Enfrijolada Skillet
If you haven’t had enfrijoladas yet, you’re in for a delicious treat. Enfrijoladas are basically enchiladas with a bean sauce instead of using a tomato or green Chile based sauce. There are so many ways to make this traditional Mexican dish, and this is my rendition. It’s a great way to switch up from the usual enchiladas and also a delicious way to incorporate a lot more plant protein into your life. The bean sauce alone has 42 grams of plant protein and paired with 2 cups of brown rice (has about 10 grams of protein) and the cashew cream, it makes this a perfect high protein dinner - which I love for meal prep!
Ever since, I first started my cheffing career 15 years ago, I have been making Enfrijoladas for clients and for dinner parties because they are always a hit. I’m talking lick the plate clean, there are never any leftovers kind of a hit. I have always kept my version of this recipe up my sleeve for special occasions until now because I felt like it was time to share it to the blog. I love this recipe because it is so versatile, depending what you have in the fridge. If you don’t have mushrooms, you can use zucchini, potatoes or even corn, and if you don’t have rice you can use quinoa or soyriso. Also if you don’t have pinto beans you can substitute black beans or a mix of both, so which ever way you want to twist it, it’s a yummy and low budget recipe that is also incredibly allergy friendly. It’s naturally gluten free, soy free, dairy free, plant based and nut free (minus the cashew cream). I like to make these these on Sunday nights so I can have leftovers throughout the week when I’m looking for a quick high protein meal or snack. I’m actually eating leftovers right now as I type this so trust me when I say, you could eat these all week long!
This recipe is:
vegan + plant based
dairy free
budget friendly
great for weeknight dinner meal prep
Perfect to feed a crowd.
Bai’s Tip: I always like to keep extra tortillas on hand and save some of the bean sauce in case I have leftover filling, so that I can make some leftover tacos the next day.
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Makes 1o inch skillet of enfrijoladas:
The Goods:
For the bean sauce purée:
1 tsp olive oil (or veggie broth for oil free)
4 green onions, sliced
1 bell pepper, sliced
4 garlic cloves, peeled and minced
1 jalapeño, sliced
1 tsp salt
2 cans Edens pinto beans, drained
1 tbsp oregano
1 tsp coriander
1 cup water + 1 cup water later
For the inside filling:
1 tsp olive oil (or veggie broth for oil free)
2 green onions, sliced
4 cup chopped mushrooms
1 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp paprika
1 1/2 tsp granulated garlic
1/2 tsp black pepper
2 cups spinach
2 tbsp nutritional yeast
2 cups cooked brown rice
For the skillet:
8-12 tortillas
shredded vegan mozzarella cheese (optional)
cholula hot sauce
sliced green onions
cilantro leaves
lime wedges
The Method:
First step is to make your rice. Cook your rice to package instructions and set aside when it’s done.
While the rice is cooking, it’s time to make the bean sauce purée. Grab a medium sauce pan and heat on medium high with olive oil or veggie broth. Once hot, add the green onions and saute for 1-2 minutes. Toss in the bell pepper, garlic, jalapeño, salt and sauté for 2-3 minutes until the veggies have softened and charred slightly.
Take your drained pinto beans, oregano, coriander, and add them into the sauce pan while stirring for about 60 seconds. Pour in 1 cup of water and cap with a lid, then let it cook for 7-8 minutes. Check it half way and stir to make sure it’s not burning on the bottom.
Afterwards, some of the water should have evaporated and reduced. Now add the other 1 cup water and stir it in. Remove from heat and set aside with the lid on to keep warm.
Next up is the inside filling. Heat a large sauté pan on medium high with olive oil or veggie broth. Once hot, toss in the green onions and sauté for 1-2 minutes. Add all the chopped mushrooms, salt, paprika, granulated garlic, pepper, and cook down for 4-6 minutes. It will seem like a lot of mushrooms at first, but they will reduce in size as they cook. When the mushrooms are soft and reduced by half, add the spinach, nutritional yeast and mix everything up and cook for 1-2 more minutes until the spinach is cooked. Remove from heat and pour all the cooked veggies into a large mixing bowl along with 2 cups of cooked rice. Stir with a spoon until everything is fully mixed and set aside.
Now is a good time to preheat your oven to 350 and to steam/warm your tortillas. Add the warmed tortillas into a steamer basket to help keep them from breaking when you go to roll them later on.
Going back to the beans sauce purée, pour all the contents from inside the sauce pan into a large high powered blender and blend on high for 1-2 minutes until smooth. Taste for salt and if it’s really thick, you can add 1/4 cup extra water to smooth out the consistency until is pourable. You don’t want the bean sauce too thin, but just enough to be able to pour it out of the blender without having to use a spoon.
Now in a conveyor belt formation, place a 10 inch oven safe skillet, your tortilla basket with your tortillas steaming, the mixing bowl with the rice/mushroom mixture, and an empty place next to each other to start making the enfrijoladas.
Before you start, pour about a 1/2 cup of bean sauce purée onto the bottom of the skillet and spread it around with a spoon until the entire bottom is coated. This will help keep the tortillas from sticking to the bottom while baking in the oven.
One by one, place a tortilla onto the empty plate, and add about a 1/2 cup of rice/mushroom mix (+ optional to add a sprinkle of vegan cheese) into the middle of the tortilla and roll it up like an enchilada. The tighter the better. (Depending on how you do it, you can fill each tortilla up with more filling and use less tortillas, or fill up each tortilla with less filling and use more tortillas.)
Place the rolled tortilla into the skillet vertically along the edge leaving space on the side, and repeat with the rest of the tortillas until you fill the skillet. Because it’s a circle, there will be some space left over, so the last 1-2 rolled tortillas will fit in horizontally inside the skillet.
Take the rest of the bean sauce purée and pour it generously over the top of everything. Place an oven safe cover over the top of the skillet and bake in the oven at 350 for 20-22 minutes.
After baking, remove from the oven and garnish the top with cashew cream dollops, a hot sauce drizzle, green onions slices, and cilantro leaves. Serve immediately while still hot.
Serve the enfrijoladas with a lime wedge and margarita. Enjoy!
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