A camping staple for us is a heavy-bottomed cast iron skillet. It can be used in the camper on the stove, on a grill or over an open flame. We recently went on a weeklong camping trip in a Cruise America camper, and had an amazing time making semi-gourmet food while keeping it simple and low on dishes. We cooked up these one-pan enchiladas on the Traeger for the perfect comfort meal.
HIGH ON FLAVOR, LOW ON DISHES
This recipe creates a delicious Mexican-inspired dish with only one pan. You’ll need a bowl too, but other than that, the dishes will be minimal. We did this especially because cleanup when camping can be a pain. Even with a camper and running water, doing dishes isn’t what you want to do while you’re camping, so we simplified this recipe as much as humanly possible.
Plus, cooking it in the Traeger means you have a low-mess situation whether you’re in your backyard or a campground or a remote place. As you know, we love to cook on our Traeger because it really does make cleanup a breeze. The mess in the house is minimal, the dishes are just a few and the smell, splatter and any ash stays outside!
PRIMARY INGREDIENTS FOR ONE-PAN ENCHILADAS
- Corn tortillas
- Vegetable oil
- Ground beef
- Onion
- Potato (we used a leftover baked potato)
- Canned corn
- Cheese
- Enchilada sauce
WHY COOKING THIS ON THE TRAEGER WORKS
Cooking it on a grill (I cooked it on my Traeger Tailgater) that has a lid that closes will allow you to get even heat on the top and bottom to melt the cheese and heat it through. But some careful fire crafting and aluminum foil and you can do essentially the same thing over a campfire. If the weather doesn’t permit a campfire, you could also cook it inside your Cruise America camper on the stove. Just use a lid to cover the pan, and cook on very low heat until heated through.
STEP-BY-STEP
- Preheat your Traeger grill to high heat and include the cast iron pan in the grill while it heats.
- In the hot skillet, cook your chopped onions in some oil until soft.
- Then add the ground beef and cook through. Break it up with a spoon or spatula as it cooks.
- Drain the meat and transfer to a bowl.
- To the bowl, add the chopped leftover potato, the corn, cheese and season to taste
- In the skillet, add a little oil on the bottom of the pan (you don’t need to clean the pan from cooking).
- Quickly cook the tortillas in the hot oil until soft, draining them on a paper towel.
- Pour off the excess oil from the pan and add some enchilada sauce to coat the bottom.
- Roll the beef mixture into each tortilla and place each in the pan seam-side down.
- Pour remaining enchilada sauce over the rolled tortillas.
- Top with remaining cheese.
- Place the pan back in the grill at a temperature of 350* and bake for 15-20 minutes until heated through and bubbly.
- Serve immediately.
RECIPES SIMILAR TO ONE-PAN ENCHILADAS
You can make a variety of versions of this recipe with little effort. One suggestion we have is to use my Tinga Style Chicken as the filler ingredient. Check out the recipe here:
- Or whip up some Birria style tacos on the grill using shredded beef
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Almost One-Pan Enchiladas on the Traeger
Equipment
- Traeger Grill (we used our Tailgater)
- Cast iron skillet
- Bowl
- Spoon
Ingredients
- 8 corn tortillas
- 1/4 cup vegetable oil
- 1 pound lean ground beef
- 1/2 yellow onion chopped
- 1/2 a leftover baked potato chopped
- 1 can whole corn kernels or fiesta corn drained
- 1 1/2 cups shredded or small-diced cheese
- 1 can enchilada sauce
Instructions
- In a skillet (preferably a camping-friendly cast iron one), cook chopped onions in a tablespoon of vegetable oil until just softened. Add ground beef and cook thoroughly.
- Crumble with a spoon or spatula as needed. Drain any excess grease from the cooked beef. In a bowl, combine ground beef, leftover baked potato cut into small cubes, and can of corn, drained. Stir well and season to taste with salt and pepper or a rub. Stir in 1 cup cheese and set the entire mixture aside.
- In the same pan from earlier (you don’t need to wash it), pour in about ¼ cup vegetable oil (just enough to cover the bottom of the pan to allow for shallow frying). Heat on medium until oil is hot.
- Carefully place tortillas, one at a time, into hot oil and fry briefly. This should only take 30 seconds per tortilla. Remove tortillas and drain on a paper towel, keeping covered.
- Pour off remaining oil from pan when done frying the tortillas. You can leave about 1 tsp in the pan. Pour in ¼ of the can of enchilada sauce, and spread evenly in pan.
- Spoon several tablespoons full of beef mixture in the center of a tortilla. Carefully roll up tortilla around filling, and place in the prepared pan, seam side down. Repeat with the remaining tortillas and filling.
- Pour remaining enchilada sauce on top of rolled tortillas. Sprinkle remaining ½ cup cheese on top.
- Place entire skillet in grill and cook at 350* for 15 to 20 minutes until heated through. If you don’t have a grill, place the skillet on the grate of a campfire, with the fire to the side (indirect heat). Cover with aluminum foil and heat for 30-40 minutes until heated through and cheese is melted.
- Serve immediately.
