Before I get to this insanely delicious recipe, I want to let you know what I’ve been up to this month! Some of you have seen on Snapchat that I’ve been behind the lens each day for a very special photography project—which includes shooting more than 60 brand-new recipe photos! It’s been pretty crazy around here and I haven’t had a day off in ages, but it’s really coming together beautifully. Eric even helped me create a dedicated photography space in our empty dining room and it’s been nice to have a set area to shoot (why did it take me so long to do this?). We’re gearing up to share this new project with you late winter, and I appreciate your patience as things will continue to be a bit slower around here as I complete the photography project this month. If you want to see all the behind-the-scenes action, follow along on Snapchat (username: angelaliddon).
I’m also happy to announce that we’re gearing up to kick off a brand-new newsletter! It’s going to be packed with all kinds of beautiful photos, recipes, life updates, tips/tricks, and sneak peeks/insider info (such as on the aforementioned project!). Since it has been so long since I sent out a newsletter (probably 1.5 to 2 years), we’re starting fresh and asking you to sign up again. This is because we want to make sure our subscribers truly want to receive our newsletter; the goal is to connect with you in a meaningful way — not to spam unsuspecting inboxes! I’m all about quality over quantity. Once you’ve signed up you will get an email asking you to confirm your subscription, and you’ll need to click the link to activate the fun. The first newsletter is expected to go out this month with a special Valentine’s Day theme (va va voom!), so keep your eyes peeled! Sign up here:
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For those of you who have been asking if my next cookbook has a release date, I’m thrilled to tell you that it will release on September 6, 2016. Not too long to go now! You can now pre-order the book in Canada via Amazon.ca and Chapters/Indigo (many more retailers to come). We don’t have a cover yet, but of course I will share the preview with you as soon as I can!
As you can see there are a lot of fun things coming up in 2016. More on all of this very soon…
This recipe is honestly one of my favourite entrees in a very long time and I’m so excited to share it with you. This is the recipe to make when you want to blow your friends and family away. Trust me on this one. It’s a spin-off of my favourite vegan enchilada recipe from way back in 2011. Why the heck has it taken me so long to make another? Well, to be honest, I didn’t think I could improve upon that recipe, but I was wrong…very wrong. This version is even more flavourful, satisfying, and robust thanks to the addition of smoky roasted red peppers, umami-rich sun-dried tomatoes, and my favourite homemade enchilada sauce. I top it all off with a decadent cashew cream that’s flavored with cilantro, garlic, and lime. Yowza. This is winter comfort food at its best!
Featuring all new, protein-packed salads, hearty toppers, flavour boosters, and dressings you'll want to drink, my new cookbook will transform the way you think about salads. Oh, and be sure to flip to the back for a surprise dessert chapter!
Next Level Vegan Enchiladas
Yield
6 large enchiladas
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
These mild- to moderate-heat enchiladas will change your life! A delicious homemade Enchilada Sauce smothers a sweet potato, roasted red pepper, sun-dried tomato, and black bean filling wrapped in soft tortillas. After baking, I top it all off with a decadent Cilanto-Lime-Garlic Cashew Cream, green onion, cilantro, red pepper flakes, and chopped avocado. This dish will blow your taste buds away, I can promise you that! Please note that the prep time includes making the enchilada sauce and cashew cream in addition to the enchiladas. Yes, it's a labour-intensive recipe for sure, but you can save time the day of by prepping the cashew cream and enchilada sauce the day before.
Ingredients
For the enchiladas:
- 2 cups (260 g) peeled and chopped (1/2-inch dice) sweet potato
- 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 medium red onion, diced (2 to 2 1/2 cups)
- 3 large garlic cloves, minced
- 1 cup jarred roasted red pepper, drained and chopped
- 1/2 cup oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes, drained and finely chopped
- 2 cups baby spinach, roughly chopped
- 1 (14-ounce/398 mL) can black beans (about 1 1/2 cups), drained and rinsed
- 2 1/2 cups Homemade Enchilada Sauce (1 batch)
- 1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt, or to taste
- 5 to 6 medium/large soft tortilla wraps
For the toppings:
- Cilantro-Lime-Garlic Cashew Cream
- Chopped green onion, red pepper flakes, avocado, and cilantro
Directions
- Prepare the Homemade Enchilada Sauce and soak the cashews for the Cilantro-Lime-Garlic Cashew Cream before you begin.
- Lightly grease a large rectangular baking dish (at least 8x12 inches). Set aside.
- Add the chopped sweet potato into a medium pot of water and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 9 to 15 minutes, uncovered, until fork tender. Drain and set aside. You can also steam the potatoes until tender, instead of boiling.
- In a large skillet, stir together the oil, onion, and garlic and sauté over medium heat for around 3 to 5 minutes until the onion softens. Season with a pinch of salt and pepper.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C).
- Add the chopped roasted peppers, sun-dried tomatoes, cooked/drained sweet potato, spinach, and black beans. Cook for 3 to 5 minutes over medium-high heat, until the spinach is wilted.
- Stir in 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons of homemade enchilada sauce, followed by the lime juice, chili powder, cumin, and salt. Adjust seasonings to taste, if desired.
- Add 3/4 cup of Enchilada Sauce onto the bottom of your casserole dish and spread it out evenly.
- Scoop 3/4 cup of the sweet potato and black bean filling onto each tortilla. Roll up the tortilla and place it, seam side down, in the casserole dish. Repeat for the rest. If you have any leftover filling, you can spread it on top of the tortillas. Spread all of the remaining enchilada sauce on top of the tortillas until they are completely covered in sauce.
- Bake the enchiladas, uncovered, at 350⁰F (180°C) for 20 to 25 minutes, until the sauce is a deep red colour and the enchiladas are heated through.
- While the enchiladas are baking, prepare the Cilantro-Lime-Garlic Cashew Cream.
- When enchiladas are ready to serve, add half of the cashew cream into a baggie, snip off the corner, and “pipe” the sauce all over the enchiladas. Alternatively, you can simply spread or dollop the sauce on top of each enchilada. Garnish with chopped cilantro, avocado, red pepper flakes, and green onion. Serve any remaining cashew cream on the side with a spoon.
Tip:
- Make it kid-friendly: Omit the cayenne and red pepper flakes.
I made this tonight – WOW! It’s so delicious. It’s now my new favourite recipe. Thank you Angela.
It’s definitely a new fave around here too, Jocelyn! So glad you enjoyed the enchiladas.
This is one of my favorite meals I have ever made. I have made them twice. I’m hoping I can even get my meat loving parents on board when they come for Christmas this year. The cashew cream sauce is showing up in our other Mexican dishes now too.
So glad to hear it, Kristina! It’s big fave around our house, for sure. Hopefully it’ll be a hit with your parents on their holiday visit, too!
Ah-mazing recipe, I made it last week and my boyfriend requested it again this week! The cashew cream sauce with cilantro and lime really gives the dish that perfect pop of flavour.
Happy to hear the enchiladas were a hit, Claire! :)
Fantastic! This has a much more complex flavour than many of the other vegan enchiladas I have made. Followed it to a T (although I tend to be quite liberal with my Cumin). A vegetarian, but I am not always a fan of sweet potatoes (I know…bad vegetarian), but this had such a nice balance, so if you are not a sweet potato fan don’t be put off. Takes a while but worth it. Thank you!
I just made this recipe from the cookbook. I made it following the directions. This recipe is amazing good. The Enchilada Sauce is fantastic! The avocado-cilantro cream sauce is unbelievable good. I will eat that cream sauce on EVERYTHING! I can’t wait to make this dish for others. Thank you so much for your fun, tasty recipes!! In the cookbook the next recipe is the crowd-pleasing tex-mex casserole, which is really is! I’ve made it twenty times; always a winner.
Aw, thanks so much for the awesome comment Patrice!! I’m so happy to hear you’ve been enjoying everything so far! :)
So very delicious! I made this recipe this past Sunday for a Vegan themed get together and it was a hit!
Glad they were a hit!
OH MY VEGAN GOODNESS!!! I made this recipe last night for me and my husband, who are recently vegan. I have to say that I rarely ever follow a recipe exactly. There is always something I think it needs or something that I don’t think should be in there. THIS RECIPE IS PERFECTION. I followed it to the tee, no additions or subtraction necessary and it was absolutely AMAZING! My husband, who is having a harder time giving up meat and dairy loved it. He said, “There is no cheese in this?” I said “No, are you missing it?” and he said “No, not at all.” I also made the Enchilada Sauce and the Cilantro Lime Cashew Cream. So yummy, I will definitely be adding this to my list of successes and can’t wait to get your cookbook and try more of these recipes.’
I’m glad this recipe was such a hit, Chlayne! I’m grinning ear to ear.
Omg these were the BEST enchiladas I’ve ever had. I’m not vegan but my fiancé is and I always cook a big meal for him when we have a night off together. He always eats Amy’s vegan enchiladas from the freezer section in the grocery store and he said these do not even compare to hers! Thank you so much for this recipe. This is def in our rotation!!!!!
Aw, thank you Veronica!! I’m smiling ear to ear. :) I’m so glad the enchiladas were a hit!
This recipe took a lot of preparation time, but it was so worth it! It is super-savory with the roasted red peppers and the sun-dried tomatoes. I only made one tiny alteration; I added a little Daiya mozzarella to the mix and then sprinkled some on top during the last 15 minutes of baking. I did it for the texture rather than flavor enhancement; I just always associate Mexican food with cheese. Everybody in the family loved them. The cilantro sauce has a taste and texture that is reminiscent of sour cream, and really enhanced the overall experience. Thanks for the wonderful recipe. I’ll make again for sure!
I’m glad the whole family enjoyed the enchiladas, Sandy! That cheese sounds like a DELISH addition, too. Yum!
The enchilada recipe was super delicious, even though time consuming. Glad I made double recipe to have extras for my work week lunches and for my husband. LOVED the enchilada sauce and will be making it again.
Didn’t make the cream. Just garnished with chopped avocados instead, cause I’m lazy. Don’t normally write reviews either.. but this was soooooo delicious. I’m normally not fond of sweet potatoes but I decided to give this recipe a go since it was a well reviewed vegan enchilada recipe. BLOWN AWAY
Thanks for the recipe :)
Awh, thanks so much for taking the time to comment, Anne!! I’m so happy to hear you enjoyed the enchiladas.
My family and I are not vegan nor are we vegetarians. I do like to try different foods and eat and make healthy meals. I read great reviews on the cookbook from this author and ordered it yesterday but I got inspired and decided to try this recipe I found online tonight. Let me tell you, this is crazy good!!! My husband, myself and our two teenagers absolutely loved it and now I really can’t wait for my cookbook to show up.
so so so good, will definitely make again! the filling was very flavorful, the sauce was great (and easy) and the crema!!!!!!!!!!! delicious!!!
I am so excited to try this recipe this weekend. I also absolutely LOVE the serving tray this is on. Are you willing to share where it is from?
Thanks in advance!
Made these last night for my sister and I. They are incredibly tasty. Instead of adding the enchilada sauce to the mix inside the tortillas, I added the cilantro garlic cream. I was glad I did, I think the enchilada sauce inside would have been overkill and they tasted amazing. Next time I make them, I will make the sauce more wet. The cilantro garlic cream sauce is to die for and I will definitely triple that recipe since I ran out after only half the enchiladas were gone.
Such an amazing recipe! Made these last night for a dinner party and the two sheet of them were completely devoured. Prepping the sauce and crema beforehand was extremely helpful in throwing these together faster. Will definitely be making these again!
Hi Cecilia, I’m so happy everyone enjoyed the enchiladas!
My partner really struggles with the idea of no meat in meals, (he grew with a meat and no veg kind of family) and I’ve made many of vegan dishes for him.
This is the only dish so far that he thinks is absolutely amazing without meat. Thank you dreena! Cashew cream with it just added perfect to perfect. Delicious!
Ive been following this website for many years and have made a few things but not many, I wasn’t vegan before, just very healthy. Recently, I became vegan and have been starving for something new. This took me almost 3 hours to make but man! Was it ever worth it!! It was amazing, honestly, just amazing. The cashew cream with the avocado and just enough spice with the sweet potato…..just divine. Thanks so much, you do such amazing work!!!
Oh, I’m so happy you enjoyed this recipe, Kasie. It definitely takes a bit of time, but I agree–the results are so worth it! ;)
This is delicious. We enjoyed them tonight. Love the Garlic Cashew Cream. Yum.
I’ve made this recipe at least 10 times in the last year. My non-vegan husband raves about this dish, and it’s one of my favorites! Thank You.
I use corn tortillas, and layer them with the filling, sauce, and Daiya cheddar cheese (similar to how you would with a lasagna) twice over. I also have to make 2X the Cashew Cream recipe because I wind up eating half of it with a spoon. Absolutely wonderful!
Oh, I’m so happy to hear you’re loving the recipe, Rachel!!