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!
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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.
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Notes
Nutrition
Have you tried this recipe?Mention @budgetbytes or tag #budgetbytes on Instagram!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.
As a new cook I’m so happy I found your blog. It has great ideas, I love that I can follow alongside the pictures since I am hesitate about my skills and my family loves the flavor and variety of the recipes I find here. THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!
BTW my dad could not wait until this was out of the oven, he was eating the stuffing as I was wrapping :) I guess it was a huge success!
Beth, thank you so much for your blog! I love how much flavor and health you put into food, while keeping it affordable.
We made your refried beans, then tried this recipe with your enchilada sauce – Fantastic! I thought the sweet potato thing might be sort of weird, but it was awesome! Rich, spicy, savory, and just a hint of sweet. My boyfriend tried to claim them all for his lunches XD
My first budget-byte dinner ever! Made this last night and it was such a hit! I had a ton of the spicy Italian sausages from Costco in my freezer, so I used that instead. Also, finding enchilada sauce was near-impossible in Montreal, so I improvised with chili seasoning but still following the rest of the enchilada sauce recipe. So happy with the results! Thanks so much for the recipe!!
These look delicious and I think I have everything to make them. Can’t wait!!! Thanks!
I’ve featured this recipe on my blog: http://dontboilmybooks.weebly.com/1/post/2012/11/sweet-potato-madness.html
A couple of things about this recipe: first, I used Tofurky (meatless) chorizo and it worked wonderfully. Second, I bought a bag of the pre-shredded coleslaw (on sale for $1) and mixed it with a little mayo and some lime juice, and it was a great accompaniment to the enchiladas. I ended up arranging each bite of enchilada so that a little of the coleslaw was included. It was an awesome cool/tangy contrast to the spiciness of the enchiladas (and of course I used your red enchliada sauce recipe)! Thanks for another great recipe!
These are NOT enchiladas, they are smothered burritos. And using canned enchilada sauce? Ugh. Nobody should ever use or recommend that stuff. It’s disgusting, not authentic, and tastes awful.
Made these tonight and they were delicious!! Thank you for sharing this recipe! I’m going to add your blog to my reader. :)
Thank you so much for this recipe. You are single handedly helping a broke twentysomething eat delicious nutritious meals.
I made this recipe with green enchilada sauce, spicy Italian sausage, and topped off the baked finished product with avocado slices and a dash of cumin. It’s delicious!
flour tortillas for enchiladas?? what kinda bastardized mexican food is this??
If you don’t like it, don’t eat it, since no one is forcing you to do anything!!!
I know I am way late, but these are AMAZING. I used Trader Joe’s soy chorizo and a green pepper (had both on hand). I already want to make it again — and we still have 8 enchiladas as leftovers (I was able to fill 12 corn tortillas).
You know how good it is when you are eating while writing a review for it. Yes, its that yummy! Thank you for the wonderful,easy,cheap recipes!
Having a hard time imagining paring the sweet potatoes with enchilada sauce…but Dru lives his life for chorizo and he loves sweet potatoes more than anything so I’m going to have to make this in the near future. I can see the sweet potatoes being a great paring for chorizo so maybe I’ll love it. :)
Ashley
Just finished eating it! AMAZING!! I used Colombian sausage and my husband and I loved it. Thanks