These vegetarian enchiladas are an easy and healthy dinner, filled with veggies like bell peppers, corn, and spinach. Black beans make these vegetable enchiladas extra filling, while homemade enchilada sauce and lots of gooey cheese make them irresistible!
Table of Contents
- Why You’ll Love These Vegetarian Enchiladas
- Watch How To Make Them
- What You’ll Need For Vegetable Enchiladas
- How To Make Vegetarian Enchiladas
- Vegetable Enchilada Variations
- Tips for the Best Vegetarian Enchiladas
- What To Serve with Vegetarian Enchiladas
- Can These Be Prepared In Advance?
- How to Store & Reheat Leftovers
- Can Vegetarian Enchiladas Be Frozen?
- More Easy Mexican Recipes
- Get the Recipe
Why You’ll Love These Vegetarian Enchiladas
These are so many reasons why these vegetable enchiladas have become a family favorite! Here are a few reasons I think you will love this recipe:
- Perfect for Busy Weeknights: With a 7-minute enchilada sauce and only 20 minutes in the oven, these vegetable enchiladas are ready to serve in under 30 minutes. (And you can prep them in advance – see make ahead suggestions below!)
- Healthy and Filling: These vegetarian enchiladas are loaded with good-for-you ingredients like bell peppers, corn, spinach, and protein and fiber packed black beans.
- Loaded with Flavor: From the homemade enchilada sauce to the adobo seasoning and 5+ different types of vegetables, these veggie enchiladas are bursting with flavor.
- Travel Well: If heading to a party where you need to bring a dish, these enchiladas are easily prepared ahead and travel easily to be baked at your final destination! If traveling for over 30 minutes, pack the unbaked enchiladas in a cooler with ice and they are ready to go.
Love enchiladas? Make sure to check out these other popular versions: Sour Cream Chicken Enchiladas, Cheese Enchiladas, or Breakfast Enchiladas that are perfect for when you have overnight guests!
Watch How To Make Them
Want to see how to make these easy vegetarian enchiladas from start to finish? Here’s a step-by-step video:
What You’ll Need For Vegetable Enchiladas
Using frozen veggies and canned beans will help you cut down on prep time so take advantage of the cheats! Full ingredient amounts and detailed directions are located at the bottom of this post in the printable recipe card.
- Homemade Enchilada Sauce: For the best possible vegetarian enchiladas, make your own homemade enchilada sauce. It only takes 7 minutes to make and is extremely flavorful in comparison to store-bought sauce. Not to mention, it’s also healthier!
- Olive Oil
- Garlic: Fresh garlic adds the best flavor, but you can substitute it for 1 tsp garlic powder.
- Onion: White or yellow, both work great.
- Bell Pepper: Use any color of bell pepper you prefer. Yellow, orange and red bell peppers have a milder, sweeter flavor.
- Corn: I recommend fresh or frozen for texture reasons, but you can also use drained and rinsed canned corn.
- Adobo Seasoning: See below!
- Ground Cumin
- Black Beans
- Baby Spinach: Feel free to use fresh or frozen.
- Cilantro: Optional.
- Fiesta Blend Cheese: Any Mexican or Tex-Mex shredded cheese blend will work great.
- Corn Tortillas: You can use Homemade Corn Tortillas or store bought. Flour Tortillas can be used if you prefer them over corn in enchiladas.
What Is Adobo Seasoning?
Adobo seasoning is a mix of salt, garlic powder, dried oregano, black pepper, and ground turmeric. It adds lovely color and wonderful earthiness with a punch of spice and pungency from the black pepper and garlic.
Although it’s not as common as other seasonings, adobo is actually a staple ingredient in many Caribbean and Latin American households because of how easily it adds flavor to foods. You can usually find it in the Latin American section at most supermarkets or online. If you can’t get a hold of any, substitute it for more salt, to taste, in this recipe.
How To Make Vegetarian Enchiladas
These enchiladas come together in minutes, the hardest part is the assembly! Make it a family party and ask the kids to come help stuff and roll enchiladas with you to make it go faster.
- Make Filling: Add olive oil, garlic, onion, bell pepper and corn to a skillet and sauté until just softened. Stir in adobo, cumin and black beans. Add spinach and sauté until wilted. Remove pan from heat. Stir in optional cilantro and 2 cups of cheese.
- Prepare: Preheat oven to 375°F. Lightly spray a 9×13 baking dish with non-stick spray. Pour 3/4 cup enchilada sauce in the bottom of the baking dish and spread evenly.
- Assemble: Working with warmed corn tortillas, spoon about 1/3 cup of the enchilada filling into each tortilla and roll up. Place in the baking dish, seam side down.
- Top: Pour remaining enchilada sauce over them, making sure to cover the entire surface. Sprinkle remaining cheese evenly over the enchiladas.
- Bake: Bake uncovered until hot and bubbly, about 20 minutes. Cool for 5 minutes before serving and sprinkle with extra cilantro. Serve hot!
Vegetable Enchilada Variations
These healthy enchiladas are exquisite, but these variations will help you use up leftover veggies and beans, and even let you play around with the filling and sauce.
- Use leftover beans. If you have leftover beans from frijoles de la olla, frijoles charros, or ranch-style beans, use them for the enchiladas to reduce waste.
- Add leftover veggies. Chop up your leftover veggies and add them to the filling. You can use carrots, squash, and even roasted sweet potatoes.
- Change the filling. Make a completely different filling with zucchini, riced cauliflower, and yellow squash. Follow the recipe, as usual, just change the ingredients.
- Use green salsa. Swap the enchilada salsa for a green one. It’ll feel like a completely different dish! You can also do half and half for the best of both worlds, half the enchiladas with red enchilada sauce and the other half in a green enchilada sauce!
Tips for the Best Vegetarian Enchiladas
Follow these tips for perfect vegetable enchiladas every time:
- Heat the tortillas. Some room-temperature (and cold) tortillas crack the minute you try to roll them. Heat them in the microwave or on the griddle for 10-15 seconds or until pliable enough to roll without breaking.
- Add sauce to the baking dish. Pour enough sauce on the bottom of the baking dish before adding the enchiladas to avoid sticking. You can also line the dish with aluminum foil for easy clean-up too.
- Use flour tortillas. Sometimes you have to work with what’s on hand. If you’re halfway through making the filling and realize you only have flour tortillas, use them!
- Make the sauce in advance. Having some enchilada sauce in the fridge for late-night cravings or last-minute meals will simplify your life a whole lot.
What To Serve with Vegetarian Enchiladas
Enchiladas are served for breakfast and lunch. What you serve with them depends on the time of day although they’re hearty enough to be enjoyed on their own. For breakfast, these are great with a side of scrambled eggs and bacon. Don’t forget the orange juice!
On the other hand, these are great with refried beans or Mexican rice for lunch or dinner. Top them with fresh cilantro, Mexican crema, cotija cheese, and more salsa for an extra flavorful meal. Don’t forget a slice of this easy tres leches cake or a bowl of arroz con leche for dessert!
Can These Be Prepared In Advance?
Absolutely! As long as you don’t pour any sauce over the enchiladas until right before baking, these can be made up to 3 days in advance.
Cover the baking dish with plastic wrap and keep them stored in the fridge. 30 minutes before you are ready to bake them, remove them from the fridge and let them warm up on the counter at room temperature. Then top with sauce and cheese and bake as directed in the recipe.
How to Store & Reheat Leftovers
- Fridge: Refrigerate any cooled leftovers in an airtight container for up to 5 days.
- Reheat: To reheat them, place them in the microwave for up to 1 minute or until warm. You can also bake them at 325°F for 15 to 20 minutes. If you prefer to do it on the stove, place them in a pan over medium-low heat. Cover them and let them heat for 10 to 15 minutes.
Can Vegetarian Enchiladas Be Frozen?
Yes! Assemble the uncooked enchiladas and place them in a freezer-friendly container, I like to use a disposable foil casserole dish. Freeze them for up to 3 months. To bake:
- Thaw First: Thaw them for 24 hours in the fridge and then bake as directed.
- Bake From Frozen: Cover enchiladas with foil and bake them for 30 minutes. Remove foil from the top and bake for an additional 10 to 15 minutes, until hot and bubbly.
More Easy Mexican Recipes
- Mexican Chicken Adobo
- Mexican Street Corn Salad (Esquites)
- Colorado Green Chili (Chili Verde)
- Chile Rellenos in Cream Sauce (Rajas Con Crema)
- Calabacitas Recipe (Mexican Squash)
- Camote con Dulce (Mexican Candied Sweet Potatoes)
- Chicken Taquitos (Taquitos de Pollo)
Vegetarian Enchiladas
Ingredients
- 1 batch homemade enchilada sauce, or 28 oz store bought red enchilada sauce
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 large yellow onion, diced
- 1 large bell pepper, seeded and diced
- 2 cups fresh or frozen corn
- 1 teaspoon adobo seasoning
- ¼ teaspoon cumin
- 1 can (15 oz) black beans, rinsed and drained
- 16 oz fresh baby spinach
- ½ cup chopped cilantro, optional
- 16 oz shredded fiesta blend cheese, or any Mexican blend cheese
- 16 (6-inch) corn tortillas, or flour tortillas
Instructions
- In a large skillet, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the garlic, onion, bell pepper, and corn. Sauté until just softened. Stir in adobo, cumin and black beans.
- Add the spinach and sauté until wilted, about 2 minutes. Remove pan from heat. Stir in the optional cilantro and 2 cups of cheese. Set aside.
- Preheat oven to 375°F. Lightly spray a 9×13 baking dish with non-stick spray. Pour 3/4 cup of the enchilada sauce into the bottom of the baking dish and spread it into an even layer.
- Wrap corn tortillas in a damp paper towel and microwave for 30 seconds, until warmed and pliable.
- Then working quickly, spoon about 1/3 cup of the enchilada filling into each tortilla and roll up. Place in the baking dish, seam side down. Continue filling enchiladas and pack the filled tortillas tightly into the baking dish until filled.
- Pour remaining enchilada sauce over them, making sure to cover the entire surface. Sprinkle remaining cheese evenly over the enchiladas.
- Bake uncovered until hot and bubbly, about 20 minutes. Cool for 5 minutes before serving and garnish with extra cilantro, if desired. Serve hot!
Video
Notes
- Thaw First: Thaw them for 24 hours in the fridge and then bake as directed.
- Bake From Frozen: Cover enchiladas with foil and bake them for 30 minutes. Remove foil from the top and bake for an additional 10 to 15 minutes, until hot and bubbly.
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