Sour Cream Enchiladas

When I was young, Sour Cream Enchiladas were a staple in our house. My task was to stand next to Grandma or my mom and prop up the rolled enchiladas so that they would stay in place. I used to dread the call, "I need your finger,” because it was such a BORING job.   

Flash forward to now and I'm still making Sour Cream Enchiladas. They might not be the healthiest or the most authentic enchiladas around, but they are tasty. As proof--I once took them to a family who had just had a new baby and the husband texted later that evening to say they were the best enchiladas he had ever had. 

The thing is, I ALWAYS make them with chicken. What a surprise then to pull out Grandma’s recipe and find “cooked hamburger” on the list of ingredients. It was like time suddenly rewound, and I was back in the kitchen, holding an enchilada in place with my finger. Funny that I'd remembered the boring job but not the actual enchilada.    

Now that it was coming back to me, I wondered if I would still enjoy the beef-filled ones as I once had. I wasn't sure if my family would like them either because they had only ever eaten the chicken version of Sour Cream Enchiladas. The only way to know was to put them to the test.   

How to make Sour Cream Enchiladas

First, brown your ground beef with some chopped onion. The recipe doesn’t specify an amount, so use as little or as much as you’d like. I like to use dried onion in my ground beef. 

Next, pull out a grand total of three ingredients for the sauce: cream of chicken soup, sour cream, and green chilies. 

Before combining the sauce, I puree the chilies, which is something we've always done even though the recipe doesn't specify it.  

 Pureeing the chilies helps spread the zing evenly throughout the sauce. Simply combine the three ingredients in a saucepan and heat them up. This easy-to-throw-together sauce is one of the reasons Sour Cream Enchiladas are on replay at our house.  

As the sauce warms up, it thins out and becomes easier to spread.    

Once the sauce is ready, I add enough to the meat, either chicken or beef, to moisten it. I do this instead of portioning out a small amount of sauce into each tortilla as the above recipe card says to do. 

Spread some of the meat mixture into a tortilla along with a sprinkling of cheese. You can be as generous or as skimpy as you like. The more generous you are, the fewer enchiladas you will have.  

Roll the tortilla and place it in a baking dish. 

 If you want to torture your kids, call them over and have them experience the mind-numbing boredom of tortilla holding. (Honestly, this part takes no more than five minutes. What was my problem?)

Spread the remaining sauce over the rolled tortillas. 

Sprinkle with cheese and place the dish into a 350-degree oven where it will bake until nicely melty and deliciously bubbly. 

The Verdict

My tastebuds didn’t know what to think when I took my first bite of beefy Sour Cream Enchiladas. Said buds were so primed for chicken that it took them a minute to fully appreciate the savoriness of the beef in this mildly zippy and creamy dish.   

I asked my husband what he thought. “It’s good,” he said, his standard feedback on just about everything I make. But then he continued. “I’d be okay with having them this way again.” For a man of few words, this was high praise. As for me, I agreed--yes, they were good, and the memories came rushing back. 

So this was why I'd never complained (out loud) when the use of my finger was called for. If I had, maybe Grandma or Mom would have stopped making Sour Cream Enchiladas, and that truly would have been a shame.  

To try these Sour Cream Enchiladas, also known as the best enchiladas my long-forgotten neighbor has ever had, click on the link below the recipe card to download and print it out.