Every Sunday morning while I was living on Gregorio Mendez Avenue in Villahermosa, Tabasco, I would see people passing by during the morning hours going to a house across the street.
They were usually holding an empty plate in their hands, but after a while, they would come out of the house with the plate covered with aluminum foil. That happened every weekend until one day I asked my next door neighbor what went on inside that house every Sunday morning.
Enchiladas Tabasqueñas Recipe
“Oh, Enchiladas!", she told me, “They sell enchiladas every Sunday morning, and if you want to buy some you order the day before and just come back early in the morning to pick them up, but you have to bring your own plate.” You can imagine my face of amazement after she told me that.
And yes, the next Sunday morning I was there too, with my plate in hand. It was love at first bite.
Tabasco is a state in the southern part of the country along the Gulf of Mexico, its name means “Flooded Land” in Nahuatl. Tabasco has been blessed with fertile soils. One of its famous poets Carlos Pellicer once wrote: “Tabasco, espejo roto sobre manto verde.”(Tabasco, a broken mirror over a green tablecloth). This is referring to the many rivers and streams in Tabasco, two of which are among Mexico’s major rivers.
The Usumacinta River and the Grijalva river, plus many other small rivers, are surrounded by a tropical forest. When you travel by plane over this beautiful land you will know what he meant about the mirror and green tablecloth. I hope to tell you more about the rich culture of this State in future posts.
But now lets start cooking, for this recipe you will need a little extra time to prepare the enchilada filling, or better yet, you can make it a day ahead. These Enchiladas are not spicy, some cooks make their own sauce using Ancho peppers and spices instead of using Mole sauce.
How to make enchiladas Tabasqueñas Recipe
DIRECTIONS:
DIRECTIONS:
- In a large skillet with the vegetable oil at medium high heat, cook the meat for about 5 minutes, then add the onion and garlic. (Please check the ingredients list below)
- Cook for about 10 minutes, then add the plantain, olives, raisins and almonds and keep cooking, breaking up the meat into small pieces. Cook until meat is opaque, about 7 minutes.
- Add the tomato, stir, and cover. Reduce heat and simmer until most of the juices have been absorbed. Season with salt and pepper.
- Warm the corn tortillas on a griddle over medium heat.
- Cover with a kitchen napkin to keep them warm.
- To prepare the enchiladas, spoon some of the mole sauce over the tortilla and then add about 2 tablespoons of the picadillo.
- Roll up the tortilla and arrange, seam side down, on the serving plates and keep forming the rest of the enchiladas.
- To serve, spoon mole sauce over the rolled tortillas, top with crumbled cheese and garnish with the onion slices.
¡Buen provecho!
Mely,
We have several types of enchiladas: red, green, with mole, bean sauce, and many more. What are your favorite enchiladas? Please share with me in the comments below.
More recipes:
Pumpkin Seed Enchiladas
Quick Enchiladas Suizas
Chile Colorado with Pork and Nopales
Enchiladas with a picadillo filling
Ingredients
- 1 lb. Ground beef
- ½ cup of white onion finely diced
- 2 cloves of garlic cloves minced
- 2 Tbs. vegetable oil.
- ¾ Plantain chopped Optional
- ¼ cup raisins
- ¼ cup chopped or sliced almonds
- ¼ cup green olives finely sliced
- 1 ½ cup tomato diced
- 2 ½ cups of prepared Mole Sauce*
- ⅔ cup of fresh crumbled cheese
- 12 corn tortillas
- Some slices of white onion to top the enchiladas
- Salt and pepper to season
Instructions
- In a large skillet with the vegetable oil at medium high heat, cook the meat for about 5 minutes, then add the onion and garlic.
- Cook for about 10 minutes, then add the plantain, olives, raisins and almonds and keep cooking, breaking up the meat into small pieces. Cook until meat is opaque, about 7 minutes.
- Add the tomato, stir, and cover. Reduce heat and simmer until most of the juices have been absorbed. Season with salt and pepper.
- Warm the corn tortillas on a griddle over medium heat.
- Cover with a kitchen napkin to keep them warm.
- To prepare the enchiladas, spoon some of the mole sauce over the tortilla and then add about 2 tablespoons of the picadillo.
- Roll up the tortilla and arrange, seam side down, on the serving plates and keep forming the rest of the enchiladas.
- To serve, spoon mole sauce over the rolled tortillas, top with crumbled cheese and garnish with the onion slices.
Cathy
My mouth is watering thinking about this. I definitely need to make this very soon! I also want to try to make my own totilla’s, but I live in the Caribbean and it is hot and humid, no a/c in the kitchen. So I’m a bit worried about rolling them out and being able to get them into the pan. Bread type things are hard in heat and humidity I find, but what we get here are not very good as far a corn tortilla’s.
Mely Martínez
Hello Cathy,
We also have some regions of Mexico where the weather is always hot & humid, like the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribe.
No worries about making the tortillas by yourself, they will come out OK. Bread baking, well that is another thing in those types of environments.
gralan
I fell in love with mole sauce and plantains over 20 years ago, but I've never used them for enchiladas. When I think about it, I have no idea why I had no idea to try it. hahaha There really are things we don't know that we know, things we know that we don't know... Okay, I'll stop.
La fiesta dentro de mi la boca, I hope I wrote that correctly. There is going to be a lot of dancing taste buds in my mouth.
mmartinez
Hello Gralan,
There is another recipe here in the blog using Mole Sauce. Like this Mole with chicken casserole. Mole Sauce Casserole
At home, my husband and son love fried eggs covered with Mole sauce too. Enjoy!
Noelle
I cannot believe you lived in Villarhermosa! All my extended family lives there. Thank you for your recipes. I cannot wait to make them.
Mely
Hello Noelle,
I lived there almost 6 years. Liked everything but the hot weather.
Chris
This one is quite different from my normal comfort zone and that's what makes me want to try this! We have liked every recipe of yours that we have tried, so even though this is different, I know it will be good, Mely.
Karen
I bought a jar of mole a while back and haven't used it yet. I think I will make enchiladas but with some chicken 🙂
recomelona
Hola! Te leo desde Torreón, Coahuila, México, me gustan mucho tus recetas, yo también tengo un blog apenas empiezo tengo un año y un poquito más con el y me encanta hacerlo. Que padre que hagas todas estas recetas y que tu blog sea en ingles para que nuestra gastronomía llegue a todo el mundo. Un fuerte abrazo, saludos!
Mely
Hola,
Que gusto que hayas pasado por aqui. Pasaré a visitar tu blog. Saludos!
Lea Ann (Cooking On The Ranch)
I've been wanting to make picadillo for a long time and also Mole Sauce for a long time. I never thought to combine the two. Thanks for this idea and I'll be trying it soon. My favorite enchilada is a Chicken Enchilada with Mole Sauce from my local Mexican Restaurant.
Mely
Wow! Lean Ann, those are my son favorite too! Mole enchiladas.
Prieta
I love the picadillo filling minus the plantains, I don't like those. The enchiladas look so delish! My favorites are with red sauce.
Saudos!
Nora
Mely, me estás matandoooo!
Rebecca Subbiah
these look delicious and always fun learning from you
Swathi Iyer
Delicious enchiladas mely I love green one.
Nammi
yumm, I used to think echiladas are baked with the sauce and cheese on top like the italian canneloni
MeOfCourse
Yum. This really looks delish Mely!! Oh so good. Thanks a lot, now I want to make enchiladas. Thanks for the recipe. Hope you are doing well. Have a great week.:)