Vegan Tex Mex Enchiladas is one of our favorite meatless meals. (Gluten free too!) If you have a blender, making your own enchilada sauce is a snap. We make Tex Mex style enchiladas at the ranch at least once a month and truthfully, we never have any leftovers!
Keep Dried Chiles on Hand
For some reason, canned enchilada sauces are very popular, but I have never found one that would take the place of home-made. Dried chiles are always in our pantry so we will whip up a batch of Vegan Tex Mex Enchiladas whenever we crave them!
Sure, we are carnivores here at the ranch. Big time! (Check out Easy No Bake Tex Mex Enchiladas here for the beef version!) But meatless meals make an occasional appearance because I am not a fan of the daily cold salad at lunch. I really like hot meals, even when we are dining light. So I develop meatless hot meals for times when we want something light but satisfying.
Use Either Vegan or Real Cheese
You may notice in my photos I am using real cheese for my Vegan Tex Mex Enchiladas, but that is what I had on hand here at the ranch. We prefer real cheese, but definitely use the type of cheese that works for your diet.
If you don’t care for cheese at all, consider substituting zoodles (zucchini noodles) or shredded cabbage for the cheese. You can also stuff the tortillas with refried beans or chopped sautéed eggplant. Just because this is an Tex Mex enchilada recipe doesn’t mean that the meal has to be cheesy and beefy. It’s the enchilada sauce that make the dish so delectable! Have some fun and experiment!
I especially love Vegan Tex Mex Enchiladas as a take along for lunches away from home, or for pot-lucks. Mildly spicy but rich in flavor, you will find yourself making this enchilada sauce more often, just like we do in our home kitchen!
Vegan Tex-Mex Enchiladas
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Total Time: 25 minutes
- Yield: 6 servings 1x
Ingredients
1 qt. water (1lt)
1 clove garlic, peeled
2 tbsp. vegetable oil
2 tbsp. dry corn tortilla masa mix (or all-purpose flour)
1 onion, chopped (reserve ½ for topping)
1 tomato, seeded & chopped
16 corn tortillas
16 oz. vegan or regular cheese
Instructions
Fill a small saucepan with water and bring to a boil. Add the dried chiles and boil for 10 minutes, until the chiles are soft. Remove the pan from the stove and drain the water by pouring the contents through a colander. Rinse the chiles under running water. Use tongs to rinse away the loose seeds and pull away the stems. Discard seeds and stems.
Place the chiles in the container of a blender, add the water and garlic. Puree until smooth. Pour the puree through a strainer to remove any seed particles.
In a medium sized skillet, heat the vegetable oil over medium heat. Add the chopped tomatoes and onions, and sauté for 1-2 minutes, until the onions are translucent. Add the corn tortilla masa mix (or flour) and stir to combine well. Once all of the dried masa is absorbed, carefully pour the chile puree into the pan. Stir to combine well.
Lower the heat and allow the sauce to simmer gently uncovered for 10 minutes, until the sauce reduces. Remove from heat.
Meanwhile, heat the broiler in your oven. Prepare the enchiladas by heating the corn tortillas on a griddle until they are pliable. Roll approximately ½ oz (14g) of cheese in each tortilla, and place in an oven-proof casserole dish. Once all of the enchiladas are formed, pour over the chile puree sauce. Top the enchiladas with the rest of the cheese.
Place the casserole under the broiler for 20-30 seconds until the cheese is just melted. Remove the casserole from the broiler, and top with the remaining chopped onions. Serve immediately.
Leave a Reply