Our endlessly flexible veggie enchiladas recipe uses a variety of vegetables, beans, and flavorful enchilada sauce. You can easily substitute your favorite vegetables and beans!
I’m always so happy when we make these vegetarian enchiladas with vegetables and beans. They are simple to make, are flexible, and truly taste amazing. For more vegetarian recipes, see our easy veggie tacos.
For more enchiladas, see our super popular green chicken enchiladas or these red chicken enchiladas. I also have two homemade enchilada sauces for you to try, and I have a few suggestions on store-bought options below.
Key Ingredients
- Enchilada Sauce: I have a few suggestions for you regarding the sauce. First, there’s store-bought enchilada sauce. I love Hatch and Frontera. I also have two homemade sauces on the blog. Try my blended authentic enchilada sauce made with real chiles or my easy enchilada sauce made with chili powder and spices. Both are delicious!
- Tortillas: I love corn tortillas for enchiladas. You can make homemade corn tortillas or use a high-quality store-bought bag.
- Veggies: In my photos, I use a mixture of onion, bell pepper, mushrooms, corn, and spinach, but you can easily substitute your favorite veggies. I like using quick-cooking veggies and cooking them all in a skillet before adding them to the tortillas. If you want to include a heartier vegetable (like winter squash or sweet potato), consider roasting it first.
- Beans: I use pinto beans in my photos, but black beans (especially homemade black beans) are also excellent. I’ve also use white beans and lentils before, so use what you love!
- Cheese: I love using something melty, like Monterey Jack or Oaxaca cheese (a Mexican melting cheese similar to mozzarella).
How to Make Veggie Enchiladas
For the best, most authentic enchiladas, use corn tortillas. Since corn tortillas tend to crack when cold or even at room temperature, we lightly coat them in oil and then place them into the oven to warm them up. This simple step makes them more pliable, which makes filling and rolling the enchiladas much easier.
For the veggie filling, we use a skillet and start by cooking the onions. They need a little head start to soften and become sweet. Then, we toss the peppers and mushrooms. After a few minutes, I add the beans, corn, and spinach.
Before filling the tortillas, I stir in a little enchilada sauce into the veggies and then taste it to make sure the filling doesn’t need any extra salt and pepper.
From there, these vegetable enchiladas are super simple. Add some sauce to the bottom of a baking dish, and then line up the enchiladas on top. Spoon a bit more sauce down the middle and finish with a generous amount of melty cheese.
I cover the baking dish with foil and bake until heated throughout. Then, I uncover the dish and allow it to continue to bake uncovered so that the cheese gets a bit more melty and golden brown.
I love serving these veggie enchiladas as a standalone dish or next to a side of rice. I especially love this Mexican rice or our cilantro lime rice (both have so much flavor!). You can also serve these next to fresh pico de gallo, sour cream, and homemade guacamole!
Easy Veggie Enchiladas
- PREP
- COOK
- TOTAL
Endlessly flexible veggie enchiladas. The filling consists of a combination of veggies and beans. The recipe calls for pinto beans, but most cooked or canned beans will work as a substitute (this includes lentils). Use what you have on hand for the vegetables. If you plan to add a heartier vegetable (like sweet potato), consider roasting it first before adding it to the filling.
A 13×9-inch baking dish will fit 12 enchiladas (made with 6-inch tortillas) when lined up in two rows, with 6 enchiladas per row. Alternatively, you can fit 9 to 10 when lined up in one row down the middle of the dish.
You Will Need
2 cups enchilada sauce, see tips
2 tablespoons avocado oil
1 small onion, chopped (1 cup)
1 red bell pepper, chopped (1 cup)
6 small mushrooms, chopped (1 cup)
1 cup frozen corn kernels
4 cups (130g) packed spinach leaves, roughly chopped
1 (15oz) can pinto beans, drained and rinsed, or 1 ½ cups cooked pinto beans
1 ½ cups shredded cheese
12 (6-inch) corn tortillas, see homemade corn tortillas
Cooking spray or oil
Diced avocado or guacamole, cilantro leaves, sour cream, pico de gallo, optional for serving
Directions
1Arrange an oven rack in the middle of the oven. Preheat the oven to 375°F (190°C).
2Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onions and cook until they begin to soften, 3 to 4 minutes. Add the peppers and mushrooms and cook until tender, 3 to 4 minutes. Stir in the beans, corn, and spinach. Cook until the spinach is wilted, about 2 minutes.
3Add 1/2 cup of enchilada sauce and toss until the veggies and beans are well coated. Taste the mixture and adjust with salt and pepper as needed. Set aside.
4Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat, then place 6 tortillas on the baking sheet so they lie flat and barely touch each other.
5Lightly spray or rub both sides of the tortillas with oil. Bake the tortillas until they just start to crisp up, 2 to 3 minutes. Transfer the baked tortillas to a plate lined with paper towel, and then repeat with the remaining tortillas.
6Spread 1/2 cup of enchilada sauce down the center of a 13×9-inch baking dish, then set aside.
7Divide the veggie and bean mixture between the tortillas, adding about 1/3 cup of filling to each. Top with a little cheese, leaving some cheese for scattering on top of the rolled-up enchiladas. Roll the tortillas up and place them seam-side-down into the baking dish with the sauce.
8Spoon 1/4 cup to 1/2 cup of sauce over the top of the enchiladas and then finish with the remaining cheese scattered down the middle.
9Cover the dish with aluminum foil (or use parchment paper, tucking the sides and corners down around the enchiladas).
10Bake, covered, for 15 minutes. Uncover and bake for another 10 minutes or until the cheese is melted and bubbling on top.
Adam and Joanne's Tips
- Enchilada sauce: You can use homemade or store-bought (I like Hatch and Frontera). Here’s our authentic enchilada sauce made with chile peppers or this easy enchilada sauce made with chili powder and spices.
- Vegan enchiladas: These are vegetarian enchiladas but do include cheese. To make these vegan, omit the cheese altogether. You can substitute with 1 to 2 tablespoons of nutritional yeast or vegan cheese sprinkled on top.
- Make ahead: Assembled, unbaked enchiladas can be frozen for up to 1 month, thawed overnight, and baked before serving. We recommend leaving the cheese off until you are ready to bake. The tortilla may fall apart more than if you make this the same day as assembling.
- The nutrition facts provided below are estimates. We assumed 12 enchiladas and the easy enchilada sauce for the calculations.
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made this for dinner, absolutely delicious! and so easy to make! thanks for a great meal!
Love these veggie enchiladas. I ended up using salsa verde sauce instead and added some Serrano peppers. It was delicious! Thank you for sharing the recipe 😃
Hi, thank you these are the best veggie enchiladas, we absolutely loved them. Easy to make and yummy. Be safe. Linda
I made these tonight and they were wonderful. I made them with the homemade quick enchilada sauce as we live in an area that is pretty low on ethnic food items. Thanks so much for sharing your wonderful recipes. I want to check out your cookbook!