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These lazy enchiladas are so quick and easy to make with frozen taquitos! These were viral on TikTok a couple of years ago and we’re still making them on busy nights.
Busy night? Lazy enchiladas to the rescue.
Three Ingredient Freezer Meal Ahead!
Weeknights can be brutal out there and getting dinner on the table every. single. night might just put me over the edge, if you know what I mean.
Frozen taquitos? Easy! The kids love them and they’re beyond easy to toss in the oven or air fryer.
But, sometimes I take it a step further with the taquitos and make taquito enchiladas!
This recipe went viral on TikTok a couple of years ago and with good reason! These are quick, have a decent amount of protein, they’re a serious kid-pleaser, and they call for just 3 ingredients + the toppings of your choice. We recommend a scoop of our homemade pico de gallo and a dollop of sour cream or homemade guacamole.
We love homemade enchilada recipes too like our ground beef enchiladas or this chicken enchilada skillet. They aren’t as quick and easy to make as lazy enchiladas but they’re definitely worth the effort!
What Are Lazy Enchiladas?
They’re pretty much exactly what you’d expect. Easy to make enchiladas that require minimal effort! The frozen taquitos really do most of the work here, taking place of the tortillas and meat. No need to make the filling, buy the tortillas, or roll them all up. The frozen taquitos do the work for you.
And when you use canned enchilada sauce it’s even easier! These is just about the quickest, easiest enchilada recipe there is.
♥ What We Love About This Recipe:
- Variety: Although we’re only using three ingredients this can still be made in lots of ways! Taquitos come in lots of varieties with different meats and flavors. There is red and green enchilada sauce and either works. Plus, add all your favorite toppings. It’s easy to make and easy to modify!
- Easy: Dinner doesn’t get much easier than this and these really do come out tasting like enchiladas!
Ingredient Notes:
Enchilada Sauce – You can use either red or green enchilada sauce. We just keep things easy and used the canned sauce for this recipe. These are lazy enchiladas after all! You could make your own if you’ve got the time.
Frozen Taquitos – These come in all sorts of varieties and brands. You can use any that you like! Beef taquitos, chicken taquitos, even bean and cheese taquitos for a meatless meal!
Cheddar Cheese – We’re keeping this nice and lazy and using pre-shredded cheddar cheese from the store. We do like to grate our own cheese, but sometimes it’s easier to just use the shredded stuff. Any variety of cheese will work – Mexican blend, pepperjack, monterey jack…
Toppings – We used sliced avocado, sour cream, diced onion, and cilantro this time around. More options below!
See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.
Step by Step Instructions:
Pour about 1/4 cup of sauce into a 9×13 baking dish. Just enough to thinly cover the bottom. Arrange the taquitos over the sauce, then pour the remaining sauce over the top and bake for 15 minutes.
Top with the shredded cheddar cheese and return to the warm oven for 5 minutes to melt the cheese. It doesn’t take long since the taquitos should already be hot and bubbly.
Serve the lazy enchiladas with your favorite toppings like sliced avocado, sour cream, diced onion, and cilantro. More topping ideas below!
Helpful Tip!
Storage & Freezing:
Once these have cooled down a bit, cover the dish with foil, and pop them in the fridge for 4-5 days. Reheat in the oven or microwave.
We haven’t tried freezing these as I’m not usually a big fan of refreezing food, but from a food safety perspective it should be just fine. The texture may be a bit different however.
The nice thing about this recipe is that it is so quick and easy and simple enough to halve or double that we tend to make these fresh when we need them for however many people we’re serving.
Topping Ideas:
These are delicious on their own, but I’m a big fan of dressing up freezer meals to make them feel a little more homemade and fresh. It’s easy to do this by setting up a few bowls of toppings for people to enjoy over the taquito enchiladas. Some options include:
- Pico de Gallo
- Homemade Guacamole
- Cowboy Caviar
- Sour Cream
- Avocado Slices
- Sliced Jalapeno
- Cilantro
- Diced Onion
- Pickled Red Onion
Serving Suggestions:
These taquito enchiladas are pretty great all on their own when you need something super quick and easy, but they can also be served alongside a variety of sides to make for a more complete meal.
My easy Mexican rice is a good choice for serving with enchiladas, and our homemade refried beans a They’re especially good alongside that Mexican rice. Serve all three for a hearty Mexican inspired meal!
My Mexican potato salad and this Mexican street corn pasta salad would be good sides too, and they are easy to prepare cold salads that you can make ahead of time.
Don’t forget our margaritas on the rocks!
Recipe FAQs:
Yep! They come in all kinds of varieties with different fillings and meats. Ground beef, chicken, pork, even just plain cheese taquitos are all fine to use here.
Heck no! This is a lazy enchilada recipe. Just toss those frozen taquitos in there with the sauce and bake.
More Lazy Day Dinners!
Lazy Enchiladas
Ingredients
- 10 ounces canned enchilada sauce red or green
- 18 frozen taquitos any variety
- 8 ounces shredded cheddar
- sliced avocado, sour cream, diced onion, cilantro for serving
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
- Pour about ¼ cup of the enchilada sauce in the bottom of a 9×13 baking dish. You’ll need just enough to thinly cover the bottom.
- Arrange the taquitos in an even layer in the dish. Pour the remaining enchilada sauce over the top.
- Bake for 15 minutes, until the taquitos are cooked through and the sauce is hot and bubbly.
- Sprinkle the cheese over the top and continue baking for 5 minutes to melt the cheese.
- Serve topped with sliced avocado, sour cream, diced onion, and cilantro as desired.
Patricia Laverne Cadra says
This looks rally good. I was wondering if it could be frozen? Can you make it with the frozen taquitos then put back in the freezer? I meal prep and this looks wonderful and easy.
Karly Campbell says
Hi Patricia! I haven’t tried making this and then freezing it. I’m not sure how the taquitos would be after freezing twice.
Cecelia Henderson says
I’ve never been successful at making enchiladas, so thank you for the recipe. I haven’t tried it yet, but it looks like something I can’t screw up.
Karly Campbell says
Hope you love them! I think you’re going to do great!