5 Easy Enchilada Filling Ideas

Who needs a recipe?! These easy enchilada filling ideas will help you get your creativity flowing. Use them to make easy enchiladas, and make dinnertime a whole lot tastier!

beef enchiladas served in a casserole dish.

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Enchiladas are a Mexican dish that originates from street food. Today, they feature rolled corn tortillas, flour tortillas, or gluten-free tortillas stuffed with filling. Then, they bake to golden perfection in a casserole dish!

You’ve tried our beef enchilada recipe and easy white chicken enchiladas, right? Now it’s time to up your game. We love enchiladas for being a budget-friendly, flexible dish. So, we wanted to give you some simple variations on the original recipe with these easy enchilada filling ideas.

Hopefully one of these inspires you to take on the whole enchilada!

Fun Fact

Here’s a fun fact to share at the dinner table. Enchiladas originated with the Nahuatl people of Mexico. Their word for the dish is chīllapītzalli, a portmanteau of “chili”, chīlli and the Nahuatl word for “flute”, tlapītzalli. Littles will have fun learning to pronounce that!

1. Sweet Potato and Bean Enchiladas

This vegetarian enchiladas recipe is a wild ride and well worth taking. Steam sweet potatoes, and mash until smooth with a pat or two of butter.

Then, stir in some cooked beans, pre-made salsa, and a large pinch of dried oregano. Roll the mixture into your tortillas.

Next, arrange the tortillas in a baking dish, with the seams down. Top with your favorite store-bought or homemade enchilada sauce and shredded cheese (to make this vegan, just leave off the cheese). Bake until bubbly, and serve with lime and avocado. An easy enchilada filling idea for Meatless Monday!

2. Barbecue Brisket Enchiladas

It’s a wonderful world we live in because we can buy pre-cooked brisket on a whim. For this version of enchiladas, the filling should be shredded brisket. Then, we mix it with a touch of BBQ sauce, diced tomato, corn, and some cooked beans.

Go wild and try baked beans or use pinto or black beans. For the sauce, stir together 1 part plain tomato sauce with 1 part BBQ sauce. Top everything with cheese and bake until warm. Serve with a side of rice and sautéed bell pepper.

two beef enchiladas served on a stack of two plates with a silver fork.

3. Breakfast Enchiladas

This is a dreamy enchilada filling idea to feed a family or make when you’re hosting brunch. Cook some crumbled breakfast sausage in a large skillet with onion, diced bell pepper, and spinach. Or, use up any veggies you have on hand.

Next, add eggs, and scramble. Season with garlic powder, salt, and pepper, and set the mixture aside to cool.

Roll the mixture into tortillas with some cheese. Top with enchilada sauce, shredded frozen hash brown potatoes, and cheese. Bake until the hash browns cook through and become golden.

4. Enmoladas

Enmoladas are delicious enchiladas in mole sauce. The bonus is your littles will get a giggle knowing that mole has just a tiny bit of chocolate in it. Who would have guessed?

You can buy mole in the grocery store. Or, seek out a local source at a Mexican grocery store or a restaurant that sells their own. To make, fry your tortillas in a neutral oil. Then, dip them in the mole sauce.

Fill the tortillas with warm shredded chicken from a rotisserie chicken (or leftovers from our Instant Pot Whole Chicken!). This is the best way to create an easy chicken enchilada recipe!

Add a bit of cheese—either cotija or shredded Monterrey Jack, roll up the tortillas, and spoon warm sauce all over. Broil for a minute or two. Then, serve your easy chicken enchiladas with cilantro, green onion, and sour cream.

5. Fish Enchiladas

There’s a little part of me that wonders what this would be like using fish sticks. But that’s another enchilada filling idea for another time.

To make this version, slightly under-cook some mild fish like tilapia or cod. Season it with cumin, chili powder (not the spicy kind), and a squeeze of lime juice.

Let the fish cool, and roll the filling in tortillas. Top with mild green salsa or tomatillo sauce. Bake, and serve with, cilantro or parsley, lime rice, and refried beans.