Stacked Enchiladas, New Mexico claims ownership to the creation of Stacked Red Chile Cheese Enchiladas. Perfect for any meal of the day and guaranteed to set your taste buds on fire!
I was reading an article the other day about the Worlds 10 Best Places To Watch A Sunset. Before I opened the link, I guessed that the Serengeti certainly would be included. (And it was.)
Not that I’ve ever traveled to Africa, but I’ve seen some breathtaking photos that stick in my memory of a huge sun resting on the horizon with the umbrella trees and herds of animals foraging in the foreground. Definitely a destination on my travel wish list.
But with my travels outside North America few and far between, I’d have to say that the most breathtaking sunset we’ve ever watched was sitting on the beach outside The Mucky Duck restaurant on Captiva Island in Florida.
I’ll never forget that luminous sun resting on the ocean. No photos exist, except in my memory.
Where would you vote as your favorite place to watch the Sunset? The views to the West at our new place aren’t too shabby. I shot this photo the other night of the sun setting over our Rocky Mountains. Oooooh and ahhhhh.
Last week I was talking with a coworker about dinner plans and she mentioned she was making her specialty, Stacked Enchiladas. “Stacked Enchiladas?” I asked.
The explanation revealed that her father was from New Mexico and this was his specialty and she’s made it hers. Corn tortillas are fried in oil, as opposed to dipped in warm enchilada sauce, and stacked and layered with ingredients instead of rolled and then baked. Doing some research, I found that New Mexico Stacked Enchilada purists always top the dish with a fried egg. Jennifer said she’s never done that.
I made my own New Mexico Red Chile Sauce using a medium heat Chimayo chile powder, a recipe from a reliable friend source. We thought this meal was out of this world delicious. What I really liked was the corn tortillas stay crispy in spots and soft and chewy in others…that’s after absorbing the sauce and the juices from the ground beef, the sauce and fresh tomatoes.
Oh…and there’s that ooey-gooey cheesy part. I decided to go traditional the next morning. Reheating the leftovers, I topped it with a fried egg. Even though the dish was beautiful and somewhat resembles a sunset, I’d have to say the strong flavors of this wonderful creation were not really enhanced by the egg.
Looking around on the web I found several versions of Stacked Enchiladas. Many don’t have ground beef, just cheese and the red chile sauce. And most red chile sauces are made using dried chile pods instead of chile powder. Here’s what I did using my friend Jennifer’s method:
Recipe for Stacked Enchiladas
I hope you give this Stacked Enchilada recipe a try. And if you do, please come back and let me know how you liked it and give the recipe a star rating.
Your feedback is valuable to me for developing future recipes. And if you have a favorite stacked enchilada recipe or method, let me know, I’d love to give it a try.
Stacked Enchiladas
Ingredients
- 2 cups New Mexico Red Chile Sauce
- 1 pound ground beef
- 1/2 sweet onion chopped
- 4 Hatch green chile roasted, peeled and chopped
- 1 cup shredded Mexican Blend cheese
- 2 tomato chopped
- chopped lettuce for topping
- 6 corn tortilla
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil
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 until hot. Fry corn tortillas 30 seconds per side and let drain on paper towels.
- To build the enchiladas. In an oven proof dishes, (I used pie pans) place one tortilla. Top with 1/4 cup ground beef and 1/4 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. Use three tortillas for each stack.
- Bake until cheese is melted and bubbly. Serve immediately topped with more fresh tomato and chopped lettuce. I served them in the pan they were baked in.
- This served the two of us with plenty of leftovers.
Nutrition
Stacked Enchiladas …They’re what’s for Dinner.
This is to Lea Ann. You are absolutely right about those Texas Stacked Enchiladas! Texans just don’t know how to make ’em!!!
I have to tell ya, through my younger days, I would occasionally make the stacked enchiladas for boyfriends. I always got the same reaction: no words, but a facial expression that said “you really expect me to eat this sh..!” But, after I threatened them with their life if they didn’t at least taste them, THEY WERE HOOKED!!!
High Five! They may know some things, but New Mexico owns the bragging rights for stacked enchiladas WITH a fried egg. 🙂
When I was a kid, my Grandma, a New Mexico native, made stacked enchiladas. She used one of those big bricks of chili you used to be able to get. She fried the tortillas, then began stacking them, adding a big spoonful of the chili, sprinkling shredded cheese and chopped red onions on it, and repeating the process, depending on how many layers each person wanted! I don’t remember tomato and lettuce on the enchiladas, but she served a salad on the side. And the crowning glory was a fried egg or two! Note: Texas stacked enchiladas DO NOT have a fried egg on top.
My best sunsets were seen from the lagoon side of Kwajalein island in the Marshall islands in 1962/63. The sun would set over Enubuj island (we called it Carlson) across the lagoon and the entire horizon would turn to fire accented by turquoise and tan. Each one was different…and beautiful. I often wish I could see that again.
I’m more of a beach sunset person so I’ll go with any western facing beach for my choice of sunset locales. Although the mentions of the Serengeti I now have the Toto song Africa looping through my head….thanks, ha ha.
I’m a lover of enchiladas as you know but I’ve never had them like this and I plan to change that post haste. Fantastic idea!
I love that Toto song.
This looks amazing! I have never made enchiladas this way, but you are definitely making me want to try!
Thanks so much! Let me know what you think if you give them a try.
They sound fantastic, Lea Ann! I’m drooling over these. Thanks so much for the recipe!
You are so welcome Susan.