These vegan enchiladas are the best! Stuffed with butternut squash and black beans, topped with tomato sauce and the cheesiest vegan cheese sauce!
Up until a few years ago I thought enchiladas were some sort of noodle thing.
I’m pretty sure I had them confused with cannelloni.
They are actually tortillas stuffed with a delicious filling, topped with tomato sauce and cheese and then baked in the oven for 20 minutes.
So…sort of similar to a cannelloni type deal but not the same.
They are really simple to throw together, but not quick. There are a few steps involved, but they’re all really easy and fun. It’s the perfect meal to throw together for a family dinner, especially if there are a few people to help out with preparing it.
And if you love these enchiladas you’ll likely also love our vegan quesadillas and vegan fajitas!
How To Make Vegan Enchiladas
You will find full instructions and measurements in the recipe card at the bottom of the post. This is a summary of the process to go along with the process photos.
Butternut Squash:
- Add the peeled and cubed butternut squash to a bowl along with olive oil, sea salt and black pepper and toss it all together so that all the butternut squash is lightly coated.
- Transfer to a parchment lined baking tray and bake in the oven at 400°F for around 30-35 minutes until roasted.
Tomato Sauce:
- While the butternut is roasting, get started on your tomato sauce.
- Add chopped onion and crushed garlic to a pot or saucepan along with olive oil and sauté until the onions are softened.
- Add canned chopped tomato, coconut sugar, oregano and cayenne pepper and bring to a gentle simmer.
- Using an immersion blender blend into a smooth sauce. If you don’t have an immersion blender then allow it to cool for a few minutes and then transfer to your blender jug, blend and then return to the pot.
- Add sea salt and black pepper to taste.
Black Beans:
- Partially drain the can of black beans and add them to a pot.
- Heat the beans (and a little of the liquid they came with in the can) until simmering and then add the roasted butternut squash and ½ cup of the tomato sauce and mix together.
Cheese Sauce:
- Add the olive oil to a pot and let it heat until hot. Add flour and fry it briefly in the oil, stirring vigorously and then add soy milk and whisk it vigorously to get rid of lumps.
- Bring it to the boil stirring constantly. When it boils let it continue to boil, stirring all the while, for a few minutes until it thickens.
- Remove from the heat and add dijon mustard, nutritional yeast, onion powder, garlic powder, smoked paprika, salt and ground black pepper and stir in.
Assemble:
- Take a 9×13 oven proof dish and measure your tortillas against the size of the dish. We needed to trim our tortillas slightly to fit the dish.
- Then pour out some of the tomato sauce and smooth it down evenly along the bottom of the dish.
- On a separate plate or board lay a tortilla down flat. Spoon out some butternut squash and black bean filling and then roll up the tortilla.
- Place the rolled tortilla into the oven-proof dish, seal side down.
- Repeat with the next tortilla and keep repeating until your dish is full.
- Pour the remaining tomato sauce over the top of the rolled tortillas and smooth it down.
- Add the cheese sauce carefully to the top and smooth it down.
- Place into the oven and bake for 25 minutes at 350°F.
- Serve topped with fresh chopped cilantro.
Chef’s Tips
You can use a store-bought tomato sauce or enchilada sauce. If you want to save time on this recipe then you can definitely use a store-bought option instead of making it up from scratch yourself.
The cheese sauce is a variation on a bechamel sauce, flavored to be super cheesy. It also firms up wonderfully on the top of your enchiladas. We used a very similar sauce in our vegan lasagna. However, if you want to mix things up a bit, our vegan nacho cheese sauce would also be wonderful on top of this!
Another option to add to the filling if you want to add more protein to the dish is to make up a batch of vegan taco meat and use that instead of the butternut squash to create a delicious high protein filling. Or just add it along with the butternut squash and black beans.
You can use corn tortillas or flour tortillas. In this recipe we used flour tortillas but corn is also great to use. If you use corn tortillas then you will need to warm them first so that they fold and roll up more easily and don’t break. The easiest way is to wrap four corn tortillas at a time in a damp paper towel and microwave for 30 seconds to 1 minute. You can also warm them on the stovetop or in the oven. This article from The Kitchn shows three different ways to warm your corn tortillas.
Make Them Gluten Free
If you’d like these vegan enchiladas to be gluten-free then use a gluten free all purpose flour blend instead of the regular flour when you make the cheese sauce and make sure your tortillas are corn and not flour tortillas.
Make Ahead, Storing and Freezing
If you want to make these enchiladas ahead of time, you can make the entire recipe up until the point that you would assemble the enchiladas and bake them. Store the ingredients (butternut squash and black bean mix, tomato sauce and cheese sauce) separately in the fridge and then assemble and bake the next day.
Leftovers will keep for 3-4 days in the fridge.
They are also freezer friendly if you want to freeze some. Thaw overnight in the fridge and then reheat.
More Delicious Vegan Mexican Recipes
Did you make this recipe? Be sure to leave a comment and rating below!
Vegan Enchiladas
Ingredients
Butternut Squash:
- 4 cups Butternut Squash (600g) Peeled and Cubed
- 1 Tablespoon Olive Oil
- ¼ teaspoon Sea Salt
- ¼ teaspoon Ground Black Pepper
Tomato Sauce:
- ½ Small Red Onion Chopped
- 3 Cloves Garlic Crushed
- 1 Tablespoon Olive Oil
- 28 ounces Canned Chopped Tomato (800g)
- 2 Tablespoons Coconut Sugar
- 1 teaspoon Oregano
- ¼ teaspoon Cayenne Pepper
- Sea Salt and Black Pepper to taste
Black Beans:
- 15 ounce Can Black Beans (1 can)
Cheese Sauce:
- 3 Tablespoons Olive Oil
- 3 Tablespoons All Purpose Flour
- 2 cups Soy Milk (480ml)
- 1 Tablespoon Dijon Mustard
- ⅓ cup Nutritional Yeast (20g)
- 1 teaspoon Onion Powder
- 1 teaspoon Garlic Powder
- ¼ teaspoon Smoked Paprika
- ½ teaspoon Sea Salt
- ¼ teaspoon Ground Black Pepper
Tortillas:
- 8 Large Soft Wholewheat Tortillas or Corn Tortillas*
Serving:
- Fresh Chopped Cilantro
Instructions
Butternut Squash:
- Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C).
- Add the peeled and cubed butternut squash to a bowl along with the olive oil, sea salt and black pepper and toss it all together so that all the butternut squash is lightly coated.
- Transfer to a parchment lined baking tray and bake in the oven for around 30-35 minutes until roasted.
- When the butternut squash is cooked remove it from the oven and turn the oven heat down to 350°F (180°C).
Tomato Sauce:
- While the butternut is roasting, get started on your tomato sauce.
- Add chopped onion and crushed garlic to a pot or saucepan along with the olive oil and sauté until the onions are softened.
- Add in the canned chopped tomato, coconut sugar, oregano and cayenne pepper and bring to a gentle simmer. Add sea salt and black pepper to taste.
- Using an immersion blender blend into a smooth sauce. If you don't have an immersion blender then allow it to cool for a few minutes and then transfer to your blender jug, blend and then return to the pot.
Black Beans:
- Partially drain the can of black beans and add them to a pot. Heat the beans (and a little of the liquid they came with in the can) until simmering.
- Add the roasted butternut squash and ½ cup of the tomato sauce and mix together.
Cheese Sauce:
- Add the olive oil to a pot and let it heat until hot. Then add in the flour and fry it briefly in the oil, stirring vigorously and then add in your soy milk and whisk it vigorously to get rid of lumps.
- Bring it to the boil stirring constantly. When it boils let it continue to boil, stirring all the while, for a few minutes until it thickens.
- Remove it from the heat and add in the dijon mustard, nutritional yeast, onion powder, garlic powder, smoked paprika, salt and ground black pepper and stir in.
Assemble:
- Now you're ready to assemble your enchiladas.
- Take a 9×13 oven proof dish and measure your tortillas against the size of the dish. We needed to trim our tortillas slightly to fit the dish.
- Then pour out some of the tomato sauce and smooth it down evenly along the bottom of the dish.
- On a separate plate or board lay a tortilla down flat. Spoon out some butternut squash and black bean filling and then roll up the tortilla and place it into the oven-proof dish, seal side down.
- Repeat with the next tortilla and keep repeating until your dish is full.
- Pour the remaining tomato sauce over the top and smooth it down.
- Add your cheese sauce carefully to the top and smooth it down.
- Place into the oven and bake for 25 minutes at 350°F.
Serving:
- Serve topped with fresh chopped cilantro.
Notes
- For gluten-free make sure to use corn tortillas and use a gluten-free all purpose flour blend to replace the regular flour in the cheese sauce.
- If you use corn tortillas then heat them first by wrapping four at a time in a damp paper towel and microwaving for 30 seconds to 1 minute. This is so that they fold more easily and don’t break.
How long can I store the filling and sauce?
If you want to make these enchiladas ahead of time, you can make the entire recipe up until the point that you would assemble the enchiladas and bake them. Store the ingredients (butternut squash and black bean mix, tomato sauce and cheese sauce) separately in the fridge and then assemble and bake the next day. Leftovers will keep for 3-4 days in the fridge.
They are also freezer friendly if you want to freeze some. Thaw overnight in the fridge and then reheat.
What is the alternative to coconut sugar? Is it ok to use light brown sugar?
Yes, light brown sugar will work perfectly fine Cheryl!
Absolutely beautiful recipe, enjoyed by myself (vegan) my hubby who eats meat and my my two veggie kids – very rarely is there a recipe that all four of us enjoy.
Awesome that everyone enjoyed it! Thanks so much for the great review Sally!
This recipe was absolutely delicious! It’s so hard to just eat one! This is going into my meatless Monday recipes. Thank you friend!
So happy to hear that Kevyn! Thanks a million!
This recipe was amazing! Even better than i thought it would be 🙂 a new favourite.
So happy to hear that! Thank you!
Thank you for yet another great recipe! I made it and it came out great!
So happy to hear that Aliza!
If I make a day ahead, should I wait to pour sauce on top?
Hi Sharon, I would prepare all the elements for the recipe, and then keep them stored separately in the fridge, assemble and bake on the day.
Good day Allison,
Your recipe is great. Several years ago I discovered a great bottled enchilada sauce at Trader Joe’s. It is vegan, and has just the right amount of spice. We’ve used it over burritos ,and even have flavored rice.
Awesome, that’s helpful info! Thanks so much for sharing Ron!
Made these enchiladas Friday night for vegan hubby and daughter (I am not). Everyone enjoyed them!! They are time consuming, but delicious. During the week, I would save time by using canned red enchilada sauce and still feel it would be great. A wonderful, filling recipe. Thank you for keeping us all satisfied! 🙂
Fantastic Susan! Thanks so much for posting. Totally agree with your time saving tip too!
I made this meal mainly bc I had a large butternut squash to use. It is difficult to pass anything w/o meat over on my husband, but this one was a winner. I had black beans & brown rice already mixed together in the freezer from another large meal. I saved the step of blending by using 1 lg can of crushed tomatoes. At the end of the meal, my husband said it was delicious but what kind of meat was in there? 😉
That is awesome! So pleased to hear that. Thanks a million for sharing!
The filling sounds very palatable! I love the tips for us gluten free folks!
I wasn’t so sure about this recipe, but I gave it a try, and it is amazing! So so good. Will definitely be making again. I used cilantro instead of basil and chives for the creamy cashew sauce topping (just because that’s what I had), and that turned out pretty good too.
Yay! Sounds lovely, thanks so much for sharing and the awesome review! 🙂
I love enchiladas! And they do resemble a casserole, so it’s not too crazy to mistake them for noodles. I’m diggin the filling here.
Hahaha, yes indeed!
Totally awesome
🙂