Gringo Enchiladas are ‘the best’. Mexican food is delicious and these enchiladas are special because they also have homemade enchilada sauce.
Enchiladas are ‘the best’. Not only that Gringo Enchiladas are The Best too! Even at 17 I knew I could change a recipe and make it the way I like it.
For some reason I never liked enchiladas. It turned out that it was the corn tortillas. I switched to flour tortillas and started making it my signature dish.
When people would say that they really liked my enchiladas I’d say, with a big mile on my face, “It’s with flour tortillas”. Then the person would look back at their plate and say “Ohhhh” as if that was ‘it’ and a great revelation. It made me feel good.
Now I have changed it again because I use whole wheat tortillas. There is a homemade enchilada sauce too but feel free to buy the canned sauce if you would prefer. The Mexican flavors are all here and they are delicious.
Gringo Enchiladas
Gringo Enchiladas are 'the best'. Mexican food is delicious and these enchiladas are special because they are made with whole wheat flour tortillas.
Ingredients
For the sauce:
- 1 1/2 pounds tomatoes - peeled and finely diced
- Directions are below on how to peel tomatoes.
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 2 tablespoons flour
- 2 tablespoons chili powder
- 1/2 teaspoon cumin
- 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 2 cups water
- 8 ounces tomato paste
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
Enchiladas
- 12 whole Wheat flour tortillas
- 8 ounces dairy free cheddar cheese - grated
- 12 ounces meatless ground beef
- 14 ounces corn - cut off the cob or from a can
Instructions
- I make the enchilada sauce first.
- !Enchilada Sauce
- Taking the skin off of the tomatoes:
- Bring water to a boil in a large sauce pan.
- When the water boils dunk in all of the tomatoes and leave for about 1 minute. The skin splits and makes it easy to peel the tomatoes.
- Remove the tomatoes and let cool so you can handle them.
- Take off the skin and cut in half.
- Cut out the little stem area and dice. Set aside.
- Make a roux:
- In a large sauce pan put in the oil and get hot.
- Add the flour and stir into the oil and cook on low for 2 minutes to get the flour taste out of the sauce.
- Add the 2 Tablespoons chili powder and stir in well.
- Cook for about 2 minutes.
- Add the tomato sauce and water and stir well.
- Bring to a boil and then turn down to a simmer.
- Add the prepared tomatoes and the 5 spices and seasonings.
- Heat through and cook for about 20 minutes, crushing down the tomatoes with a potato masher every 5 minutes.
- Remove from heat and set aside.
- In a glass casserole dish put a little bit of the sauce in the bottom. No greasing necessary.
- Now I make an assembly line for putting the enchiladas together.
- On the counter lay out all 12 tortillas so that they overlap just a little.
- Sprinkle a little of the vegan ground 'meat' down the center of each tortilla.
- I divide the each ingredient into 12 piles on a large plate for quick assembly.
- Hold some of the cheese aside for sprinkling over the top of the rolled enchiladas.
- Sprinkle a little of the cheddar cheese down the center of each tortilla.
- Sprinkle a little corn down the center of each tortilla.
- Start to roll up each tortilla by folding the tortilla over on top of the filling and then pulling back a bit to make a tight fit. Then complete the roll.
- Lay in your prepared casserole dish at one end.
- Fill in your dish until it is full.
- I did three casserole with 4 tortillas each.
- When the casserole or casseroles are full pour the enchilada sauce over the tops, dividing the sauce equally between the dishes. I use a ladle.
- Sprinkle the rest of the cheese over the top of the sauce.
Recipe Notes
IF BAKING NOW:
Put in a preheated oven at 350° and bake for 30 minutes. Serve and enjoy.
At this point you can freeze the casseroles according to my directions in the article at Preparing Food for the Freezer
TO PREPARE AFTER FREEZING:
Remove from the freezer and put in the refrigerator overnight because it is a pretty solid mass and will take longer to defrost. The night of serving - Put in a preheated oven at 350° and bake for 40 minutes. Serve and enjoy.
Ginny McMeans says
That sounds really good! Way to go YRS and thank you!
YRS says
I also made a quick Spanish rice with the leftover enchilada sauce. I used Minute rice, added garlic salt to the cooking water and then ladled in enough sauce after the rice was reconstituted to make it really flavorful. It was delicious! Thanks again, Ginny!
Ginny McMeans says
Fantastic YRS! I am so glad you found this recipe. Enchiladas are my favorite and I’m really glad this recipe works for you. Thanks for letting me know!
YRS says
Outstanding!y delicious! I have been searching, literally for years, for a mild Mexican red sauce recipe and when I saw ” gringo” in your title it sounded like something my delicate stomach might tolerate. I didn’t have fresh tomatoes so substituted (2) 15oz cans of organic tomato sauce, left out the tomato paste, water and cayenne pepper, but followed your instructions on everything else. This will be my go-to recipe from now on. No bitterness and no heat–just a delectably mild sauce that I am eternally grateful you shared with the rest of us! THANK YOU!!
Ginny McMeans says
I used an oil and vinegar type of dressing Jana. Mix your own or use a store bought Italian type.
Jana says
What dressing did you make to compliment the dark greed salad shown with this dish??
Ginny McMeans says
Fantastic! That is wonderful.
Melissa says
Yum! These look great! I’ll definitely be trying to make this soon.