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.
So I know this recipe is SO OLD but I just made it and I had to share how AMAZING it turned out. I added onions, half a can of blackbeans and I didn’t have any peppers on hand so I drained a can of Rotel and used it.
IT WAS FANTASTIC. Oh my goodness. I don’t really enjoy sweet potatoes but I wanted to try it because of the reviews. And I’m so happy I did. I ate a few but I’m freezing the rest… so we’ll see how that works out because I’m dubious about the freezing but I don’t care.
Anyway, this is amazing. Thank you for the idea! The pairing of chorizo and sweet potatoes is perfection.
I make these almost once a week. My boyfriend and I love them. We even chose to celebrate our anniversary by making some–that’s how much we are obsessed with this recipe.
My only comment is that you should add 2 tsp of cacao powder to the ingredient list in your red enchilada recipe. You use it in the sauce for your black bean and avocado enchiladas, and it adds a wonderful depth of flavor. It deserves to be immortalized in your basic sauce recipe.
I love your site and have tried many of your recipes and this was my favorite so far! To make my enchiladas a little heartier I added a can of black beans (still budget friendly!) I also sprinkled mine with a little chopped cilantro because well, cilantro is very delicious. Thanks for the tasty recipes! Keep them coming!
oh my gosh… I printed this and veganized these last Thursday night for dinner… they were awesome. My son came by late Fri. night and ate the last 4. So I made another vegan batch last night. I have a vegan blog, would it be okay for me to post my vegan version on that blog??? I’ll give you full credit for the original recipe. Let me know.
Thanks,
Glo
Yes, that’d be fine. :) Glad you enjoyed them!!
Thank you, I’m posting the recipe with my edits and pics tonight! I am probably making these again this weekend! Yep, they are that good!
oh. my. dog. i just made these and i want to marry them and have their babies. they are so delicious and so easy. i am a vegetarian, so I used soy chorizo (trader joe’s brand) and made no other changes. Seriously, these are amazing. AMAZING.
Thank you for this!!! My stomach is partying hardcore.
I made this tonight with frozen butternut squash instead of sweet potatoes (my wife and daughter both refuse to eat sweet potatoes, but love butternut squash…go figure) and it turned out AMAZING! Thanks so much for the delicious recipe!
These are by far my fiance’s most requested dinner. He loves these enchiladas! I like them too – great flavor!
So good! It reheats nicely as well! Love the flavors! Thanks for a great recipe!
Looks so yummy! Wanted to let you know that I’m doing a round up of recipes that I can’t wait to try in the near future, and I’d like to include this one. I will be listing the name of your recipe, linked back to your site, as well as your site name. A photo will bein a collage format only, so that your picture cannot be “swiped” from my site. And there will be no information about the ingredients or recipe steps so that readers must come visit you if they want to know how to make it! This will go live on the 13th; please do let me know if you don’t want me to link to you for some reason. I hope it brings you a lot of traffic!
Thanks!
I love your recipes, but I have to comment, as a Texan, and someone who lived on the Mexican border, please, please, PLEASE, STOP using flour tortillas in enchiladas. It’s just wrong. Corn is the traditional and best way to go. Flour tortillas get all soggy and gross, but corn holds up so well under the sauce.
I LOVE how they get soggy with the enchilada sauce. ;) I’ve never been too concerned with being “authentic” I just make what tastes good to me. I figure if people want to use corn tortillas, they’re more than welcome to make the substitution.
Amazing exactly how it is!!
I’ve been meaning to try this recipe for a while. At first I was hesitant to because of mixing sweet potatoes and chorizo but I am sure glad I did. I made the sauce from the Black Bean & Avocado recipe to make it cheaper and I love that sauce. I didn’t have a poblano so I thew in a Serrano and a couple jalapenos. Plus, I felt that this didn’t have that much “stuff” so I added an onion and some black beans.
Hi I was wondering if you could substitute the sweet potato with a regular potato and the flour tortillas with corn tortillas. Will it still tastes the same???
P.S I love your recipes!
The sweet potato is definitely responsible for a lot of the flavor, so I wouldn’t sub regular potato for it. Corn tortillas, on the other hand, would be great. :)
I loved this, but it was a bit too spicy for my 4-yr-old. Next time, I’m going to use a regular sausage instead of chorizo and mole sauce instead of regular enchilada sauce.