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Weight Watchers beef enchiladas are made with shredded carne asada and homemade red enchilada sauce for a tasty and authentic enchilada recipe. Healthy, skinny, beef enchiladas that no one will know are lightened up!
My recipe for homemade red enchilada sauce uses Colorado chilis and it’s the base for these amazing Weight Watchers Beef Enchiladas. Here in Tucson, chili pods are available pretty much everywhere but I know that’s not the case for everyone.
Ingredients in Weight Watchers Beef Enchiladas
- Corn Tortillas: Corn tortillas are the perfect tortillas for this delicious recipe.
- Carne Asada: We prefer using our Carne Asada recipe for the enchiladas. You’re welcome to substitute any protein of choice.
- Shredded Cheddar Cheese: We prefer to use either four cheese Mexican or colby jack. The points for this recipe are calculated using reduced-fat shredded cheese. However, if you’re okay with the extra points, you can use full fat cheese.
- Enchilada Sauce: Our homemade enchilada sauce is fresh and much better than store bought enchilada sauce. The best part about it is you can make this homemade sauce easily at home.
Ingredients in the Carne Asada Marinade
These are the ingredients we use when we marinate our carne asada.
- White vinegar
- Coconut aminos: you can also use low sodium soy sauce or Tamari if that’s what you have.
- Lime juice: fresh lime juice really helps make this carne asada taste authentic.
- Olive oil: avocado oil would work well too.
- Orange: fresh orange juice is highly acidic, which is great for tenderizing the steak
- Garlic powder
- Chili powder
- Oregano
- Cumin
- Onion Powder
Ingredients to Make Healthy Red Enchilada Sauce
Our healthy blender enchilada sauce is super easy to make and the flavor is so much more complex than the store bought variety.
- Dried red chili pods: you can find dried chili peppers in the Mexican aisle at your grocery store or an online retailer.
- Water
- White vinegar
- Oregano
- All spice
- Garlic powder
- Onion powder
How to Make Weight Watchers Beef Enchiladas
How to Make the Carne Asada Meat
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- Dice the skirt steak.
- Combine all the marinade ingredients in a large zippered bag or container with lid.
- Add the diced steak to the container and mix to ensure it is completely covered by the marinade.
- Place in the fridge for at least 1 hour, or overnight.
- Coat a large skillet or large nonstick skillet with olive/avocado oil and heat on high heat. When the pan is hot, scoop the meat into the skillet and dispose of the marinade.
- Cook the meat until the desired doneness (a minimum internal temperature of at least 145°F. (approx. 5-8 minutes)
- Remove the carne asada from the heat and warm your low carb tortillas on the hot skillet.
- Chop the onions and cilantro.
- Eat this by itself, with one of the recipes above.
How to Make the Enchilada Sauce
- Add all the ingredients for the enchilada sauce into a large sauce pan.
- Bring the sauce to a boil in high heat. Then reduce to medium heat and allow the chili pods to simmer for 15-20 minutes until the pods are soft.
- Allow the chili pods to cool then dump all the contents on the sauce pan into a blender. Blend until the sauce is smooth.
- Use the sauce immediately or store in the refrigerator/freezer until ready to use. The sauce will last for 5-7 day in the fridge and up to a month in the freezer.
Putting it all Together – Weight Watchers Beef Enchiladas
- Preheat your oven: 350º F.
- Grease the bottom of the casserole dish.
- Next, add 1/4 cup of enchilada sauce and cover the bottom of the pan. This helps to prevent the enchiladas from sticking to the bottom of the pan.
- Roll the enchiladas: Put some cheese and your carne asada meat into the center of a corn tortilla. I use 3/4 cup of meat for two tortillas and 1/3 cup cheese for four enchiladas.
- To make a full pan of enchiladas, you’ll need to place tortillas down one by one and fold the side over. The seam side should go down in your pan. I find it helps to place the filling slightly off center so there’s more of a “flap” to fold over the top!
- Finally, put the last 3/4 cup of enchilada sauce on top, and then top with the remaining cheese.
- These delicious Weight Watchers enchiladas need to bake for about 20-25 minutes. When the cheese starts looking melty and a bit crispy you’ll know they’re ready to come out. Top with fresh cilantro and serve!
Recipe Tips
- Corn tortillas crack easily if they’re not super fresh. You usually can’t even see it because the sauce covers it, but if it bothers you, find somewhere to buy super fresh tortillas or get the tortillas a little wet and microwave them for a few seconds to make them pliable.
Weight Watchers Points
Each serving of 2 beef enchiladas is 12 points.
- The point value is calculated using reduced fat cheese.
- I don’t count the homemade red sauce for points since it’s mostly water, spices, and chili pods. Of course you can calculate this however you’d like, but I use the Weight Watchers recipe builder to figure out all of my recipes.
- Note: Our homemade red sauce is made with zero point foods but it’s blended into a sauce. If you are eating multiple portions of these healthy beef enchiladas you may wish to calculate and count the points for the sauce. In one serving, I don’t think it’s enough to count for points.
Looking for similar recipes to these WW Beef Enchiladas?
- Carne Asada Tostadas
- WW Crockpot Pork Carnitas These delicious Pork Carnitas are amazing.
- Southwest Egg Roll in a Bowl
- Vegan Weight Watchers Tacos For those of you trying to cut back on meat, enjoy meatless Mondays, or just looking for a delicious dinner idea, these Quinoa Tacos are Vegan and so delicious.
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Weight Watchers Beef Enchiladas
Approximate Serving Size: 2 enchiladas
Servings 6 Servings
Weight Watchers beef enchiladas are made with shredded carne asada and homemade red sauce for a tasty and authentic enchilada recipe. Healthy, skinny, beef enchiladas that no one will know are lightened up!
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Equipment
- Baking Dish
- Vitamix Blender
- Kitchen Knife
Ingredients
Ingredients in Enchiladas
- 12 corn tortillas
- 1 lb carne asada or meat of your choice
- 2 cups cheese shredded, reduced fat
- ½ cups enchilada sauce
Ingredients in Carne Asada
- 1.5 lb skirt steak diced into small pieces
- ¼ cup white vinegar
- 2 tbsp low sodium tamari or soy sauce
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 2 tbsp lime juice from 1 lime
- 2 tsp olive oil
- juice from 1 orange fresh squeezed
- 1 tbsp chili powder
- 1 tsp oregano
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp onion powder
Ingredients in Red Enchilada Sauce
- 20 Colorado red chili pods dried, stemmed, and seeded
- 3 cups water
- ¼ cup white vinegar
- 1 tsp oregano
- ½ tsp allspice
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp onion powder
Instructions
Instructions for Carne Asada
- First thinly slice or dice the steak.1.5 lb skirt steak
- Next combine all the marinade ingredients in a large zippered bag or container with lid. 1/4 cup white vinegar, 2 tbsp low sodium tamari, 1 tsp garlic powder, 2 tbsp lime juice, 2 tsp olive oil, juice from 1 orange, 1 tbsp chili powder, 1 tsp oregano, 1 tsp ground cumin, 1 tsp onion powder
- Then add the diced steak to the container and mix to ensure it is completely covered by the marinade.
- Place in the fridge for at least 1 hour, or overnight.
- Coat a large skillet with olive oil or avocado oil and heat on medium-high heat. When the pan is hot, scoop the meat into the skillet and dispose of the marinade.
- Cook the meat until the desired doneness (a minimum internal temperature of at least 145°F. (approx. 5-8 minutes)
- Remove the carne asada from the heat and set aside until you’re ready to assemble your enchiladas.
Instructions for WW Beef Enchiladas
- Preheat your oven: 350º F.
- Grease a casserole pan lightly, the bottom only.
- Use 1/4 cup of enchilada sauce and cover the bottom of the pan after it is greased.
- Rolling the enchiladas: put some cheese and your carne asada meat into the center of a corn tortilla. Mine are made with 3/4 cup meat for two tortillas and 1/3 cup cheese for four enchiladas. 12 corn tortillas, 2 cups cheese, 1 lb carne asada
- To make a full pan of enchiladas you'll need to place them down one by one and fold the side over. Seam side should go down in your pan and I find it helps to place the filling slightly off center so there's more of a "flap" to fold over the top!
- The last 3/4 cup of enchilada sauce goes on top, after that is done you can top will the remaining cheese as well!
- These delicious Weight Watchers enchiladas need to bake for about 20-25 minutes. When the cheese starts looking melty and a bit crispy you’ll know they’re ready to come out. Top with fresh cilantro and serve!
Instructions to make the enchilada sauce
- Add all of the enchilada sauce ingredients into a large sauce pan. 20 Colorado red chili pods, 3 cups water, 1/4 cup white vinegar, 1 tsp oregano, 1/2 tsp allspice, 1 tsp garlic powder, 1 tsp onion powder
- Bring the sauce to a boil over high heat. Then reduce the temperature to medium heat and allow the chili pods to simmer for 15-20 minutes until the pods are soft.
- Allow the chili pods to cool then dump all the contents of the sauce pan into a blender. Blend until the sauce is smooth.
- Use the sauce immediately or store in the refrigerator/freezer until ready to use. The sauce will last for 5-7 day in the fridge and up to a month in the freezer.
Video
Nutrition
Calories: 428kcal | Carbohydrates: 25g | Protein: 28g | Fat: 25g | Saturated Fat: 13g | Cholesterol: 86mg | Sodium: 331mg | Potassium: 377mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 508IU | Vitamin C: 18mg | Calcium: 321mg | Iron: 2mg
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This is a great recipe! Love how it is lightened up but still full of flavor!
THANK YOU for such an easy enchilada recipe! I was looking for something simple to make for dinner and this hit the spot.
Enchiladas are my go to cheat meal. I’m so happy to have found this recipe. It doesn’t taste skinny at all, it is SO good.
Mine made 16 delicious put cheese first then meat. Thank you for great receipe