Vegan black bean & mushroom enchiladas with creamy cheesy cashew sauce and homemade enchilada sauce.
If you thought that cheesy plant-based enchiladas were not a thing, you were happily mistaken. We made them happen a few years ago and thought we should bring them back to you in this updated post.
These delicious mushroom and black bean filled enchiladas are incredibly satisfying. The mushrooms and beans are meaty, chewy, and creamy all at the same time. And the onion, garlic, poblano and red bell pepper, as well as the warm and earthy spices add tons of flavor.
We make our own enchilada sauce from scratch because it's super easy, you can manage the heat and flavor to suit your taste, and it's just fresher, better, and healthier than what you can buy in a can.
All you'll need is a vegetable broth base, spices, tomato paste, a bit of flour and water to thicken it, and the surprise ingredient, cocoa powder. Don't skip it, because it makes the sauce.
As we all know, the pièce de résistance of the perfect enchilada is the cheese. Since we don't eat dairy cheese, and we didn't have any non-dairy cheese in the house, we made our favorite cashew cream sauce to pour all over these lovelies, and it tasted better than we expected.
It's so creamy and thick and delicious. The flavor is mild, which is perfect because the homemade enchilada sauce and the spices in the black beans and mushrooms are enough.
By now you're probably drooling, so let's get cooking.
HOW TO MAKE HOMEMADE ENCHILADA SAUCE AND VEGAN BLACK BEAN & MUSHROOM ENCHILADAS
Note: Make sure to soak the cashews overnight, so plan ahead.
First - Make the sauce. It's a breeze to make, and SO much better than store bought. Click here to get the recipe. I usually make the sauce a day or two earlier so there aren't so many steps on the day I make the enchiladas.
Second - Make the cashew cream sauce. All you'll need to do is drain and rinse the cashews and add them to a blender with the rest of the ingredients and blend until it turns into a thick, smooth, and creamy sauce.
Third - Make the beans. While the beans are cooking, saute the onion, mushrooms, peppers, garlic, and spices.
Fourth - Build the enchiladas. Lightly grease the pan and spread a layer of enchilada sauce on the bottom. Fill the center of a tortilla with the beans, mushroom mixture, and chopped spinach. Drizzle a bit of the cashew cream sauce over the beans and mushrooms. Roll the tortilla into a tube shape, and continue until the pan is filled with enchiladas. Evenly pour the sauce over the top and spread it around. Pour most of the cashew cream over the center of the enchiladas, saving a bit for later. Bake for 20 minutes.
Last - Garnish with chopped cilantro, tomato, and slices of avocado. Pour the remaining cashew cream sauce over the enchiladas if you want super creamy results.
Now dig in and eat the creamiest, meatiest, chewiest, most delicious vegan enchiladas you've ever tasted. You can make a pan of these and freeze them for up to 3 months. Double the recipe and freeze one so you'll have a hearty and warm dinner ready to go whenever you need one.
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VEGAN BLACK BEAN & MUSHROOM ENCHILADAS
Ingredients
Click here for the enchilada sauce recipe
FOR THE CASHEW CREAM
- 2 cups raw cashews, soaked in boiling water overnight
- 1 large garlic clove
- 1 tablespoon nutritional yeast
- 2 teaspoons lemon juice
- 2 teaspoons tapioca starch
- ¼ teaspoon ground sea salt
- ½ cup hot water
FOR THE BLACK BEANS
- 15 ounce black beans,drained and rinsed
- Water to cover
- 1 tablespoon chili powder
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon of ground sea salt
- Black pepper to taste
FOR THE MUSHROOM MIXTURE
- 2 teaspoon avocado oil
- 24 ounce mushroom caps (I used Portobello), stems removed and finely chopped
- 1 small red onion – peeled and finely chopped
- 1 small orange or yellow bell pepper seeds removed and finely chopped
- 1 poblano chili pepper seeds removed and finely diced
- 1 cup cilantro leaves coarsely chopped
- ½ cup water
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- ½ teaspoon smoked paprika
- ½ teaspoon ground sea salt
- ½ teaspoon cumin
- Black pepper to taste
Additional ingredients
- 5 cups of coarsely chopped fresh spinach
- 6 TO 8 flour tortillas
TOPPINGS
- Chopped cilantro leaves
- Chopped tomato
- Sliced avocado
Instructions
- Click this link to make the Enchilada Sauce.
Make the Cashew Cream
- Soak the cashews in the water overnight or for at least four hours. They should be nice and plump and soft to the touch.
- Drain and rinse the cashews and put in a high powered blender. Add the nutritional yeast, garlic clove lemon juice, tapioca starch, sea salt, and water and blend for approximately two minutes or until smooth, thick, and creamy. Scrape the sides down to ensure that you don't have pieces of nut in the sauce.
FOR THE BLACK BEANS
- Cover the beans in water (cover just to the top of the beans) and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to simmer and stir in the chili powder, cumin, garlic powder, and black pepper. Simmer until the water is almost evaporated, stirring frequently. Add the salt and stir well. Set aside.
FOR THE MUSHROOM MIXTURE
- Heat one teaspoon of the oil in an iron skillet on medium heat. When the oil is hot add the mushrooms and cook until the water is released and they are nicely browned. Push them to the side and add the second teaspoon of oil to the pan and add the onions and bell pepper. Cook until they are soft and lightly browned. Add the poblano pepper and stir to combine. Deglaze the pan with the water and scrape the bottom of the pan with a spatula to remove the pieces of vegetable that are stuck to the pan. Add the spices and stir to coat well. Turn the heat down to a low simmer and cook for ten minutes. Stir frequently.
Preheat the oven to 350°F (177°C)
- Lightly grease a 13x9 inch pan and spread three tablespoons of the enchilada sauce in the pan.
- Fill the center of the tortilla with the beans, mushrooms filling and spinach and 3 tablespoons of cashew cream. Fold and lay flat in the pan. Continue with the rest of the tortillas. When the pan is full, evenly pour the enchilada sauce over the enchiladas (leave a little extra in the pan for later). Pour most of the cashew cream over the cneter of enchiladas (leave a little extra for later).
- Bake for 20 minutes or until the sauce and cheese have turned a golden brown. Pour the remaining sauce and cream over the top and bake for two to three more minutes.
- Garnish with cilantro, tomato, and avocado.
- Enjoy!
- Keep covered in the refrigerator for up to three days or freeze in a freezer safe dish for up to a month. Prep time doesn't include the soaking of the cashews.
Notes
Nutrition
Maaike says
Are you sure you mean two table spoons of chilli powder for the sauce?? 👹
Linda Meyer says
Yes. If you don't like spicy food, please add it by the teaspoon until it's to your liking. 🙂
Janet says
At what point do You add the 1 cup of cilantro in the mushroom mixture?
Linda Meyer says
Hi Janet! Add the cilantro with the spices. Sorry, we should have been more clear and will go and fix that now. Enjoy!
Lianne says
These look so good! Only thing is I can't have cocoa as I'm very sensitive to caffeine, do you have any suggestions for an alternative to this in the sauce? I'm guessing carob powder wouldn't be quite the same?
Linda Meyer says
Hi Lianne, the cocoa powder is not necessary for the sauce. You can omit that and tweak it with a little more spice or add some vegan Worcestershire sauce to give it more depth. You could try carob powder, it has a slightly different flavor, but it should work. Let us know what you think. 🙂
Lianne says
Thanks Linda! Vegan Worcestershire sauce sounds like a good idea! Would you sub this for the same amount of cocoa? (3/4 tsp?)
Linda Meyer says
Hi Lianne, yes, that's right. 🙂
Mary B. says
Hi! These look so good!! Wanted to let you know it looks like the link to the enchilada sauce recipe isn't there?
Linda Meyer says
Thank you, Mary! I fixed it, it should be working now.
Betty Yung says
Do you cook the spinach with the mushroom sauce? I didn't and it was hard to get all the spinach into the tortilla.
Linda Meyer says
Hi Betty! No need to cook the spinach, it will cook while baking. 🙂
Jeanne S says
They look delicious, but at over 6,000 calories a serving, too rich for me! That’s what the nutrition count gives it.
Linda Meyer says
Hi Jeanne! My goodness, I would never eat an enchilada that was 6000 calories!!!! LOL. The nutrition counter is way off on this one. A tortilla is approximately 200 calories, the black beans are about 80 calories, 1 medium mushroom is about 4 calories, so there's not more then 30 calories for the mushroom mixture, the cashew cheese is around 100 calories for the amount I put on mine, and the enchilada sauce is basically vegetable broth and spices with a bit of tomato paste, so minimal calories and fat there. In total, one enchilada would be approximately 410 to 450 calories. A far cry from 6000. The nutrition information says 4693 calories, that's for 8, and it is definitely estimating a higher amount than they actually are. I'm not a calorie counter and I've never been one, but I have to say that I'd pass on anything that was that high is fat and calories for one serving. I promise that you'll never see something like that on our site. We're all about eating well and eating healthy. Thank you for pointing this out, we're in the process of converting our recipe cards (one by one) to a new plugin. This recipe is next. 🙂
Bianca says
Made these a couple days ago. I was being lazy and used store bought green chili enchilada sauce and used spinach and herb whole wheat tortillas **Eyes rolling to the back of my head** Delicious!! Will definitely add this to my Pinterest to make again!! I will double the Cashew sauce next time so i can have a little more on the side!
Thanks for the recipe!!!
Linda Meyer says
Hi Bianca! Yay!! We're so happy you enjoyed them. We're obsessed with this recipe and make them at least once a month. 🙂
Breanne Craig says
Ok... I tried a different enchilada recipe about a month ago and after all the work behind all the steps it tasted awful and I was so disappointed! I was hesitant to try another recipe but have been wanting so badly to have some Mexican food. Invited my mom over to help sample (she’s Omni) and we both LOVED LOVED your recipe so much!!!! Thank you for sharing your passion with us!! Officially printed it and it’s in my cookbook at home! Absolutely delicious!!
Linda Meyer says
Hi Breanne! Thank you so much for taking the time to let us know how much you and your mom liked our recipe. We truly appreciate it and your comment made our day. Happy holidays to you!
Deana Appiah says
Making these now. They are in the oven. The cashew sauce is so simple yet delicious. Can't wait to try the enchiladas.
Linda Meyer says
Awesome! I can't wait to hear what you think. Enjoy!
Deana Appiah says
They were delicious. I did change a few things bc I decided to go for a green chili enchilada sauce, and I added roasted butternut squash to the filling. But other than that i will definitely be using this recipe again. Thank you 🙂
Linda Meyer says
Yum, that sounds amazing! I love that you made it your own. Thanks for letting us know, we really appreciate that you took the time. 🙂 Have a wonderful Thanksgiving and holiday season.
alisamarie says
Vegan enchiladas are the best! They definitely don't need all the cheese people add and that cashew cream looks scrumptious.
Linda Meyer says
Thank you, Alisa! I agree, even when I did eat cheese I didn't like them smothered in it. It made them too heavy.
nicoleanndawson says
Enchiladas are on my kids weekly requested menu, but I really must try your homemade sauce, especially if its easy to make.
Linda Meyer says
Smart kids! 🙂 The sauce is super easy, and you can make it as mild or as spicy as you like.
Veggie Inspired says
LOVE enchiladas! These sound delicious! I've been slowly but surely updating a bunch of old posts with new pictures too. We've come a long way since we started, huh?!
Linda Meyer says
Oh my gosh, when I look at our first year of posts I can't believe how far I've come, and how much more we have to go! 🙂
Anjali @ Vegetarian Gastronomy says
YUMMY!! These enchiladas look delicious!!! Love the cashew cream on top!
Linda Meyer says
Thank you!
Amy Katz from Veggies Save The Day says
These enchiladas look so amazing! I've never made my own sauce before, but I will now!
Linda Meyer says
Thank you! Oh, you definitely should make your own sauce. You get to make it as hot and spicy as you want. 🙂
Mel | avirtualvegan.com says
I love that you updated this older post. Your enchiladas look so good and definitely deserve some new love! Every single component sounds yummy!
Linda Meyer says
I love that you read my post. 🙂 xoxo Thank you so much, Mel. This is such a good recipe, it was time to breathe some new life into it, like better pictures.
Dianne says
Wow! These enchiladas look amazing! Forget Taco Tuesday, let's have Enchilada Everyday! 🙂
Linda Meyer says
YES!!! Every. Day. 🙂 Thanks Diane!
Randi Tisdall says
This looks absolutely delicious! I love cashew cream and the versatility of it. And I agree- you can't beat homemade enchilada sauce.
Linda Meyer says
Homemade is always the best. Thank you so much, Randi!
bonveggie says
looks really delicious! especially that cashew cream <3
Linda Meyer says
Thank you so much! The cashew cream is amazing!
spabettie says
we LOVE enchiladas! this time of year, it is a perfect warming dinner. yours look really good...
Linda Meyer says
Thank you!
Jennifer Bliss says
WOWZA! Cookbook Photo Ready for sure! YUM! LOVE this!
Linda Meyer says
THANK YOU! I actually updated this recipe because it needed new pictures for our second cookbook. Your sweet comment made my day. 🙂