Easy Black Bean Enchiladas
These Black Bean Enchiladas are loaded with protein, fiber, and fresh flavors! This is the easiest enchilada recipe you’ll find on the internet. Combine the filling ingredients, roll enchiladas, and bake! Your family won’t even miss the meat, I promise.
You Will Love These
- These bean and cheese enchiladas are super easy to throw together. No fancy kitchen gadgets or cooking skills required! Dinner doesn’t have to be difficult and these enchiladas are easy peasy!
- They’re loaded with healthy protein and fiber from all the beans and veggies. There is PLENTY of cheesy deliciousness in these bean enchiladas, but there are also TONS of veggies so they’re going to fill you up and keep you energized!
- It’s a meal that your family will eat and they likely won’t ask where the meat is! This easy weeknight meal is so loaded with beans, corn, and cheese that no one is going to be asking where the ground beef or chicken is. This is a vegetarian dish that even the meat-eater in your life is going to love!
- If you loved this enchilada recipe, be sure to check out my easy enchilada casserole, veggie stuffed poblano peppers, and walking taco casserole.
Ingredients and Substitutions
- Black Beans – If you don’t have black beans on hand, you can use any can of beans in their place.
- Frozen Corn – You could also use canned corn if you prefer.
- Cumin – I love the delicious earthy flavor that cumin adds to these enchiladas. You can omit if you don’t have it on hand.
- Chili Powder – The addition of chili powder is going to add a kick of spice and tons of flavor.
- Green Onion – You could replace the green onion with fresh cilantro if you’d like. The freshness really adds dimension to the enchilada filling.
- Pepper Jack Cheese – This will add a bit of a kick to the enchiladas so feel free to substitute with Monterey Jack or even mozzarella if you prefer.
- Sharp Cheddar Cheese – I like the added flavor that the sharp cheddar brings, but you could use more pepper jack or another shredded cheese in it’s place.
- Flour or Corn Tortillas – I prefer to use flour tortillas for this enchilada recipe but corn tortillas will work as well – just make sure you heat the corn tortillas before rolling so that they don’t break.
- Enchilada Sauce – You can use your favorite store-bought brand for this recipe.
Instructions
Add beans, corn, cumin, chili powder, most of the sliced green onion (reserve a small handful for garnish), shredded cheese, 1/2 a cup of enchilada sauce, and salt and pepper to a large bowl.
Stir until well combined.
Pour 1 cup of enchilada sauce into the bottom of a baking dish. Fill tortilla with about 1/3 cup filling mixture, roll up enchiladas, and place seam sides down in the baking dish.
Continue with the remaining tortillas until they are filled. Pour remaining 1.5 cups of sauce over enchiladas and sprinkle with cheese.
Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 20 minutes or until the cheese is melted and the sauce is bubbly.
Garnish with green onion, cilantro, queso fresco, and serve with sour cream and blender salsa.
Tips
- You can use flour or corn tortillas for these black bean enchiladas. I usually use whichever we have on hand, but the flavors are going to be very similar either way. Corn tortillas only come in one size but if I’m using flour tortillas I prefer to use street taco or fajita size.
- If you use flour tortillas, you can just roll the enchiladas without prepping the tortillas at all. If you choose to use corn tortillas, you will need to warm them up in the microwave, oven, or in a skillet so they are malleable and roll easily without breaking. This article talks about the specifics of each.
- Don’t overstuff the enchiladas. ⅓ a cup of filling is perfect so that there is enough in each enchilada but it’s not spilling out all over. This is especially important if you’re using corn tortillas as those tend to be more delicate and break easier. Flour tortillas have a little more give to them, but still taste best when they aren’t overstuffed.
- To make these into vegan enchiladas, you can use vegan cheese and then be sure that your enchilada sauce is vegan friendly as well. Feel free to switch up the veggies too if you’d like. We love these enchiladas with butternut squash, diced bell pepper, or green chiles as well.
FAQ
If you’re using flour tortillas for this recipe, you won’t have to worry about the tortillas falling apart. If you’re using corn tortillas, you will run into issues if you do not heat the tortillas before rolling. Because of their texture, corn tortillas are prone to drying out and can easily fall apart. Giving the corn tortillas a quick saute in some oil is the way to make them pliable and easy to work with.
Yes! But it’s a quick and easy process! Just heat vegetable oil in a saute pan over medium heat – add just enough oil to cover the bottom of the pan. Pan fry tortillas one at a time, for about 10 seconds on each side, then fill and roll the enchiladas. A quick sizzle in the skillet is going to boost the flavor of the corn tortillas and allow you to roll them without them breaking.
You can fill these enchiladas with whatever you’d like, just keep the ratios about the same and you’ll end up with a delicious dinner! Feel free to add ground beef or shredded chicken to this dish if your family would prefer it. However, the flavors of this dish are amazing as is, so I’d urge you to give it a try and add a meatless meal to your family’s dinner routine.
Make-Ahead Instructions
These enchiladas freeze like a dream so they’re a perfect make-ahead meal!
- This recipe makes one 9×13 pan of about 14-18 enchiladas so I like to divide the recipe up into two pans.
- I bake one of them for dinner and then freeze the other for a busy weeknight when I don’t have time to make dinner.
- Make sure you wrap the pan in foil or saran wrap so it doesn’t get freezer burned.
- Enchiladas will stay good in the freezer for up to 3 months.
Baking Frozen Enchiladas
These black bean enchiladas can go right from the freezer to your oven when you’re ready to bake them!
- Cover pan with tin foil and bake at 400 degrees for 40 minutes.
- Remove foil and bake for another 10-15 minutes or until enchiladas are heated through.
- You’ll know the enchiladas are done when the cheese on top is melted and the enchilada sauce is bubbling
Try these easy family dinners next!
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The Very Best Vegetarian Enchiladas
These veggie enchiladas are loaded with protein, fiber and fresh flavors! Your family won’t even miss the meat, I promise.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Total Time: 35 minutes
- Yield: 14–18 enchiladas 1x
- Category: Main Dish
- Method: Stovetop/Oven
- Cuisine: Mexican/American
- Diet: Vegetarian
Ingredients
- 1 (15 oz.) can black beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 (12 oz.) bag frozen corn
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon chili powder
- 3 stalks green onion, thinly sliced
- 8 oz. shredded pepper jack cheese
- 4 oz. shredded sharp cheddar cheese
- 14–18 small flour tortillas, or corn tortillas
- 3 cups of your favorite enchilada sauce
- Kosher salt
- fresh cracked black pepper
Garnish:
- fresh chopped cilantro
- crumbled queso fresco
- sour cream
- sliced jalapeno
- Easy Blender Salsa
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
- Combine beans, corn, cumin, chili powder, most of the sliced green onion (reserve a small handful for garnish), pepper jack cheese, 1/2 a cup of enchilada sauce, and salt and pepper in a large bowl.
- Pour 1 cup of enchilada sauce into the bottom of a baking dish.
- Fill tortilla with about 1/3 a cup filling, roll up enchiladas, and place them seam-side down in the baking dish.
- Continue with the remaining tortillas until they are filled.
- Pour remaining 1.5 cups of sauce over enchiladas and top with cheddar cheese.
- Cover with foil and bake for 20 minutes or until the cheese is melted and the sauce is bubbly.
- Garnish with green onion, cilantro, queso fresco, and serve with sour cream and blender salsa.
Equipment
Buy Now → Notes
You can use flour or corn tortillas for these black bean enchiladas. I usually use whichever we have on hand, but the flavors are going to be very similar either way.
If you use flour tortillas, you can just roll the enchiladas without prepping the tortillas at all. If you choose to use corn tortillas, you will need to fry them in just a bit of vegetable oil before rolling the enchiladas up.
Don’t overstuff the enchiladas. ⅓ a cup of filling is perfect so that there is enough in each enchilada but it’s not spilling out all over. This is especially important if you’re using corn tortillas as those tend to be more delicate and break easier. Flour tortillas have a little more give to them, but still taste best when they aren’t overstuffed.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 enchilada
- Calories: 205
- Sugar: 3.6 g
- Sodium: 821.9 mg
- Fat: 4.1 g
- Carbohydrates: 24 g
- Fiber: 2.6 g
- Protein: 9.6 g
- Cholesterol: 17.3 mg
This post was originally published in December of 2017. It was updated in January 2021 to include process shots, detailed instructions, and tips for making the best veggie enchiladas every single time!
These are SO good! My kids (ages 7 and 10) raved about them. They are so easy too. Thanks for a great recipe!
Made these for dinner tonight.. they were delicious… omitted the corn & made my own sauce. Will definitely make again… question about the calories per serving… was it calculated using flour or corn tortillas?
Flour tortillas!
Thank you for this easy recipe! This was so delicious, my husband and I at the whole tray. I am a vegetarian and tend to get into a rut with my cooking but this was so amazingly delicious, and perfect for my Sunday Mexican food cravings. I will definitely add these to our rotation.
I love these enchiladas! Such great flavors. However, I will say if you are using flour tortillas don’t add so much sauce while it is baking. Just top it off towards the end and throw it in for 2 more minutes. We will try that way next time!! 🙂 Overall yummy and my fave!
These enchiladas look delicious and I can’t wait to try them! I see that the yield is 14-18 enchiladas. Are the nutritional details based on a serving size of 1 enchilada? Thank you.
Yes! The nutrition facts are based on one enchilada. Great question!
I do love these and have made them multiple times. Sometimes the bottoms of the tortillas are soggy. Do you know why this could be happening or how to prevent? I followed recipe to a T.
So glad you’ve enjoyed the recipe! It’s one of our family’s favorites too! Are you using corn or flour tortillas? If you’re using corn, try to heat each tortilla in a lightly oiled pan before rolling them. That little layer of oil will prevent the enchiladas from getting soggy. If you’re using flour tortillas or if you don’t want to do the added step of heating the corn tortillas in oil, you can try adding less enchilada sauce before baking and then add more as needed after cooking. Hope that helps!
Hi! My family and I LOVE this recipe and want to share it with a friend who just had a baby. Do you know know if these can be frozen and if so how long should they bake for?
Thanks so much!
You are such a kind friend to make her enchiladas!! The very bottom of this post includes detailed instructions for baking the enchiladas from frozen. Great question!
I am a very picky eater but absolutely loved the flavor and simplicity of this recipe. I will definitely be adding it to my rotation of meals!!