These Make-Ahead Breakfast Enchiladas are the perfect breakfast to feed a crowd with less than 30 minutes of prep time the morning of. They’re loaded with eggs, shredded meat and vegetables and topped with the easiest homemade red enchilada sauce.
If you haven’t yet discovered the beauty of make-ahead enchiladas, you’ve really been missing out! They’re a great meal prep dish for weeknights, as they can be composed well in advance and then just popped in the oven right before you’re ready to serve them. They’re also incredibly freezer-friendly once they’re cooked, making them a great option to make for friends and family who have just had a baby, experienced an illness or death in the family, etc., etc.
And what do I love most, in particular, about these Make-Ahead Breakfast Enchiladas? The fact that I can prep them and just pop them in the refrigerator the night before I need to serve a crowd in a hurry.
I don’t know about you, but our little one does NOT have the patience to sit around and wait hours for her first meal of the day, so these have been a fantastic option for us in the mornings when we have family visiting and need to get something on the table fast.
So let’s get into the details about how to make the only crowd-pleasing breakfast you’ll want to serve from now on:
How to Master Enchilada Prep
The first thing you’ll want to do is make your enchilada sauce. Sure, you can use store-bought [*affiliate link], but let me tell you, this was the first time I’d ventured into making enchilada sauce on my own and it was soooo easy. You should totally do it because you’ll never turn back. And most of the ingredients are things you’ll already have on hand in your pantry.
There are three other ingredients you’ll need to prepare before assembling your enchiladas:
- Shredded meat of your choice (I love buying the Trader Joe’s carnitas or making up a quick batch of my favorite Instant Pot Shredded Chicken.)
- Sautéed onions and peppers.
- Scrambled eggs.
Once you have the sauce and these three essential components ready to go, you’ll want to set up a big assembly line for all of your tortillas. The more space you have to spread out multiple tortillas, the faster the assembly process will go.
Now line up your tortillas and assemble away!
Fill your choice of corn or flour tortillas with the shredded meat, vegetables and scrambled eggs. Roll each one up tight and line them all up in a 9-by-13-inch baking dish sprayed with cooking spray.
Before tucking the enchiladas away in the refrigerator for the night (or into the freezer if you plan on serving them more than a day later), top them with your homemade enchilada sauce and plenty of shredded cheese.
Then cover, refrigerate (or freeze) and tuck them away until you’re ready to serve!
How to Feed a Crowd
The morning you’re ready to serve these yummy enchiladas, simply uncover the dish and pop it into a 350-degree oven for 15-20 minutes (more if the enchiladas have been frozen.) If you want to get the cheese on top extra brown and bubbly, turn on the broiler for the last five minutes or so.
Finally, you can’t forget the toppings! Be sure to top your breakfast enchiladas with plenty of fresh cilantro and avocado before dishing them out to your hungry crew.
This is the perfect breakfast for any time of year: summer mornings when you want to get outside first thing, busy school days when you have lots of hungry mouths to feed, or special holidays when your house is brimming with family and friends.
Make-Ahead Breakfast Enchiladas
Equipment
- Medium saucepan
- Small bowl
- Fork
- Wooden spoon or spatula
- 9-by-13-inch baking dish
- Large saute pan
- Chef's knife
- Cutting board
- Tablespoon
- Teaspoon
- 2- or 4-cup glass measuring cup
- 2 medium mixing bowls
- Whisk
- 1/4 teaspoon measure
- Rimmed baking sheet
- Cooking spray
Ingredients
For the sauce:
- 3 ounces tomato paste
- 2 cups chicken or vegetable broth
- 2 tablespoons olive or avocado oil
- 2 tablespoons flour
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 2 teaspoons chili powder
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon pepper
All other ingredients:
- 1 tablespoon olive or avocado oil
- 1 bell pepper, diced
- 1/2 medium onion, diced
- 8 eggs
- 8 medium tortillas (corn or flour)
- 12 ounces shredded meat (carnitas, beef or shredded chicken)
- 5 ounces shredded cheese (I used a mix of cheddar, fontina and jack)
- Cilantro, for topping
- Sliced avocado, for topping
Instructions
- First, make the sauce. Place tomato paste and broth in a medium saucepan over medium heat.
- In a small bowl, mix together the oil and flour with a fork, then add it to the saucepan with the tomato paste and broth. This will help thicken it.
- Add the remaining ingredients to the saucepan mixture and stir to combine. Bring to a gentle simmer, cooking until sauce thickens slightly, then turn down the heat to low to keep warm while you make the rest of the enchilada components.
- Spray a 9-by-13-inch baking dish with cooking spray and set aside.
- If you are planning on serving the enchiladas right away, preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Place a medium saute pan over medium heat on the stove and add 1 tablespoon oil. Once oil is warm, add bell peppers and onions. Saute until onions are translucent and fragrant, then move the mixture to a separate mixing bowl.
- Using the same saute pan, scramble the eggs using the leftover oils and juices from the vegetables. Once eggs are cooked, remove to your other mixing bowl.
- Lay tortillas out onto a large prep space so you can assemble them all at once. Divide the vegetables, shredded meat and eggs evenly among the 8 tortillas.
- Roll each one up and tuck it into the prepared baking dish. It’s okay if they’re a bit snug.
- Once all of the tortillas are tucked into the baking dish, top them with the enchilada sauce, then with the shredded cheese.
- At this point, you can cover and freeze or refrigerate the enchiladas until you are ready to serve them OR you can bake them right away.
- When you’re ready to bake, place the enchiladas on a rimmed baking sheet (to catch any drips) and pop them into a 350-degree oven for 15-20 minutes. If your enchiladas are frozen, you may need closer to 30-35 minutes. To make the cheese on top extra-bubbly and brown, turn the broiler on for the last 5 minutes or so of baking.
- Once enchiladas are warmed through, remove from the oven and top with fresh cilantro and sliced avocado before serving.
Notes
- DISH DENSITY: High
- Use store-bought enchilada sauce if you don't want to make your own.
- You can use any type of meat you wish in this recipe. I prefer shredded pork (carnitas) or shredded chicken, but you could also use shredded beef or any ground meat you prefer.
- Either corn or flour tortillas would work great in this recipe.
- If you're planning on preparing these the night before you plan on serving them, simply assemble everything, cover and place in the refrigerator. If you are preparing the enchiladas more than a day in advance, simply cover and place in the freezer until you're ready to heat and serve.
- The morning you want to serve the enchiladas, simply pop them in a 350 degree oven until the cheese on top is browned and bubbly.
- The enchiladas can also be frozen once they are cooked for easy microwave reheating on busy mornings.
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