- April 28, 2022
- 30 Minute Meals
Brisket Enchiladas Recipe
Do you have a lot of leftover brisket left and you don’t know what to do with it all? Make these easy beef brisket enchiladas as a great way to repurpose your delicious smoked meat in a way your whole family will love.
As an avid griller and barbecuer, I often find myself with a lot of leftover smoked meat. While I enjoy getting creative to make a hash, sandwich, or tacos, I love repurposing smoked meat into enchiladas.
I modeled this brisket enchilada recipe off of my smoked chicken enchiladas (this recipe is fantastic with my pulled smoked BBQ chicken and paired with a red sauce).
So, when I find myself with a lot of leftover brisket from my go-to pellet smoker brisket recipe, I knew making a similar dish with slightly different flavor profiles would be delicious.
This recipe can be made with pre-cooked and store-bought brisket as well.
I would encourage you to smoke the enchiladas on the grill to get a smokier flavor overall, but they could be baked if necessary.
Read through the article below to learn how to prep your cheesy brisket enchilada mixture, choose a sauce, assemble your enchiladas, and cooking methods to finish off this dish. Let’s dive in!
“School” Supplies:
- Large Skillet (cast iron) or Baking Dish
- Medium Skillet
- Small Saucepan
- Medium Bowl
- Knife and Cutting Board
- Measuring cup/ spoons
- Aluminum Foil
“Class” Notes:
Use the outline of cooking notes below to help ease you through this cheesy brisket enchiladas recipe! Ready to cook? Jump to the recipe below and begin cooking.
What enchilada sauce pairs best with beef?
There are a lot of variations of enchilada sauce, but most fit into two main categories (red or green). You could also do a mole-style sauce as well.
The two color differences are based on the types of chiles used in the sauce.
While they are very interchangeable amongst different proteins, you’re more likely to find a red sauce used with beef.
I used a higher quality store-bought sauce to make this leftover based recipe with ease, you can make your red enchilada sauce from scratch too.
Make sure you have enough sauce to coat the bottom of your pan and the tops of your enchiladas.
Brisket Enchilada Ingredients:
- Leftover Smoked Brisket: Chop the brisket up into smaller pieces to fit inside the corn tortillas.
- Corn Tortillas: Corn is the only way to go for making enchiladas because they hold up much better with the sauce that flour tortillas. Lightly warm them over an open flame before using or in the oven if you don’t have a gas burner.
- Enchilada sauce: I used a smokier red sauce (adobo-based), but a green chile sauce can be used as well.
- Shredded Cheese: I prefer a Monterey jack cheese or queso fresco cheese for this recipe.
- Yellow Onion: Use diced onion for making the filling.
- Fresh Garlic: Mince the garlic cloves for the filling.
- Jalapeno: I prefer jalapenos that are seeded. You can swap with a poblano or green bell pepper as well.
- Black Beans: Optional, but adds a great texture. Drain and rinse the beans before using.
- Spices: I like a mixture of salt, pepper, cumin, and smoked paprika. and chili powder
- Olive Oil
- Garnishes: Sour cream, green onions, pico de gallo, cilantro
How to make brisket enchilada Filling:
Begin by prepping your filling mixture for these juicy brisket enchiladas. Heat oil in a skillet over medium-high heat and sauté garlic, onions, and diced jalapenos.
Sauté until tender, then reduce the skillet to medium heat and add in your black beans and cook another minute or so.
Slice brisket into thin slices or chop it if preferred. Place beef brisket into the pan with the onion mixture and heat through for a few minutes.
I like to pour the brisket filling into a small bowl and mix in a little cheese and then the seasonings (salt, pepper, cumin, smoked paprika, and chili powder).
If you plan on making your own enchilada sauce, do this now.
I opted to use a store-bought sauce for simplicity (you can do this too and always doctor it up with some adobo sauce for a smoker flavor as well).
Either way, you do want your enchilada sauce warmed up slightly in a small saucepan.
Enchilada assembly and cooking instructions:
Assembly-
- Prep your baking dish or skillet. I used a cast–iron skillet (with parchment paper layered in to prevent a chemical reaction to the red sauce). Pour about 1 cup of the enchilada sauce into the bottom of the skillet.
- Swirl the sauce around in the pan and allow it to coat the bottom evenly. Then get ready to fill your corn tortillas.
- Take your warmed tortillas and place one tortilla down. Add cheese and then a second tortilla (I prefer this method but you can just use one tortilla).
- Grab 1/4 cup beef mixture and place it in the center of each tortilla. Roll it up tightly and place tortillas seam side down into the pan/ baking dish.
- Repeat this step with the remaining tortillas or until you’ve used up the enchilada filling (if you find yourself with leftovers use it for traditional burritos or mix with eggs for a breakfast burrito or hash).
- Cover with the remaining sauce so the top and side of the tortilla are coated fully and then add 1 cup cheese over the top.
Baking/ Smoking-
- Heat oven or smoker to 350 F.
- Spray cooking spray over one side of a piece of foil, cover the top of your pan and bake for 25 minutes.
- Remove the foil, let the cheese brown, and cook the enchiladas until bubbly.
- Remove from the oven and garnish with your favorite toppings and serve.
Don’t have brisket? You can also use smoked chuck roast instead. Additionally, make this lower carb with my Keto Corn Tortilla recipe too!
Brisket Enchiladas Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 cup Leftover Smoked Brisket
- 12 Corn Tortillas warmed
- 1/2 cup Black Beans drained
- 1/2 Yellow Onion diced small
- 1 Jalapeno seeds removed and diced small
- 2 cloves Fresh Garlic minced
- 2 cups Enchilada Sauce red or green
- 3 cups Monetary Jack or Queso Fresco Cheese divided
- 1 tsp Salt
- 1 tsp Black Pepper
- 1 tsp Cumin
- 1/2 tsp Chili Powder
- 1/2 tsp Smoked Paprika
- 1 tbsp Olive Oil
- Garnishes (cilantro, tomatoes, sour cream, green onions)
Instructions
- Preheat your smoker or oven to 350 F.
Enchilada Filling:
- In a large skillet over medium-high heat, add your olive oil.
- Sauté the onions, garlic, and jalapenos for 2-3 minutes. Then mix in your drained black beans and heat through another 1-2 minutes.
- Add in the chopped brisket pieces and warm it through, then remove it from the heat.
- Once off the heat, combine your salt, pepper, cumin, paprika, and chili powder with the mixture. Then add 1 cup of cheese.
- Keep it off the heat or transfer to a separate bowl.
Assembly:
- Pour half of the enchilada sauce into the base of your cast-iron pan or a 9×9 inch baking dish.
- You will need two corn tortillas per enchilada with my method (you can skip and just use one if you prefer). Warm the tortillas over your gas burner or warm them slightly in the microwave so they bend easily.
- Place one tortilla down on the cooking surface. Add 2 tbsp. of shredded cheese across the entire tortilla, then place a second tortilla over the top.
- At one edge, add about 1/4 cup of the filling to the top tortilla and roll the entre tortilla up tightly and place it in the pan or dish, seam side down.
- Repeat these steps until you use all 12 tortillas. If you have a little filling left, save it for burritos or make it with eggs!
- Cover the remaining tortillas in the enchilada sauce so they are coated on the top and sides.
- Add the remaining shredded cheese over the top.
Cooking Instructions:
- Smoke or bake the enchiladas with foil covering the top (I use a cooking spray on the foil so the cheese won't stick).
- Cook at 350 F. for 20-25 minutes, then remove the foil and continue cooking for another 5 minutes or until the cheese finishes melting and slightly browns and bubbles.
- Remove from the smoker or oven and let sit for 5 minutes. Garnish with cilantro, green onions, tomatoes and sour cream if desired.