Veggie Black Bean Enchiladas
Amazing vegetarian enchiladas stuffed with black beans, broccoli, bell pepper and spinach, topped with homemade red sauce. My favorite enchilada recipe!
Updated by Kathryne Taylor on August 29, 2024
These vegetarian enchiladas are a hearty and satisfying dinner. Make them on a weeknight and you’ll enjoy leftovers for lunch the next day. Or make it on the weekend and invite friends over to make a party out of it! You could make a double batch and freeze the extras—you’ll find freezing instructions below.
You’ll love the fresh filling in these enchiladas, made of sautéed bell pepper, broccoli, onion, spinach, black beans and warming spices. These enchiladas are nicely cheesy, but not overwhelmingly cheesy like many restaurants make them.
This enchilada recipe has become quite popular since I published it nearly eight years ago. I used my spinach artichoke enchiladas as a blueprint and covered them with my go-to homemade enchilada sauce, of course. They’re just fantastic and I hope you’ll give them a try, if you haven’t already.
If you’ve never made enchiladas before, you can do it! You’ll find a detailed recipe, step-by-step photos, and an instructional video below.
How to Make Vegetable Enchiladas
This recipe isn’t the quickest dinner option (enchiladas never are), but it is totally worth the effort. Here’s a basic rundown with some notes and variations.
You’ll start by making my red enchilada sauce, a simple, pantry-friendly recipe using dried spices and vegetable broth. It has an amazing depth of flavor! If you want to change it up, you could use my green enchilada sauce instead, which is made from salsa verde (jarred is fine).
Then, you’ll sauté red onion, bell pepper, broccoli and spinach. Broccoli is an uncommon ingredient in enchiladas, but I love it here. If you’re hesitant and want a more neutral flavor, substitute cauliflower instead. Cumin and a small amount of cinnamon (yes, cinnamon!) ramp up the flavor.
Once the vegetables are done cooking, we’ll transfer them to a bowl and add drained black beans, plus a small amount of cheese and a splash of enchilada sauce for flavoring. Then we’ll assemble the enchiladas, drizzle the remaining sauce, sprinkle with cheese, and bake until golden. If you want extra cheesy enchiladas, you could double the cheese (use a full 8 ounces).
This recipe calls for flour tortillas. I like to use whole wheat for some extra flavor and fiber. Corn tortillas are more traditional, but my mom always used flour tortillas in her enchiladas when we were growing up, so I used flour. If you’d like to use corn tortillas, you certainly can. You’ll need more than 8 of them, likely 12. Gently warm them in the microwave or one at a time on the stovetop before using (otherwise, they might break when rolling).
Watch How to Make Vegetarian Enchiladas
How to Freeze These Enchiladas
You can make these enchiladas as directed and freeze them instead of baking them. I also tried baking and then freezing them, but it was more work with no payoff. To help minimize freezer burn, refrigerate the dish until fully chilled (about four hours), then cover tightly and freeze fully.
Use a freezer-safe dish, like this Pyrex dish. I’ve successfully used Pyrex baking dishes straight from the freezer to the oven. Beware there’s always a slight risk that the dish could break.
Once frozen, they will keep for up to six months in the freezer. Frozen foods technically never go bad when the freezing environment is perfectly consistent, though they generally taste better when consumed sooner.
To bake the frozen enchiladas, first ensure that the exterior of the baking dish is dry by wiping it with a towel—this helps avoid shocking the glass. Bake as directed in the recipe below, then cover the dish snugly with parchment paper or aluminum foil and bake until it is fully cooked through and bubbling, probably about 45 minutes total or longer (covering the dish prevents it from becoming too browned). Enjoy!
Serving Suggestions
These enchiladas are a well-rounded main dish offering vegetables, greens, whole grains and protein. If you’re hosting friends, perhaps start with guacamole or salsa with chips. For cocktails, try fresh-squeezed margaritas or ranch waters.
Here are some side dishes that would be lovely with these enchiladas:
- Esquites (Mexican Street Corn Salad)
- Fresh Herbed Avocado Salad
- Mexican Green Salad with Jalapeño-Cilantro Dressing (or a simplified version of it)
- Simple Healthy Slaw
More Veggie-Packed Main Dishes
Craving more hearty vegetarian meals with Mexican flavors? Here are a few of my favorites:
- Black Bean Sweet Potato Enchiladas
- Epic Vegetarian Tacos
- Fajita Veggie & Halloumi Bowls
- Roasted Veggie Enchilada Casserole
- Vegetarian Stuffed Peppers
- Sweet Potato, Poblano, and Black Bean Enchiladas in my cookbook, Love Real Food
Please let me know how these veggie enchiladas turn out for you in the comments! I’m always so eager to hear from you.
Veggie Black Bean Enchiladas
Amazing vegetarian enchiladas stuffed with black beans, broccoli, bell pepper and spinach, topped with homemade red sauce. My favorite enchilada recipe! Recipe yields 8 enchiladas, enough for about 4 servings.
Ingredients
- 2 cups homemade enchilada sauce
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 cup chopped red onion (about 1 small red onion)
- 1 red bell pepper, chopped
- 1 bunch of broccoli or 1 small head of cauliflower (about 1 pound), florets removed and sliced into small, bite-sized pieces
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 5 to 6 ounces baby spinach (about 5 cups, packed)
- 1 can (15 ounces) black beans, drained and rinsed, or 1 ½ cups cooked black beans
- 1 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese, divided
- ½ teaspoon fine salt, to taste
- Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 8 whole wheat tortillas (about 8 inches in diameter)
- Handful of chopped cilantro, for garnishing
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit with one rack in the middle of the oven and one in the upper third. Lightly grease a 9 by 13-inch pan with olive oil or cooking spray.
- In a large skillet over medium heat, warm the olive oil until simmering. Add the onions and a pinch of salt. Cook, stirring often, until the onions are tender and translucent, about 5 to 7 minutes. Add the broccoli and bell pepper, stir, and reduce heat to medium-low. Cover the skillet and cook, stirring occasionally, for about 8 to 9 minutes, or until the broccoli is brighter green and just starting to turn golden on the edges.
- Add the cumin and cinnamon to the skillet and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add the spinach, a few handfuls at a time, stirring until it has reduced in size. Repeat with the remaining spinach and cook until all of the spinach has wilted.
- Transfer the contents of the pan to a medium mixing bowl. Add the drained beans, ¼ cup cheese and a drizzle of enchilada sauce (about 2 tablespoons). Season with ½ teaspoon salt and some freshly ground black pepper, to taste.
- Assemble the enchiladas: Pour ¼ cup enchilada sauce into your prepared pan and tilt it from side to side until the bottom of the pan is evenly coated. To assemble your first enchilada, spread ½ cup filling mixture down the middle of a tortilla, then snugly wrap the left side over and then the right, to make a wrap. Place it seam-side down against the edge of your pan. Repeat with remaining tortillas and filling.
- Drizzle the remaining enchilada sauce evenly over the enchiladas, leaving the tips of the enchiladas bare. Sprinkle the remaining shredded cheese evenly over the enchiladas.
- Bake, uncovered, on the middle rack for 20 minutes. If the cheese on top isn’t golden enough for your liking, carefully transfer the enchiladas to the upper rack of the oven and bake for an additional 3 to 6 minutes, until sufficiently golden and bubbly.
- Remove from oven and let the enchiladas rest for 10 minutes (they’re super hot!). Before serving, sprinkle chopped cilantro down the center of the enchiladas. Serve immediately. Leftovers will keep well for up to 4 days in the refrigerator, covered.
Notes
Recipe adapted from my spinach artichoke enchiladas.
Make it vegan: You could just skip the cheese altogether and still end up with awesome enchiladas. For some extra creaminess, you might top them with sliced avocado or a drizzle of vegan sour cream.
Make it gluten free: Substitute certified gluten-free “flour” tortillas, or use corn tortillas (they’re smaller than my 8-inch tortillas, so you might need more than 8 tortillas). If you use corn tortillas, gently warm them together in the microwave or individually on the stove before you try to roll them up, or they might break.
Nutrition
The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice. See our full nutrition disclosure here.
Ummmmmm, this looks amazing! How do you keep topping your previous recipes?
Thank you, Elissa! You’re sweet. :) I always try to get recipes *just* right, so sometimes I worry what I’ll be able to come up with next! Variations on my other recipes are always fun. These are totally my favorite enchiladas yet.
Yum!! Putting this on the menu for next week! I love your enchilada sauce, and am looking forward to making this. Can’t wait for your cookbook!!!!!
Thank you so much, Marianne! Hope you love these. They’re my favorite!
Hello,
Yum! I am excited to try this. Is it possible to prep all this sauce and all, the night before and bake it for dinner next day?
Thanks!
YM
Hi YM, yes, I think so! To make sure they don’t get soggy, I’d probably wait to assemble them until it’s time to bake them. You could have the sauce, filling, cheese and tortillas ready to go, though!
Any advice on freezing these [and the spinach artichoke] enchiladas? I like to make a big batch for myself, but after defrost and heating up, the tortillas are kind of unappetizingly soggy. I could freeze just the filling, i know, but then it wouldn’t really work as a quick heat up dish after coming home late from work. Any advice appreciated!
Hi Louise, that’s a good question. I wonder if you could freeze the enchiladas and sauce separately? Then you could defrost both, and pour on the sauce before baking.
Oh, I just saw after I typed that she’s looking for a quick heat up dish so my way won’t work for her because they really do take a long time. But if you’ve got the time, it’s a great hands-off way to do it.
Are you defrosting them first? If so, that might be the problem. Also, are you cooking them before you freeze them? When I do it, and it works for me, I line a glass pan with parchment, then I make the enchiladas like normal, all the way to the point where you put them in the oven but I put them in the freezer instead. When they’re good and frozen, I lift them out (parchment and all) and wrap them well and freeze them (if they’re hard to get out of the pan directly from the freezer, just give them ten or fifteen minutes on the counter to loosen, but not defrost). When I want to eat them, let them sit out for a few minutes and peel off the parchment (or you can leave it), then I pop them back in the pan I froze them in, cover with foil, put in a cold oven and turn it on to 400. They usually take at least an hour, but they always turn out like I’d just made them fresh.
My kids love enchiladas. I wonder if I could pull these off with them? Looks delicious!
I hope they’re a hit!
I make these about once a month, and my kids actually request them. Even though they like broccoli, they don’t like it in the enchiladas. So I omit that, but keep everything else as is (including a ton of spinach), and then add chopped up roasted chicken breast in the mix. They’re a favorite :)
Oh these sound so delicious! I love enchiladas, but I’ve always been too intimidated to make them myself ;) These looks so simple and perfect though, I might just have to give it a go!
Hey Alexa! You can totally pull these off. :) Hope you love them!
Haha, thinking about that night still makes me laugh. I’m totally a Snapchat pro now!
These look SO good. You make a mean enchilada!
Yeah, you are! Let’s do girls’ night again soon. Can’t wait to host again once I finish this cookbook!
Yum – thank you
These look so scrumptious – and perfect to share with loved ones around the table.
Love a good girls’ night. It’s so crucial to a good and healthy life!
Also I’m into these enchiladas.
Amen!!! Hope you get a chance to try these soon, Libby.
Enchiladas are a dish I love but totally forget about when choosing weeknight dinners. Definitely giving this a try!
I was drooling over the picture of these you shared in your homemade enchilada sauce post, and I’m so so glad you shared the recipe! Pinning :) Can’t wait to try!
Yay! Thanks, Medha. Hope you love these!
i love recipes that is hearty, trust worthy, and relaxing that fits for all occasion. i havent had enchiladas in a while..
On your Veggie Black Bean Enchiladas; do you need the Spinach? I’m allergic to Spinach so can I just omit it?
Hey Corre, I think you can just omit it. You might add a little extra broccoli or bell pepper, if you have it, to make up for the lost volume.
Oh, this would be so nice on this gloomy, rainy day in Northern CA. If I were not 15 miles from a grocery store… No tortillas, and too lazy to make my own today!
Black beans are my favorite. I’d add shrimp to these though!
Kari
Hi. I made a slightly adapted version of this tonight and it was extremely good! Thanks. I had some cooked French green lentils in the fridge, so I used those instead of black beans. And we’re not big fans of red pepper so I subbed corn. Just thought I’d tell you thanks and also put the variation up here in case you or anyone else was interested. By the way, I had more than four cups of filling, so I just spread the extra over the top before pouring on the enchilada sauce. Worked great.
Thanks, Joelle!
Your enchiladas look gorgeous. What a great idea to fill them with broccoli and cauliflower. Must give it a try soon!
My girlfriends are gonna love these, but so is my family! I love sneaking in meatless meals throughout the week. Thanks for the recipe!
These look fantastic! I will definitely be giving them a try. . . yum!
I CAN’T EVEN!!!! This looks sooo drool-a-licious! (I’m sorry for such a cliched word, I just couldn’t help) The stuffing, that gorgeous enchilada sauce and the gloriously melted cheese are just calling my name! Love love LOVE it!!!
I bet something akin to your vegan queso dip would be a fantastic vegan addition to these! Looks delicious, I love me some enchiladas!
Made this tonight and just finished eating….OMG!! One of the best dishes I’ve ever made. So delicious. Hubby went back for seconds! Thanks for posting
Hooray! Thanks, Colleen!
I’ve been in the mood for enchiladas lately. In fact, I’ve been putting off making my own corn tortillas since my trip to Mexico in January. These look yummy! And I love that you make your own enchilada sauce to go with them.
Can you give me any of the nutritional information? I am trying to watch my carbs and wondering how many grams are in a serving. They look amazing by the way!
I’m sorry, I don’t offer nutrition facts because they are so variable when it comes to home cooking. I don’t want to give out inaccurate information!
I made these last night with black beans and purple sweet potatoes and the sauce came out great! This will be a staple at our house.
Thank you, LouLou! Happy to hear it!
Girls’ night consists of movies, cooking Asian food and more Netflix! ;D These enchiladas sound AWESOME!
I live in Denver with my husband and two college age sons. We LOVE your recipes! I usually check your blog at.around 4:30 or 5 pm at work so I can find a dinner recipe. We’ve been vegetarians for years but are often in need of new ideas. Thanks for sharing yours!
Thank you so much, Susan! Delighted to hear that. :)
Made these last night for dinner! Loved the Enchiladas with the homemade sauce! I made them strict Vegan by using Vegan Pepperjack cheese. Then topping off with some vegan sour cream, cilantro and avocados! They were a hit here in the household! I love all the recipes you come up with and I just make them Vegan to fit into our diet! Plus to top it off my significant other made vegan homemade tortillas!
This was just delicious! Thank you! Even my boyfriend, who tends to have meat with all of his meals, enjoyed them as an entree.
My husband, daughter, and I all enjoyed these very much. I had to use corn tortillas to keep it gluten-free and instead of rolling the filling in them, I made an enchilada lasagna using 11 ripped up tortillas. For the enchilada sauce I used ancho chile powder instead of the chili powder. Another great recipe Kate!
These look fabulous! I’m definitely making them tomorrow night. My husband loves enchiladas and this is a veggie recipe I haven’t tried yet.
I see the food but I’m not seeing any receipts. Or is it something I’m doing that’s not right. Please advise.
Hi Delores, the recipe is on this page, after the last enchiladas photo. Once you find the recipe, you can click on the “print” icon next to the recipe name to print it, if you would like.
Thank You so much for your help. I got it.
These are DIVINE. I’ve already made 2 batches and forwarded the recipe to at least 4 friends lol. Adore your blog.
I made these last night. My boyfriend and I are both from Austin, TX so when I say these are the best enchiladas we have ever had, we mean it! Next time I make this I am going to add something to make it a little spicier. We really appreciate these wholesome, vegetarian recipes that really fill you up!
My fiancé just made these for us and they were off the hook! I’d never had good enchiladas before (just boring unsatisfing greasy ones) and didn’t realize they were a thing. He grew up eating them and set out to convince me they were. Mission accomplished! We used orange cauliflower instead of broccoli and some rich homemade veggie stock in the sauce. Wow. So satisfying. Thank you and keep up the good work!
There are three generations of family living in our home. I am trying to incorporate healthier meals into our eating, and this was a hit with everyone! From my 86 year old mother (who doesn’t do spicy) to my husband (who doesn’t care for cheese) this was a hit everyone. I also made the enchilada sauce, which was perfect. Thanks so much for the great recipes.
OMG! Thank you so much for that recipe Kate. This is so good! This is the first time I made enchiladas by myself and certainly not the last. I tasted some in the past, but those are so far my favorites. I made your sauce too and it’s a perfect mix. This is insanely delightful.
Oh and, I just want to make a special mention for your blog. This is one of the best food blog I’ve seen. I made bunch of your recipes and I was never disappointed. Keep on going :)
Thank you so much, Marie-Claude! I’m delighted that you’ve been enjoying my recipes!
These were AMAZING. I’m lactose intolerant and my husband is not, so I did half without cheese, and guess what? They were also amazing! So for any vegans out there, you can definitely omit the cheese and still have a beyond tasty enchilada.
Kate,
What kind of tortillas have you found you like for this recipe? Still on the hunt for some good whole wheat tortillas that aren’t burrito sized!
Thanks
Hi Meredith, I’ve been able to find 8″ whole grain tortillas at most grocery stores lately. My favorite brand is Stacy’s, which is available at Whole Foods and Natural Grocers, since it’s free of preservatives.
I made this enchilada dish and the sauce. Most amazing flavors and delicious recipe. I make real Mexican enchiladas with ancho chilis and this is an easier alternative. The vegetables are a wonderful touch. My sister made this and was confused with the baking dish and sheet pan with parchment paper. I never used the baking dish because my tortillas were large, and the gluten free ones were as well. I spread the sauce on the parchment, placed the filled tortillas on top, seam side down, then topped with more sauce. It was perfect. You may want to clarify why the baking dish and baking sheet. I knew from the beginning all my large tortillas would not fit in the one baking dish and I didn’t want to use two.
Hi Diana, I’m sorry for the confusion! The parchment paper-lined baking sheet was a remnant from my other enchilada recipe that called for roasted veggies. I just removed it from the instructions, but I am glad that your enchiladas turned out great on your pan!
Made this recipe for my boyfriend and it was a hit! What I did add was the spinach and artichoke to it.
Wow…I was slightly worried about the texture of the filling but these were amazing! How could you miss meat with a recipe like this? The filling was flavorful and still had slight crunch to the broccoli. Instead of oil, I used a bit of broth to saute the veggies. The homemade enchilada sauce is a hit as well. These were so satisfying that two definitely filled us up. We did top with a bit of avocado and red pepper flakes…delicious and amazing!!!
I made these last night and me & my (nonveg) husband really liked them. I added like 2-3x the spices for both the enchilada sauce and the stuffing mix, because it didn’t taste very strong with just the amounts written. I really like indian food and curry though so I’m used to alot of spice, but as written this recipe is good for someone who isn’t really used to alot of spices.
It was all really colorful and different.
Also (no fault of the authors) the Mission corn tortillas I used were total junk. When I was rolling the enchildas they were breaking and flaking off. No idea why that happened! But I wouldn’t recommend that brand, maybe because they are low-carb they don’t have as much stuff like flour etc binding everything together in the tortilla.
Corn tortillas aren’t as pliable as flour so they break if you don’t heat them or flash fry them in oil first. I did the flash fry method and it turned out great.
I have started making my own gluten free tortillas using cassava flour. They are great!
I made this last night and it was yummy. I used green chili whole wheat tortillas.
This recipe came out amazing! My boyfriend and I couldn’t get enough! Thank you for sharing. :-)
Hey Kate- Wanted to let you know that I made these tonight and they were AMAZING. Thanks for the great recipe!
I’ve been reading your blog for a long time (referred by the venerable Smitten Kitchen), but this was the first recipe I tried. My whole family (including me) is very picky about enchiladas, and I was dubious…but these were very good! The only change: did not have fresh spinach, so subbed about 1/2 cup thawed frozen corn. We used Trader Joe’s corn & wheat tortillas, which are smaller than the size you called for, so we had more enchiladas and used two smaller casserole dishes. Also: I lightly mashed some of the beans before stirring into the filling.
The texture was great, dense enough to satisfy the family carnivores, without being overly bean-y. Leftovers taste good re-heated, with a little extra enchilada sauce or salsa to moisten. The enchilada sauce itself was delicious, but I’ll leave a separate review under that post.
Thank you!
Thank you! I’m so glad you found my blog and enjoyed these enchiladas. Hooray!
I’ve been trying to incorporate more meatless meals into our rotation, but most vegetarian recipes leave my husband and I hungry. Not this recipe! It was delicious and filling. Thank you for sharing!
We tried this a couple of weeks ago and loved it so much we decided to pitch it to my new meat loving parents in law when they came over. They ate all of it, which I deem a success. ;) It was very salty to me the first time we made it though, so I took out a bit over half of the salt and put in a bit less chili, too. Still plenty of spices to enjoy after that! Unexpected bonus of this recipe was the broccoli, it gave them a nice bite. Thanks for publishing!