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Ground Turkey Enchiladas are light and healthy, with a cheesy, saucy ground turkey filling wrapped in soft flour tortillas. They are easy to make and a delicious meal you can feel good about serving your family.
Round out your dinner with a Fresh Corn Salad, Authentic Mexican Rice or Mexican Black Beans. Turkey enchiladas are sure to become a family favorite.
Enchiladas are a favorite in my household. Whether its Chicken Enchilada Soup, Ground Beef Enchiladas or a Breakfast Enchilada Casserole, we love that saucy, cheesy combo.
I’m always looking for ways to lighten up our favorite recipes, so swapping ground beef for ground turkey was an easy choice. It’s a healthier option and has less fat and calories but still has a great taste. I actually prefer turkey in things like my famous Teriyaki Turkey Rice Bowl. Be sure to check out our other Ground Turkey Recipes.
Ingredients for Ground Turkey Enchiladas
- Ground Turkey Filling: onion and garlic, spices (cumin, chili powder, oregano, and salt), chicken broth, tomato paste, and lime juice.
- Red Enchilada Sauce: you need 2-3 cups, so a 19-ounce can works great. Or you can use a homemade enchilada sauce.
- Tortillas: I prefer flour tortillas for turkey enchiladas because they are softer and I prefer the flavor over corn for this recipe.
- Cheese: Used both inside with the filling and outside to top the finished casserole, you want a nice melty cheese like cheddar or jack.
How to Make Turkey Enchiladas
Turkey enchilada filling: Saute onions, garlic, and ground turkey until the turkey is cooked through. Add some chicken broth, tomato paste, lime juice, and spices and simmer together until you have a nice thick sauce. Make sure to taste it – you can add salt and pepper if you think it’s needed.
How to roll enchiladas: Place the flour tortillas on a flat surface and spoon some of the turkey mixture down the middle; about a ½ cup per tortilla. I like to add some cheese inside with the meat, but you can skip that if you wish. Roll up the tortilla and place seam-side down in a baking dish. Continue this process until all of the meat is used up.
Top and bake: Pour the remaining enchilada sauce over the rolled enchiladas and top with cheese. Bake at 350 degrees uncovered for 15-20 minutes, or until cheese is melted and bubbly.
Recipe Variations
- Bulk up the filling by adding black beans or pinto beans.
- Try adding more veggies, like bell peppers or corn.
- If using corn tortillas, you need to soften them first, either in the microwave or by dipping them into warm sauce. You’ll want to pick up an extra can of sauce for this.
- For spicier turkey enchiladas, add more chili powder or a pinch of cayenne to the meat.
Helpful Tips and FAQs
- Are enchiladas better with corn or flour tortillas? Traditional enchiladas are made with corn tortillas that are dipped into sauce before they are filled. These turkey enchiladas are made with flour tortillas which are softer, eliminating the need for dipping them. Since the meat is cooked in a sauce, there is still a ton of flavor.
- Storage and reheating: Keep leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for 3-4 days. Reheat an individual portion in the microwave, or a family-sized portion in the oven at 350 degrees until warmed through.
- Freezing cooked ground turkey enchiladas: Bake the enchiladas and let the casserole cool completely. Cover the entire pan tightly with foil, crimping around the edges to seal and prevent freezer burn. This method also works with freezing smaller portions in individual containers. To reheat, thaw in the fridge overnight, then bake at 350 degrees F until enchiladas are warmed through.
- Make ahead tips: Ground Turkey Enchiladas can be made and refrigerated up to 2 days in advance before baking. Let sit out for 15-30 minutes to come to room temperature, then bake as directed. To freeze, prepare enchiladas and cover with the sauce and cheese. Cover tightly with foil and freeze up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the fridge, then bake as directed.
- Pro tip: If you plan to make them ahead of time for freezing, use disposable foil pans instead of your ceramic baking dishes.
- Can I double the recipe? This recipe can easily be doubled or even tripled to feed a crowd as long as you have enough pans to bake them.
More Ground Turkey Recipes to Try
- Cheesy Turkey Taco Pasta
- Turkey Taco Soup
- Turkey Burgers
- Ground Turkey and Rice Soup with Kale
- Homemade Turkey Meatballs
Ground Turkey Enchiladas
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon Olive oil or canola oil
- ¾ cup diced white onion about 1 small
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 1 pound lean ground turkey
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon cumin
- 1 teaspoons chili powder
- ½ teaspoon oregano
- ¾ cup chicken broth or water
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- Juice from 1 lime
- 19 ounces red enchilada sauce
- 8 flour tortillas
- 2 cups freshly shredded cheddar jack cheese
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a large baking dish (9”x13”) with nonstick cooking spray.
- Heat a tablespoon of oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add onion and cook for 3-4 minutes until softened. Stir in garlic and cook for 30 seconds more.
- Add ground turkey to the skillet. Break up turkey into small crumbles with a spatula and cook until no longer pink, stirring occasionally, about 6-8 minutes. Drain off any grease, if needed (optional but not necessary).
- Stir in salt cumin, chili powder, oregano, tomato paste, lime juice and chicken broth and bring to a simmer, stirring occasionally, until sauce is thickened; about 5-7 minutes. Season with salt and pepper if desired.
- Spoon about a ½ cup of enchilada sauce into the baking dish and spread to coat evenly.
- Lay a tortilla on a flat surface and spoon about ¼ cup of the turkey mixture down the center of each tortilla. Sprinkle with a little bit of cheese. Roll and place seam side down into the baking dish. Repeat with remaining ingredients.
- Pour remaining enchilada sauce over the enchiladas. Top evenly with remaining cheese. Bake uncovered for 15-20 minutes, or until cheese is melted and bubbly.
- Let cool slightly before serving, Top with your favorite toppings, like sour cream, green onions, sliced olives, cilantro or avocado.
Can you use rotisserie chicken instead of ground turkey for this recipe? Thanks!
Sure you can use rotisserie chicken.
So yummy!! My family literally inhaled this and my husband told me this recipe needs to go into “rotation!” 😂
Thank you Abi!
This was delicious! I made it mostly as written, but used Onion Onion and Garlic Garlic dried mixes, instead of fresh. I didn’t have a problem with the amount of broth. I split the meat mixture in half and added black beans to half and mushrooms and sweet peppers to the other half, to cater to my family’s tastes. Will make again!
Love the feedback Shari! Thanks for stopping by.
The recipe smells great but WAYYY too much broth it looks like soup! Use way less broth than recipe calls for.
I made these enchiladas tonight, and they were so good! The only thing I changed was to use onion powder because I didn’t have any onions. Thanks for a great recipe!
You are so welcome Diane! Thanks for stopping by.
K.
I added red bell peppers and probably a little bit extra seasoning. It’s so YUUUUUUM! Thank you for helping with your recipe!
You are so welcome Sandz! Thanks for stopping by.