil are good choices.
- Eggs
- Yellow Corn Tortillas
- Shredded Cheese: I like to use a blend of cheddar and white melting cheese. Monterey Jack, Pepper Jack and Muenster are good choices here.
Ingredient Subs and Substitutions
- Enchilada Sauce: If you don’t want to make your own homemade enchilada sauce, purchase canned. Purchasing one 19-ounce, or two 10 ounce cans will give you plenty of sauce.
- Tomatoes: If fresh tomatoes are out of season, use Cherub cherry tomatoes. Don’t substitute canned tomatoes for fresh. Canned tomatoes, even drained will offer too much liquid, causing the tortillas to become soggy. Omit tomatoes in this case.
- Ground Beef: Substitute ground turkey or ground chicken in place of the ground beef. Shredded chicken will also work like a charm here. Or omit the meat entirely and make these vegetarian stacked enchiladas. You can also substitute black beans for the ground beef.
- Tortillas: I prefer yellow corn tortillas for this recipe because they’re sturdier and have a more defined corn flavor. You can substitute white corn tortillas if you don’t have yellow.
- Shredded Cheese: To make this recipe even easier, grab a package of Mexican blend shredded cheese at the grocery store.
Step by Step Instructions
Looking around on the web I found several versions of Stacked Enchiladas. Many don’t use ground beef, just cheese and the red chile sauce. We’ll make this version with ground beef.
- Step 1: Brown The Beef With Onions and Chile Peppers: Heat a fry skillet over medium heat. Once the pan is hot, add the ground beef and onions. Add a couple of pinches of chili powder to the ground beef to add a kick of flavor. Cook until ground beef is just starting to lose its pink color. Add the chopped chiles and stir until chiles are warm and ground beef is no longer pink.
- Step 2: How To Fry Corn Tortillas: The corn tortillas for are handled a bit differently than rolled and baked enchiladas. We’ll skip the step of dipping the fried tortilla in the enchilada sauce, and simply fry the corn tortilla. I like to use my omelette pan. Heat the pan on medium high heat. Once hot, add the oil and heat until the oil is shimmering. One by one, place the corn tortillas in the hot oil and cook for 30 seconds. No need turn them. Once you see bubbles starting to form on the tortilla (see photo of the tortilla in the pan above), using a spatula, remove the tortilla to a plate lined with a paper towel. Repeat with the rest of the tortillas.
- Step 3: Start building the stacked enchiladas.Using an oven proof pan, start by placing enough of the ground beef, onion and chile pepper mix on a corn tortilla. Then add ¼ cup red chile sauce or enchilada sauce.
- Step 4: Finish by adding a good handful of grated cheese and a sprinkle of chopped tomato. Repeat with one more layer. Add cheese and sauce to the top of the third tortilla. These stacked enchiladas are ready to bake just long enough to melt that cheese. Use a comal or a baking sheet.
Step 5: In the meantime, fry two eggs to sunny-side up stage.
Variations
- Switch things up and add sliced radishes and chopped cilantro.
- Omit the ground beef and add corn and even black beans to make this a vegetarian stacked enchilada dinner.
- A drizzle of sour cream will make this a Tex-Mex version.
FAQ’s
There are two reasons for this. Either your oil is not hot enough, or you’re not cooking them long enough. I always lose or sacrifice a couple of tortillas during this process. Play with the heat until the tortilla fries just enough to be almost crispy in 30 seconds.
I recommend that you assemble and bake these enchiladas when you’re planning on eating them. Storing fried tortillas can turn them soggy or rubbery. If you’re making red chile sauce or homemade enchilada sauce, that piece of this meal most certainly should be prepared ahead of time.
I’m so glad you asked! Try Hatch Green Chile Sauce for a verde experience. A mole sauce would bring this dish to a whole new level of earthiness.
Recipe for New Mexico Stacked Enchiladas
If you’re looking for fresh New Mexico cuisine, I hope you give this Stacked Enchilada recipe a try. They’re a wonderful treat and a great introduction to New Mexico Cuisine.
Serve this hearty fiesta style meal alongside Salsa and chips. Or with Cowboy Beans. For a lighter side, try my Southwestern Salad.
Explore More Southwestern Enchilada Recipes
And if you’ love Mexican food as much as we do, don’t miss my Mexican Food and Southwest Recipes Category. You’ll find lots of fun recipe to spice up your meal plans, including the most popular on my site for Hatch Green Chile with Pork.
If you’re chile pepper crazed like us, don’t miss my post on Chili vs Chile for more Hatch Green Chile Recipes.
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New Mexico Stacked Enchiladas
Ingredients
- 2 cups New Mexico Red Chile Sauce or Enchilada Sauce
- 1 pound ground beef browned
- 1 cup sweet onion chopped
- 4 Hatch green chile peppers roasted, peeled and chopped. Or 1-4 ounce can chopped Hatch chile peppers
- 2 cups shredded Mexican Blend cheese
- 2 tomato chopped
- chopped lettuce for topping
- 6 yellow corn tortilla
- ¼ cup vegetable oil canola oil works well here
- 2 eggs fried over easy or over medium
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Brown ground beef and onion in a fry pan until done. Drain excess grease, stir in the Hatch Green chile and set aside.
- In a fry pan, heat oil over medium high heat until hot. The oil should be hot enough that the tortillas bubbles as its lowered into the oil. Fry corn tortillas one at a time 30 seconds each. Place tortillas on a plate that's been lined with a paper towel. Place another paper towel on top of the tortillas as you cook them to help keep them warm.
- To build the enchiladas. In an oven proof dishes, I use my Comal, place one tortilla. Top with ¼ cup ground beef and ¼ cup New Mexico Red Chile Sauce and a good sprinkle of the shredded cheese and fresh tomato. Place a tortilla on top of of that and another layer of the ingredients. Place the third tortilla on top and sprinkle with cheese and sauce. Use three tortillas for each stack.
- In the meantime, fry two eggs until over easy.
- Bake or broil until cheese is melted and bubbly. Serve immediately topped with more fresh tomato, chopped lettuce and fried egg. If you want add a dollop of sour cream to the top and diced raw onions (after baking)
- This served the two of us with plenty of leftovers.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Stacked Enchiladas …They’re what’s for Dinner.
