Shredded Beef Enchiladas

It's what we are having for dinner tonight! Last night I fixed pot roast (yeah with my soda in it LOL) and tonight with the leftovers we are having Shredded Beef Enchiladas. It is a great way to reuse leftover roast so it doesnt sit in the fridge until you have to throw it away. Here is how you do it:

With your leftover roast, shred it (it should just fall apart into string like pieces if its cooked just right and my soda helps it to just fall apart). This recipe is a great time saver since you just mix and bake. You can dice up the onion, olives, and tomato the night before or while the oven is heating up.

Shredded Beef Enchiladas (the recipe)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

2-4 cups leftover shredded pot roast (however much you have left)
1 can enchilada sauce (1/4 cup for the beef and rest for the top and bottom of the dish; I buy the largest can since I like my enchiladas saucy)
1/4 cup diced olives
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
1 tomato (diced) (reserve some for the top)
1 can green chilies (reserve some for the top)
1/4 cup diced onion (reserve some for the top)
6-10 corn tortillas

Topping ideas
sour cream, guacamole, salsa

In a mixing bowl, combine the shredded beef, 1/4 cup enchilada sauce, olives, tomato, onion, green chilies, and 1/2 cup cheese. Mix well.

Spray a large casserole dish (8x13 rectangle works best) with cooking spray. Pour half the remaining enchilada sauce in the bottom. Fill the corn tortillas with the beef mixture and roll. Place the rolled tortillas in the dish seam side down. Repeat with remaining beef mixture and tortillas. Top with remaining enchilada sauce, then 1 1/2 cups of cheese, then olives, tomatoes, green chilies; Bake for 30 minutes.

Makes a great meal served with a green salad. Serves approximately 6-10 servings.
*See below for baking directions after freezing meals*

If you didn't want this for dinner the next night, you can also buy some freezable compartment meal trays or foil meal trays and freeze these meals and cook them when you want them. A good meal is 2 enchiladas with some salad or vegetable of choice. This is a good option if one of the family members works some nights or evenings and the other family members can take them out and bake them themselves. This works especially good if you have a take-out happy hubby who never knows what to fix (like mine LOL). Making and freezing meals ahead of time saves money from going out to eat and you get more nutritious food than you would going out.

If you are going to make this meal for freezing for later, then bake at 350 degrees for about 45 minutes or until cheese is bubbly. DO NOT bake before freezing. Put them together in the trays and then freeze. Good idea if you have a chest freezer on hand.



This is what it looks like before going into the oven.






This is what it looks like just out of the oven 30 minutes later. Doesn't that look yummy? The cheese is just melted and browned and the flavors mesh together perfectly and the flavor is out of this world!