I’ve been eating these Black Bean and Avocado Enchiladas for lunch all week and the fact that I only have one serving left almost makes me want to cry… I might have to make a second batch pronto. Yes, they’re that good.
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It’s All About the Enchilada Sauce
What makes these enchiladas so amazing? Not only are they filled with super fresh flavors, but they’re smothered in a homemade enchilada sauce. Now, if you’ve made my homemade enchilada sauce before you know that it takes less than ten minutes to make and is 100x better than the canned stuff.
Well, this time I went one step further and added a little cocoa powder to the enchilada sauce. OMG. You won’t believe how rich and amazing the cocoa makes the sauce! It doesn’t taste like chocolate, just extra rich and good. It’s the same amazing chili/chocolate combo that works magic in the Aztec Cocoa. SO. GOOD.
The Simple Filling
Black beans give these enchiladas filling power and avocado offers that creaminess that you’d usually get from cheese. If you’re vegan, just make sure your tortillas don’t contain lard (some do, some don’t). Or, try making your own!
Should I Use Corn or Flour Tortillas for Enchiladas?
Enchiladas are supposed to be wrapped in corn tortillas, not flour flour tortillas, but I’m all about doing what makes you happy. Use whichever type of tortilla you like. But whatever type you use, consider giving them a quick toast in a hot skillet before wrapping your enchilada filling. It will give your enchiladas some extra toasty flavor!
Black Bean and Avocado Enchiladas
Servings 5 two per servingIngredients
ENCHILADA SAUCE
- 2 Tbsp cooking oil* ($0.10)
- 2 Tbsp all-purpose flour ($0.02)
- 2 Tbsp chili powder** ($0.60)
- 2 cups water ($0.00)
- 3 oz. tomato paste (1/2 of a 6oz can) ($0.23)
- 1/2 tsp ground cumin ($0.05)
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder ($0.05)
- 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper ($0.02)
- 2 tsp unsweetened cocoa powder ($0.03)
- 1 tsp salt ($0.05)
ENCHILADAS
- 1 15oz. can black beans ($0.59)
- 1 avocado ($1.50)
- 1 tomato ($0.86)
- 2 green onions ($0.13)
- 1 cup frozen corn kernels ($0.33)
- 1 handful fresh cilantro ($0.13)
- 1/4 tsp garlic powder ($0.03)
- 1/2 tsp salt ($0.02)
- 10 8-inch tortillas*** ($2.49)
Instructions
- First prepare the enchilada sauce. In a medium sauce pot combine the cooking oil, flour, and chili powder. Heat the mixture over a medium flame until it begins to bubble. Whisk and cook the bubbling paste for 1-2 minutes. Slowly pour in the water while whisking. Add the tomato paste, cumin, garlic powder, cayenne pepper, cocoa powder, and salt. Whisk until smooth and continue to heat over a medium flame. Let the sauce come up to a gentle simmer, at which point the sauce will thicken. Once thickened, turn off the heat and set the sauce aside.
- Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Drain and rinse the can of beans, then add them to a large bowl. Cube the avocado, dice the tomato, slice the green onion, and pull a handful of cilantro leaves from their stems. Add them all to the bowl, along with the frozen corn kernels. Stir everything together. Season with a little salt and garlic powder.
- Coat a casserole dish with non-stick spray. Fill each tortilla with about 1/3 cup of filling and roll tightly. Place the filled tortillas in the casserole dish, seam side down. Once all of the filled enchiladas are in the dish, pour the enchilada sauce over top.
- Bake the enchiladas in the preheated oven for 25-30 minutes, or until they’re heated through and the sauce is bubbly along the edges. Top with any remaining cilantro and enjoy!
See how we calculate recipe costs here.
Notes
Nutrition
Have you tried this recipe?Mention @budgetbytes or tag #budgetbytes on Instagram!Scroll down for the step by step photos!
How to Make Black Bean Enchiladas – Step By Step Photos
Start with the amazing sauce, so that it will be ready to go on the enchiladas later. Add 2 Tbsp cooking oil, 2 Tbsp flour, and 2 Tbsp chili powder to a medium sauce pot. Turn the heat on to medium and begin to whisk them together.
The mixture will begin to bubble. Keep whisking and cooking, after it begins bubbling, for 1-2 minutes. This toasts the flour and chili powder for maximum flavor.
Next, carefully add 2 cups of water, then 3 oz. tomato paste, 1/2 tsp cumin, 1/2 tsp garlic powder, 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper, 1 tsp salt, and 2 tsp cocoa powder. Whisk it all in until smooth, and continue to cook over medium heat until it comes up to a gentle simmer. When it starts simmering it will begin to thicken up. Once it’s thickened, just turn off the heat and set it aside until you’re ready to use it.
Begin preheating the oven to 350ºF. Drain and rinse one 15oz. can black beans, then add them to a bowl. Dice one avocado and one small tomato, slice two green onions, and add them all to the bowl. Pull a handful of cilantro leaves from the stems and add it to the bowl, along with 1 cup frozen corn kernels. Stir everything together and then season with about 1/2 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp garlic powder.
Next, add a little of the filling to each tortilla and then roll it up tight. I used 8-inch flour tortillas and made 10 enchiladas, each with about 1/3 cup filling.
Roll the enchiladas tightly and then arrange them in your dish. Oh, and coat the dish with non-stick spray if you want the enchiladas to come out in one piece.
Then pour that amazing sauce over top! Bake the enchiladas in a preheated 350ºF oven for 25-30 minutes, or until they’re heated through and the sauce is bubbling along the sides.
It’s sad because the pictures don’t do these Black Bean and Avocado Enchiladas justice. They’re SO GOOD. I wish you could see the carnival of flavors that are going on inside…
I promise they’ll “disappear” quickly. ;)
Beth I’ve been making your recipes almost exclusively for about 5 months now (since I stumbled upon your site) and this is the one I have made the most (I think) so I’m overdue to leave a review. These enchiladas are AMAZING! Even my husband who doesn’t love the idea of a vegan meal gobbles these up! I have also taken the filling along with tortilla chips to be eaten as a dip/salad to a couple potlucks and have had many people ask for the recipe. As with most of your dishes, my picky 3 year old loves it as well! After having a child and becoming a part time stay at home mom I didn’t have the money, energy or time to cook the way I use to. Thank you for making cooking enjoyable again!!! Plus it’s healthy! You truly are providing an important public service during a time when money is tight and prepared food is over processed junk. THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!
“The food you eat can be either the safest and most powerful form of medicine or the slowest form of poison.” Ann Wigmore
Here, Here! Hooray for Beth! You have made cooking so fun that even my husband cooks now! We discovered your site about a year ago and it has been a wonderful experience for our growing family. Please keep doing what you are doing!
I made these tonight and they were fantastic. I used 1/2 the filling in flour tortillas per the recipe and the other 1/2 in corn tortillas. The corn ones came out much better.
I used dried New Mexican Red chilies blended up in our old coffee grinder to make our own chili powder.
I have a dairy allergy and my husband is vegetarian. This recipe was perfect for both of us. Thank you!
That was amazing enchilada sauce! I’ll never buy canned again! Thanks so much for the recipe! 5 stars for the sauce…I made up my own filling!
Well I had some major issues……all of which could’ve been solved by not using misshapen homemade tortillas (I was never good at arts&crafts) or by not adding extra ingredients to a filling mix you said was already a lot and then trying to cram them into tortillas that barely passed as round.
Onto your recipe. Amazing! Can’t wait to make it again!
I will say that I added cream cheese to make the inner mixture creamier…otherwise, I stuck to the recipe and it was awesome! Super filling!
We loved it. I have a gluten-free d.i.l, do you think I can swap out the flour as thickener in sauce with corn starch? Anyone have any idea how much corn starch would be equal to the 2 TBS of flour? (It’s easy to find gluten free tortillas.)
Thanks again to Beth for being culinary genius and mistress of thrift.
The cornstarch will create a very different texture in the sauce than flour, so I’m not sure how that would work. Maybe you could try masa (corn flour) instead of wheat flour. That would keep with the flavor theme better, too. :)
Can you use tomato sauce instead of paste? I’m going toske them for the first time tonight
Nope, you definitely need paste for this one. Paste is super concentrated so it helps thicken and delivers a lot of tomato flavor. Sauce wouldn’t have the same effect, unfortunately. :(
Rice flour works just as well as wheat flour. Try to get finely textured white rice flour to avoid the grittiness of brown rice flour. (It is easily available at oriental food stores in white boxes, about the size & shape of a quart of boxed broth.) It can be substituted 1 for 1 in recipes to make a roux.
Potato starch/flour can also work well… though I’ve used rice flour for so long I haven’t had much need to work with it.
I googled bean and avocado (because I had avocados I needed to use) and came across this recipe. It took no time at all and was incredibly delicious. Can’t believe I made enchilada sauce from scratch. Will never use canned again. This will become one of my go to recipes. Hubby loved it, too! Thank you so much for a great dinner recipe!
From the reviews I thought this would taste amazing but it tastes really healthy. There is a lack of flavor so my family ended up eating it with salsa and cheese. I may still make this again but next time I will try adding a vegetarian bullion cube to the water.
I’m sorry, healthy is a bad thing? My boyfriend and I found this recipe fantastic and full of flavor! Thanks Beth!!
I’m a vegetarian and my husband won’t eat anything that doesn’t have meat in it so cooking can be pretty difficult. I made these and he almost ate the whole pan. Even my Romanian father-in-law gobbled them down and didn’t realize there wasn’t meat in them. I’ve made this recipe about four times and use the enchilada sauce for other recipes as well.
WHOA!! These were awesome! My husband was blown away. Said they were resaurant quality. While I was happy that they were healthy and guilt free. The filling is delicious on its own. In fact, I ate the leftover bit with a spoon while I was baking them. I can see myself making this as a salsa to serve with chips.
Very delicious. I haven’t had a recipe from you I didn’t like yet. It’s awesome!
Very delicious. I haven’t had a recipe I didn’t like yet. It’s awesome!
I’ve made this like 4 times and it is a consistent HIT, even with the carnivores. The balance is ridiculous!
I love enchiladas with zuchinni (extra moisture!) and I also added red and green peppers and chicken. I like how versatile this is – you can add or take away so many of the elements based on what you have. Beth, I have been following your website for years and it meshes pretty well with exactly what I want to eat all the time, and I really appreciate all the work that goes into it. Keep on recipe-ing!
Awesome recipe!
The filling is delicious by itself and works great as a taco salad with or tortillas.
Thanks, Beth!