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Beef Enchiladas

A baked dish of corn tortillas filled with ground beef, onion, cheese, and covered in a cumin‑chili tomato sauce.

From the Recipes Wiki (Fandom) · 15 ingredients
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Why it works: Garlic and onion match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 29,058 recipes. Both carry furaneol, which smells caramel, strawberry. The science ↓

Beef Enchiladas

Oven375°F
Time20 minutes

Ingredients

Directions

Make the sauce

  1. In a large saucepan, heat the shortening over medium‑high until near boiling.

  2. Stir in cumin, chili powder, and flour.

  3. Slowly add 2 cups of water while stirring constantly, as if making a cream gravy.

  4. Stir in the garlic salt.

  5. Slowly add the tomato sauce.

  6. Reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes, covered.

Prepare the filling and tortillas

  1. In an oiled skillet, cook tortillas on each side until soft (about 10 seconds per side over medium‑high heat).

  2. Set tortillas aside, stacking to prevent drying, until cool enough to touch.

  3. Brown the ground beef, draining grease.

  4. Add onion and continue cooking until onions are clear.

  5. Add garlic salt to taste.

  6. Allow the mixture to cool and add cheese.

Assemble and bake

  1. Add a small amount of ground beef to the center of each tortilla and roll.

  2. Place rolled enchiladas in a well‑oiled 9" x 13" pan.

  3. Pour sauce over enchiladas.

  4. Bake at 375°F for 20 minutes.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

1261Calories
53 gProtein
55 gFat
136 gCarbs

Counts 11 of 14 ingredients. The other 3 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 11 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Flour1 cup (125g) all-purpose455
Beef100g cooked250
Corn Tortilla1 medium flour (45g)140
Olive Oil1 tbsp (14g)119
Cheese1 oz (28g) cheddar113
Butter1 tbsp (14g)102
Onion1 medium (110g)44
Tomato1 medium (123g)22
Cumin1 tsp ground (2.1g)8
Chili1 tsp (2.7g)8
Salt1 tsp (6g)0
Saucenot in our table0
Waternot in our table0
Enchiladanot in our table0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

Recipe from the Recipes Wiki (Fandom).

Steps grouped into stages for easier reading; the method is the source's own.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Garlic + oniontop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together29,058 recipes

    Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).

  2. Cumin + garlictop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together5,082 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

  3. Cumin + tomatotop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together3,272 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

  4. Tomato + garlictop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together14,076 recipes

    Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).

  5. Cumin + oniontop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together5,498 recipes

    Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Shortening
Fat that carries the spices and forms the base of the roux-style sauce.
Flour
Thickens the sauce into a smooth, gravy-like consistency.
Tomato sauce
Provides the main body, tang and color of the enchilada sauce.
Corn tortillas
Hold the filling and absorb sauce as the enchiladas bake.
Ground beef
Supplies the savory, browned meat filling.
Colby cheese
Melts into the filling, adding richness and binding the rolls.

The step that matters

Warm the tortillas until soft before rolling. Cold or dry corn tortillas crack and tear when rolled. A brief soften in hot oil makes them pliable, and stacking them keeps the moisture in so they roll without breaking.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sauce, cumin, tomato, flour, garlic, corn, beef):

  1. Okrafits better
  2. Capsicumfits better
  3. Spinachfits better
  4. Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against sauce, cumin, tomato, flour, garlic, corn, beef. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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