Pulled Beef Enchiladas with Homemade Refried Beans

When my wife tells me that something is "My favourite thing you've ever made." I know it must be good. First of all, my wife is my second harshest critic, and I wouldn't have it any other way. Second of all, I trust her opinion over anyone else's. So, I say with absolute confidence that these pulled beef enchiladas are good, like really, really good. Imagine beef, rubbed with spices and slow-roasted, then shredded like pulled pork. Now imagine that beef is wrapped in a corn tortilla with homemade refried beans and some salsa, covered in a jalapeno cheese sauce and baked to perfection. Doesn't that sound good? Want to learn how to make it? Good. Let's get to it.

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Prepping and Cooking The Beef

The first thing to do is cook the beef. I used a blade roast, which was a pound and a half. Season the roast with cumin, coriander, salt, pepper, and oregano. And rub the meat down with a few tablespoons of chipotle in adobo. (You can find all the measurements in the recipe below.) Put the beef in a small roasting pan with half a cup of water, cover with parchment paper, then wrap tightly in foil. Cook the beef at 300°f for three hours. Remove it from the oven and allow it to rest for twenty minutes.

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Homemade Refried Beans

While the beef is cooking, make a batch of homemade refried beans. Start the beans by sautéing half a cup of diced onion in some olive oil over medium-high heat. Once the onions soften, add two cloves of minced garlic and cook for another minute. Add chili powder, cumin, and oregano. Cook the spices for about a minute, then add half a cup of water and a can of drained and rinsed pinto beans. Let the mixture cook for about five minutes, stirring, then mash the beans using a potato masher. Season them to taste with salt and pepper. Continue to cook the beans until they form a thick paste.

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Jalapeno Monterey Jack Cheese Sauce

For the cheese sauce, I used a jalapeno Monterey Jack cheese. If you can find this, great. If not, use cheddar instead and sauté half a diced jalapeno in the butter before adding the flour. To make the sauce melt two tablespoons of butter in a medium pot over medium-high heat. Once the butter is melted, add two tablespoons of flour (I used all-purpose gluten-free flour). Cook the mixture, whisking, for two minutes, then add in two cups of whole milk. Cook the sauce, whisking gently, for about ten minutes or until the sauce is thick enough to coat a spoon and no longer tastes of raw flour. Whisk in one cup of the grated jalapeno Monterey Jack cheese, then taste the sauce and season with salt and white pepper as needed (you can use black pepper if you'd prefer.).

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Pulling The Beef

Now that the beef is cooked and rested take two forks and shred it like pulled pork. Make sure to discard any large pieces of fat or gristle. Once the meat is shredded, add three-quarters of the liquid from the bottom of the roasting pan back into it, mix, and season with salt as needed.

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Assembling The Pulled Beef Enchiladas

Everything is ready. The beef is cooked and pulled, the refried beans are smooth and tasty, and the sauce is creamy and gooey—time to put it all together. Put a ladle full of the sauce in the bottom of a 9 x 13 oven-safe dish. Set a tortilla on your work surface. For the tortillas, I bought a pack of ten blue corn tortillas. You can use small flour tortillas or corn tortillas, store-bought or homemade. If you've never made tortillas, check out this post I did all about making them. Spread a serving spoon full of refried beans on the tortilla, top with some of the beef and a bit of your favourite salsa. Roll the tortilla and place it in the dish. Repeat until all of the tortillas, and meat and beans have been used. Cover the rolled tortillas with the remaining sauce and half a cup more of grated Monterey Jack cheese.

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Cooking The Enchiladas

Cover the enchilada dish with parchment and foil and bake on 350°f for twenty minutes. Take the pan out of the oven, turn on your broiler, and remove the foil and parchment from the pan. Put the enchiladas under the broiler only long enough to brown the cheese. Make sure to watch closely, as browning will happen quickly, and you really don't want to burn these. Once the cheese is browned, take the enchiladas out of the oven and let them rest for five minutes before serving them.

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Serving The Pulled Beef Enchiladas

To round out the meal, I served my enchiladas with whole boiled sweet potatoes and rice. You can do the same or serve them with whatever you'd like. Alternatively, you can boil and mash the sweet potato and put it right in the enchilada along with the beans, meat and salsa. And as with everything Mexican, serve with a bit of lime.

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The Wrap Up

There's a lot of components to these pulled beef enchiladas. They are not something you're just going to throw together on Tuesday evening after work. Of course, none of this is overly difficult. It just takes effort. But they are with it. Plan to make these. I cannot adequately express to you just how good they are. You'll have to try them for yourself.

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