Savory Vegan Black Bean Quinoa Enchiladas with Avocado and a homemade enchilada sauce!
These satisfying, nutrient-packed beauties are adapted from our all-time favorite Black Bean Spinach Enchiladas. I wanted to find an alternative filling for vegan cheese shreds (even though those work great too!) So of course, creamy avocado came to mind, and I also added quinoa for an extra protein & nutrient boost. And of course not wanting to miss out on a little cheesy flavor… I sprinkle some nutritional yeast on top before serving.
The sauce ingredients look long, but half are simply spices you can change up to your own liking. (Try ground chipotle for a smoky kick!) It’s an easy, delicious sauce you’ll want to eat with a spoon… I may or may not speak from experience 😉 Hope you enjoy if give these a try!
PS – come join The Garden Grazer on Instagram and share a pic if you make or adapt these! I love seeing your recreations. (Or leave a review/star rating below if you give it a try – your feedback is very appreciated!)
Black Bean Avocado Enchiladas
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup white quinoa (uncooked)
- 2 medium avocados
- 15 oz. can black beans
- 1 1/2 cups corn
- 4-5 green onions (sliced)
- 1/2 cup chopped cilantro
- 1 tsp. cumin
- 8 large tortillas (or about 10-12 corn tortillas)
- Nutritional yeast for sprinkling
- Optional: lightly sauteed spinach
For the enchilada sauce:
- 3 cups vegetable broth
- 1/4 cup tomato paste
- 1/4 cup all-purpose flour (I use gluten-free)
- 2 Tbsp. olive oil
- 2 tsp. cumin
- 1/2 tsp. smoked paprika
- 1/4 tsp. garlic powder
- 1/4 tsp. onion powder
- 1/4 tsp. chili powder
- Salt/pepper to taste
Instructions
- Rinse and cook quinoa according to package directions, using 1 cup water (or veggie broth).
- Meanwhile, make the enchilada sauce: in a small bowl, add flour and spices. In a saucepan over medium heat, add olive oil. Once warm, add tomato paste and flour/spices. Cook 1 minute, whisking. Whisk in broth, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to simmer, and cook until thickened, about 8 minutes. Salt/pepper to taste.
- Meanwhile, dice the avocado, and slice green onions.
- In a large bowl, add black beans (rinsed and drained), corn (thawed if frozen), green onions, cumin, and lightly sauteed spinach if using. Add cooked quinoa, and stir. Add avocado and lightly toss to combine.
- Preheat oven to 375.
- In a lightly sprayed 9×13 baking dish, pour a small amount of sauce to coat the bottom.
- Evenly distribute the black bean/quinoa mixture to the center of each tortilla, roll up, and place seam side down in the dish. Pour remaining sauce over the enchiladas.
- Bake about 25 minutes.
- Optional: garnish with cilantro, green onions, or sprinkle nutritional yeast before serving.
Notes
Nutrition Per Serving (estimate)
Enjoying these black bean avocado enchiladas? Also feel free to check out this Vegan Burrito Bowl with Chipotle Sauce, Chickpea Walnut Taco Crumbles, or Mexican Quinoa Stuffed Peppers!
Mmm these look so wonderful, and vegan too! love it!
Thank you! 🙂
Two Thumbs up from DH!
Hi Stacey! Yay – glad he enjoyed them! Thanks for the message 🙂
These were a hit at my house. Thank you for this great recipe!
Awesome Molly!! Thrilled to hear everyone enjoyed them. So sweet of you to let me know – thanks! 🙂
I can't wait to try these! I already love the Black Bean Spinach Enchiladas which are a staple in my house!
Awesome Stephanie!! Thanks so much for the message 🙂 Hope you love these just as much!
How many servings does this yield?
Hey Crystal! It makes 8 enchiladas. So if you have sides to go along with it, one enchilada would be enough for everyone (serving 8). But if I'm really hungry, I can sometimes eat 1 1/2 to 2! 🙂 So adjust based on sides and hunger level 😉
These were really good! This made a lot more than 8 enchiladas for me! (but I'm ok with that!)
Hi Lisa! YAY – so glad you enjoyed them! I use large tortillas so my enchiladas are usually pretty big 😉 Definitely makes more if you use smaller or corn tortillas. Thanks for the message!!
looks delicious!
Thanks!!
I posted pics of mine on Instagram, but I had to pop back over here and thank you for this recipe. These were absolutely amazing and I want to put that sauce on EVERYTHING!
Always love your instagram pics – thanks so much for sharing Jen!!! 🙂 Full disclosure: I eat the sauce with a spoon muahaha
Thanks for the recipe. Lot's of colour; so healthy and looks delicious!
Thanks so much Alex! Hope you enjoy!! 🙂
ThesE were so good! It's tough filling up a vegan athletic man but this got a rave review from both of us.
Hi Shery! Yay! So awesome to hear. You might want to check out the "Protein Monster Vegan Enchiladas" as well if you like these! And does chasing after a toddler qualify me as a vegan athlete? 😉 Haha – wishing you both a wonderful week!
This sauce is seriously gourmet, super flavorful…just AMAZING!!!!! Impressive. 🙂
Yay! So glad you enjoyed it 🙂 It's awesomely versatile too!
Is the cumin in this recipe cumin seeds or cumin powder?
Cumin powder! Sorry that wasn't more clear 🙂
Do you know how well these freeze?
Hi Meagan! I haven't tried freezing these, but I bet they'd do pretty well! I'd recommend freezing them before baking, and also freeze the enchilada sauce in a separate container. Would love to hear if you give it a go! 🙂
Huzz and I both thought the quinoa bean mixture would be a delicious salad with some tomatoes, sweet onions and salt and pepper. Thanks for the recipe!
Hi Shawna! YUM – good call with the mixture as a salad, that'd be awesome! Definitely one of our favorites is the "quinoa avocado spinach power salad" on the site 🙂 Have a great week!
I just made these for my family. They were incredible. We were both shocked at how good they were. Truly excellent recipe! Thank you sooo much.
Fantastic to hear!! Thanks so much for your kind words 🙂 Wishing you and your family a great week!
Made these for dinner tonight. Absolutely amazing!!!! Thanks for sharing this recipe.
Hi Marianne! That's wonderful! Thrilled to hear you enjoyed them too – we always love enchiladas 🙂
Hi, I'm trying to go vegan for 30 days to see if I feel better. These recipes sound great. What is the nutritional yeast? Is it a seasoning or flakes? What brand do you use?
Hi Lorry! So fun to hear about your "vegan tryouts"! 😉 Nutritional yeast has some great health benefits, and the taste is a bit cheesy/nutty. (It's often used as a vegan replacement for cheese.) I buy Bob's Red Mill flakes – they're available at my local grocery store now, so you may be able to find it at yours too! Otherwise you can buy online/Amazon. Have fun experimenting with some new vegan recipes! Hope you start to feel better 🙂
Does the avocado go IN the enchiladas or only on top? Thanks for sharinf this recipe! Excited to try it tonight!
Hi Jackie! We put the avocado in the enchiladas 🙂 (And often more on top for serving after they bake!) Hope you enjoy it tonight!
Love love love them! We are not quite at the complete "vegan" stage. Just getting my husband to try these was a feat in and of itself. So I did add about 2 tablespoons of cheese. Once he tried them he loved them. He exact words were "these are awesome. I could drink that sauce". I have a book of Pinterest recipes that I print out. That way when I don't know what to make we can go back through and see what we've had and liked. It has already been added. I always have everything for this on hand.
Aww, yay!! Thanks so much for taking the time to leave such a sweet comment 🙂 Absolutely thrilled to hear how much you and your husband enjoyed these! Wishing you both a wonderful weekend!!
I just made these enchiladas and they are fantastic! They are definitely going on my list of recipes to make again 🙂
Hi Danielle!! Yay, that is so awesome to hear 😀 Glad you enjoyed them enough to make again! Have a beautiful week!!
I made these tonight! I'm not vegan but both my daughters are, so I am experimenting with vegan recipes so I can teach them. These were delicious! I will definitely make these again! The only change I made was to omit corn, I just don't like it/can't digest it. I added sauteed spinach. My first experience with quinoa too! Love this recipe!
Hi Terri! Sorry this response is so delayed but YAY – it's great to hear from you! I LOVE that you're cooking vegan meals for your daughters, what a sweet mom! Happy you enjoyed these and that your first quinoa experience was a success 🙂 Thanks so much for coming back to let me know! Hope you all have a beautiful weekend!!
Love these enchiladas!! This time I had some leftover Mexican bean and rice soup that i needed to use up that had developed a thicker consistency overnight. No corn but still added the avocado and used this same sauce! We loved them!
Thank you for this beauty!!
Awesome to hear!! What a great way to repurpose that leftover soup, I love it! Glad you enjoyed – have an awesome weekend!
Made this tonight. Easy to prepare and cook. Was absolutely delicious. My kids loved it too.Will definitely make again.Looking forward to trying out more recipes
Made this tonight. Easy to prepare and cook. Was absolutely delicious. My kids loved it too.Will definitely make again.Looking forward to trying out more recipes
YAY!! So fun to hear you all enjoyed these Andrea! LOVE finding those easy meals that even please the kiddos 😉 Thanks so much for your sweet comment and hope you enjoy any other recipes you try! Wishing you and your family a beautiful week! -Kaitlin
This a new favorite dinner, THANK YOU!!!
Niiiice!! So fun to hear you gave these a try and enjoyed, yay! Thanks for the feedback & have an awesome week! -Kaitlin
First time trying enchiladas and it was delicious! Thanks Kaitlin
YAY! So great to hear your first enchilada experience was a success! Thanks for the sweet feedback – have a lovely week!
Sooo…ooo good – love these! I’ve been removing the avocados from the filling and making guacamole with them to put on top instead. Thanks for a new favorite recipe!!
Hi Stephanie!! YAY, so glad you’re enjoying these! And I love that you’re just using the avocado for guac on top – smart! Thanks so much for taking the time to leave such sweet feedback 🙂 Wishing you a most beautiful week! -Kaitlin