One of the things I love about vegan food is how intensely colourful even the most cosy, comfort-food meals can be. Take these smoky vegan enchiladas - if they were made with the traditional meat filling they would be, well, brown and beige. But look at the photo below of these ingredients - a rainbow of plants, that taste as vibrant as they look.
This is one of those really handy crowd-pleasing recipes that you can cook for everyone if you have a vegan coming round for dinner, and no one will feel hard done by. Make them as spicy as you dare, the combination of a fiery chilli hit from the filling which is then extinguished by the creamy, 'cheesy' sauce is what these enchiladas are all about.
If you haven't had enchiladas before, they are basically like fajitas but you make them in advance, lay them in a roasting tin, slather them in a cheesy sauce (or vegan crème fraiche if you're short on time), then bake them.
Perfect for people like me who can't manage to eat a fajita without 48% of the filling ending up in their lap!
Even if you're not a fan of vegan cheeses, I urge you to give it a try in this dish - I find even those I wouldn't eat on their own work quite well melted into cheesy sauces, and when used in a spicy and flavour-packed dish their own flavours aren't overpowering.
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You might like to take a look at my Vegan Main Meals Index for lots more delicious and speedy vegan meals!
Do send me pictures of your very own vegan enchiladas on:
tagging me @thevegspace or using the hashtag #thevegspace to show me how you got on!
Vegan Enchiladas: Equipment and Shopping List
You will need:
- large lidded frying pan or casserole
- small saucepan
- roasting tin
Shopping List:
- red onion
- peppers
- courgette
- spring onions
- fresh coriander
- dairy-free margarine
- dairy-free cheese
- dairy-free milk
- tinned sweetcorn
- tinned black beans
- ready-chopped garlic / garlic purée
- chipotle paste
- rapeseed or sunflower oil
- passata
- tortilla wraps
- plain flour
Chipotle & Black Bean Vegan Enchiladas
Ingredients
For the filling:
- 2 tbsp rapeseed or sunflower oil
- 1 red onion
- 2 peppers
- 1 courgette
- 1 tsp ready-chopped garlic / garlic purée
- 400 g tinned black beans
- 165 g tinned sweetcorn
- 2 tbsp chipotle paste (or 3 if you like it spicy!)
- 500 g passata
- 1 tsp sugar
- handful fresh coriander
- 8 tortilla wraps
For the 'cheese' sauce:
- 2 tbsp dairy-free margarine
- 2 tbsp plain flour
- 300 ml dairy-free milk (I used oat, but soya or nut would work well too)
- 60 g dairy-free cheese
- 2 spring onions
Instructions
To make the filling:
- Heat a large, lidded frying pan or casserole. Finely chop the onions and add to the pan, frying gently for a couple of minutes.
- Finely chop the peppers and courgette and add to the pan along with the garlic. Cook for 4-5 minutes until starting to soften.
- Drain and rinse the black beans and sweetcorn and add to the pan, followed by the chipotle paste. Stir and cook for a further minute, then add the passata and sugar, and stir to combine.
- Remove the leaves from the coriander stalks and set aside for later, then finely chop the stalks and add to the pan. Cover and cook for 10-15 minutes, adding a little water if it becomes too dry, (or removing the lid for a while if it is too runny to fill your tortillas neatly!). Taste and add salt and black pepper as required.
To make the 'cheese' sauce:
- Whilst the filling is cooking, heat the margarine in a small saucepan over a gentle heat. Add the flour and stir until a thick paste is formed, then add the dairy-free milk little by little until the sauce is thick and bubbling. Remove from the heat, and season well with salt and black pepper.
- Grate the dairy-free cheese and add two-thirds to the sauce, (keeping one-third aside for later). Stir until melted through the sauce.
To assemble:
- Preheat the oven to 180ºC (fan) / 350ºF / Gas Mark 4.
- Take each tortilla wrap, fill it with the black bean filling, then fold in the ends, roll up and tuck neatly into a lightly oiled roasting tin.
- Pour the cheese sauce over the top, and sprinkle with the remaining cheese. Bake for 20 minutes or until the sauce is bubbling and just turning brown.
- Finely chop the coriander and spring onions, and sprinkle these over the enchiladas just before serving.
Nutrition
There are plenty of quick and easy vegan recipes in my new book, 'Vegan in 15'*. Hop over to Amazon for a look. Thanks for your support!
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I'm linking this vegan enchiladas recipe with some blogging challenges:
CookBlogShare hosted this week by Recipes Made Easy- Cook Once Eat Twice hosted by Searching for Spice
They look fabulous we love enchiladas in our house. Thank you for linking to #CookBlogShare
These sound delicious! I was just thinking the other day that we haven't had enchiladas for months but fajitas are quite a regular meal in our house - I'll have to vary things a little soon! Thanks for sharing with #CookOnceEatTwice!
These vegan enchiladas look delicious! Love the presentation :)!
These look fantastic! I love that they come together so simply, and I think enchiladas are the perfect way for me to sneak in a good vegan night without anyone even noticing they aren't eating meat.
I've not ever tried dairy-free cheese but it looks like it melts well and your photos look very enticing. Usually I eat chicken enchiladas but I would totally give these a try!
I love how much veg you have managed to pack in to this. One of my favourite Mexican dishes too.
Mexican style food is my favorite cuisine. Love that you've made this completely vegan and it looks so delicious. I've never used zucchini my enchiladas before and I'm really looking forward to the new recipe.
This looks awesome. I like it. Thanks for shearing!
Oh wow - they look delicious! I am suddenly very hungry #occupationalhazard Eb 🙂
So easy! I love this recipe already, can't wait to make it for my family, they'll sure love it too.
Those appearance exceptional! i love that they come together so really, and that i assume enchiladas are an appropriate way for me to sneak in an amazing vegan night time with out all people even noticing they aren’t consuming meat.
This is delicious! I will prepare this evening for my partner. Thank you very much