How To Roll Enchiladas

Want to slam out a perfect dish of baked enchiladas? Then, you'll need to know how to roll enchiladas like a pro. Luckily, in this guide, we'll be dishing out the quickest, easiest, and least messy way to roll enchiladas, because helping you win dinner time victories is what we're all about!

ABOUT ENCHILADAS

The general makeup of an enchilada goes a little something like this: corn (or flour) tortilla, filling, and sauce. The filling options are practically endless, but some of the most popular are ground beef enchiladas, cheese enchiladas, and chicken enchiladas.

As for the sauces, again, you've got lots of options. There's the classic green Verde sauce, red chili sauce, and if you're from Texas, the spiced gravy-like sauce -- our personal favorite.

Where enchilada options actually start to narrow down is when we come to the tortillas. While enchiladas can be made with either corn or flour tortillas, corn is the much more authentic selection of the two.

Corn tortillas add a great deal of flavor to enchilada dishes and are also better for holding on to shape and texture. Flour tortillas are likely to become quite soggy after taking on any form of sauce.

The only problem? Rolling corn tortillas without prepping them first is an absolute kitchen nightmare. They're notorious for cracking under the gentlest of pressure. Lucky for us, there's a very simple solution.

HOW TO ROLL ENCHILADAS LIKE A PRO

Have your sauce and filling ready to go.
Wrap tortillas in damp paper towels.
Microwave for 45 seconds.
Add filling, tuck, and roll.

1. PREPARE THE FILLING AND SAUCE

As we mentioned, there's more than one way to stuff an enchilada. But just in case you were looking for a little bit of inspiration, here are a few filling and sauce combos we love:

Chicken and Verde Sauce
Ground Beef and Tex Mex Gravy
Chicken and Red Sauce
Bean with Black Bean Sauce

Once you have your filling picked out and your sauce ready to go, it's time to roll some enchiladas.

2. WRAP TORTILLAS IN DAMP PAPER TOWELS

But first, you'll need to soften up those corn tortillas to prevent any cracking as you are rolling them. The easiest, quickest, and most effective way to do this is with a paper towel and the microwave.

Grab 2-3 sheets of paper towels, allow water to run over them, and squeeze out any excess water. The paper towels should feel damp but not super wet.

3. MICROWAVE 45 SECONDS

Then, unfold your paper towels across a microwavable plate, and add a stack of 3 to 4 corn tortillas to the center of the paper towels.

Fold the paper towels over the top of the tortilla stock, and wrap to enclose them gently. Then transfer the plate to the microwave and microwave on medium-high heat/power for about 45 seconds.

This quick and simple move creates steam around your tortillas, making them perfectly bendy and easy to roll!

Ready to give this method a try? Give our Green Enchiladas a go!

4. STUFF AND ROLL

Most enchilada recipes will call for a baking dish equipped with about a ½ cup of enchilada sauce ladled onto the bottom of the dish. The sauce will keep your tortillas from sticking when it comes time to serve.

Once you got your sauce down, you can begin rolling.

It is so tempting to over-stuff those tortillas, but the rule of thumb is to add no more than 2 tablespoons of filling to each tortilla.

Overstuffing tortillas, even when they are perfectly bendy and moist, leads to broken tortillas.

Add your filling to the center of the tortilla and bring over one of the edges, gently tuck it underneath the filling, continue rolling, and place it seam side down in the baking dish.