Black Bean Enchiladas with Creamy Tomatillo Sauce

Flour tortillas filled with black beans, green chilies, and cheese, and smothered in a creamy tomatillo sauce and more cheese. These black bean enchiladas are one of those go-to recipes I come back to over and over again. 

Cheesy Black Bean Enchiladas with Creamy Green Sauce

The first time I made these black bean enchiladas I knew they were destined to be a staple in my home. You know... one of those dishes you find yourself making over and over and over again.

For me, the recipes that I make most often generally check four boxes:

1. It's off-the-charts delicious. For me, this is most important, but not all important. 
2. It's easy to make, and include ingredients that won't break the bank and are easy to find.
3. It can be made in advance and/or easily halved, doubled, or tripled at will.
4. Leftovers reheat well and are just as good later in the week as they were the night I cooked them.

These enchiladas check all those boxes.

Also, both my husband and I find them so delicious that neither one of us can imagine ever getting tired of them. And, maybe it's all the fiber in the beans, but even though they include a LOT of cheese and some cream in the tomatillo sauce, they somehow don't leave us feeling weighed down. 

Like I said, these enchiladas check aaaaallllll the boxes for me.

Use Canned or Cooked Dried Black Beans to Make the Enchilada Filling 

I would pretty much always rather cook up some dried beans than use canned beans for a couple of reasons...

• Dried beans are significantly less expensive than canned
• Cooked dried beans are less likely to cause uncomfortable intestinal gas
• Cooking beans from scratch gives you complete control over flavor

While you do need to plan ahead - soak the beans overnight and then let them simmer for a few hours the next day - the actually hands-on time to prepare a pot of beans is about 5 minutes. I'm not even joking. 

So, a pot of slow cooked black beans or beans cooked quickly in the Instant Pot is my first choice for these enchiladas.

Having said that, I've used canned black beans the last 3 times I made them because I wanted to make them now and didn't want to wait for dried beans to cook. They are delicious either way.

The One "From Scratch" Ingredient That Makes a Real Difference:

If I could encourage you to do one extra thing for these black bean enchiladas, it would be to make some homemade flour tortillas. I know, I know. That sounds extreme. Way, waaaaay above and beyond. But hear me out.

Homemade tortillas are actually quite simple to make and are one of those things with a work-to-worth-it ratio that's exceptionally unbalanced in favor of worth it. This is especially true if you have a stand mixer because the mixer does all the work of kneading the dough for you.

After that, it's just a matter of rolling them out and cooking them for about a minute in a hot dry skillet.

At this point the challenge becomes not eating them all before you can actually use them to make enchiladas. I'm not even joking. They are so much better than the packaged, store bought variety, I feel they need a separate category.

My favorite recipe - the one I've been making about once a week for years and years - is published on my other food blog, Of Batter and Dough. It's one of the most popular recipes I've ever published because once you make them, you're hooked. Ruined for the packaged variety forever. 🙂

Get the recipe for Homemade Flour Tortillas.

If you're thinking, "But, the tortillas are just going to get smothered in sauce and cheese, so does going through the trouble of making them even make sense?" The answer is yes.

We had some guests for dinner last month and I decided that I didn't want to go through the trouble of making homemade tortillas because of that very reason.

I can tell you right now that it made a difference. Our guests didn't notice, but my husband and I sure did. Homemade tortillas hold up better under all that sauce and have a noticeably chewier texture.

Black bean enchiladas are still be delicious with the packaged variety. But, they'll be even better with homemade tortillas. 

What Kind Of Salsa Should You Use in the Creamy Tomatillo Sauce?

If I am already planning to make some salsa verde, it's a given that I'll make extra just for these enchiladas. Otherwise, I'm happy to just pick up a couple bottles of prepared salsa at the supermarket.

As long as you choose a variety that tastes good to you, you'll be golden. My go-to brand is Herdez. To my taste buds, it's just the right amount of spicy and sour.

Making homemade salsa verde is easy and delicious, especially when tomatillos are in season and plentiful. I highly recommend it. But, a high-quality prepared salsa works just as well in these enchiladas.

Make Ahead Instructions For Black Bean Enchiladas:

I am not one of those people who can do several things at once. So, whenever possible, if we are having guests for dinner, I try to choose things that can be made in advance.

This is so I can actually talk to our guests without being distracted by cooking. 

These enchiladas are perfect in that regard because they can be completely prepared in advance. Fill the enchiladas, smother them with sauce and cheese, and cover with aluminum foil or a lid, and put them in the refrigerator.

Pop them in a preheated oven about 30 minutes before you want to eat and dinner is served. 

Two Other Favorite Enchilada Recipes:

• Easy, Cheesy, Chicken Enchiladas Verdes
• Cheese Enchilada Casserole

More Popular Meatless Main Dish Recipes:

• Crispy Corn Tortilla Quesadillas 
• Black Bean Soup with Pickled Onions and Cilantro Oil
• Black Bean Tomato Soup
• Cauliflower and Chickpea Curry with Coconut
• Shishito Pepper Tacos with Fried Cheese and Chili Cranberry Sauce
• Tequila Lime Vegan Cauliflower Tacos
• Vegetarian Chili with Pico de Gallo and Chimichurri Sauce
• Vegetarian Spaghetti Carbonara 

If you give this recipe a try, let me know! Leave a comment, rate it, or take a picture and tag it #alittleandalot on Instagram.

8