Easy Enchiladas with Black Beans & Spinach

Easy enchiladas with black beans and spinach. The enchilada sauce and filling are both simple to make- no precooking required! Just mix, roll, and bake.

Easy Enchiladas

“Easy ” is not necessarily the category I would assign enchiladas in the grand scheme of kitchen projects. Many versions require multiple cooking steps like making and cooking the enchilada sauce, chopping and cooking the filling, and then baking the enchiladas in the oven. Yours truly is guilty as charged as I’m pretty sure there are a few high-maintenance enchilada recipes buried in the archives.

So, these enchiladas with black beans and spinach are like a breath of fresh air. There’s no precooking required – all you do is mix, roll, and bake.

How to Make Spinach and Black Bean Enchiladas

A lot of from-scratch enchilada recipes require some kind of pre-cooking activity whether it’s the meat or the enchilada sauce. Because these are vegetarian you don’t need to break out the skillet to brown meat and instead of simmering the enchilada sauce you just mix it up and pour it over the enchiladas. It cooks in the oven along with everything else.

Enchilada Filling

• You’ll want to thaw a box of frozen spinach first, which takes about six minutes in the microwave. While it’s thawing, mix up the rest of the filling which is just black beans, lime zest, salt, and shredded Monterey jack cheese. Once the spinach is thawed, and this is an important step, place it in a clean dish towel and squeeze out all the moisture. You don’t want all of the liquid in your enchiladas. Add the spinach to the black bean mixture and the filling is done.

Enchilada Sauce

• The enchilada sauce is as simple as combine tomato sauce, chili powder, onion and garlic powders, dried oregano, salt, and lime juice. Just mix it up and it’s ready to go. I like to add about a 1/2 cup of the sauce to the filling.
• I used 7-inch corn tortillas for these enchiladas, but you can use flour tortillas if you like those better. At this point, all you need to do is assemble the enchiladas and place them in a baking dish. Pour the sauce over the top, sprinkle on some shredded cheese, and cover the dish with foil. Bake the enchiladas for 30 minutes at 375°F. Uncover the dish and bake them for another ten minutes, or until the enchiladas are hot and bubbly.
• Don’t forget garnishes! I like cilantro, avocado, and green onions on mine or dress them up with all of your favorite toppings.

Happy Cooking!

Post, recipe, and photos updated from the archives. First published September 2016.

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Easy Enchiladas with Black Beans & Spinach

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Easy enchiladas with black beans and spinach – no pre-cooking required! Just mix, roll, and bake.

• Author: April @ Girl Gone Gourmet
• Prep Time: 15 minutes
• Cook Time: 40 minutes
• Total Time: 55 minutes
• Yield: 10 enchiladas 1x
• Category: Dinner
• Method: Baking
• Cuisine: Mexican

Ingredients

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For the Filling

• 1 (10-oz) package frozen spinach, thawed (see note)
• 1 (15-oz) can black beans, drained and rinsed
• Zest from 1 lime
• 1 tsp kosher salt
• 4 ounces Monterrey jack cheese, shredded

For the Sauce

• 2 (15-oz) cans tomato sauce
• 1 tablespoon chili powder
• 1 teaspoon onion powder
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• Juice of 1 lime

Everything Else

• 10 (7-inch) corn tortillas
• 4 ounces Monterey jack cheese, shredded
• Chopped cilantro, for garnish
• Slice green onions, for garnish
• Sliced avocado, for garnish

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Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 375°F.
2. To make the filling, combine the spinach, black beans, lime zest, salt and cheese in a large bowl.
3. To make the sauce, combine the tomato sauce, chili powder, onion and garlic powders, oregano, salt and lime juice in a medium-sized bowl.
4. To assemble the enchiladas first warm the corn tortillas in the microwave for about 30 seconds. This will prevent them from tearing as you roll the enchiladas.
5. Coat the bottom of a 9×13 baking dish with one cup of the sauce. Add half of a cup of the sauce to the filling and stir to combine.
6. Scoop about a quarter cup of the filling onto a tortilla. Roll it up and place it in the baking dish. Repeat with remaining tortillas.
7. Pour the remaining sauce over the top of the enchiladas. Sprinkle the grated cheese over the top.
8. Cover the baking dish with tin foil and bake the enchiladas 30 minutes. Remove the foil and bake them for 10 minutes or until hot and bubbly. Remove them from the oven and let them stand for a few minutes before serving. Garnish with the cilantro, green onions, and avocado or your favorite toppings.

Notes

To thaw the spinach, pop it in the microwave and, using the defrost setting, nuke it until it is easily broken apart. Place the thawed spinach in a clean kitchen towel and roll it up. Squeeze the towel over the sink until all of the liquid is removed. Give it a few really good squeezes otherwise, the excess liquid will make your enchiladas watery.

Nutrition

• Serving Size: 1 enchilada
• Calories: 208
• Sugar: 3.7g
• Fat: 8.2g
• Carbohydrates: 24.8g
• Fiber: 6.8g
• Protein: 11.5g

Keywords: easy enchiladas, black bean enchiladas