Similar to your beloved beef enchiladas, but with pasta, is this Enchilada Skillet Pasta! It’s the best kind of comfort food—delicious, simple, and plenty of cheese!
Hello! We made it through our cross-country trip with a 2-year-old and an 8-week-old! Even still, there was an empty fridge when we got home, and there was a ton of unpacking, relaxing, and time zone adjustment to complete. This meant I wanted something simple and cozy for supper. This Enchilada Skillet Pasta welcomes you!
Ingredients Needed For Enchilada Skillet Pasta:
- 90% leaner ground beef is what we want. Sour cream: No sour cream? No worries, plain yogurt would work just as well.
- Corn: We like our corn fresh off the cob. You may also use frozen or canned food.
- Fresh jalapeño: Tailor to your personal preference. We use the entire one since we prefer a little heat, but you may use only half.
- Fresh cilantro is the greatest!
- Shredded cheese: We like to use a combination of cheddar and mozzarella for this, but you can also use cheddar alone or a Mexican blend.
- Black beans, either dry and soaked or canned (not shown since, well, I forgot haha).
- Ground chili powder and cumin are examples of spices.
- Egg noodles: Although I like egg noodles best, elbow macaroni or even penne would work well in this recipe.
- Enchilada Sauce From Scratch – The best part!
Using Canned vs. Dry Beans
At SFS, we try to use as little canned foods as possible, but we completely recognize and understand situations where using them makes more sense. When it comes to beans, using dry beans will require this recipe to simmer for at least an hour longer unless you are ready with a great pot of cooked black beans already in your refrigerator. I really like it, but, if you want to remove that can. This is the way you do things.
Conversion from dry to canned: Approximately one 15-ounce can of dry beans is equivalent to a generous 1/2 cup. Once cooked, dried beans will often treble in size.
To Soak or Not to Soak: To soak beans, place them in a dish, cover with water, and let them soak for the entire night. Then, before cooking, drain and rinse the beans. I used to routinely soak my beans, but after reading this post on Serious Eats, I’m not sure if I still need to. Basically, it’s a cost/benefit analysis based on your preferences and available time.
Benefits of the Soak
- Just a few minutes of prep work done the night before can save you around twenty minutes of cooking time.
- The “gravy” that results from the beans will be thinner.
Drawbacks of the Soak
- You must keep in mind to complete it! You won’t have time for your overnight (or eight hours before dinnertime in the morning) soak if you didn’t plan the day before and realized you needed the beans for the following day.
- Diminished taste! It’s true that presoaking the beans affects the taste. Your beans will retain more taste if you cook them completely dry.
Cooking legumes without water. To do this, quickly rinse your beans and then put them to a pot of water that is at least four times as large as the beans themselves. Make sure the water in the pot covers the beans completely. After that, cover your saucepan, increase the heat to a boil, then lower the heat so the beans simmer. Depending on a number of variables (such as the age of your beans and the concentration of minerals in your water), this might take one and a half hours to complete. However, they’re prepared for use in your recipe once they’re soft.
Advantages of Dry Bean Cooking:
- Get ready. That’s all: rinse and throw in a saucepan. No need to make any advance plans.
- Taste! This approach really retains a lot more taste.
Drawbacks of Boiling Dry Beans
Momentum? Inquiry because the answer genuinely relies on what time is most precious to you. Cooking time is longer on the stove, but shorter overall.
When they are cooked through, a thicker “gravy” This can be advantageous depending on your goals. However, it can be a drawback if you’re using it for a dish like this one that doesn’t call for any of that thick, starchy gravy.
It’s really up to you, once again! Have a can on hand? Fantastic. Do you have any dried beans? Perfect. For this dish, either works well.
Bean Safety: Always make sure that your beans are properly boiled or soaked before consuming them, as uncooked beans contain a toxin known as phytohaemagglutinin, which can cause illness.
How To Make Enchilada Skillet Pasta:
Step1: Quickly sauté the ground beef with cumin and chili powder.
Advice: As it cooks in your pan, be sure you break it up into large pieces first, then allow it to continue cooking before breaking it up into smaller bits. You should add your spices once it’s in smaller bits.
Step 2: Cook the noodles to al dente while the meat cooks.
Advice: Read the directions on the package carefully since this time will vary depending on the type of noodles you’re using. Alternatively, if you’ve prepared your own noodles (swoon), it normally just takes two minutes to boil fresh, handmade pasta to al dente.
Step 3: Next, just combine the spaghetti and nearly all of the remaining ingredients in a large bowl with the enchilada sauce.
Step 4: Lastly, add that dish of fresh deliciousness to your skillet of beef, stir thoroughly, and then sprinkle the remaining (most of) the cheese on top.
Step 5: Bake in the oven until the cheese is completely melted and oozy.
Advice: You don’t have to bake in the oven. To allow the cheese to melt completely, you might just add it all at once and stir it in your sauté pan.
Cheesy, oozy, spaghetti perfection! It tastes just like a huge skillet of cozy, cheesy pasta with all the flavors of mouthwatering enchiladas! You’re set to go when you add your preferred spicy sauce and/or fresh cilantro on top. What’s not to love, really? Pasta? adoration. enchiladas? adoration. Quick and simple? necessity these days
This is so excellent that my wife could have brought home several packs of egg noodles from a fast trip to the grocery store so we would always have them available. I’ll interpret that as encouraging!
FAQs
Can I switch out the noodles?
Naturally, of course! We’ve cooked it with elbow macaroni and penne, but egg noodles are our favorite combination.
Can I use a different meat in its place?
Of course! Sausage or chicken works well with this. Simply cook the meat until it’s done, then proceed with the remaining directions.
Can I make use of dry beans?
Yes, it certainly can! Regarding canned versus dry, see my remarks above, or go to the recipe card for details on either.
Does it need to be baked in the oven?
Nope! Alternatively, you may simply add everything to the pan, turn down the heat, and place a lid on it to allow the cheese to melt.
More Recipes You Might Like
- Spinach Artichoke Pasta
- Three-Cheese and Spinach Manicotti
- Homemade Spaghetti and Meat Sauce
- Chicken Parmesan
Enchilada Skillet Pasta
Ingredients
- 1 lb ground beef*
- 1/2 tablespoon olive oil
- 12 oz wide egg noodles one package
- 2 ears fresh corn from the cob or 1.5 cups canned or frozen
- 1/4 cup sour cream
- 1 15 oz can black beans rinsed and drained**
- 2 1/2 cups sharp or medium cheddar cheese shredded
- 1 cup mozzarella cheese shredded
- 2 cups Enchilada sauce 1 batch of homemade sauce
- 1 – 2 tablespoons fresh jalapeno diced
- 3/4 teaspoon cumin
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/4 teaspoon fresh ground pepper
- fresh cilantro diced
Instructions
- Cook pasta in a big pot as directed on the package until it’s al dente. After draining, rinse.
- Set oven temperature to 350 degrees.
- Meanwhile, add ground beef to a large pan that has been heated to medium heat with olive oil. Large chunks of beef should be broken up and cooked before being broken up into tiny pieces and well mixed with cumin, chili powder, salt, and pepper. Until the ground meat is browned, keep going. In all, seven minutes. Remove oil from the pan if required or desired.
- Add the black beans, corn, and jalapeño (to taste; the more, the spicier!). Combine all ingredients in a big bowl. 1/2 cup of mozzarella, 1/2 cup of cheddar, and sour cream. After adding the pasta, thoroughly mix in the enchilada sauce.
- Put ingredients in skillet and well stir. Place 2 cups of cheddar cheese and the remaining 1/2 cup of mozzarella on top, then bake until the cheese is completely melted ***. About five to ten minutes.
- Serve, garnished with fresh cilantro!
Notes
** Black beans: You can use dry beans or canned beans. If using dried, you have the option of soaking them beforehand or cooking them right away.
After soaking, Cook: Put half of the dried black beans in a basin and pour water over them. Rinse the beans and transfer them to a pot with new water after eight hours. After heating the beans to a boil on high, reduce the heat and simmer them for 45 to 60 minutes, or until they become tender. The age of your water and beans will determine how long this takes. If your water is hard, use filtered water. Cook immediately by adding 1/2 cup of dried black beans to a saucepan and adding water to cover. After heating the beans to a boil on high, reduce the heat and simmer them for 60 to 90 minutes, or until they become tender. The age of your water and beans will determine how long this takes. If your water is hard, use filtered water.
**** Alternatively, you might add all of the cheese, reduce heat to low, and cover to allow the cheese to melt.