These Cheesy Ground Turkey Enchiladas have big flavor and are easy to make! Plus, they're prepared with simple customize-able ingredients. Perfect for weeknight dinners and healthy leftovers. Try them on this week's meal plan with my easy Spanish rice.
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📋 About the Recipe
- Lighter weeknight dinner. Using ground turkey in homemade enchiladas as opposed to ground beef makes these enchiladas a healthier, lighter, lower fat option.
- Vegetarian option: Make these enchiladas suitable for vegetarians by simply swapping the ground turkey for an additional cubed sweet potato.
- 10 minute homemade enchilada sauce! Skip store-bought and try my ultra easy homemade enchilada sauce made without excess sodium and preservatives. The flavor can't be beat!
- Pair with instant pot spanish rice, skillet roasted corn, or air fryer tortilla chips for a complete dinner.
🛒 Ingredients
For the Ground Turkey Enchiladas
For the Enchilada Sauce
A few notes about the ingredients:
- Ground turkey - I love using ground turkey in homemade enchiladas because it's just as flavorful as using ground beef, but a much leaner protein. You can also use ground chicken or shredded chicken, if you have it on hand.
- Black beans and Sweet Potato - Make these enchiladas more filling, boost the protein and fiber content, and the sweetness of the sweet potato balances the savoriness well.
- Tortillas - I recommend using flour or whole wheat tortillas over corn because they are much more pliable and easy to work with. Flour tortillas will not fall apart or rip when rolling your enchiladas, which helps to make this hassle free.
- Broth - Low sodium chicken broth adds a lot of flavor to the homemade enchilada sauce. Low sodium vegetable broth will work as well.
- Spices - Authentic Mexican enchilada sauce is made with whole spices and dried red chilies and peppers. As a shortcut, I like to use chili powder, cayenne, and oregano.
- Sugar - It may be tempting to make your homemade enchilada sauce sugar free, but please don't! A little bit of sugar is essential for balancing the savory, acidic flavor of the tomatoes and spices.
📓 Instructions
- Start by preparing the enchilada filling. Place a large skillet with a lid over medium heat, brown the ground turkey until almost cooked through.
- Add in the cubed sweet potato, simple ground turkey seasonings and a ½ cup of water.
- Cover the skillet and allow the sweet potatoes to steam for 10 minutes.
- Once the sweet potatoes are soft, remove the skillet from the heat and stir in the drained and rinsed black beans.
- In a separate sauce pan over low heat, whisk together all of the homemade enchilada sauce ingredients. Simmer for 10-15 minutes until slightly thickened.
- Add ½ cup of the enchilada sauce to the bottom of a 9x13 casserole dish and reserve ¾ cup for topping the enchiladas. Mix the remaining enchilada sauce into the turkey filling.
- Shred the cheeses and mix them together.
- Working one by one, scoop ⅔ of the filling into the center of a tortilla.
- Top the filling with ¼ cup of cheese. Roll the tortilla, tucking all of the filling inside and place the enchilada seam side down in the casserole dish.
- Continue until all tortillas and enchilada filling are used (I used 8 flour tortillas).
- Cover the top of the enchiladas with the remaining ¾ cup of enchilada sauce and remaining cheese.
- Bake for 20 minutes until the cheese is bubbly and the edges of the tortillas are crispy.
- Serve immediately while warm and top with your favorite toppings like avocado slices, fresh jalapeños, and a dollop of sour cream.
⁉️ Substitutions and Alterations
Out of ground turkey? Substitute ground chicken, shredded chicken, or even ground beef.
Vegetarian? Make the enchilada filling completely vegetarian by leaving out the ground turkey. Just use sweet potato and black beans for the filling. You can also substitute the sweet potato for butternut squash.
Out of flour tortillas? You can use corn tortillas, but note that corn tortillas are typically smaller and they must be warmed until pliable before rolling! Corn tortillas will rip if you try and roll them straight from the package.
Short on time? Use store-bought enchilada sauce and pre-cut sweet potatoes.
Cooking for a crowd? The filling of these enchiladas can easily be doubled or tripled. If cooking for a crowd, increase the recipe measurements and use multiple casserole dishes.
❄️ How to Store
To store: Enchiladas will last for 3-5 days in the refrigerator. Tightly seal them in an air-tight glass storage container for best freshness.
To freeze: I have not tested freezing these enchiladas so I unfortunately cannot advise.
To reheat: Reheat any leftovers in a microwave safe dish until warm. Alternatively warm through in the oven at 350 degrees until hot, about 10-15 minutes.
🔍 FAQs
Covering the enchiladas while baking is not necessary because they have a short bake time and the filling is pre-cooked. These enchiladas are baked simply to mesh the flavors, crisp the edges of the tortillas, and melt the cheese until hot and bubbly.
There are many cheeses you can use for enchiladas - I like to use sharp cheddar and Monterey jack because I can use it in many other recipes as well, but you can also use queso fresco and cotija.
Whichever cheese you use, avoid buying pre-shredded versions as pre-shredded cheese is made with an anti-caking agent to prevent sticking. This agent also prevents the cheese from completely melting, too.
If you find your enchiladas getting soggy, avoid adding too much enchilada sauce to the casserole dish. You just need enough to coat the bottom of the dish. This will prevent sticking.
Then, just add a light layer over the top of the enchiladas. You can also lightly fry your tortillas before rolling if you prefer them extra crispy.
💭 One More Tip
For restaurant quality, extra cheesy enchiladas, be sure to shred your own cheese! Pre-shredded cheeses don't melt nearly as well and will not give your homemade enchiladas the same Authentic look and taste!
🍴 Related Recipes
Share your cooking with me! If you make this recipe, I'd love to know! Tag @yourhomemadehealthy on Instagram or leave a comment with a rating and some feedback at the bottom of this page!
Cheesy Ground Turkey Enchiladas
Equipment
Ingredients
For the Ground Turkey Enchiladas
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 pound ground turkey (93% lean, 7% fat)
- 3 cups cubed sweet potatoes (about 1 medium sweet potato) ½ inch cubes
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon onion powder
- ¼ teaspoon cumin
- ¼ teaspoon chili powder
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- 15.5 ounces black beans rinsed and drained
- 8 8-inch tortillas flour or whole wheat
- 1 ½ cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese (6 ounce block)
- 1 ½ cups shredded monterey jack cheese (6 ounce block)
For the Enchilada Sauce
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 teaspoons grated garlic (about 2 garlic cloves)
- 2 cups low sodium chicken or vegetable broth
- 6 ounces tomato paste (about ⅔ cup)
- 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
- 1 tablespoon chili powder
- ¾ teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon dried oregano
- ½ teaspoon cumin
- ½ teaspoon sugar
- ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
- ⅛ teaspoon coriander
- dash of cayenne depending on level of spice
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Place a large skillet over medium-low heat. Add olive oil.
- Cook ground turkey in the skillet until almost cooked through about 2 to 3 minutes, breaking it into pieces with a spoon. Add the cubed sweet potato and seasonings, along with ½ cup of water.
- Cover the skillet and allow the potatoes to steam for about 10 minutes.
- Once the potatoes are soft, remove the skillet from the heat and stir in the black beans. Set aside.
- In a saucepan, whisk together all of the sauce ingredients. Set over low heat and simmer for 10 to 15 minutes until thickened.
- Add ½ cup sauce to the bottom of a 9 x 13 baking dish. Reserve ¾ cup sauce for the top of the enchiladas and set it aside.
- Mix the rest of the remaining sauce into the ground turkey and sweet potato filling.
- Shred the cheeses and mix them together.
- Working one by one, scoop ⅔ cup of the filling into the center of a tortilla. Top with ¼ cup of cheese. Roll the tortilla and place it seam-side down in the baking dish.
- Continue with the rest of the tortillas and filling.
- Cover the tops of the enchiladas with the reserved sauce. Then, top with the remaining cheese.
- Place baking dish in the oven and bake for 20 minutes, or until the cheese is completely melted and bubbly.
- Serve enchiladas warm topped with avocado, jalapeños, and a dollop of sour cream.
Notes
- You can use ground chicken, shredded chicken, or ground beef instead of ground turkey.
- You can easily make these vegetarian by swapping the ground turkey for another cubed sweet potato.
- Shred the cheese yourself (instead of buying pre-shredded cheese) for gooier, cheesier enchiladas. Store-bought shredded cheeses have anti-caking agents added that prevent them from melting completely.
Nutrition
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Mike L. says
I have never liked, nor do I usually eat, sweet potatoes; but this dish is amazing!! Love the way all of the flavors mesh. We have now made this several times and will continue to have it on a regular basis.
Alana Lieberman says
So glad you enjoyed these enchiladas! Thanks for giving them a try, even though you don't typically eat sweet potatoes!
Mike L. says
They also freeze incredibly well. We made enough for several meals and froze the extras. They defrost and heat up extremely well for a delicious quick meal.
Ellen says
Totally a hit with my family tonight. We have eaters who shy away from Mexican food and some who won’t eat sweet potatoes. Both factions loved this recipe. Love how easy it was to make. 😋
Alana Lieberman says
So glad you enjoyed this recipe. Thanks for leaving a review!
Nora says
This was SO delicious! I can’t wait to make it again (and again!)! Definitely a crowd-pleaser!
Alana Lieberman says
That makes me so happy! Thanks for giving them a try 🙂
Lauren Johnson says
Fantastic!! These are delicious! Quick meal to whip up during the week when life gets busy!
Alana Lieberman says
Love these as a simple weeknight meal. Thanks for giving them a try!