An enchilada is a Mexican dish made by rolling a soft corn tortilla around a filling, then covering it with chili sauce and baking it. The filling might be cheese, beans, chicken, beef, or vegetables. The word comes from the Spanish verb enchilar, which means “to season with chili.”

When you order enchiladas at a restaurant, they usually arrive on a plate covered in red or green sauce, often topped with melted cheese, sour cream, or fresh cilantro. The tortilla softens as it soaks up the sauce, creating layers of flavor in each bite. While enchiladas originated in Mexico centuries ago, they've become popular throughout the United States and come in many regional varieties.

You might hear someone use the phrase the whole enchilada or the big enchilada to mean the entire thing or the most important part of something. If your teacher says the final project is “the whole enchilada” for your grade, she means it's the main thing that matters. If someone calls himself “the big enchilada,” he's claiming to be the most important person in charge, usually with a bit of humor or exaggeration.