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These vegan enchiladas are total perfection! With a creamy, refried bean filling, and a simple yet delicious homemade enchilada sauce. A great lunch or dinner recipe to throw together for your family or friends!
What Makes This Recipe So Good
- It has all the intense flavors of traditional enchiladas, but are entirely vegan! A homemade enchilada sauce tastes extra special atop hand-rolled and stuffed tortillas. They’re loaded with veggies and an assortment of plant-based ingredients!
- They’re a total crowd-favorite! No one ever misses the meat or cheese in this Mexican-inspired vegan dish. Make a double batch of vegan enchiladas for friends and family, and be prepared for second helpings!
- It’s a comforting meal, made healthy! Warm spices and creamy refried beans make this lunch or dinner recipe oh-so comforting. While plenty of veggies such as corn, spinach, and bell peppers keep things light and healthy!
Key Ingredients
Vegetable Broth – This simple vegan swap replaces the chicken broth found in most traditional red enchilada sauce recipes. It’s the base to our sauce, and helps to amp up the flavor. Though if you’re not vegan or vegetarian, you can use chicken or beef broth instead.
Refried Beans – Any canned refried beans will work in this recipe, though I prefer these homemade refried beans! The refried beans also pack in a ton of delicious flavor, as well as a perfectly creamy texture. Not to mention, beans contain lots of protein and will keep you feeling full and satisfied until your next meal!
Tortillas – Either corn or flour tortillas will work in this vegan enchiladas recipe. Whichever tortillas you use, I recommend wrapping them in a damp paper towel and microwaving them for about 1 minute or until pliable. By warming the tortillas, they will be much easier to roll around the filling without tearing!
Chef’s Tips
- You can freeze this meal for up to 3 months! To do this, prepare the recipe as instructed, and right before baking, wrap them tightly in plastic wrap and foil. Then, once ready to eat, defrost the tray of enchiladas in the fridge before baking as instructed.
- Feel free to add extra veggies into the filling! Some cauliflower rice, or finely chopped mushrooms would make delicious and healthy additions to this recipe.
- If not vegan, top these enchiladas with a sprinkling of shredded cheese before baking. Or, for a more authentic touch, sprinkle on a little queso blanco after baking. And, be sure to finish everything off with a bit of fresh chopped cilantro – yum!
More Easy Vegan Recipes You’ll Love
- Vegan Potato Soup
- Pinto Bean Soup
- Lemongrass Tofu with Red Thai Chili Peppers
- Vegan Fried “Chicken”
- How to Cook Tempeh
- Vegan Latkes
Vegan Enchiladas
Equipment
- Large skillet
- Baking dish
Ingredients
For the Enchilada Sauce
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 3 tablespoons all purpose flour see Notes
- 1 tablespoon chili powder
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon cumin
- ½ teaspoon dried oregano
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 2 cups vegetable broth
- 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
For the Enchiladas
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- ½ of one medium red onion chopped
- 1 medium bell pepper chopped
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 4 cups fresh spinach
- 1 15-ounce can sweet corn drained
- 2 cups refried beans store-bought or make your own
- salt to taste
- 8 7-inch flour tortillas or corn tortillas, see Notes
- avocado for serving
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375° Fahrenheit.
- Make the enchilada sauce by heating olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Sprinkle in flour and whisk together, cook for 2 minutes.
- Whisk in chili powder, garlic powder, cumin, dried oregano, salt, and tomato paste. Cook for 3-5 minutes or until very fragrant.
- Pour in vegetable broth and apple cider vinegar, bring to a boil then reduce to a simmer for 5-7 minutes or until sauce has thickened. Remove from heat and set aside.
- Make the enchilada filling by heating olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat, then sauté red onion, bell pepper, and garlic in oil for about 4-5 minutes or until soft.
- Add in spinach and corn, cook until spinach has completely cooked down and wilted. Mix in the refried beans until warm throughout.
- Spread 1 cup enchilada sauce on the bottom of a casserole dish. Wrap tortillas in a damp paper towel and microwave until very pliable. One at a time, spoon 1/4 cup filling to the middle of the tortilla and roll. Place, seam-side down, in the casserole dish on top of the enchilada sauce. Repeat until you’ve run out of filling.
- Cover enchiladas with remaining sauce, then bake for 15 minutes. Remove from oven, let cool for about 5 minutes, then serve with avocado.
- Tortillas: Use your favorites here! Low carb, gluten free, spinach, wheat, traditional flour, corn – anything will work.
- Make it Gluten Free: Use brown rice flour or cassava flour in place of the all-purpose flour, and corn tortillas instead of flour.
Approximate Information for One Serving
Nutrition Disclaimers
Number of total servings shown is approximate. Actual number of servings will depend on your preferred portion sizes.
Nutritional values shown are general guidelines and reflect information for 1 serving using the ingredients listed, not including any optional ingredients. Actual macros may vary slightly depending on specific brands and types of ingredients used.
To determine the weight of one serving, prepare the recipe as instructed. Weigh the finished recipe, then divide the weight of the finished recipe (not including the weight of the container the food is in) by the desired number of servings. Result will be the weight of one serving.
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