Mini Enchilada Stacks Recipe

I often find myself with a fridge full of leftover ingredients appropriate for Mexican cooking like onions, salsa, and cheese, but not enough for a whole meal. It also seems that I can never use up a full package of tortilla shells no matter how many meals I make out of them. While the obvious combination of these ingredients may be a quesadilla, I recently experimented with something a bit more creative.

These mini enchilada stacks are completely versatile and great for using up leftovers. Layers of tortilla shell, vegetables, cheese, and sauce are baked in individual muffin tins and topped with fresh avocado-tomato salad. While I used chorizo, tomato, onion, green pepper, and pepper jack cheese, you could use any combination of the following, or whatever suits your fancy:

• Protein: Chorizo, shredded chicken, ground beef, scrambled eggs, black beans
• Vegetables: Chopped tomato, corn, onions, green pepper, red pepper
• Sauce: Enchilada sauce, salsa, pico de gallo, salsa verde

Using leftovers is an obvious way to save money on cooking. This is just one cheap recipe idea that incoporates leftover foods, but there are undoubtedly a million different ideas. Keep in touch on Facebook to see future ways for using up leftovers, and for other cheap recipe ideas.

Mini Enchilada Stacks Recipe

Cook Time: 15 to 20 minutes

Cut circles out of tortilla shells using the top edge of a glass, cookie cutter, or other round kitchen object. Make sure that the size of the circles is right for your muffin pan.

Ingredients:

For mini enchilada stacks:
Tortilla rounds (see note above)
Sauce of your choice
Meat of your choice
Vegetables
Shredded cheese (Monterey Jack, pepper jack, or cheddar)

For topping:
Chopped avocado
Chopped tomato
Fresh lime juice
Pinch of salt

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375F. Grease the bottom and sides of a muffin tin. Put one tortilla shell round at the bottom of the muffin cup. Top with a layer of chopped vegetables, protein, sauce, and cheese. Repeat rotation of ingredients to fill each muffin cup. End with a layer of cheese. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until heated through and golden brown.

For topping, mix avocado and chopped tomato. Add a squeeze of fresh lime juice and a sprinkle of sea salt.
Remove enchilada stacks, top with avocado-tomato mixture, a sprinkle of cotija cheese if desired, and serve.

Beans and lentils / Eggs / International / Main course / Recipes / Tomatoes / Tortilla shells

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