Layered Enchilada Bake Recipe
Easy Layered Enchilada Bake recipe takes less than an hour to make for a healthy weeknight meal, served with your favorite toppings!
“Another key to true happiness lies in the understanding that most of life is ‘everyday.’ Most of our lives consist of a routine – an unremarkable series of events that take place day after day. So if we are going to enjoy every day, we must learn to embrace the ordinary – to delight in little things, to appreciate small blessings, and to find pleasure in the circumstances and situations other people might overlook.” – Joyce Meyer
I will say I love most things about the routine of January. It’s structured, full of hard work, it’s when I’m motivated to hunker down and get necessary projects completed.
I also find myself rummaging through the pantry for dinner some nights. Sometimes with a dreaded “oh, it’s time for dinner” feeling.
Dinner time can be so routine, I get into ruts. Do you? I can’t be the only one! :)
How I shop each week:
My shopping for groceries each week usually consists of planning 3 meals ahead, and then winging it the rest of the time. I say winging it, because we often get invited out, or my husband and I will go on a date, or we’ll take a frozen pizza from the freezer and add pesto and fresh tomatoes – nothing fancy, but nourishing all the same. I also tend to over-cook so we always have leftovers. We love leftovers!
I keep my pantry and freezer well stocked, so there’s usually something I can whip up for a quick meal.
Layered Enchilada Bake Recipe
Like earlier this week, when I made a delicious Layered Enchilada Bake. So yummy!
Keeping & storing food:
One thing I learned from my Mother was to always keep Mexican Food ingredients on hand.
For example, here are the items I had for the recipe today, and how I store these items:
Ground turkey – I buy the “4 pack” of ground turkey from Costco and freeze in 1 lb. increments
Onions – my large basket in the pantry is always full of onions, sweet potatoes, and russet potatoes
Salsa – I buy Costco’s 2-pack Organic SalsaTabasco Sauce – I always keep 2 bottles on hand
Beans – I keep an abundance of different varieties of Bush’s Beans in my pantry
Corn Tortillas – you can buy these for $3.65 at Costco and freeze what you don’t use
Cheese – I also buy cheese in bulk from Costco and separate it into Ziploc bags and freeze
Fresh ingredients: I was lucky to have iceberg lettuce, cherry tomatoes, cilantro, and sour cream stocked in my refrigerator. (Remember to store your fresh herbs this way.
So back to the ‘routine’ or the ‘mundane’, things in life. I’ve really learned to view each day with joy, like pulling out an old recipe and cooking for the family with love and gratefulness.
It starts with a decision to be joyful.
A decision to be happy and to work hard, do my best, and keep a good attitude, even though it may be over tasks that I dislike.
Do you think being prepared for dinner affects your attitude toward your family, or your ability to enjoy the day?
Get the Recipe:
Layered Enchilada Bake Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 lb. ground turkey
- 1 large onion, chopped
- 3 cups salsa
- 1 can, 15 oz. Bush’s Black Beans
- 1 can, 15 oz. Bush’s Kidney Beans
- 12 corn tortillas
- 1 1/2 cups sour cream
- 2-3 cups Mexican style grated cheese
- Iceberg lettuce, shredded
- Cherry tomatoes, cut in 1/2
- Fresh cilantro, finely chopped
Instructions
- Heat the oven to 400. Brown the meat with onions; drain. Drain the beans.
- Stir in the salsa and beans into the meat mixture.
- Wrap the 12 tortillas in a wet paper towel and microwave for 2 minutes until hot and soft.
- Spray the bottom of a 9×13 pan. Lay 4 tortillas on the bottom of the pan (they will be overlapping).
- Cover with the meat mixture, sprinkle with cheese. Layer with 4 more tortillas.
- Spread 1/3 of the sour cream over the tortillas and repeat the method above (tortillas, sour cream, meat mixture, cheese), ending with cheese on the very top.
- Cover with foil. Bake for 35-40 minutes or until casserole is heated through.
- Let stand 5 minutes before serving. Garnish with shredded lettuce, tomatoes, and cilantro. Serve with Tabasco sauce.
Hello and welcome to my home and table!
I’m Sandy—lover of food, family, cooking, THE BIG BOARD, travel, and bringing people together. Through great recipes and connection around the table, we become better, stronger, and more courageous people. Feasting on Life is real, and every time we do it, we grow a little more. Read more...
This is a wonderful post Sandy, wonderful. I enjoy the everyday (truly, most days), however dinner time without a plan is definitely a stressor. It throws me off. 3 days at a time is usually what works for me, especially knowing leftovers or an easy sandwich or frozen pizza night is an option. Love all these tips!
Hi Sandy,
I’ve just learned that my future stepson likes enchiladas. This looks amazing and I’ll most definitely give it a try. Thanks for sharing.
Teresa
Pre-child, my husband and I went to the grocery store every night after work, took a look at what freshness looked tasty for dinner and then went home to cook, drink wine and bond. Since the child—8 years now—we don’t have that luxury. And its definitely affected our time together and our relationship, in the thumbs down way. Now we’re tag-teaming to get homework, dinner and a quick swipe of the house done each night. Planning ahead isn’t something we really do well, but its become more of a necessity than we’d like compared to our free-flying childless days.
Awww, child-free days. What’s that? LOL
Eating fresh every night would be a luxury for sure.
Thanks for sharing Heidi! :)
Being prepared is HUGE for me, especially right now when I’m trying to find that balance between working from home, being a mommy, and just being sane. We really need to get a Sam’s membership now (no CostCo in Arkansas…) so that I can buy in bulk and freeze – it really helps so much!
Thank you for this recipe. I am off to mentor a group of ladies this weekend and will be MIA for my family – great recipe for making ahead so my family will be taken care of. I tend to be a planner, but have taken the approach of just looking in the freezer too!! I am big on making double batches and freezing, so helpful when life gets busy!
Freezing food is such a help in crunch times! Doubling up this recipe and freezing would be a great idea! :) Have fun this weekend, Susan!
Love the advice – I think taking a few minutes to plan for the week ahead eliminates so much unnecessary stress! I also love the freshness/motivation of January. :)
Oh mommy.
Ok first of all, there are few things on earth that bring joy to me the way Mexican food does. :-) Cannot wait to make this (which will probably be Friday, since that’s usually our Family Mexican night). And YES I so agree that living in the present and appreciating the day to day is so important. My husband and I were just talking about that yesterday…. we don’t want to get so caught up in the doing, that we miss living it. One way I make sure to get our family to stop is to make sure our meals are planned. I LOVE making dinner and having that time together!
I always have Mexican/Southwest ingredients on hand, too. I can easily throw together my favorite turkey chili or tacos with everything on hand. I like to have dinner planned most nights, but sometimes I wing it, too. I feel more organized when I know exactly what is for dinner, but sometimes you just have to make do with what you’ve got! :-)
My level of preparedness for dinner definitely affects my mood and therefore the mood of the family. I hate having to say “I don’t know” to the everyday question “What’s for dinner”. And I hate standing in front of the refrigerator looking for something to throw together. This recipe looks easy and yummy too!