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This recipe for venison enchiladas is a great way to use ground deer meat. They’re full of flavorful venison, enchilada sauce, and melty cheese. Serve them with delicious toppings like tomatoes, sour cream, and avocado and they'll quickly become one of your favorite venison recipes!
This is one of my favorite dinner recipes. They're super easy but packed full of flavor and are a great way to use ground venison.
If you're looking for more ways to use up your ground deer meat try my recipes for venison stroganoff, venison shepherd's pie, or venison tacos!
Venison Enchilada Ingredients
- Enchilada Sauce
- Ground Venison
- Spices
- Kosher Salt
- Onions, Garlic, and Green Chilis
- Flour Tortillas (you can use corn, if you'd like!)
- Shredded Cheese
- Fun Toppings! (Think sour cream, avocado, tomato, etc.)
How to make this easy enchilada recipe
- Make the filling. By browning the venison with some spices, onion, garlic, green chilis, and shredded cheese.
- Assemble the enchiladas. A little enchilada sauce in the pan. A little sauce on a tortilla. A lotta filling in a tortilla. Roll ‘em up and cover them in the remaining sauce and cheese.
- Bake and enjoy. The cheese will get so melty. And the fresh toppings add crunch and cool and creamy and contrast. Don’t skimp on these!
Homemade Enchilada Sauce
If desired, you can make the red enchilada sauce from scratch! It's incredibly delicious and so simple to make. Here's how:
- In a medium sauce pot heat 3 tablespoons grapeseed oil over medium-high heat until shimmering.
- Whisk in 3 tablespoons flour to form a roux. Cook, stirring constantly until roux is light brown, about three minutes. This cooks the raw flour taste out!
- Add 2 tablespoons chili powder, 2 teaspoons kosher salt, 2 teaspoons garlic powder, 1 teaspoon cumin, stirring to combine. Let the spices warm for a minute to “bloom” and release their flavors.
- Stir in the 1 tablespoon fresh oregano (or ½ tablespoon dried) and 2 tablespoons tomato paste until combined. Whisk in 2 cups chicken stock until smooth.
- Cook the enchilada sauce for five or so minutes, until it has thickened slightly. Taste, and adjust seasoning accordingly.
You can now use this homemade sauce in place of the store-bought stuff in the recipe!
Making Enchiladas in Advance
All of the components of the enchiladas can be prepped ahead of time! And! The enchiladas themselves can be prepared ahead of time. Keep them in the fridge, covered in plastic wrap, for up to 24 hours before baking.
Freezing and Reheating Instructions
Because this dish can be prepared ahead, it’s a great option for weeknight dinners!
Prepare the recipe up to covering the enchiladas with their final layer of cheese. Instead of baking, however, when the dish is cooled, wrap it in plastic wrap, cover in tinfoil, and freeze for up to two months.
To prepare pan from frozen: The night before serving, thaw the enchiladas in the refrigerator. At dinner time, remove the plastic wrap and tinfoil and bake as directed in the recipe card.
Why you shouldn't use pre shredded cheese?
For the love of all that is good in this world, shred the cheese by hand! It makes a world of difference!
Many pre-shredded cheeses have additives like corn starch and more to keep them from clumping. Unfortunately, this also keeps them from melting smoothly in recipes and you don't get that gorgeous cheese pull!
As a bonus, bulk blocks of cheese are usually cheaper than the pre-shredded bags.
Kosher Salt vs Table Salt
This recipe calls for Kosher salt, which is different than the regular, iodized table salt. The grains are larger in Kosher salt, meaning that it doesn't taste "as salty" as table salt, when used in a 1:1 ration in recipes.
If you don't have Kosher salt, use half the directed amount of table salt. For example, use only 1 teaspoon table salt in this recipe.
With this recipe, as with any, be sure to taste and adjust seasoning as necessary during cooking. "Tasting as you go" is a hallmark of skilled cooks.
What other venison recipes would you like to see from me? I've got one for delicious venison burgers, venison meatloaf, and the perfect venison roast recipe. But I'm open to suggestions - leave a comment below!
Watch the recipe video!
Venison Enchilada Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 tsp. kosher salt
- 1 tsp. garlic powder
- 1 tsp. onion powder
- ¾ tsp. cumin
- ½ tsp. paprika
- ½ tsp. chili powder
- ¼ tsp. coriander
- 2 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 small white onion diced
- 2 garlic cloves minced
- 2 pounds ground venison
- 4 ounces diced green chilis
- 2 cups red enchilada sauce
- 8 flour tortillas
- 1 ½ cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese
- 1 ½ cups shredded Monterrey Jack cheese
For Serving:
- Sour cream for serving
- Tomatoes for serving
- Avocados for serving
- Cilantro for serving
Instructions
For the Filling:
- In a small bowl, whisk together 2 tsp. kosher salt, 1 tsp. garlic powder, 1 tsp. onion powder, ¾ tsp. cumin, ½ tsp. paprika, ½ tsp. chili powder and ¼ tsp. coriander. Set aside.
- In a large skillet, heat 2 tablespoon olive oil over medium heat. Add the onions, stirring to coat, and cook for three minutes, until they begin to soften. Stir in the garlic and cook until fragrant, about one minute.
- Add in the venison and cook until completely browned, about 7 – 9 minutes. Sprinkle in the seasoning mixture and cook for another minute before stirring in the green chilis. Remove from heat and stir in ½ cup of the sharp cheddar cheese and ½ cup of the Monterrey jack cheese.
To assemble the Venison Enchiladas:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spread about ½ cup of enchilada sauce into the bottom of a 9x13 baking dish.
- Place a tortilla on a plate and smear a small dollop of enchilada sauce over the entire surface. Flip the tortilla and coat the other half with more sauce. Spoon ⅛ of the venison mixture onto the tortilla and roll into a tight tube. Place in prepared pan, seam side down, and repeat the process with the remaining tortillas.
- When all eight enchiladas are in the pan, pour the remaining red sauce over the top of the enchiladas and sprinkle with the remaining shredded cheese.
- Bake in preheated oven for 20 – 25 minutes or until cheese is bubbly and melted.
For Serving:
- Remove from oven and top with sour cream, avocado, tomatoes, and cilantro before serving.
Video
Notes
- Refer to post on instructions for making homemade enchilada sauce.
- To store leftover enchiladas, wrap tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate for up to three days.
Kathryn J Carey says
This is delicious and easy! What a wonderful way to enjoy ground venison. I used the homemade enchiladas sauce. It was a little salty so I would cut out some or all of the salt in the future. I will definitely make the enchiladas again the next time I have venison.
Amanda Gajdosik says
Hi Kathryn, I'm so glad you enjoyed the recipe! And thank you for the note on salt. I'm wanting to make sure - when you made the homemade enchilada sauce did you use Kosher salt or table salt? That's always my first question when someone mentions any recipe seemed salty, as there is a distinct difference when cooking with Kosher vs table. I have made this recipe many times and while I don't find it too salty (I LOVE salt!), I have gotten this note before and want to be sure that if I need to adjust the amount of Kosher salt it's based on accurate info. Thanks so much 🙂
Amanda Van Buren says
I've never made enchiladas before but with this recipe I'll certainly be making them again! Make the sauce and grate that cheese, it's worth it!
Amanda says
So happy to hear that, Amanda! Thanks for making my venison recipe <3
Sandra says
What size tortilla?
Amanda says
Hi Sandra! The ones I use are medium-sized taco. They're about 6-7 inches or so!
Ashton Williams says
Gosh, the meat on it's own was so delicious. The sauce on it's own was also very good! Together though there was just quite a bit of salt. I had to stop eating about halfway through my enchilada and my husband, determined man that he is, tried to power through a full one. Unfortunately, he had to cut it short a bit due to his mouth going just a tad numb.
I will definitely be making this again but I think I may just cut the salt in half?
Still, thank you for a very nice recipe!
Amanda says
Hi Ashton! I'm sorry to hear this dish was too salty for you and your husband. I know not everyone's tastes are the same, and I tend to season my dishes as they would be prepared in a restaurant because of my background in professional kitchens. Here are some things that may help to avoid this problem in the future: Always season as you go. Seasoning during every portion of cooking is a tip I learned long ago in restaurants. Add some salt at the beginning, some at the middle, some at the end to finish. Along this same line: Taste as you go! Be sure that you're adding some of the salt/seasoning, tasting, and then adjusting as/if necessary. You can always add more salt, you can never take it away! Also, be very mindful of what kind of salt a recipe calls for. Kosher salt is not the same as regular iodized table salt. Using an equal amount of table salt when a recipe calls for Kosher will result in a dish that is waaaaaay too salty. And even then, some Kosher salts vary in their level of "saltiness." Diamond Krystal is a salt that I really enjoy, but is not widely available where we live, so I use Mortons, which is a heavier, coarser, and thus perceived as "saltier" grain. When you remake it, I would say, go more by your own personal preference than a hard and fast "halving" of the salt level, as that may result in a bland dish! Cooking is all about personal preference and experimenting and learning as we go (of which I'm constantly doing). Thanks again for the feedback and I hope you enjoy my other recipes 🙂
anita parris soule | cook on a whim says
This looks so delicious Amanda! Thanks for including my enchilada recipe in your beautiful post!
Amanda says
Thank you for being a constant inspiration, Anita! <3