Beef Enchiladas in Rojo Sauce

 

Yes, I already have an enchilada recipe on my blog. But I’ve upped my game with this one. Although it’s nice to have a quick recipe for those busy nights, it’s also nice to have a fresh, from scratch recipe that will blow your mind.

 

 

I had to pull this from a couple different recipes. I wanted to have meat that cooked in the pressure cooker while I did other things on the stove. 

 

 

It’s also easy to make the meat and broth ahead of time and then put it all together a couple days later. 

 

 

It’s also really flexible. The recipe calls for beef, but you can make it with pork or chicken just as easily, you’ll just need to adjust your cooking time for the meat preparation.

 

 

You can make them ahead of time and freeze them, or eat them right away. I love flexible recipes that allow me to prep meals and be ready for anything.

 

 

Beef Enchiladas in Rojo Sauce

 

Beef:

2-3 lbs Country Style Ribs (or other shreddable meat like chuck, etc)

2 Tbs salt

½ onion

5 garlic cloves

3 bay leaves

Water up to the max line of the Instant Pot

1 7oz can green chilis

1 c enchilada sauce

3 c Mexican blend cheese, divided

30 corn tortillas

½ c canola oil

 

 

Enchilada Sauce:

20 dried chili peppers (I like a mix of California and guajillo peppers)

2 dried pasilla peppers

2 chile de arbole

½ onion

2 garlic cloves

3 ½ c broth from meat, divided

¼ tsp cumin

½ tsp Mexican oregano

Salt and pepper to taste

 

In your instant pot, pour about 1 cup of water in. Then add the meat, the onion, the garlic cloves, and the bay leaves. Finally add the salt and add enough water to bring it up to the max line. Put the lid on and seal the pressure seal. Set your cooker to “meat” and set the time for 1 hour 10 minutes. After the time is done, allow natural pressure to drop for at least 10 minutes or up to 30 minutes. Release the last of the pressure and pull the meat out and place in a bowl. It should fall apart when you shred it. Once it’s all shredded, set it aside.

 

Meanwhile, you can use the broth made by cooking the meat to create the enchilada sauce.

 

Rinse the peppers and remove the stems and seeds. Place them into a saucepan and add enough water to cover the peppers and bring them to a boil. Once it reaches a boil, turn it off and allow it to cool for just a minute.

 

Add the peppers to the blender and discard the water. Add the onion and garlic and 2 ½ cups of reserved cooking broth. Blend until smooth and then put the sauce through a sieve and back into the saucepan to make it smoother. Use the last 1 cup of broth to clean the blender and get the last of the sauce through the sieve. Once all the sauce is in the pan, add the cumin, oregano, and salt and pepper to taste.

 

In a large saute pan, add the canola oil and allow to warm to about 325-350 degrees. Dip each tortilla in the oil and allow it to cook just until it starts to blister. Remove it from the oil, let it drip a minute and then set aside and continue with the rest. Once those are complete, turn back to the meat. Add the chilis and enchilada sauce and mix everything together.

 

Begin assembly of the enchiladas. Place ½ cup of sauce on the bottom of each of two 9x13 baking dishes. Make sure it covers the bottom of the dishes. Take a tortilla and add about ¼ c of filling along with 1Tbs cheese and roll the tortilla like a cigar. Place it in the dish and continue through your tortillas in the same manner. Once all of them are finished, pour the remaining sauce over the enchiladas evenly between the two dishes. Finally add cheese about 1 cup of cheese to the top of each dish.

 

Cook in a preheated oven at 350 for 20-25 minutes, or until it begins to bubble. Turn the oven to broil on high if you like to crisp your cheese on top a bit. Remove and let it cool a minute before serving. Enjoy!