Are you ready to try my partner’s new favorite meal? Seriously, I didn’t even get to try more than a bite — he just gobbled them all up in 2 days!
These 5-ingredient enchiladas are simple, but they are filling, so easy to make and delicious.
By the way, if these look TOO simple, I do have a more complex enchilada recipe here (which includes homemade enchilada sauce, this one doesn’t). And if you can’t find tortillas or don’t like them, you can swap them out for pasta and make an enchilada bake. Recipe here.
What's In This Post
How to change up these simple vegetarian enchiladas:
Change the protein:
The protein in this recipe is black beans. But you can use shredded chicken, ground turkey or ground beef if you want.
If you’re vegan/vegetarian, you can swap black beans out for another bean (red beans, pinto beans, chickpeas) or use veggie meat “crumbles.” Chopped up mushrooms would also be a delicious protein-packed option.
Change the veggie:
This recipe calls for spinach because it’s easy and mixes well with beans, but you can swap that out for any other dark leafy green (swiss chard, kale, etc).
You can also use mushrooms, peas, shredded carrots, chopped sweet potato, chopped bell pepper or zucchini would be easy options.
Let’s talk about the tortilla:
I love white flour regular tortillas because in my experience, they hold up well for meal prep, have great texture, are easy to work with and taste so good!
But if you want to use multigrain or whole wheat that works too. Gluten-free tortillas always work as needed!
If you can’t find tortillas, I recommend checking out the pasta bake version of this recipe because you can easily mix the black beans, spinach, enchilada sauce and cheese with cooked pasta (then bake it) to make a similar 5-ingredient meal.
Can’t find enchilada sauce?
Here are the ingredients to make it! Put all these ingredients in a small saucepan and cook on medium heat until everything is completely incorporated. It’s super easy.
- 1 TBSP flour of your choice
- 2 TBSP olive oil
- 2 tsp chili powder
- 1/2 cup broth(veggie) or water
- 8 oz tomato sauce canned (I’ve used regular pasta sauce in a pinch!)
- 1 tsp onion powder
- 1 clove garlic minced
- salt and pepper to taste
I can’t wait for you to try these out!
How to add more volume or double this recipe:
To double this recipe, simply double the ingredients! You’ll need two baking dishes or you’ll have to cook them in batches to get it done.
To add more volume, start with adding another vegetable to your filling. I’d choose mushrooms, bell peppers or zucchini as easy, tasty additions. If you eat meat, you could also easily add shredded chicken breast or ground meat to filling for more volume.
Storage & reheating notes:
These enchiladas can last in the fridge for up to 4 days and they’re freezer-friendly for up to 6 months! You can reheat them in the microwave, in the oven or on the stove.
Happy prepping!
5-Ingredient Vegetarian Black Bean and Spinach Enchiladas
Ingredients
- 1 TBSP olive oil
- 30 oz can of black beans rinsed and drained
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1 tsp cumin
- 1 tsp chipotle powder sub chili powder
- 6 cups spinach chopped
- 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese sub non-dairy cheese as needed
- 10 oz enchilada sauce see notes below if you can't find this
- 6 medium tortillas sub pasta, see notes
- cooking spray
- 1/2 cup cilantro optional
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 400 F.
- Add 1 TBSP oil to a skillet over medium heat, followed by the black beans (both cans, rinsed and drained). Add salt and pepper to taste, cumin and chipotle powder/chili powder. Stir and cook for about 5 minutes, until the beans get a little soft. Then add the spinach and cover the pan to let the spinach steam and cook down, about 5 minutes. Stir the spinach and beans together, then add 1 TBSP enchilada sauce and 3/4 cup shredded cheese. Stir it all up turn off the heat.
- Spray a 9x13 baking dish with cooking spray. Pour 1/2 of the remaining enchilada sauce inside the pan and spread it around the bottom with a spatula.
- Assemble the enchiladas: You're making 6 total enchiladas (2 per serving) so add about 1/3-1/2 cup of filling to each tortilla. Add filling to the middle and roll up the tortilla, then place it seam down in the prepared baking dish. Repeat the process 5 more times.
- Pour the remaining enchilada sauce over the tortillas, followed by the remaining cheese (1/2 cup). Bake uncovered for 15-20 minutes, until you can see the sauce bubbling a bit.
- Let the enchiladas cool for 15-20 minutes, then carefully divide them between 3 meal prep containers. Top with cilantro if using.
