Vegetarian Enchilada Recipe

Delicious vegetarian enchilada recipe with a mix of beans, mushrooms and sweet corn. Crunchy on the outside and loaded with flavorful veggie filling inside. All this goodness is topped with Quick Enchilada Sauce and plenty of melted cheese.

Traditional Enchilada recipe is made with corn tortillas, smothered in red sauce, filled with a simple cheese & onion filling or even chicken, beef are one of the staple recipes in Mexican cuisine. Or nowadays any enchilada can be customized to your taste. Get creative 🙂

This black bean and sweet corn vegetarian enchilada recipe is budget-friendly, incredibly flavorful, and is nearly impossible to mess up.

This is a very easy and let’s say ”lighter” enchilada version rather than filled heavily with ground beef or chicken. Beans and corn are one of the oldest and best combinations for burritos and wraps, paired with mushrooms and diced onions, Enchilada sauce, and plenty of cheese – a new favorite Enchilada recipe has been born 🙂

Which kind of tortillas can i use for enchiladas?

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For gluten-free options use gluten-free tortillas (but not sold everywhere. Also, another great choice is to use Corn tortillas, this way you’ll also be making traditional enchiladas. But any other tortillas of your choice will work too.)

Corn tortillas (or any tortillas) are more flexible and easier to roll if heated first. There are two options that I recommend for this.

First choice:

Wrap them in foil and bake in a 350°F oven for 10 minutes.

Second choice:

Flash fry Tortillas: In a deeper skillet or saucepan, heat up some vegetable oil. Add enough oil so it will cover the tortilla entirely once you dip them in.

When the oil is heated, take one tortilla at a time (using cooking tongs) and dip in bubbly oil for 10 seconds. Don’t ‘’fry’’ them or cook, just dip and remove to a side plate lined with a kitchen towel/paper. The idea is to warm and soften tortillas to ease the rolling and prevent cracks/tearing. 

I used 8 inch tortillas for this recipe but 6 or 7 inch will work too as they fit most of the pans, even smaller than 9 x 13 inch casserole. This fits about 9 enchiladas.

You can place the enchiladas in the middle of the dish in one row (rectangular baking dish) or spread them evenly in a row and place few around the side(s) (square baking dish). 

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Ingredients for Veggie Enchiladas

For the Filling

• ½ from whole red onion, diced
• ½ cup canned sweet corn
• 1 cup cheese (cheddar or Monterey)
• 3-4 cup canned black beans, drained
• Salt & pepper to taste
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• ¼ tsp ground cinnamon
• 8 pcs baby champignon or small mushrooms of choice, diced
• Vegetable oil for cooking (I use grapeseed oil)

Enchiladas

• 1 ½ cups Enchilada Sauce + 2 tbsp
• 8 gluten free, corn or your favorite tortillas 8’’, warmed in the oven prior

How to make Vegetarian Enchilada recipe

Prep. Preheat oven to 400 F.

Grease casserole (9 x 13) with oil.

Cook. In a medium pan over medium heat, warm 2-3 tablespoons of vegetable oil and cook onion for a minute. Add in mushrooms, spices and cook until mushrooms are golden brown. Cover with a lid and set aside.

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Prep the filling. In a medium bowl mix black beans, sweet corn, onion and mushroom mix, salt and pepper, cheese (¼ cup) and 2 tablespoons of Enchilada Sauce. 

Roll. Take one tortilla (warmed) and add 1 heaping tablespoon of the filling in the middle of the tortilla, roll it together and set aside on a plate (seam side down). 

Bake. Pour ¼ cup of Enchilada Sauce in the casserole and tilt slightly to make sure that the bottom of the dish is covered with sauce.

Fill the dish with rolled tortillas, brush them with vegetable oil and pour the sauce on top. Bake for 20 minutes. 

Make ahead Enchiladas instructions

These Vegetarian Enchiladas make an easy cheat meal idea and are perfect to make ahead.

Follow all the steps as directed in this recipe instructions but don’t pour in the sauce before ready to bake (you can store the rolled up enchiladas in the baking dish (no sauce) or on a plate/container). Cover the rolled enchiladas tightly with plastic wrap or tight cover, refrigerate overnight. When ready to use, pour in the sauce (bottom & top), add cheese, and bake as instructed. 

Helpful Tips

• Corn tortillas (or any tortillas) are more flexible and easier to roll if heated first. Wrap them in foil and bake in a 350°F oven for 10 minutes.

• Another option is to dip each tortilla into Enchilada sauce before adding the filling. Depending on the sauce, enchiladas may taste extra hot. I like to control the amount of heat in my enchiladas, hence why I always add the sauce on top only (or use more mild sauce and add more). 

• Sauce – pour the sauce over enchiladas either just in the middle or all over the baking dish if you like more saucy enchiladas! Plus top with cheese all over, yummy!

How to customize

I have made different varieties of these, but black beans, mushrooms(i love anything with mushrooms!) and corn are my favorite. However I strongly recommend to try other filling ideas:

Vegetarian:

• Kidney beans, black beans and lentils mix

• Add rice

• Sweet potatoes & kale or spinach (Also delicious combo, try my Vegan Sweet Potato, Chickpea and Kale Tacos)

• Vegan taco meat filling (Vegan Meat Tacos)

• Cheese & onion/garlic 

• Mushrooms

Meat & seafood:

• Pulled/shredded Chicken + corn + cream cheese (must try similar flavor: Creamy Chicken Tacos which is one of the most popular recipes on this blog)

• Cheese and pulled chicken (any will work, for quick solution: rotisserie chicken)

• Shrimp & garlicky enchiladas

• Beef, beans and corn or Carnitas (mexican slow cooker pulled pork)

• White fish enchiladas (any white fish fillets will work) – think Haddock, snapper, barramundi, cod, Halibut, John Dory, monkfish, tilapia.

• Pulled pork enchiladas

Tip: Try some variations but with different combinations of tortillas like corn, wheat, naturally colored tortillas with spinach/sun-dried tomatoes/beetroot/carrots/poblano peppers/curry/turmeric. 

Topping ideas for Enchiladas

Like any other Mexican style dish is NOT complete without TOPPINGS.

Let’s see what are the best options for this:

• Diced avocados

• Pico de gallo (authentic Mexican salsa)

• Chile con Queso – a cheesy dip that consists of melted cheese and chili peppers.

• Avocado crema – mix of avocado, sour cream and lime/lemon juice.

• Guacamole

• Hot sauce

• Jalapenos (fresh or marinated/pickled)

• Diced tomatoes

• Cilantro/Coriander chopped or whole leaves

• Lime wedges

• Cherry tomatoes cut in half

• Black olives (pitted & sliced)

• Corn (canned or fresh)

• Cotija cheese or feta cheese

• Sour cream or plain greek yogurt (also coconut yogurt will taste delish!)

• Pickled cabbage

If you try this recipe, please leave a comment and a star rating below.  I’d love it if you would share it on Facebook or pin it to your favorite recipe board on Pinterest! Your feedback is so important and it helps other TYB readers who are planning to make this recipe. Thank you, appreciated!

I hope this vegetarian enchilada recipe will become a popular weeknight or weekend dinner in your family! Enjoy!

Thank you,

Julia

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Note: Nutrition information is estimated and varies based on products used.

Full Nutrition Disclaimer can be found here.

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