These creamy spinach, corn and black bean enchiladas are such a crowd-pleasing TexMex dish! Easy to make and simple to scale up for meal prepping. Bonus: they are vegan, plant-based, oil-free and gluten-free.
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🧄 Ingredient notes
Cashew cream
The creaminess for these vegan, dairy-free enchiladas comes from cashew cream (vegan sour cream). You'll need to make this ahead of time, so it's ready for the filling.
One recipe of cashew cream from my site will make enough for one pan of enchiladas, plus extra for drizzling on top.
Frozen spinach
Using frozen spinach for this recipe makes it much simpler to throw together. Be sure to thaw your spinach, either by placing it in the refrigerator overnight or by thawing in the microwave.
You do not have to press all the liquid out of the spinach, but if you want to drain some of it, that's fine. We're going to increase the heat in the pan when we add the spinach to help evaporate the liquid.
Can you use fresh spinach for this recipe?
- Yes, you can. You'll need to use the amount (10 ounces) of fresh, washed spinach and chop it before hand. When adding to the pan, increase the heat to help evaporate the liquid that releases.
Red enchilada sauce
You can choose your favorite red enchilada sauce for this recipe. You'll need two 15-ounce cans of sauce, so about 30 ounces total.
You can also make your own homemade enchilada sauce. If you'd like to make this recipe totally oil-free and can't find an oil-free canned enchilada sauce, I would recommend making your own. I'll be posting my recipe for this sauce soon.
🔪 Instructions
How to warm corn tortillas on a gas stove
Warm corn tortillas over gas stove burner on low heat setting one at a time for 20 seconds on each side.
Or, you can warm all 14 tortillas on a plate in the microwave for 45-60 seconds total.
(If you don't warm the tortillas first, they will crack when you try to fill and roll them.)
Keep them warm inside a clean dish towel while you assemble your enchiladas.
How to roll and assemble enchiladas
To assemble enchiladas, pour one (15 ounce) can of red enchilada sauce at the bottom of a 13x9 inch baking dish.
Fill one tortilla at a time with up to ¼ cup of mixture. Then, roll tortilla up like a taquito and place the open/folded side down into the sauce.
Repeat until you've filled all 14 tortillas. Line them up one after the other, overlapping them slightly in the baking dish.
Pour the other can of enchilada sauce over the tortillas.
💭 Tips
Why warm tortillas over a gas burner
Warming your corn tortillas, as I describe above in the instructions section, makes them stronger and gives them extra flavor from the slight char from the burner.
Be sure to cover with sauce
Be sure to cover your rolled enchiladas with sauce, so they will soak up the sauce while they bake and won't get hard and tough.
Enchilasagna (layered enchiladas option)
If you don't want to roll your enchiladas the traditional way, you can make this into a layered dish, kinda like lasagna. Just spread a thin layer of enchilada sauce (half of a can), then top with a layer of corn tortillas, then spread a layer of filling.
Repeat with more sauce, tortillas and filling until you reach the top. Cover with sauce and bake! When it's done, slice into squares like you would a lasagna.
👨👩👦👦 Serving suggestions
Pair these enchiladas with TexMex Spanish rice, salad, guacamole, pico de gallo, sliced avocado and a drizzle of vegan sour cream.
As for a drink, iced tea, cerveza or tropical fruit punch would be delicious!
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📖 Recipe
Creamy Spinach, Black Bean and Corn Enchiladas
Equipment
- Dutch oven or large pot/skillet to cook the filling
- 13x9 baking dish
Ingredients
- 14 corn tortillas
- 30 ounces red enchilada sauce (store-bought or homemade)
- 15 ounces canned black beans drained and rinsed
- 10 ounces frozen chopped spinach thawed
- 8 ounces frozen corn
- 1 bell pepper diced
- 1 sweet yellow onion diced
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 8 ounces vegan sour cream store-bought or homemade
- 1 teaspoon Cholula hot sauce optional
- sea salt to taste
- freshly ground black pepper to taste
Instructions
Cook the filling
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Preheat dutch oven or large skillet over medium heat. Add onions and bell peppers and cook for 5 minutes, stirring regularly. Add a tablespoon of water if they start to stick.
- Add garlic and sauté 1 minute.
- Add spinach and frozen corn. Increase heat to medium-high to help evaporate the liquid. Stir frequently to prevent sticking/burning. Once spinach and corn are heated through, turn off heat.
- Stir in black beans, vegan sour cream, Cholula hot sauce (optional) and season with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste.
Assemble the enchiladas
- Warm corn tortillas over gas stove burner on low heat setting one at a time for 20 seconds on each side. This will add a touch of smoky charred flavor to the tortillas from the fire. Or, you can warm all 14 tortillas on a plate in the microwave for 45-60 seconds total, flipping the stack of tortillas halfway through. (If you don't warm the tortillas first, they will crack when you try to fill and roll them.) Keep them warm inside a clean dish towel while you assemble your enchiladas.
- To assemble enchiladas, pour one (15 ounce) can of red enchilada sauce at the bottom of a 13x9 inch baking dish. Fill one tortilla at a time with up to ¼ cup of mixture. Then, roll tortilla up like a taquito and place the open/folded over side down into the sauce, so it stays put. Repeat until you've filled all 14 tortillas. Line them up one after the other, overlapping them slightly in the baking dish. Pour the other can of enchilada sauce over the tortillas.
Bake the enchiladas
- Bake in a 350°F oven for about 30 minutes, or until the sauce is bubbly on the sides/corners.
- Serve with extra vegan sour cream, pico de gallo and Spanish rice or salad.
Notes
- Corn tortillas - sub with tortilla of your choice that can be heated, like wheat, spelt, or corn mix
- Red enchilada sauce - sub with green enchilada sauce, if you wish, or mix the two. Look for an oil-free enchilada sauce.
- Black beans - sub with another cooked bean of your choice, but I like black beans the best in this dish
- Frozen chopped spinach - sub with fresh spinach, but make sure you chop it and use the same weight (10 ounces).
- Frozen corn - sub with drained canned corn kernels
- Bell pepper - sub with mini sweet peppers
- Sweet yellow onion - sub with yellow, red or white onion
- Fresh garlic cloves - sub with jarred minced garlic (1 tablespoon) or granulated garlic (1 teaspoon)
- Vegan sour cream - homemade cashew cream is really so good in this! If you can, make it. It doesn't take long and you'll find you use it for so many other dishes. Homemade sunflower seed cream can be substituted. Or, store-bought vegan sour cream.
- Cholula hot sauce - sub with your favorite hot sauce, like Valentina or Tabasco
Susan Franklin says
These enchiladas were so easy to make and delish - my hubby really liked them and even my non-plant-based daughter did too! I used fresh spinach and next time would add more beans. I also loved the cashew sour cream recipe -so good! This recipe is a keeper.