These Vegetarian Chipotle Enchiladas are stuffed with sweet butternut squash, hearty black beans, and plenty of cheese, then smothered in a smoky chipotle enchilada sauce!
If you love Mexican food as much as I do, you’re in for a real treat today.
One of my favorite things about creating Mexican recipes is how easily adaptable they are to a meatless diet. Beans give you plenty of protein, there’s always tortillas and cheese, plus loads of veggies to keep everything feeling healthy and flavorful. Remember my vegetarian enchiladas with poblano cream sauce? This chipotle version is like an opposite but somehow equally awesome option.
These chipotle enchiladas are special because they’re stuffed with black beans and butternut squash. This combo was a huge hit with my black bean and butternut squash quesadillas, so I’m hoping you’ll love these as well (I certainly did!)
I’m currently having a moment with chipotle peppers. They’re slightly smoky and full of flavor without being too terribly spicy. My go-to snacking salsa is chipotle flavored and I’m so glad I thought of putting one in my homemade enchilada sauce!
Chipotles are a tiny bit annoying because they’re sold in a can (in adobo, which is just some saucy goodness). It can be a little disheartening to buy a whole can of chipotles and then only use one, so feel free to leave it out or freeze leftover peppers in ice cube trays for future use.
These chipotle vegetarian enchiladas can be customized in so many ways! Here are a few ideas to get you started:
- Use sweet potatoes in place of the butternut squash
- Add other roasted or sautéed veggies such as onions or peppers
- Swap the beans and veggies for 3 cups cooked, shredded chicken if making for meat eaters
- Leave the cheese out to make it vegan, skipping the sour cream in the toppings
- Use a gluten-free flour blend in the sauce and gluten-free tortillas to make this gluten-free
- To save time the squash will be soft enough to eat after roasting about 40 minutes, but I prefer to leave them in the full hour to get crisp and sweet
- Save time by using a canned enchilada sauce rather than homemade
- Omit the chipotle pepper, no need to make any other changes
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- 1 medium sized butternut squash peeled, seeded, and cut into 1 inch cubes (about 1 1/2 cups cooked)
- Olive oil
- Coarse kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 15 ounces canned black beans rinsed and drained
- 2 cups monterey jack or cheddar cheese divided
- 10 taco size flour tortillas
- Avocado optional
- Cilantro optional
- Limes optional
- Sour Cream optional
- Mango optional
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 2 1/2 tablespoons chili powder
- 1 chipotle pepper in adobo seeds removed, and chopped
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon coarse kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
- 2 1/4 cups low sodium vegetable stock
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Preheat the oven to 400ºF. Arrange the squash in a single layer on a large rimmed baking sheet. Drizzle with olive oil and rub the squash to coat completely. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Bake 1 hour, stirring three or four times, until the squash is tender and beginning to caramelize. Remove from the oven and reduce the oven temperature to 375ºF.
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Meanwhile, prepare the enchilada sauce by heating 2 tablespoons vegetable oil in a medium pot over medium heat. Add the flour and whisk constantly for one minute. Add the chill powder, chipotle pepper, garlic powder, 1/2 teaspoon salt, cumin, and oregano and stir to combine. Slowly whisk in the vegetable stock until smooth. Reduce the heat and simmer 10-15 minutes or until slightly thickened.
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Coat a 9x13 baking dish with cooking spray and pour 1/4 cup enchilada sauce in the bottom of the pan, spreading it out to loosely cover the bottom.
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In a large bowl, combine butternut squash, black beans, and 1 cup of cheese. Add 2/3 cup of the enchilada sauce and stir to combine. Divide the filling amongst the tortillas, roll tightly, and place seam side down in the prepared baking pan. Top with the remaining enchilada sauce, smoothing it out to coat all of the tortillas, and sprinkle with the remaining cheese.
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Bake 20-25 minutes or until bubbly and the cheese is beginning to brown. Top with optional toppings such as diced avocado, cilantro, lime juice, sour cream, or diced mango.
A few ideas to customize your vegetarian chipotle enchiladas:
- Use sweet potatoes in place of the butternut squash
- Add other roasted or sautéed veggies such as onions or peppers
- Swap the beans and veggies for 3 cups cooked, shredded chicken if making for meat eaters
- Leave the cheese out to make it vegan, skipping the sour cream in the toppings
- Use a gluten-free flour blend in the sauce and gluten-free tortillas to make this gluten-free
- To save time the squash will be soft enough to eat after roasting about 40 minutes, but I prefer to leave them in the full hour to get crisp and sweet
- Save time by using a canned enchilada sauce rather than homemade
- Omit the chipotle pepper, no need to make any other changes
These look delicious. Love that you can customize them so easily to suit your taste.
This is my kind of meal! I need to make these asap!
This looks amazing!
This looks incredible, love the wonderful combo!