Burritos & enchiladas--where did I go wrong?

[minkydog]

I bought a box of enchilada dinner and when I opened it, I discovered it was just flour tortillas, "enchilada sauce", and mystery powder I followed the directions (mostly), but I put some minced round steak in it instead of ground beef--yummy! I figure, how hard can this be? I'll make my own.

So tonight I made enchiladas again, only this time I didn't use a mix. I had some left-over taco meat(ground beef with salsa, not a mix), a can of fat-free refried beans, and a stack of flour tortillas. I rolled them up into beef & bean burritos and plain bean burritos, covered them with something called "red sauce" (it looks just like the "enchilada sauce" that came in the original package) and shredded cheese. Baked it at 350 for awhile, until Christian came by and turned up the oven to 500. Of couse, the bottoms were a bit hardened, but they tasted okay. The kids liked the bean ones best, but I really didn't like either one much(the bean & beef ones were just too spicy for me).

What am I doing wrong? This can't be that hard. I love burritos and enchiladas at my local Mexican restaurant. What do they do that I'm missing

 

[Swimnoid]

Sounds like you did alright. I usually get a taco or enchilada seasoning packet like El paso or ortego and season the meat with that. You can use it on beef or chicken. Sometimes I roll up the enchiladas and sometimes I just layer them. Good either way. Sometimes I use beans/sometimes not, I've used rice. Also good. LOTS OF CHEESE!!!!! I like to make a sort of creamy type of chicken enchilada with green chilies and a sour cream sauce mixed with salsa too.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

Enchiladas don't normally have beans in them. But you can put whatever you want in them. Sometimes I put beans in, but it does tend to sweeten it up, I prefer them on the side.

Usually just meat or cheese. Then the sauce is on top and sprinkle the shredded cheese near the end, at least I do.

I serve the beans and rice on the side with the guacamole dollop and a dollop of sour cream with shredded lettuce and diced tomatos. I would like to make a nice black bean/corn relishy thing one day.

I use taco seasoning instead of the enchilada seasoning. I use the Old El Paso enchilada sauce sparingly over the tortillas prior to baking.

Keep trying until you get it how you like it.

 

[minkydog]

Thanks, ya'll. What is the difference in a burrito and an enchilada? They seem to taste the same to me(that's why i used beans)

 

[CapeCodTenor]

when I do my echiladas I do mine in a casserole style (makes it easier for leftovers). I start off with 2lbs of ground beef and brown it. I then take corn tortillas and soft fry them in a pan with oil (not long on both sides). I use a total of 9 tortillas, 3 for each level (2 full ones and 1 cut in half and used on the corners). I spread the beef on the first layer, grade(correct sp and usage?) cheese over that layer and some Old El Paso Red Enchiladas sauce. I then repeat for the next layer and the final layer has only the corn tortillas, a bit of cheese graded on and sauce. I then bake at 350 for about 20 min. and then your done. The baking is to melt and gel everything together. Now, you don't have to soft fry the tortillas in oil if you don't want to, but you'll have to bake longer (I've never done that before so I'm not sure how long that'll take. Hope this helps. Happy eating.

 

[WebmasterMaryJo]

Enchiladas are made with corn tortillas, and can have cheese (& chopped onion/olives, if you like), or chicken, or ground beef, or shredded beef. Cheese enchiladas are most common, I think. We prepare the meat and/cheese. Also, dip the tortilla in hot oil to make it pliant, drain a bit, roll up the filler. Put red sauce or enchilada sauce in a pan & heat it on med/low and then put in enchiladas, scooping sauce over them -- really yummy (we like to put sour cream on ours, too).

Burritos are made with flour tortillas, and you can put whatever you want in a burrito. I even have cousins who like Nutella burritos (don't ask). You can make easy ones with taco meat, beans, and cheese, or add rice if you'd like, or chorizo, eggs, & potatoes (my kids love those) ...

You don't normally put red sauce on burritos, but if you do they are then called wet burritos.

 

[sha_lyn]

I make my onw enchilada sauce
1/4 cup mole' paste 1 cup beef stock (or veggie or chicken depending on what I am making) 1 cup v-8 juice (I prefer it over tomato sauce. use to use tomato sauce until I was out 1 time.)
brown 1lb ground beek wiht an onion and garlic (or you can use chicken breast, a mixture of grated cheese and black beans etc. want about 2 cups of filling)
I use corn tortillias
spread a little sauce in bottown of 9x9 pan, cover bottom with a double layer of tortilias
next layer is filling
then double layer of tortilias
top with sauce.
bake 375 for about 30 min top with cheese (about 1-1 1/2 cups I guess) run under broiler until slightly brown

 

[mickeymousemom]

Enchiladas are made with corn tortillas, burritos with flour...and the ingredients are not exactly the same. While I have never made burritos, but my family loves my enchiladas. I don't have a recipe, I just boil chicken breasts, let them cool and then shred them. I then mix in some enchilada sauce, and a little bit of monterey jack cheese. I take the corn tortillas and soften them up, as a previous poster stated, by putting them in hot oil. Then add some of the chicken mixture, roll up, and place in a pan(I pour some of the red sauce in the bottom of the baking dish first). I repeat this until the pan is full. In a bowl, I mix together a can of cream of chicken soup, a couple big globs of sour cream, and a can of mild green chilis. I pour this over the enchiladas and then top with more cheese(your choice, really) and bake til nice and bubbly! YUM! I know the use of Cream of Chicken soup sounds tacky, but to me it makes the enchiladas taste like ones I've had in restaurants.