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Home Blog Course Main Course

Whole30 Enchiladas with Poblano-Pork Stuffing & Creamy-Avocado Sauce

Cheryl Malik
Cheryl Malik Posted: 08/02/17 Updated: 05/11/22
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DF Dairy Free GF Gluten Free P Paleo 30 Whole30

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Whole30 pork and poblano low carb enchiladas in a casserole dish and on a white dinner plate.

These Whole30 enchiladas are out of control! Stuffed with a roasted poblano pepper and ground pork mixture, seasoned with a, wait for it… cilantro-spinach-pepita pesto and plenty of mushrooms, they’re the perfect Whole30 enchiladas recipe and they make a fantastic Whole30 dinner recipe. Topped with a rich, creamy avocado-cilantro sauce, you’ve got the best Whole30 enchiladas recipe ever… or maybe the best Whole30 dinner recipe ever? You decide. 

These Whole30 enchiladas are out of control! Stuffed with a roasted poblano pepper and ground pork mixture, seasoned with a, wait for it... cilantro-spinach-pepita pesto and plenty of mushrooms, they're the perfect Whole30 enchiladas recipe and they make a fantastic Whole30 dinner recipe. Topped with a rich, creamy avocado-cilantro sauce, you've got the best Whole30 enchiladas recipe ever... or maybe the best Whole30 dinner recipe ever? You decide.

Have you bought my Whole30 Starter Kit yet? It includes my Total Whole30 Guide eBook, with lists of what you can and can’t have, what to expect, ideas for simple meals, ideas for eating out, and over 100 of my favorite Whole30 recipes. The kit comes with 4 weeks of meal plans and shopping lists, too, making your Whole30 as easy as it gets! Click here to buy – only $10.49. Yeah!

Whole30 Enchiladas with Poblano-Pork Stuffing & Creamy-Avocado Sauce

There are these clear stages of having a toddler that don’t maybe seem so clear at the time. They’re categorized by your communications, what the toddler cares about, what they eat (and what they won’t eat), and how much sleep you’re getting. Fluid as their growth, you can float to the next stage without realizing it, lifted effortlessly and without much notice to the next time in their tiny lives by a wave of fresh realization, brain development, discovery that Bruce Wayne is, in fact, Batman, too.

These shifts in your experience are subtle and nebulous, often only realized after the change has settled in for a while.

“Whoa. He’s really listening to everything we say, isn’t he?”

or

“Did my child just count to ten…? Um, he’s essentially a genius.”

These Whole30 enchiladas are out of control! Stuffed with a roasted poblano pepper and ground pork mixture, seasoned with a, wait for it... cilantro-spinach-pepita pesto and plenty of mushrooms, they're the perfect Whole30 enchiladas recipe and they make a fantastic Whole30 dinner recipe. Topped with a rich, creamy avocado-cilantro sauce, you've got the best Whole30 enchiladas recipe ever... or maybe the best Whole30 dinner recipe ever? You decide.
These Whole30 enchiladas are out of control! Stuffed with a roasted poblano pepper and ground pork mixture, seasoned with a, wait for it... cilantro-spinach-pepita pesto and plenty of mushrooms, they're the perfect Whole30 enchiladas recipe and they make a fantastic Whole30 dinner recipe. Topped with a rich, creamy avocado-cilantro sauce, you've got the best Whole30 enchiladas recipe ever... or maybe the best Whole30 dinner recipe ever? You decide.

But there’s an easy external marker, a barometer for these toddler times that will help you understand when a shift is occurring or has recently occurred:

What you watch on Netflix.

For the very beginning of his life, we watched, um, nothing. Sometimes, if Leo were feeling especially attached but I needed to cook dinner or something, I’d put his rock ‘n’ play in front of Baby Einstein and let him watch large, slowly moving shapes for a few minutes. And then we transitioned to Daniel Tiger, more of those large, but talking, shapes and lots of songs – Leo’s favorite. From there we moved to Curious George, and we watched it maybe, oh, 600 times in a span of 3 months. No songs, but he recognized the parts of the movie he liked, anticipated splashes in the water and the time when the Man in the Yellow Hat and George flew above the city lifted only by a particularly robust bundle of balloons. The perfect toddler movie that you somehow never even get tired of – a rarity, to be sure.

These Whole30 enchiladas are out of control! Stuffed with a roasted poblano pepper and ground pork mixture, seasoned with a, wait for it... cilantro-spinach-pepita pesto and plenty of mushrooms, they're the perfect Whole30 enchiladas recipe and they make a fantastic Whole30 dinner recipe. Topped with a rich, creamy avocado-cilantro sauce, you've got the best Whole30 enchiladas recipe ever... or maybe the best Whole30 dinner recipe ever? You decide.

From there, though, we expanded into movies and shows more typically characterized as “kids.'” We watched Moana and Zootopia; Leo pointed out the “bad guys” (Te Kā, of course; and Te Fiti was “mommy”: giver of life, nbd) and was scared of the fly-swarmed yak, who, to be fair, does kind of look like Beelzebub if you didn’t know better. Just saying.

But lately? It’s all about truly learning shows and, yeah, Batman and dinosaurs. Leo carries around his little dinosaur figurines and his Batman doll, and the only way I can get him to get excited about cleaning up his blocks if I make Batman “hold” them and put them away and direct the little guy in my best Batman voice.

And so, with each stage as we go along, my frame of reference changes rapidly, which explains why, when I went to edit these photos, all I could think about was tree stars from Land Before Time. And that, of course, leads me to think about Little Foot’s mommmy, and that, of course, leads me to think about LITTLE FOOT’S MOMMY DYING and I’m basically crying over here as we speak.

These Whole30 enchiladas are out of control! Stuffed with a roasted poblano pepper and ground pork mixture, seasoned with a, wait for it... cilantro-spinach-pepita pesto and plenty of mushrooms, they're the perfect Whole30 enchiladas recipe and they make a fantastic Whole30 dinner recipe. Topped with a rich, creamy avocado-cilantro sauce, you've got the best Whole30 enchiladas recipe ever... or maybe the best Whole30 dinner recipe ever? You decide.

But these poblano-pork Whole30 enchiladas with avocado-cilantro sauce remind me of longneck leaves, with their soft veins and thick stems, their dense nutrition, and their versatility in replacing tortillas and wraps on a Whole30. This recipe is then, dare I say, not paleo but jurassic? 

Ugh. I know. I’m sorry. I’m the worst.

Truly, though, these Whole30 enchiladas are out of control; I wrote the recipe so freely, adding every ingredient I love and sparing basically nothing. They’re stuffed with a roasted poblano pepper and ground pork mixture, seasoned with a, wait for it… cilantro-spinach-pepita pesto and plenty of mushrooms. They’re baked with a bit of salsa verde to keep things flavorful and moist, and they’re topped with a rich, creamy avocado-cilantro sauce packed with garlic and jalapeño. Sprinkle some fresh red onion, pepitas, cilantro, and almond meal for a queso fresco fake-out, and you’ve just made every non-Whole30er wish they were Whole30ing.

These Whole30 enchiladas are out of control! Stuffed with a roasted poblano pepper and ground pork mixture, seasoned with a, wait for it... cilantro-spinach-pepita pesto and plenty of mushrooms, they're the perfect Whole30 enchiladas recipe and they make a fantastic Whole30 dinner recipe. Topped with a rich, creamy avocado-cilantro sauce, you've got the best Whole30 enchiladas recipe ever... or maybe the best Whole30 dinner recipe ever? You decide.
These Whole30 enchiladas are out of control! Stuffed with a roasted poblano pepper and ground pork mixture, seasoned with a, wait for it... cilantro-spinach-pepita pesto and plenty of mushrooms, they're the perfect Whole30 enchiladas recipe and they make a fantastic Whole30 dinner recipe. Topped with a rich, creamy avocado-cilantro sauce, you've got the best Whole30 enchiladas recipe ever... or maybe the best Whole30 dinner recipe ever? You decide.

Speaking of which, I can’t even believe how many entries we already have in the ultimate Whole30 giveaway! Since I published on Friday, I’ve added even more goodies:

  • A Whole Inspiration box from Melissa’s Produce, and
  • Humm kombucha!

Y’all. Like, you might seriously be able to survive off this box for the entire 30 days. Just add meat? Sold. Make sure you enter! ?

Ultimate Whole30 Must-Haves Giveaway

Hey – you’ve made it this far, so now we’re basically best friends! If you make this recipe, I’d love for you to give it a quick review & star rating ★ below. Make sure you follow me on Instagram, Pinterest, TikTok, and Facebook, too!

Whole30 poblano pork enchiladas
5 from 29 votes

Whole30 Enchiladas with Poblano-Pork Stuffing & Creamy-Avocado Sauce

Prep:20 minutes
Cook:20 minutes
Total:40 minutes
These Whole30 enchiladas are stuffed with a roasted poblano pepper and ground pork mixture, seasoned with a cilantro-spinach-pepita pesto and plenty of mushrooms, they're the perfect Whole30 enchiladas recipe.
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8

Ingredients

For the Cilantro-Spinach Pesto

  • ¼ cup fresh cilantro leaves
  • 3 cloves garlic peeled
  • 1 cup baby spinach
  • ¼ cup unsalted pepitas (pumpkin seeds)
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • ¼ cup diced red onion
  • 1 ½ teaspoons salt
  • ⅓ of one fresh jalapeño stemmed
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil

For the Enchiladas

  • 1 bunch collard leaves
  • 1 pound ground pork
  • 1 poblano pepper roasted, stemmed, deseeded, and chopped
  • 2 cups mushrooms diced
  • ½ cup salsa verde
  • 1 teaspoon ground almonds for garnish, optional
  • 1 teaspoon diced red onion for garnish, optional
  • 1 teaspoon fresh chopped cilantro for garnish, optional
  • 1 teaspoon pepitas for garnish, optional

For the Creamy Avocado-Cilantro Sauce

  • 1 clove garlic peeled
  • 2 avocados peeled and pitted
  • ½ cup fresh cilantro leaves
  • ¼ cup red onion diced
  • ½ of one jalapeño stemmed
  • ¾ cup water
  • 1 ½ tablespoons white vinegar
  • 1 teaspoon salt plus more to taste

Instructions 

For the Cilantro-Spinach Pesto

  • Add all cilantro-spinach pesto ingredients to the bowl of a food processor and process until smooth. This pesto should be near the consistency of traditional pesto, but not quite as moist.

For the Enchiladas

  • Preheat oven to 375º F.
  • Prepare your collard leaves: with a knife, cut off the edge of the stem where the bottom of the leaf is. Then use the knife to very carefully slice off the round part of the thick stem, so that you have a flattened stem. This step helps you roll the enchiladas, and the stem can be quite large and tough to eat. 
  • Fill a large saucepan about halfway with water and bring to a soft boil. Working with 2-4 leaves at a time, blanch collard leaves for about 60 seconds, or until they turn from a soft blue-green to a very bright kelly green. Remove from saucepan and drain. 
  • Heat olive oil in large saucepan over medium heat, then brown ground pork, breaking up with a spoon or spatula. When pork is browned and mostly cooked through, add mushrooms and sauté until softened. Add cilantro-spinach pesto and stir to completely coat and incorporate, then add poblano pepper. Remove mixture from heat. 
  • Working one at a time, lay your blanched and drained leaf onto a flat surface. Spread ½ cup of pork mixture on one side of the stem, as shown. Fold long edge over then fold bottom and tops over the mixture. Roll towards open edge then place seam-side down in a baking dish. Repeat until remaining mixture is used up, about 8 enchiladas. Top with ½ cup salsa verde and spread to mostly cover enchiladas. 
  • Bake enchiladas for 20 minutes then remove from oven and let cool slightly.

For the Creamy Avocado-Cilantro Sauce

  • Combine all ingredients in the bowl of a food processor and process until smooth. Season with salt to taste.

To Serve

  • Top baked enchiladas with avocado sauce, red onions, fresh cilantro, ground almonds, and pepitas.

Notes

Recipe yields approximately 8 enchiladas. Nutritional values shown reflect information for one enchilada, include avocado sauce and all optional toppings. Macros may vary slightly based on specific brands and types of ingredients used.

Nutrition Information

Serving: 1enchilada, Calories: 327kcal, Carbohydrates: 9g, Protein: 13g, Fat: 27g, Saturated Fat: 7g, Trans Fat: 1g, Cholesterol: 41mg, Sodium: 872mg, Potassium: 626mg, Fiber: 5g, Sugar: 3g, Vitamin A: 754IU, Vitamin C: 23mg, Calcium: 34mg, Iron: 2mg, Net Carbs: 4g

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.

© Author: Cheryl Malik

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Cheryl Malik

Meet Cheryl Malik

Cheryl Malik is the recipe developer, writer, and photographer behind the healthy, flavorful, family friendly recipes at 40 Aprons. She's been a blogger for 10+ years and is known for her delicious recipes and detailed recipe instructions. Cheryl is a mom of three who lives in Memphis, TN.

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  1. Mindee Watt says

    Posted on 8/8/21 at 1:04 am

    Hi- sounds delicious m! Any way to meal prep ahead of time or will it be soggy?

    Thanks for all your healthy recipes that also TASTE GOOD!! 💜

    Reply
    • Anna Claire | 40 Aprons TeamAnna Claire | 40 Aprons Team says

      Posted on 8/9/21 at 2:13 pm

      Hi Mindee, any leftovers from the meal should last in the fridge in an airtight container for 2-3 days. The collard greens leaves will soften in the chilling and reheating process, but they should still hold up well for meal-prep. Or, you could prepare the filling, skip the baking process, and just assemble the enchiladas with the blanched collard greens leaves and heat in the microwave or oven before eating.5 stars

      Reply
  2. Sarah says

    Posted on 1/16/21 at 4:18 pm

    I make these for every Whole30 and they are amazing! I save them for a weekend project, because they’re a little time consuming, but worth the effort. I usually use leftover pork shoulder from a crockpot meal instead of ground pork. Great way to repurpose leftovers (and saves some time).

    Reply
  3. Kathleen Davis says

    Posted on 12/4/20 at 1:00 pm

    Delicious and so much flavor! I had to sub lightly salted pistacios as I could not get the pepitas. I left out the salt in the pesto because of the salty pistacios. Still amazing. My hubby could not stop raving about this dish and went back for seconds and thirds. I am dairy free and he is not so I am always on the look out for recipes we can both enjoy. Thankyou for sharing your wonderful recipe!5 stars

    Reply
    • Savannah | 40 Aprons Team says

      Posted on 12/4/20 at 2:23 pm

      Aw, yay!5 stars

      Reply
  4. Andrew says

    Posted on 8/19/20 at 7:36 pm

    Hey Cheryl,

    Should it say 1 poblano pepper in the ingredients where it says 1 tsp poblano pepper?

    Can’t wait to try these!

    Reply
    • Amelia Camurati says

      Posted on 8/21/20 at 8:37 am

      It SHOULD! Thanks for that catch Andrew! We’ve fixed it.

      Reply
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