I know it’s still only February, but I am SO ready for Cinco de Mayo. So, in the spirit of yummy margaritas and Mexican food, I whipped up these incredible Chorizo and Sweet Potato Enchiladas. The spicy chorizo is the perfect contrast to the creamy and slightly sweet tasting sweet potatoes. Poblano peppers add just a bit more heat and a bit of freshness to bring it all together. They’re so simple, yet oh-so good!
What Kind of Enchilada Sauce Should I Use?
I used my own homemade Easy Red Enchilada Sauce for these enchiladas because it’s super fast to make, tastes 100x better than the canned stuff, and costs less. If you’ve never made my enchilada sauce before, you’ve got to try it. I promise you’ll never go back to the can.
What Kind of Tortillas Should I Use?
Corn tortillas are best for enchiladas, and don’t forget to toast them first! Toasting the tortillas, either over an open flame or in a dry skillet, gives the tortillas a wonderfully toasty corn flavor. That being said, I ended up using flour tortillas for these. Don’t judge! Sometimes you’ve got to use what’s on hand and using flour tortillas are better than not making enchiladas at all. ;) Flour tortillas don’t get as much benefit from toasting as corn tortillas do, so you can skip that step when using flour tortillas.
Can You Freeze Enchiladas?
Yes! This makes a great make-ahead meal. After baking, divide the enchiladas into single serving containers. Chill the enchiladas in the refrigerator first, then transfer them to the freezer the next day. They’ll be good in the freezer for about three months and can be reheated quickly in the microwave.
Chorizo and Sweet Potato Enchiladas
Servings 8 enchiladasIngredients
- 1 lb. sweet potato ($1.17)
- 1 poblano pepper ($0.75)
- 2 cloves garlic ($0.16)
- 2 Tbsp vegetable oil ($0.08)
- 3 links 3/4 lb. chorizo ($3.00)
- 8 7-inch tortillas ($1.26)
- 1 batch homemade enchilada sauce* ($0.80)
- 1.5 cups shredded cheese ($1.50)
- 3-4 green onions, sliced ($0.21)
Instructions
- Peel the sweet potato and cut it into small cubes (about 1/4-inch). Remove the stem and seeds from the poblano and also dice into 1/4-inch pieces. Mince the garlic.
- In a large skillet, sauté the sweet potato, poblano, and garlic in vegetable oil over medium heat until they begin to soften (about 5-7 minutes). Squeeze the chorizo out of it’s casing into the skillet. Continue to sauté over medium heat, breaking up the chorizo into pieces as you stir, until the chorizo is cooked through (5-7 minutes more).
- Spray a large casserole dish with non-stick spray and preheat the oven to 375ºF. Scoop about 1/2 cup of the chorizo sweet potato filling into each tortilla, then roll into a cigar shape. Place the filled and rolled tortillas in the baking dish, seam side down. They should fill the dish and fit tightly against each other to prevent unrolling.
- Pour the enchilada sauce over the the rolled tortillas and top with shredded cheese. Bake in the oven until the edges begin to bubble (about 20-25 minutes). Top with sliced green onions after baking. Serve hot.
See how we calculate recipe costs here.
Notes
Nutrition
You might also like our Chorizo Stuffed Bell Peppers!
How to Make Sweet Potato Enchiladas – Step By Step Photos
Start with a medium sized sweet potato (about 1 lb.) and one poblano pepper. Peel and dice the sweet potato into 1/4-inch cubes. Cut the stem off the pepper, slice lengthwise, then scoop out the seeds. Dice the pepper into pieces similar in size to the sweet potato. Mince a couple of cloves of garlic (not pictured).
Add the diced sweet potato, poblano, and minced garlic to a large skillet with 2 Tbsp vegetable oil. Sauté over medium heat until they begin to soften (5-7 minutes).
You’ll notice that the sweet potato cubes begin to look slightly translucent as they soften.
This is the chorizo I used. You’ll need Mexican chorizo, which is a fresh sausage, as opposed to Spanish chorizo, which is a cured sausage (and hard). I only used 3 of the 5 links here because I wanted an even mix of meat and veggies. The other two were frozen for later use.
Squeeze the chorizo out of its casing into the skillet. Break the sausage up with your spatula as it cooks. Sauté the chorizo until it is fully browned (5-7 minutes). Chorizo can be kind of oily so if you’re concerned about the fat, cook the chorizo in a separate skillet and then drain off the fat before adding it to the sweet potato mix.
Preheat the oven to 375ºF. Scoop about 1/2 cup of the chorizo sweet potato filling into each 7-inch tortilla (I used flour, but you can use corn if you prefer). Roll the tortillas into a cigar shape.
Place all of the filled and rolled enchiladas in a baking dish, seam side down (coat the dish with non-stick spray for easy clean up). Make sure they’re packed in closely so that they don’t unroll.
Pour red enchilada sauce over top of the filled enchiladas. I used my homemade Easy Red Enchilada Sauce, although I only added about 3/4 of the batch. You can use a 15oz. can of store bought sauce, if needed.
Sprinkle 1.5 cups shredded cheese over the enchiladas and place them in a preheated 375ºF oven. Bake until the sauce begins to bubble around the edges (about 20-25 minutes).
And then when it comes out it will be all ooey, gooey and delicious! Top the Chorizo and Sweet Potato Enchiladas with 3-4 sliced green onions, then ENJOY!
YUM.
One of my all time favorite recipes! I’ve made these quite a few times and they never disappoint me. Sweet potatoes and chorizo – you can’t go wrong! BTW since my husband isn’t a fan of enchiladas, that means me for me and they freeze well and reheat well for lunches.
I couldn’t find chorizo so I used hot sausage and it turned out well. I used corn tortillas. It was very good and def recommend sour cream and shredded lettuce to brighten the dish.
This may be my favorite recipe from the site. It is absolutely delicious every time without any substitutions. Flour tortillas are definitely not the healthiest choice, but I treat this recipe as comfort food and for that they are perfect. Everything tastes perfectly balanced from the sweet to the savory to the spicy. I like to add an additional poblano pepper sometimes, but it is certainly not necessary. Just wanted to give my thanks for this wonderful recipe that is a staple in my meal rotation.
I made this vegan by subbing the cheese and chorizo with their vegan counterparts. I was skeptical about the sweet potato being cubed but it worked out perfectly! Everyone went back for seconds!
These took a lot of work, but so well worth it. Between the sauce an the filling it ended up being roughly 45 minutes from start to finish. I used avocado oil in place of vegetable oil an it was just fine.
These were great! I meal-prepped these yesterday, and they’re still so good reheated. I’ve been getting into meal prepping for the past couple months and realized that I hadn’t meal prepped any southwestern food in the past month!
A few adjustments I made: added 1/4 yellow onion and 1.5 pounds of sweet potato instead of 1 pound to the filling. I also couldn’t find chorizo in my store that was the 3/4 lb (only up to 9 oz), so I just used that with the extra sweet potato to make up for it. I also swapped out the enchilada sauce for the one made in the black bean and avocado enchiladas just because I love the cocoa flavor. I had an avocado on hand as well and topped these enchiladas with some of that.
Hi, just curious what the intended serving size is for this for the nutritional estimate—1 enchilada or 2?
That’s per enchilada. I went ahead and updated that to make it more clear. :)
This was soo delicious! I didn’t have a pablano pepper but the chorizo gave it plenty enough ‘spice’ for my taste.
Per a friend’s recommendation, we made this with veggie chorizo. That substitution works great!
Made with soyrizo and vegan cheese, my new favorite enchiladas!
Do you think salsa verde would work with this instead of the red enchilada sauce? Thanks.
I have made these for years now and I always use the soy chorizo from Trader Joe’s. I have served them to a wide variety of folks and they’re always a big hit. One of my favorites!
These are delicious. I used a big 18 oz sweet potato, a lb of chorizo, and corn tortillas (toasted!) and ended up with 20 enchiladas. I also used the mole sauce per another commenter’s suggestion.
My only issue was that the tortillas are hard on the bottom and have to be cut with a knife. Any tips? Should I have poured some sauce in the bottom of the baking dish first?
Yes I’d suggest pouring some of the sauce at the bottom of the pan to help with that.
Just made these for dinner tonight! Amazing!!
I did have a few tweaks, but nothing that would ultimately impact the taste, IMO.
Be aware, this made us A LOT of enchiladas. I used standard corn shells (apx 5 inches?). I was able to fill a 9×13 Pyrex, and then my 9×9 Pyrex as well!
As soon as I got the oil, chili powder, and flour cooking, realized I didn’t have any tomato paste in my house!! I did a quick Google search, and saw some folks suggesting Harrisa and some suggesting ketchup…
So, I to sub in I used a 2:1 mix of chili paste (Aldi) and pasty sauce (some local brand– essentially spicy ketchup). We both taste tested it, and it seemed to work! Just in case anyone else is ever in a pinch!!
I rounded up the garlic to a whole head because we are garlic addicts, and used 5 tsp of our homemade taco seasoning blend in place of the taco-ish spices in the sauce. It’s pretty much the same thing, but with some added oregano, and extra cumin.
We haven’t bought meat groceries yet this year, so instead of Chorizo, we used the Morning Star chorizo. Tossed it in with the sweet potatoes, and a little under a cup of water to cook.
I served them with pickled red onions, cilantro, sliced jalepenos, and homemade guacamole.
Freaking delish. Can’t wait for leftovers… Which, even with our ample appetites, ther will be plenty of!!
I just made these for dinner. I actually don’t care for sweet potatoes but in this dish they are perfect. These will definitely go on rotation at my house. I love this website so much that I share it with everyone I know. I don’t use it for money saving but more for easy, delicious, filling recipes. I think Budget Bytes deserves a Food Network show! This is the type of meals average working class people can feel confident about making. Thank you for sharing your talent! -Sincerely a fellow Med Tech