Out of all of the recipes on my Weekly Meal Plan, this is the one we were most excited about!
I first made vegan enchiladas with ‘cheeze’ sauce almost a year ago and Eric has been gushing about them ever since. I must agree that I really don’t make them enough…and I’m not sure why because I’m crazy about them.
Last night, I jazzed up the original recipe and the outcome was so drool-worthy we found ourselves forgetting that they didn’t contain- or even need- cheese. Now that is a good vegan enchilada!
For this version, I made a creamy green sauce made from Cilantro, avocado (the cream!), lime, and a few other spices that served as a decadent topping for the sweet potato, black bean, spinach, and pepper enchiladas.
They satisfied our every craving…and then some.
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Sweet Potato, Black Bean, Spinach, and Pepper Vegan Enchiladas
Adapted from Time Crunch Vegan Enchiladas.
Yield: 4 Enchiladas
Ingredients:
- 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1 onion, chopped (~2 cups)
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 cup sweet potato, chopped (or zucchini)
- 1 bell pepper, chopped
- 2 handfuls spinach, chopped
- 1 can black beans (~2 cups), drained and rinsed
- Enchilada sauce or Pasta sauce (about 2.5 cups)* see note
- 1 tbsp nutritional yeast (optional)
- 1.5 tsp ground cumin
- 1-2 tbsp fresh lime juice, to taste
- 1/2 tsp kosher salt, or to taste
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp chili powder, or to taste
- 4 whole grain tortilla wraps (I used Food for Life Ezekiel)
- Cilantro Avocado Cream Sauce, to pour on top (recipe below)
- Green onion & chopped cilantro, to garnish
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350F and grab a baking dish large enough for 4 enchiladas. Pre-cook the chopped sweet potato, by simmering it in a small pot of water for about 5-10 minutes until just tender. Do not overcook. Drain and set aside.
2. In a large skillet or pot, add 1 tbsp oil and bring to medium to low heat. Add in the chopped onion and cook for about 5 minutes, stirring often, until translucent. Add in garlic and reduce heat to low and cook for a couple more minutes. Now add the chopped pepper, pre-cooked sweet potato, drained black beans, and chopped spinach. Cook for about 5-7 more minutes on medium-low heat.
3. Now add in your enchilada or pasta sauce. Stir well, and add in your seasonings: nutritional yeast (optional), cumin, fresh lime juice, salt, garlic powder, chili powder- all to taste. Adjust seasonings if necessary. Stir well.
4. Scoop about 3/4-1 cup of the mixture onto the bottom of your casserole dish and spread out in a thin layer. Scoop about 1/2-3/4 cup of the mixture onto each tortilla and wrap, placing the fold down on the casserole dish. Repeat for the remaining 3 tortillas and leave a bit of filling left to spread over the top. Sprinkle with vegan cheese if preferred.
5. Bake tortillas at 350F for 18-20 minutes. Meanwhile, make your Cilantro cream sauce (see below). When enchiladas are cooked, remove from oven and pour the sauce over top. Garnish with chopped cilantro and green onion. Serve immediately. Makes 4 enchiladas.
Note: Depending on what kind of sauce you use, you will have to adjust the seasonings to taste. I used a pasta sauce so I likely needed more seasonings to achieve the taste I desired.
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Make your filling and adjust all seasonings to taste.
Fill and roll your tortilla wraps, placing fold side down in the dish. You can sprinkle vegan cheese on them before baking if you prefer.
Prepare the cream sauce while baking the enchiladas.
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Cilantro Avocado Cream Sauce
Inspired by Kathy’s Cashew Cream Sauce.
Yield: ~1.25-1.5 cups
Ingredients:
- 1 & 1/4 cup avocado flesh
- 2 tbsp water, or more as needed to thin out
- 2-3 tbsp lime juice, to taste
- 1 tsp apple cider vinegar (optional)
- 1 cup packed fresh cilantro
- 1 tsp kosher salt, to taste
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 3/4 tsp ground cumin
- Black pepper, to taste
- Red pepper flakes or cayenne pepper, to taste
Directions:
1. In a food processor, process the avocado flesh and water until creamy. Now add in the rest of the ingredients and process until smooth and well blended. Use immediately for best results.
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When the enchiladas are done cooking, spread the Cilantro avocado sauce over top, sprinkle with cilantro and green onion and eat your heart out!
A couple hints:
1) Due to the avocado in the cream sauce, this sauce needs to be used immediately for best results. If you plan on having leftovers, my advice is to wrap the leftover enchiladas without sauce and store in the fridge. You can try storing leftover sauce in an air-tight container for up to one day or you can make a half batch and make fresh sauce as needed.
2) These would probably be tasty with Nacho Cheeze Sauce too.
We both loved ‘em. A bit too much maybe because we were totally stuffed afterwards! They would also make a fun meal if you are celebrating Cinco de Mayo tomorrow.
After taking his last pleasurable bite, Eric proclaimed, ‘I predict this is the best recipe all week.’
We shall see husband, we shall see. ;)
Made these tonight, delicious! I’m dabbling in vegan recipes and didn’t miss the cheese in these at all.
I made them tonight from your cookbook and they are amazing! Definitely one of my favorites. I’ve loved every recipe from the book so far, will make these again!
OK, this has to be said. Your creativity is to be commended. These look and sound good to eat. I like to get jiggy in the kitchen as well. These are NOT enchiladas. Call them whatever you want, but not enchiladas. I was born and raised in New Mexico. We eat chile all day every day. Enchilada means “in chile” literally. 1 teaspoon of dried chili does not an enchilada make! And corn tortillas are the only way to go. You have a hipster burrito here. We need to quit diluting everyone’s cultural foundations, especially in the food world. I am not trying to diminish your efforts on the vegans behalf, but it you create a new dish why not give it a new name. Looks more like savory guacamole crepes with a flour based tortilla. Best Regards, John
You know, It’s funny, my boyfriend is Hispanic and always laughs about enchiladas with cheese in them. That’s not how they are prepared in Mexico. Silly!
The official way to prepare RED enchiladas is to take a warmed corn tortilla and dip it in a bowl of warmed up red enchilada sauce, fry it in oil for a little bit (this helps set the sauce into the tortilla), remove and roll whatever tastiness you want in, and plate it. Also, they don’t bake them in the oven! This made so much sense to me and its so easy!
GREEN enchiladas are a completely different story…you warm up the tortillas, add the filling, put on plate, and pour the sauce over the top. Sprinkle on some red onion and cilantro and drizzle a little sour cream on top and Voila!
I’m sure you could work this into an all vegan enchilada doing it the “traditional” way…I feel like I was so blind all these years with my “fake” enchiladas. Haha! :)
I made these tonight and followed the recipe exactly. I love the Ezekiel tortillas. I will use these every time now! They kept their shape well, and besides, they are sprouted whole wheat (REAL FOOD!). These were absolutely WONDERFUL!!! This recipe has found its way into my digital box for posterity purposes. Thank you again for a delicious, healthy, and kind-life recipe. I don’t know how many times I say this, but I am so happy I found your blog. Bless you….
these were amazing. I used corn tortillas and made a layered casserole. took to a potluck and everyone loved it! making more to put in freezer!
This recipe is a great idea, just one important thing, we mexicans don’t eat enchiladas in wheat tortilla. We eat them in corn tortilla, I’m trying this the real mexican way, I’m sure is going to be delicious, thanks for sharing.
I gave these a shot the other not and what a hit! My girlfriend absolutely loved them and the leftovers made a slamming lunch the next day!!!
I have just made these and they were so good!! My husband ate two and a half whahaha. He is not a vegan, but he said they are so delicious…you could serve them when we have company. And I can tell you that is a great compliment coming from him! Thank you for this great recipe :-)
I made these the other night and they are great! Easy to cook and make for yummy leftovers. I haven’t ever had sweet potato and black beans together and I was a bit skeptical that they would go together but I was very pleasantly surprised!
I made these. THIS RECIPE IS AMAZING! Thanks so much for sharing it!
This is seriously my favorite meal EVER. I am from Texas and eat Tex-Mex 3-4 times a week… and this still blows my taste buds away every time I eat them! I am making these as a welcome home dinner for a friend soon and I can’t wait to have 2.. or 3… or 4… or the whole tray of them! :)
Oh…..My…….Goodness!! I have made these enchiladas more than once and I absolutely love them!! I made the avocado cream sauce without the cilantro and it is still to die for (for those cilantro dislikers like myself). Thank you, thank you, thank you for this recipe! Oh yeah and the meat eating boyfriend even approves ;-)
I made these and they were spectacular! A new family staple in the rotation. Thanks.
What a great recipe! These will be my go-to enchiladas from now on! I used zucchini instead of sweet potatoes and two kinds of bell peppers as well as hot portugal peppers from the farmer’s market. Next time I will give the sweet potatoes (and maybe even the cheeze sauce) a try! I absolutely loved the avocado cilantro cream sauce! Who needs cheese on your enchiladas when you have creamy, buttery avocado cream to spread on top?! For my fiance’s enchiladas I had to add chicken and cheese per his request (more like demand haha). Most of the time I can get him to eat vegan meals with me but sometimes he just misses the meat. Maybe one day he will see things my way… Either way, these enchiladas were a hit with both of us! I hope I can make these for our next summer get-together. I know they would be a hit!! Thanks for the wonderful recipes as always :)
I made this tonight and they were great! I’ve made a handful of your other recipes, and they never disappoint. I only fully cooked 2 enchiladas and put the rest of the mixture into the fridge to bake during the week for quick dinners. Thanks for a tasty, healthy recipe!
I just made a deconstructed version of this recipe -delicious! And that avocado cream – well, avocado and coriander (cilantro) is a match made in heaven.
Angela,
Your recipes really are fool-proof!
Today, I missed the opportunity to get to the grocery store and needed dinner in a pinch before my night shift at work.
I had been drooling over your Mexican recipes all day (enchilada casserole, eh) and decided I must make these enchiladas work.
I only had a few things in my fridge from my shopping trip almost two weeks ago.
The leftover kale, half a purple onion, yellow bell pepper, whole tomatoes, and can of black beans I scored on (along with an air-tight container of prepped breakfast potatoes) were all I needed to make this recipe work!
I made your enchilada sauce from scratch with two tomatoes I put in the food processor and the last dollop of tomato paste remaining in the tube. My boyfriend went nuts over it! (He even said it had a nice “kick,” we too love spicy foods)
Something I added to the recipe (sauce) was *mushroom powder and vegan worcestershire sauce .
And to plump up the filling, I added some browned, cubed Boca veggie burgers…mmmm, nom nom.
This recipe is THE BOMB.
I couldn’t stop myself from taking spoonfuls along the way of the filling.
-Elyssa
**The mushroom powder and worcestershire sauce will do ~amazing~ things to veggie burgers, meatballs, etc. You can find these items at the Asian grocer along with the spices. The mushroom powder is a healthy vegan alternative to MSG, to add a savory flavor.
Hey Elyssa, So glad you enjoyed the enchiladas! Love all your additions too. :)
P.S.- The thing I love the most about your recipes is that I can basically cook them with scraps.
These are a poor man’s meal! And delicious too ;)
This dish is absolutely delicious. I did not do the cheez sauce and I used an enchilada sauce, everything about this dish is fantabulously tasting. My kids loved it. Thank you for all your awesome recipes, we have made quite a few of them and they have all made it to the “make again” category :)