For many years it seems I have cooked for a small army – our kids, their friends, exchange students, and the people we lovingly refer to as “strays”. Now that we are a smaller family, leftovers have become part of our lives.
One of my aspirations was to become the “KoolAid Mom” of the neighbourhood. Do you remember her from the 1970’s commercials? All the kids wanted to be at her house, because she served KoolAid.
Well, it wasn’t too often that I wanted to pump my kids and their friends full of sugar, but life was most fun and exciting when everyone played at our house.
Besides that, I knew where the kids were, and knew they were safe.
Being empty-nesters has its perks, and drawbacks. We can eat supper whenever we want to. We can eat sitting in front of the TV without feeling guilty. We can even eat dessert first.
Another perk is the left-overs. The other day we grilled some beautiful steaks. Normally, every bite would be gone, but NO! I had to put the remaining steak into the refrigerator and come up with a creative way to use the leftovers. Score!
This is an easy and fun way to use any leftover meat, but especially wonderful with steak.
Stack 8 corn tortillas and cut them into strips. I used my pizza cutter, which was slick!
Heat a large skillet over medium heat, add 1 tsp oil and about half of the tortilla strips. Let them crisp up – about 5 minutes – sprinkle a little sea salt on them, and remove. Do the same thing with the next batch. (With my induction cooktop and stainless pan, I had to use setting #4 or the chips scorched. Different cooktops will require different setting.)
If you are in a hurry and want to skip this step all together, just use tortilla chips from the bag. No judgement.
In the same pan, cook the onion until tender, then add the garlic and spices. Let them toast for a couple minutes before adding the beans, corn, and steak to heat.
Then stir in the enchilada sauce and half the cheese, heating for another 2-3 minutes.
Remove from heat and top with corn tortilla strips and remaining cheese. As my son says, “Only the cheese on top matters!” Cover the pan and allow the cheese to melt.
Serve with lettuce, tomatoes, guacamole, sour cream, black olives, and whatever else your little heart desires. Clean up is a breeze – only one skillet to wash!
PrintSkillet Steak Enchiladas
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 6 1x
Ingredients
- 2 cups cooked steak, cut into bite-sized pieces
- 8 corn tortillas (alternative: about 2 cups bagged tortilla chips)
- 3 tsp oil
- 1 small onion, diced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 cup frozen corn
- 1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
- 1 tsp cumin
- 1/2 tsp paprika
- 1/2 tsp coriander
- 1/2 tsp cilantro
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
- 1/2 to 1 cup enchilada sauce
- 1 1/2 cups grated cheddar cheese
- Lettuce, tomatoes, guacamole, sour cream, black olives for serving
Instructions
- Cut corn tortillas into strips with rotary cutter. Heat a large skillet with 1 tsp oil over medium heat. Cook half the tortilla strips until crispy, sprinkle with a little salt, then remove and set aside. Repeat with remaining tortilla strips.
- In the same skillet, heat the remaining teaspoon oil and cook the diced onion until tender, about 5 minutes. Add minced garlic and spices, and cook another minute or two.Then add beans, corn, and steak pieces, allowing them to heat through.
- Stir in enchilada sauce and half the cheese, heating thoroughly. Remove skillet from heat, top with tortilla strips and remaining cheese. Cover the skillet and allow cheese to melt.
- Serve with the usual enchilada fixings.
