Spinach and Black Bean Enchiladas (with Easy Homemade Sauce)

Vegetarian enchiladas have got to be one of my favourite meals of all time. You just can’t beat a hot, bubbly pan of spicy, cheesy enchiladas – and these spinach and black bean enchiladas are the best ever. Fresh vegetables and tasty black beans, wrapped up in soft tortillas, and coated in a simple homemade enchilada sauce – wonderful.

The enchilada sauce is really easy to make yourself – it literally takes about 5 minutes (the method is similar to making a simple white sauce), so if you have the right ingredients, I’d recommend giving it a try. I’ve been making my own enchilada sauce for years, and it never fails – see it used in my enchilada noodles, enchilada casserole, enchilada stuffed shells, enchilada lentils… Yeah, I’m kind of obsessed with the stuff.

However, if you’re pushed for time, or you just can’t be bothered to make your own sauce, shop-bought enchilada sauce works totally fine too!

And if you really want to make these enchiladas memorable, you could fold them in a zigzag, like I did in my creamy tortilla bake! It’s a bit more fiddly, but makes a fun shape.

❤️ Why You’ll Love This Recipe

• The flavours and textures are the perfect combination – these vegetarian enchiladas are spicy, saucy, salty, soft, chewy, crispy, cheesy… and any number of other things.
• The enchilada filling needs almost no pre-cooking (only the spinach needs wilting for literally 1 minute in the microwave), so this is a really quick and easy dinner to throw together.
• You can easily simplify the recipe by using shop-bought enchilada sauce, if you prefer.
• The recipe can either serve two people, if you’re serving it on its own – or, if you’re making some side dishes, you can stretch it to feed 4 (see below for some side dish ideas). It’s also really easy to double the batch if needed!
• These black bean enchiladas are ideal for heaping up with your favourite Tex-Mex toppings – a dollop of sour cream, some sliced avocado or guacamole, fresh tomato salsa, etc.

🥗 Ingredients

Here’s what you’ll need to make this recipe.

These ingredients assume you’ll be making your own enchilada sauce – if you’re choosing to use a shop-bought sauce, your ingredients list will look a little different.

You’ll also need a few store cupboard ingredients for the sauce, like flour and oil. See the printable recipe card below for detailed ingredient quantities.

• flour tortillas – nice big ones!
• black beans
• spinach
• spring onions – these are great to use as they’re milder than regular onions, so they do really well with not being pre-cooked.
• fresh cilantro
• grated cheddar cheese

And, if you’re making your own sauce:

• tomato paste
• spices – garlic granules, cumin, smoked paprika, and hot chilli powder
• vegetable stock cube (or liquid veggie stock)

Becca’s Top Tip

I used fresh spinach to make my enchiladas, but you could use frozen spinach instead, if you prefer. Frozen spinach does release a lot of liquid as it defrosts though, so make sure you squeeze out as much liquid as you can before adding it to the enchiladas.

🔄 Ingredient Swaps

Feel free to make this recipe your own! The easiest way to adapt the recipe is to add different ingredients to the filling of the enchiladas. To make sure the recipe is just as quick and easy to make as my version, try to stick with ingredients that don’t need to be pre-cooked (or use leftovers that have already been cooked).

As well as (or instead of) the black beans and spinach that I used, other great filling ideas could be:

• canned sweetcorn
• leftover roasted vegetables
• frozen peas
• diced red pepper
• grated courgette (zucchini)
• canned kidney beans
• pre-cooked lentils
• diced tomatoes

📋 Instructions

Here’s how to make this recipe – see below for the printable recipe with detailed ingredients and instructions.

Step 1: Wilt the spinach in the microwave, and combine it with the other ingredients for the enchilada filling. Nothing else needs pre-cooking!

Step 2: If you’re making your own enchilada sauce, make it now – it only takes 5 minutes.

Step 3: Add the enchilada filling to the large tortillas, roll them up, and place them in a baking dish.

Step 4: Top with the remaining sauce and cheese, and bake!

Step 5: Serve the black bean enchiladas hot, either on their own (if only serving 2 people), or with some additional side dishes (if serving 4).

Becca’s Top Tip

Don’t forget the toppings! At the very least, a dollop of sour cream is a great contrast to the rich, spicy enchilada sauce. If you want to, go further with guacamole, sliced avocado, or fresh tomato salsa.

🥗 What to Serve with Black Bean Enchiladas

Sometimes I don’t bother making any side dishes to serve with enchiladas. After all, the black bean enchiladas themselves already contain protein, carbs, and a few different veggies – you don’t really need much else to go with them.

But if I’m making enchiladas for guests, or I just want the meal to feel a bit more special, a good side dish or two can go a long way.

My favourite side dishes to serve with enchiladas are:

• a simple green salad (the freshness is a great contrast to the rich sauce!)
• rice – either plain, or tomato baked rice
• plenty of dips to dollop on top, e.g. sour cream, salsa or guacamole
• fresh sliced avocado
• a few tortilla chips, to add a nice crunch
• extra roasted vegetables

If you really want to go all out, make a full-on feast with all your favourite Tex-Mex dishes! It’s a great way to feed a crowd.

💭 Recipe FAQs