Enfrijoladas – Mexican enchiladas covered in a black bean sauce stuffed with cheese and ready in only 15 minutes! (vegetarian, gluten free)
Enfrijoladas – corn tortillas dipped in a silky smooth black bean sauce, filled with fresh crumbly cheese and ready in only 15 minutes. Pretty much one of the best Mexican vegetarian meals I’ve ever made! Move over red and green enchiladas, there’s a new dish in town.
The last time I was in Oklahoma City visiting family, my sister was was giving me lots of ideas for Mexican recipes I could share on the blog. These enfrijoladas were 100% her idea so I’ve got her to thank! As soon as she made me a batch to try, I knew I had to share the recipe.
The most important part of the dish is the black bean sauce. To make, just blend together some canned black beans, chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, onions, garlic and oregano – that’s it!
The result is a rich, smoky and smooth sauce that I would totally eat as a soup. It’s so addicting and keeps you coming back for more.
The next step is heating and slightly cooking the sauce in a pot with a tablespoon of olive oil until it’s hot and bubbly. This step adds another layer of flavor and slightly cooks out some of the strong raw onion flavor, making the sauce richer and well balanced.
Once the sauce is bubbling, remove it from the heat and set it aside. Next step is to heat up the corn tortillas. You can do this on the stove on a tortilla griddle like this or in the microwave for about 60 seconds, until they’re warm and pliable. Then carefully dip the tortillas in the black bean sauce, transfer to a plate and fill with cheese.
You can then roll them up like an enchilada or simply fold them in half like a taco.
I topped mine with more cheese, sour cream, cilantro and my favorite red salsa. I ate two of these babies and I was stuffed! But of course I ate a third one. 🙂 I couldn’t help myself.
Looking for more Mexican vegetarian recipes? Try these!
- Mexican Street Corn Tostadas
- Gluten Free Black Bean Cakes
- Sweet Potato Black Bean Burgers with Chili Lime Mayo
Ingredients
- 2 15-ounce cans black beans
- 1 chipotle peppers in adobo sauce (add more or less depending on how spicy you like it - I used 3 peppers with sauce)
- 1/2 cup chopped onions
- 1 1/2 teaspoon minced garlic (about 3 cloves)
- 1/4 teaspoon oregano
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 12 corn tortillas
- 8 ounces queso fresco (feta, cotija or monterey jack cheese would also work)
- for topping: chopped cilantro, sour cream, red salsa
Instructions
- In a large blender, add the black beans (undrained), chipotle peppers, onions, garlic and oregano. Blend until the black bean sauce is silky smooth.
- Heat a medium pot or skillet over medium-high heat. Add the olive oil and pour in the black bean sauce. Cook, stirring frequently, until the mixture is hot and bubbly. (If the sauce ever gets too thick, simply add some water or broth and mix it in.)
- Heat up the corn tortillas on a skillet or in the microwave for 1 minute, until warm and pliable.
- To assemble the enfrijoladas, dip each tortilla into the black bean sauce. Transfer tortilla to a plate and fill with cheese. Roll it up like an enchilada or fold it over like a taco.
- Serve immediately with fresh cilantro, sour cream and red salsa.
Nutrition Information
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Tried this tonight Delicious! Definitely recommend
This recipe sounds good my mom wants me to use pinto beans because she has had them before I have never but I’m willing to try them
Delicious recipe, great flavors! I’ve never had enfrijoladas before and loved them. I did have issues with the tortillas falling apart during the dipping step, like other commenters. I solved this by spreading the sauce on both sides of the tortilla while on a plate and then rolling them up, versus dipping. I saw in another enfriojladas recipe that the corn tortilla can be fried in oil before dipping to prevent them from falling apart, though I did prefer using less oil. So the spreading method seemed to work just fine.
Next time put little oil on the tortilla so dont dissolved and sometimes you can use the yellow tortilla but the corn tortilla not the white one I dont like them they taste funny but I use the milagro when I can find them or the La Providencia
This is the best version of enfrijoladas I’ve tried. They’ve been my pandemic go to food. I used about 1.5 chipotles in adobo which gave lots of flavor but not too much heat. These are MUCH better than the ones I’ve made with drained beans. Thanks!
The flavor was great but I had a difficult time rolling the corn tortillas. I heated the corn tortillas for 1 minute in the microwave as directed however they began to dissolve upon contact with the bean mixture. I had extra tortillas, and thinking the microwave heating method might be the problem, I used your alternative method and warmed the extra tortillas in a skillet, but these too began to dissolve upon contact with the bean mixture. I ended up just folding each tortilla in half as they didn’t hold up to rolling. Later, I researched this problem in relation to this particular dish and read that corn tortillas need to be warmed in a pan with oil to prevent them from cracking and dissolving. Since we are trying to avoid oil as much as possible, I will use flour tortillas next time.
These were delicious! I did thin out the bean mixture with about a cup of broth. We filled them with monterey jack and Trader Joe’s soy chorizo and stuck them in the oven for just a few minutes to melt the cheese. Thank you Isabel!
You’re so welcome! I’m happy you loved it!
Im so excited to make this tonight! What is your favorite red salsa you use? Thank you!
For store bought red salsas, I LOVE Valentina. I always have a bottle in my fridge. If you’re wanting to make your own red salsa, try this toasted red chile salsa recipe – https://www.isabeleats.com/toasted-red-chile-salsa/. It’s the best!
These look amazing!! Thanks for all the great recipes!! 😍
Thank you so much! 🙂