A satisfying high-protein Vegan Enchiladas recipe with an amazing homemade sauce! Each enchilada has a whopping 20+ grams of protein (all from soy-free sources).
Two things make these "Protein Monster" Enchiladas one of our favorite vegan enchiladas yet.
First is the combination of black beans + garbanzo beans.
Chickpeas don't often appear in enchiladas but we really enjoy the unexpected addition. (If you're not a fan of garbanzos, substitute quinoa instead!)
Second is when the natural tomato juices are mixed with nutritional yeast in the pan, it makes a delicious sauce that really brings the filling together.
Ingredients for Vegan Protein Enchiladas
For this recipe you will combine then bake in the oven:
- Yellow onion: Or use sweet onion or white onion if desired.
- Red bell pepper: Or you can substitute any other color bell pepper.
- Black beans
- Garbanzo beans (chickpeas)
- Hemp hearts: These are also known as hulled hemp seeds. Be sure to find fresh hemp hearts that are not expired. These add a lot of plant protein to the dish. But if you don't care for them or can't find them simply leave them out. You could replace them with cooked white quinoa if you'd prefer.
- Nutritional yeast: This gives the filling mixture a rich, savory, slightly cheesy flavor.
- Roma tomatoes: Or you can use garden tomatoes, beefsteak tomatoes, etc.
- Ground cumin
- Smoked paprika: You can also include dried garlic powder or fresh minced garlic cloves to the seasoning mixture.
- Large tortillas: I use 6 large burrito-sized tortillas for this recipe, so if yours are smaller, you may need 8 or more. I try to find organic whole grain tortillas when possible.
Note: I love these topped with our favorite Mexican-inspired homemade enchilada sauce, but use whatever sauce you'd like!
Customizing
Make it spicy: Add jalapeno, cayenne pepper, medium diced green chiles, or chipotle in adobo sauce. Or simply top with your favorite hot sauce to taste before serving.
Make it cheesy: The nutritional yeast provides some cheesy, savory flavor. But feel free to add vegan shredded cheese either to the enchilada filling, or sprinkled on top during the last 10 minutes of baking time.
Add greens: You can also add fresh baby spinach or kale to the enchilada filling mixture.
Note: Each enchilada has about 20+ grams protein, all from non-soy sources. But it could be even higher if you use sprouted grain tortillas!
Serving
Serve these as is, or add your favorite toppings. A few ideas include:
- Diced avocado or guacamole
- Fresh cilantro
- Additional hemp hearts
- Vegan sour cream
For more inspiration, also browse all Mexican-inspired recipes.
Protein Monster Vegan Enchiladas
Ingredients
- 1 yellow onion
- 1 red bell pepper
- 15 oz. can black beans
- 15 oz. can garbanzo beans (chickpeas)
- 1/2 cup hemp hearts
- 1/3 cup nutritional yeast
- 3 roma tomatoes
- 2 tsp. ground cumin
- 1 tsp. smoked paprika
- 6 large tortillas
- 1 batch homemade enchilada sauce (or your own favorite)
Instructions
- Make the enchilada sauce and set aside. (Or skip this step if using your own sauce.)
- Preheat oven to 350°F (176°C).
- Dice onion and bell pepper.
- In a large skillet over medium heat, sauté onion and bell pepper for about 8 minutes.
- Meanwhile, dice tomatoes. Rinse and drain beans.
- When onions are translucent, reduce heat. Add cumin, paprika, tomatoes, nutritional yeast, hemp hearts, and both beans (rinsed and drained). Stir well. Heat for 4-5 minutes then set aside.
- In a lightly sprayed 9"×13" baking dish, cover the bottom with a thin layer of enchilada sauce.
- Distribute bean mixture in the center of tortillas. Roll up, tucking in both ends.
- Place all 6 rolled enchiladas in baking dish and top with remaining sauce.
- Bake for about 25 minutes.
- Serve topped with avocado, cilantro, additional hemp hearts, nutritional yeast, etc.
Notes
Nutrition Per Serving (Estimate)
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Henry
Just made this for the first time today and gotta say the filling is delicious! A great protein filled meal after a workout.
Kaitlin
Hello Henry! That's really great to hear you enjoyed this recipe after your workout. Thanks a lot for giving it a try and sharing your kind feedback!
Cheryl
Delicious! Added some leftover cooked quinoa and roasted sweet potatoes along with a little spicy taco seasoning. Will certainly make again. Thanks for posting!
Kaitlin McGinn
Fantastic additions! Thanks for sharing!
Julie
I can't tell you how many times I've made this. It's one of the best and easiest vegan recipe I've come across over the years. The ingredients are usually already in my pantry, so simple. This has become a staple in our household and I've served it up to plenty of non-vegans without any complaints. 5 star rating without a doubt!
Kaitlin
Hello, Julie! That's amazing. So happy you've been enjoying this recipe and sharing it with others - love that. Thanks so much for bringing a smile with your very kind feedback!
Mallory Campbell
So yummy! I had no clue how easy making enchilada sauce is!! Super filling delicious and easy, thank you!
Kaitlin McGinn
That's so great!
Gabrielle
I made these - with some adjustments - for dinner a couple nights ago and they were a huge hit! My meat loving family still added leftover chicken to theirs but I loved mine as is. Thank you! For anyone wondering about changes, I about doubled the amount of nutritional yeast, left out the hemp hearts, used more spices, and since I didn't quite have enough beans added more bell pepper. I'd love to try these again with some other veggie combos as well!
Kaitlin | The Garden Grazer
Thanks for sharing!
Skye Travis
I made this last night and it was so delicious I overate! I’m still learning about seasonings and spices so when I saw an opportunity to try a new one (Chipotle) I bought some and added a teaspoon - which apparently made the meal too spicy for my kids. Doh! I didn’t realize Chipotle was smoked red jalapenos. Lol! Now I know. My husband and I loved it though. Next time I make this I will skip the chili powder and chipotle…on the kids’ half. I will definitely put those flavors in mine portion though. Yum!
Kaitlin | The Garden Grazer
Hey Skye! Love that you gave these a try. I should've made a note of caution about the chipotle powder, sorry about that!
PS - I've been slowly trying to learn about different spices as well. So fun experimenting and playing around with different flavors! Let me know if you find any new favorites!
Unknown
I subbed the garbanzo beans for small red beans, otherwise followed to a T, (hard for me; I’m a recipe tinkerer!) and wow! These are delicious and so filling! Even my incredibly picky kids ate these!
Kaitlin | The Garden Grazer
That's awesome! Thanks for sharing your feedback!
Unknown
Followed the recipe, exactly, and wow these are awesome. The texture, taste and sauce are delicious!
Kaitlin | The Garden Grazer
Beautiful to hear!
Nanna Cindy
Made these tonight for dinner. We really enjoyed them, even my carnivorous hubby. I like my Mexican food more spicy so I added cayenne pepper to the sauce.
Kaitlin | The Garden Grazer
Great addition!
Unknown
Awesome. Absolutely delicious!!! Used arrowroot powder vs flour for the enchilada sauce as it’s what I had. Other than that followed the recipe. My three year old crushed it!!
Kaitlin | The Garden Grazer
Wonderful, thanks for the feedback!
Unknown
Even my ultra carnivore husband GOBBLED these up! Way too good.And really not a lot of work, either. Yum
Kaitlin | The Garden Grazer
So great!
Amber Hachey
Do these freeze well?
Kaitlin | The Garden Grazer
Hi Amber! I've never tried freezing these. But if you try, you might want to freeze the enchiladas and sauce separately. Someone else commented on another enchilada recipe that that worked well for them! They thawed the sauce overnight before pouring over the enchiladas and baking. (Otherwise if you freeze them with the sauce they might be a little mushy when you cook them later on.) Would love to hear how it goes if you give it a try!
Freddie Mellichamp
If subing quinoa, how much uncooked for this recipe? Thanks. Looks so good. Want to make it!
Kaitlin | The Garden Grazer
Hey Freddie! If you're subbing quinoa for one can of beans, use 1/2 cup uncooked quinoa (or about 1.5 cups cooked). Hope you enjoy!
Scott Rudolph
You really should try adding a couple teaspoons of cocoa powder to the sauce. It makes it taste more authentic, and I never use oil in the sauce. I love your recipe.
Kelly
I have made this several times and I absolutely love it! But I am trying to cut back on oil, can I just leave it out of the sauce?
Kaitlin | The Garden Grazer
That's so great! And sure!
Unknown
Hi, I've made this dish couple times now and can't quite seem to get the sauce down. When mixing together the tomato paste and dry ingredients it always clumps into a massive ball when whisking. Adding the broth helps but there are still big clumps of flour/tomato paste that look really rubbery. What am I doing wrong?! Any tips?
Kaitlin | The Garden Grazer
Oh no! Sorry to hear that. I'd try constantly whisking for a couple minutes after adding the broth to see if that helps break it up as it heats and thickens. (Mine does start a bit clumpy from the flour/spice/tomato paste mixture but quickly dissolves after slowly adding the broth and with plenty of whisking.) So sorry you're having trouble with it, I hope this helps!
Unknown
Thanks so much for this recipe--did not know enchiladas could taste so good without cheese/sour cream. huge huge thanks!!
Kaitlin | The Garden Grazer
Haha, so great to hear that! Thanks for the feedback.
Dan Yanofsky
Hey Kaitlin,
I'm pretty unfamiliar with some of these ingredients, and was wondering what the nutritional yeast refers to. I saw that there are multiple sized flakes, as well as a powdered version, and wanted to know what worked best for this recipe. Thanks!
Kaitlin | The Garden Grazer
Hi Dan! I use either Bragg or Bob's Red Mill nutritional yeast flakes. I've never had the powdered version. There are many nutritional benefits and it has a great nutty, cheesy taste - so it makes for a great vegan alternative to cheese! Hope you enjoy!
Whitney Jones
Wow, these are fantastic! I can hardly wait to be hungry again so I can have another! Gosh I love being vegan. Thank you for sharing, especially the enchilada sauce recipe.
Kaitlin | The Garden Grazer
Aww, so glad you enjoyed, Whitney!
Mary Kelly
These are great! I could go vegan! Didn't miss the cheese at all.
Kaitlin | The Garden Grazer
Fantastic to hear that, Mary!
Kate Z
I made these for the first time last night and they were tremendously delicious. I richened up the sauce by adding more tomatoe paste and some veggie stock starter for extra flavor. Huge hit. Thanks for the awesome recipe!
Kaitlin | The Garden Grazer
Good idea! Thanks for sharing, Kate!
Kristen R
These were super yummy, Kaitlin! We just made them tonight. We were commenting on how the flavors all paired together really well! We also were thinking they would be extra yummy with potatoes or refried type beans + cashew cream (ugh! so yum!). I love how versatile this recipe is because you can definitely fit lots of different flavors inside the tortillas.
Kaitlin | The Garden Grazer
Absolutely! Really great ideas - thanks for sharing!
Terri Glenn
Adjusted a few ingredients match my diet needs. Corn tortillas, shredded zucchini instead of hemp hearts cause I didn't have hemp hearts on hand, ground oats for flour, broth instead of oil, added 1/4 tsp. xanthan gum to thicken sauce, added almond cheese on top. Absolutely delicious! This is a great vegan choice that is so satisfying when in need of Mexican flavor! Thank you.
Kaitlin | The Garden Grazer
That's so great! Thanks for sharing your helpful feedback & adjustments!
Chelsee Glass
Can the hemp hearts be substituted? Or are they necessary for taste? Or can they be left out?
Kaitlin | The Garden Grazer
Hey Chelsee! You can just leave them out!
Anna Trombetta
Made these last night with homemade tortillas! SO DELICIOUS, everyone loved them! They will definitely be on rotation.
Kaitlin | The Garden Grazer
Wonderful! Homemade tortillas sound perfect!
Jillian
I have made these twice in the past month! It's so easy to customize this recipe. I like to add a can of corn to the filling and it is absolutely delicious! I used to buy cans of enchilada sauce, but your recipe is super easy and tastes so much better! Thank you!
Kaitlin | The Garden Grazer
That's so great - thank you for sharing!
jul
Tried these last night....big hit! My husband does not eat beans so I added a green pepper, sautéd the veggies, added the seasoning and made 3 for him, added beans mixed all together and made mine. Worked out great and we were both happy. Yummy addition to our menu. Thank you Kaitlin!
Kaitlin | The Garden Grazer
So great! Thanks for your feedback!
Dottie Shuman
Can you use hemp seed instead of hemp hearts?
Kaitlin | The Garden Grazer
Hi Dottie! I buy them hulled/shelled. (Oftentimes I've noticed the phrase "hemp hearts" and "hemp seeds" are interchangeable, and it's the same hulled seed - which is probably what you have!)
roddy
Where does one buy hemp hearts?
Kaitlin | The Garden Grazer
Hi Roddy! You can check your local health food store, grocery store, or order online. (I usually buy Manitoba Harvest organic hemp hearts.)