You'll fall in love with this healthy, plant-based enchilada recipe!
There are tons of healthy enchilada recipes out there. Low-Carb Stuffed Cabbage Enchiladas that use cabbage leaves instead of tortillas, Slow-Cooker Chicken Enchiladas that bake while you’re at work, and recipes like our Creamy Pumpkin Chicken Enchiladas that add a fun twist to the classic by using pureed pumpkin instead of the traditional red sauce. But there’s one thing that these (and even most vegetarian enchilada) recipes have in common: cheese. If you’re following a vegan or a plant-based diet, dairy is off the table, so we created these Black Bean and Tofu Enchiladas with Creamy Cilantro Lime Sauce.
This recipe not only boasts an incredible nutritional profile, but it’s also dairy-free, gluten-free, and made with 100 percent plant-based ingredients. Add in the fact that it’s ready to eat in 40 minutes and contains only 333 calories per serving, and you may have found a new favorite recipe for meatless Monday!
What are the Best Tortillas for Enchiladas?
Some enchilada recipes call for flour tortillas, while others request corn tortillas. Which are the right ones to use? Well, it’s really up to you. Corn tortillas are traditional, but flour tortillas also work. Flour tortillas are easier to roll, and they don’t crack as easily. But we’ve found that heating corn tortillas briefly in the microwave makes them more malleable. So we kept things traditional and used corn tortillas in this recipe. It makes the recipe gluten-free, but you can certainly swap-in flour tortillas if that’s what you have on hand.
If you’re concerned about your carbohydrate intake, make these Black Bean and Tofu Enchiladas low-carb by swapping in collard greens or cabbage leaves. Of course, you could also skip the tortillas altogether and turn this recipe into a casserole. Instead of going through the effort of rolling the enchiladas, simply transfer the tofu, beans, spinach, and enchilada sauce to a casserole dish. Bake it for the same amount of time and eat it as-is or over brown rice.
Making Super Satisfying Black Bean and Tofu Enchiladas
The hardest thing for new plant-based eaters is eliminating dairy. Milk, cream, sour cream, yogurt, and cheese are commonly used in most cuisines, and it isn’t easy to think of how to make your favorite recipes without them. We did a few things when adapting this recipe for a vegan diet that we think you’ll find super satisfying.
For starters, we puree the tofu with cumin, chili powder, garlic powder, salt, and nutritional yeast. This not only allows you to skip the pressing step that makes tofu a pain to work with, but it also infuses the neutral-tasting tofu with a ton of added flavor. It becomes smoky, spicy, pungent, and cheesy. When combined with the grassy spinach and savory black beans, the combination is hard to beat.
We also very strategically created a creamy cilantro lime sauce to top our Black Bean and Tofu Enchiladas. It doesn’t contain any dairy, but the pureed avocado becomes ultra-creamy. The healthy fat replaces the unhealthy fats in cheese, and drizzling the sauce on top of the enchiladas sort of tricks your taste buds into thinking the dish contains cheese.
Black Bean and Tofu Enchiladas with Creamy Cilantro Lime Sauce
Ingredients
Cilantro Lime Sauce
- 1 avocado medium
- 1 cup cilantro leaves
- 2/3 cup water plus additional as needed
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon cumin ground
- 2 limes juiced
Enchiladas
- 2 1/2 cups red enchilada sauce sugar-free
- 8 ounces firm tofu packaged, drained
- 2 teaspoons cumin ground
- 1 tablespoon chili powder
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
- 1/4 cup vegetable broth or water
- 1 red bell pepper seeded, diced
- 1 red onion medium, diced
- 2 cups baby spinach
- 15 ounces black beans canned, drained, rinsed
- 12 corn tortillas small
- cilantro for garnish
Instructions
Cilantro Lime Sauce
- To make the cilantro lime sauce, combine the ingredients in a blender. Blend until smooth, adding additional water as needed. Cover the sauce and store it in the refrigerator until ready to use.
Enchiladas
- To make the enchiladas, preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Spread 1/2 cup of the enchilada sauce in the bottom of a 9 x 13 casserole pan and set aside.
- Pat the tofu dry and chop it into large pieces. Place the tofu in the food processor and puree until smooth, stopping to scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed. Add the cumin, chili powder, garlic powder, kosher salt, and nutritional yeast. Pulse until well mixed. Set aside.
- In a large skillet, heat the vegetable broth over medium-high heat. Add the peppers and onion. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are tender.
- Stir in the tofu mixture and cook for about 5 minutes, until the mixture resembles scrambled eggs.
- Stir in the spinach and black beans and cook until the spinach is wilted and the beans are warmed through. Season the mixture with additional salt, to taste.
- Warm the tortillas in the microwave for about 30 seconds, until they’re soft and easy to work with. Lay the tortillas on a flat surface and add 1/4 cup of the filling to the middle of the tortilla. Spoon 1 tablespoon of the enchilada sauce over the filling and tightly roll the tortillas into a long cylinder. Place the rolled tortillas seam-side down in the prepared casserole dish and continue filling until there are no more tortillas remaining.
- Pour the remaining enchilada sauce over top of the tortillas. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, until the sauce is bubbling.
- Drizzle the cilantro lime sauce over top of the enchiladas and garnish with cilantro leaves. Serve hot.
Nutrition Information
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If I wanted to use cabbage or collards, how would I change the baking time?
Thanks for a nifty idea!
Jen, Chop your cabbage or collards and sub for the spinach.
OMG! Just starting whole plant based diet and not liking a lot of the recipes and had never tried tofu before. But this recipe is a WINNER!! Easy to make and tastes delicious- served to everyone and they all loved it- even my meat eaters! Will definitely make again and share with family and friends! Thank you so much for sharing!
Lori, Congratulations on your decision to go plant-based! We have hundreds of recipes that fall under that category. Thanks for the feedback. 🙂