Enchilada Casserole

• portions: 6 servings
• temps total: 2-2.5 hours

Ingrédients

* 1lb. carrots (sliced/diced)

* 1 large clove garlic, minced

* ~3-4tbsp. taco seasoning/blend

* Chipotle powder to taste (if sauce not smoky enough)

* ~1-1.5lb. ground meat or shredded chicken

* 1c. pinto beans, drained & rinsed (1-15oz. can pre-prepared beans)

* ~20oz. red enchilada sauce, divided (see enchilada recipe OR use 2 10oz. cans)

* 2c. shredded cheddar cheese

* 3c. shredded monterey jack cheese, divided

* ?? 6in. tortillas, quartered

Instructions

~CONSTRUCTION~

Heat a small amount of neutral oil in fry pan to saute carrots to soft and add minced garlic to warm up (don't burn!). Remove from pan and set aside. Using same pan, fry ground meat / shredded chicken to cooked and season with taco seasoning/blend. Return veggies to pan and add the beans and ~1.5c. red enchilada sauce (reserving ~1/2c. red enchilada sauce on side). Stir till combined, turn off heat, and set aside.

Combine all the cheddar with 2c. jack cheese and mix.

Spread ~2tbsp. reserved sauce in bottom of each 2c. cube tray/5" baking dish then line with tortillas overlapping to cover bottom of tray.

Then spread ~1/3c. meat/bean mixture over that, and 1/4c. cheese mix over that. Repeat process 1 more time. Top the last cheese layer with a final overlapping tortilla, and ~1/4c. monterey jack cheese on top of the cheese mixture.

~BAKING / REHEATING~

In the oven: When you are ready to bake, remove your enchilada casserole from the freezer to thaw in Souper Cubes 5-inch baking dish, covered, ideally for a few hours to overnight. Preheat the oven to 350F, then bake until the thermometer registers 165F and is bubbling on the edges, for about 30 minutes.

Alternatively, you can bake from frozen, for best results, simply place the frozen casserole into a Souper Cubes 5-inch baking dish, and put on the lid and place into the microwave at 50 % power, until slightly thawed, about 3 minutes. Then place the semi-thawed enchilada casserole in a preheated oven to 350F, then bake until the thermometer registers 165F and is bubbling on the edges, for about 40 minutes.

Notes

Based off: https://www.soupercubes.com/blogs/recipes/ultimate-easy-enchilada-casserole

***MEASUREMENT NOTES***

Measure and divide components into grams/ounces instead of using listed cup/tablespoon measurements in the written directions for accuracy.

3.2026 Using the homemade enchilada sauce made about 270g leftover sauce. My recipe is altered drastically from base recipe. No lime, no sour cream, used Penzey's taco seasoning instead of their spice blend, no jalapeno, used carrots instead of bell pepper and onions, used 1.6pounds ground turkey instead of 2.5c. shredded chicken. Next time, if following same recipe, can probably pass on the last layer of Monterey Jack to save ~100-120cal per casserole.