Give your busy weeknight supper menu a twist with this Beef Enchilada Crescent Roll-Ups recipe! It combines the convenience of canned crescent rolls with always-delicious enchiladas!
Looking for some easy and delicious weeknight meal inspiration that the whole family will love? You’ve come to the right place. We’ve definitely got our favorite recipes, like my Easy Chicken with Cream Cheese Pan Sauce and my Creamy Chicken Enchiladas, but it’s always fun to throw something new and different in the mix, too. And, that’s where my Beef Enchilada Crescent Roll-Ups come in.
A while back I was whipping up a batch of my Peach Dumplings, and I thought… “I wonder if there’s a way to make a savory version of this?” Then I thought back to my 5 Ingredient Beef Enchiladas, and that’s when my wheels started turning. I immediately got to work on this new-to-me configuration combining the best traits of both delicious recipes.
So, I made a meat mixture of ground sirloin and salsa and rolled it up in the crescent rolls with a little cheese. I then placed the roll-ups in a baking dish and topped them with enchilada sauce and more cheese and baked them.
They turned out fantastically! The slight sweetness in the crescent rolls goes perfectly with the super savory and spicy (spice spicy, not hot spicy) enchilada flavors. And, now I am able to present to you your new favorite weeknight meal – Beef Enchilada Crescent Roll-Ups! Enjoy!
How to dress up bland enchilada sauce:
This recipe calls for red enchilada sauce. My number one go-to red enchilada sauce is the Hatch brand. I also like the La Preferida brand. If you can’t find those brands, you can use any other red enchilada sauce.
However, I have found most other sauces to be a bit bland.
In order to boost the flavors in those less-desirable sauces try tossing in a bit of salt, cumin, and smoked paprika. It’s a simple trick that adds a nice kick to the taste of bland, mild red enchilada sauce and makes the dish more enjoyable. You could even add a dash of taco seasoning to the sauce!
I get asked if you could use green enchilada sauce. I’m sure you could, but I’ve just never tried it. If you do try it, let me know in the comments section how it turned out! I love to hear how y’all take my recipes and put your own spin on them.
Tips for Perfect Enchilada Crescents:
- Your salsa and enchilada sauce flavors matter! There are only a few ingredients in this recipe, so there are fewer places to get in flavor. With that in mind, be sure to pick your favorite flavorful salsa and enchilada sauce to make these even better. When I was working on the 5 Ingredient Enchiladas, I taste-tested every canned enchilada sauce I could get my hands on and loved the Hatch brand best. It had the most flavor. If you can’t find that brand, see the section above for tips on boosting the flavor of bland enchilada sauce.
- Refrigerate your dough before prepping this dish! Crescent roll dough is easiest to work with when it’s cold, so I keep mine in the fridge until I’m ready to use it. Once it gets warm it stretches easily and can be harder to roll up, which can make for a messy and frustrating prep time. And, speaking of messy…
- It’s going to get messy, and that’s okay! This process is a bit messy when it comes time to stir up your beef mixture and begin filling up and rolling up the crescents. Just don’t worry about it too much. Get as much in each filled crescent as you can and then sprinkle any extra meat mixture or any that fell out of your roll-ups right on top before you bake them.
- Try a variety of toppings! These roll-ups are great all by themselves, but I like to top them with some diced tomatoes, diced avocado, and even a little sour cream. You could also try sprinkling more shredded cheese on top or some green chiles for a little more heat! I’ve even seen people add freshly chopped cilantro. The sky is the limit! Let me know what you try in the comments section below!
Recipe Card
Beef Enchilada Crescent Roll-Ups
Ingredients
- 1/2 pound lean ground beef (I use ground sirloin)
- 1/2 cup salsa
- salt
- pepper
- 1 (12-ounce) can refrigerated Pillsbury Grands! crescent rolls (8 count)
- 1 (8-ounce) package Mexican blend shredded cheese (2 cups)
- 1 (15-ounce) can red enchilada sauce (I use Hatch)
- toppings: sour cream, diced tomato, diced avocado, salsa, etc.
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F and lightly spray a 9×13-inch baking dish with nonstick cooking spray.
- In a large skillet, brown the ground beef over medium heat until cooked through. Drain away excess grease. Add the salsa to the meat in the skillet and cook on low for about 5 minutes or until heated through. Add salt and pepper to taste. Allow to cool slightly.
- Unroll the crescent rolls and place about 2 tablespoons of the meat mixture on the wide ends of each crescent. Add a generous pinch of cheese. Roll up each crescent and place it into the baking dish. It's a messy, imperfect process, so don't worry if some of the filling falls out.
- Pour the enchilada sauce over the crescents and top with the remaining cheese. Leftover meat mixture or filling that fell out when rolling can be sprinkled over the crescents as well.
- Bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until the crescents are golden brown. Allow to cool slightly then serve with toppings of your choice.
Nutrition
* If nutritional values are provided, they are an estimate and will vary depending on the brands used. The values do not include optional ingredients or when ingredients are added to taste. If calorie count and other nutritional values are important to you, I recommend grabbing your favorite brands and plugging those ingredients into an online nutritional calculator.
Melody
I couldn’t find a canned red sauce I trusted so I used the McCormick packets with a can of tomato sauce. I doubled the recipe hoping to have left overs. However, between 3 teenagers and 2 adults the pan of 16 was wiped clean. The kids are asking I show them how to make them and want a redo night later this week. Thank you for a quick and easy recipes. You haven’t shared a recipe yet that my family hasn’t loved.
Thank you so much, Melody! Thrilled to hear everyone enjoyed them so much!
Beth Pegg
I made your Beef Enchilada Crescent Roll-ups for dinner last night. It was a success and will be on my rotating menu.
That’s wonderful to hear! I’m so glad you enjoyed them!!
Yvonne Kallenberger
I will stick to my own enchiladas with real homemade red chile.
Scratch recipes are always best because you can tailor them to your specific tastes. These shortcut recipes do sometimes sacrifice some things to make them super easy. And of course, this wasn’t ever created to replace traditional enchiladas. Sorry you didn’t enjoy this one more.
Sheryl C
Love this, like so many other things I have tried from your website. Quick, easy and flavorful. I bought your cookbook too!
Thank you so much!
Ann
We loved this! But my husband (which is a meat man plus was a meat cutter in our grocery store) said use the whole 1-lb. which we had more meat around the crescent rolls but still delicious! He informed me that this was a keeper! I know I had to change it but that’s how he wanted it! Also, I was able to find Hatch at our local grocery store. Thanks for sharing your great recipes and the progress on your home and test kitchen.
So glad y’all enjoyed it, Ann!
Ann
No Hatch Enchilada Sauce near us; what be a good substitute or what to add to make it better? I was also, wondering if this could be reheated for another meal. Thanks for sharing your great ideas, and recipes! They are really appreciated as there are only two of us like only three of you so usually leftovers.
I’ve also used the La Preferida brand. Otherwise, I usually add a little salt, cumin, and smoked paprika to the more bland sauces.