Instant Pot Enchiladas

Our Instant Pot enchiladas with canned sauce (or made in Ninja Foodi pressure cooker) are great filled with ground beef or sausage for dinner. Smothered with cheese they’ll make your mouth water every time.

You may know How Long to Cook Enchiladas in the oven but under high pressure is different. A great way to bake in small spaces and for just for a few of you too. Now that we have children leaving the nest I had to come up with meal options that fed just the 2 of us and this one we make quite often.

I have filled these with all sorts of meat. Ground beef is most common because it is cheap and I almost always have some in the freezer but made as Rotisserie Chicken Enchiladas are delicious too!

What kind of tortillas should you use?

You can make quite a few of these at a time, this one used 1 package of 12 pre-made flour tortillas which was enough for about 5 of us. I would make them like this and not double the batch at the same time. They are more pliable so I recommend over corn.

Just set it up in an assembly line of sorts once you have the meat done. You can brown that in your IP and clean out to go on to the next step, or use a pan on the stovetop. That part is up to you.

Enchiladas with Frozen Ground Beef

If I don’t think of it ahead of time I can first use the instructions to cook Instant Pot frozen ground beef until browned and then go from there. You do have to have the protein pre-cooked ahead of time for this cook time, that is important.

Can you use leftover ground beef?

I always like to use leftover meat I have on hand to make these. It makes a great pulled pork tacos too if that is what I made the night before and don’t want to throw it away. I like having a few second day recipes on hand to make a new meal out of ingredients that need to be used up.

You can make Instant Pot chicken enchiladas as an easy leftover chicken recipe as well. You can skip the sauteeing and cooking step if you have precooked meat. Just warm it with the taco seasoning and enchilada sauce to gather all of those flavors. Browning isn’t necessary in those cases.

How to Make Enchiladas in Instant Pot

Step 1 – Turn pot to saute and add ground beef and taco seasoning. Break apart and cook until no longer pink. If adding onions add with this mixture to soften. Drain grease when done.

Step 2 – Add 1 cup of your enchilada sauce and diced chiles. Cook another 4 minutes or so to cook the sauce down a bit so it’s thicker. Turn pot off. Empty contents into a bowl and clean pot out.

You are essentially making a flavorful mixture of taco meat essentially. I mean this is all about tons of flavor, and maybe a little bit spicy to it. If I have to add seasonings when done that is not a Mexican meal to me. 😉

Step 3 – Warm tortillas flour or corn tortillas in microwave for about 15 seconds so they bend well. Use store bought or make your own.

Step 4 – One at a time put 1/8 c. hamburger or add the chicken mixture inside + 2 heaping tbsp full of cheese. Roll up tightly and place into pressure cooker pot with seam side facing down.

Step 5 – Set to pressure cook high pressure for 7 minutes cook time followed by a natural release for 2 minutes. Release rest of steam. Open and serve with pinto beans.

Ninja Foodi Enchiladas

If you need easy Ninja Foodi recipes, you can use that pot instead using the lid that is not attached to pressure cook, or a Crockpot Express works too. As long as it has a saute function and high pressure too you are good to go.

How to serve

Homemade Enchilada Sauce can be made too if you want to go all out. Homemade sauce recipe is very popular so I’d try that. I am always more interested in quick and easy so I don’t bother with all of that.

We’ve made Instant Pot black beans. From dry to tender with tons of flavor in less than an hour, they’re always a hit.

Another favorite is a batch of Instant Pot refried beans from scratch! You will never buy canned again after making and serving these. If you just want these to be a one pot meal you can just put together a bar of toppings such as:

1. Sour cream
2. Sliced avocado
3. Olives
4. Jalapenos
5. Diced chives and/or onions

How to reheat leftovers

Of course you can. Yes you can put them in a shallow dish and in the oven at about 375 degrees for 15 minutes or so until warmed. Personally I use the microwave in 30 sec. increments making sure to turn it regularly. Add a bit more shredded cheese on top to melt and make moist once again.

Other easy Mexican Instant Pot recipes you’ll love

We have a bunch of other easy pressure cooker recipes you can try beyond this one too though! Our Instant Pot taco casserole is amazing too with many of these same flavors. We use spicy sausage to take it from great to fabulous.