These Butternut Squash Enchiladas are stuffed with sweet butternut squash, hearty black beans, and plenty of cheese, then smothered in a smoky chipotle enchilada sauce! They’re true vegetarian Mexican comfort food.
If you love Mexican food as much as I do, you’re in for a real treat today because I’m sharing butternut squash enchiladas!
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 vegetarian 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 think you’ll love these as well (I certainly did!)
Ingredients
- Butternut squash
- Black beans
- Cheese
- Flour tortillas
- Olive oil
- Salt
- Red enchilada sauce
Chipotle peppers
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 red 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.
Tips for customizing butternut squash 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 (affiliate link) rather than homemade
- Omit the chipotle pepper, no need to make any other changes
More butternut squash recipes
- Pan Fried Butternut Squash Pasta
- Butternut Squash Risotto with Kale
- Butternut Squash Pizza with Kale
- Butternut Squash and Sage Pesto
If you make this recipe be sure to rate it, leave a comment, or tag #theliveinkitchen on Instagram!
This post may contain affiliate links. If you click on a link and make a purchase, I make a small commission off the sale. All opinions are my own.
Recipe
Vegetarian Enchiladas with Butternut Squash and Black Beans
Ingredients
Vegetarian Enchiladas
- 1 medium sized butternut squash, peeled, seeded, and cut into 1 inch cubes (about 1 ½ 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
Chipotle Enchilada Sauce
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 2 ½ tablespoons chili powder
- 1 chipotle pepper in adobo, seeds removed, and chopped
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon coarse kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon ground cumin
- ¼ teaspoon dried oregano
- 2 ¼ cups low sodium vegetable stock
Instructions
- 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.
- 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, ½ 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.
- Coat a 9×13 baking dish with cooking spray and pour ¼ cup enchilada sauce in the bottom of the pan, spreading it out to loosely cover the bottom.
- In a large bowl, combine butternut squash, black beans, and 1 cup of cheese. Add ⅔ 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.
- 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.
Notes
- 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
Megan says
These look delicious. Love that you can customize them so easily to suit your taste.
Megan @ MegUnprocessed says
This is my kind of meal! I need to make these asap!
Carolyn says
This looks amazing!
Richa Gupta says
This looks incredible, love the wonderful combo!
Liv says
These were delicious! Best enchiladas I’ve made for my family. The sauce is really what makes it – I decreased the chilli powder slightly as my kids don’t do spice very well – but the flavours are 100%.
Krupa Dave says
Can you show on video how to make this sauce! Thank you so much for this great recipe!