PASTA. When I get stressed, I crave pasta. Cheesy or creamy pasta. So, when I saw this recipe for Sour Cream and Jalapeño Chicken Enchilada Pasta, my stomach was all like, “FEED ME, NOW.”
But, I didn’t have any chicken on hand and meat has been really expensive lately, so I decided to try to make a vegetarian version… and I ended up changing it quite a bit in the process (what else is new?). Anyway, my version is still super scrumptious, very filling, and relies on beans and corn to help fill out the pasta. The pasta cooks right in a delicious mix of vegetable broth, green chiles, and spices to make the whole dish packed with flavor, not to mention really easy (one skillet!). Sour cream is stirred in at the end to make everything rich and indulgent, then just a little cheese is sprinkled on top. I went light on the cheese, cuz that’s been hella expensive lately, too.
Oh man… I just realized that a diced up avocado would be awesome on this. If you have extra cash, get an avocado! Do it!
Creamy Vegetarian Enchilada Pasta
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Creamy Vegetarian Enchilada Pasta
Servings 4 to 6 servingsIngredients
- 1 Tbsp olive oil ($0.16)
- 2 cloves garlic ($0.16)
- 4 oz can green chiles ($0.87)
- 1 cup frozen corn kernels ($0.60)
- 15 oz can pinto (or black) beans ($1.19)
- 1 tsp cumin ($0.10)
- 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes ($0.02)
- 8 oz wide egg noodles ($1.46)
- 2 cups vegetable broth ($0.27)
- 1/2 cup sour cream ($0.71)
- 3 green onions, sliced ($0.20)
- 1/4 bunch cilantro (optional) ($0.25)
- 2 oz shredded pepper jack cheese ($0.69)
Instructions
- Mince the garlic and sauté it in a skillet with olive oil over medium-low heat for 2-3 minutes, or until soft and fragrant. Add the can of green chiles (with juices), frozen corn kernels, can of beans (rinsed and drained), cumin, and red pepper to the skillet. Stir well.
- Add the uncooked pasta and vegetable broth to the skillet. The broth will not fully cover the noodles. Place a lid on the skillet, turn the heat up to high, and allow the liquid to come up to a full boil. Once it reaches a boil, turn the heat down to low and let the skillet simmer for 10 minutes, stirring well half way through.
- While the skillet is simmering, slice the green onions, roughly chop the cilantro, and shred the cheese.
- After ten minutes of simmering, the noodles should be tender and most of the liquid absorbed. Stir the skillet well, then add the sour cream and stir until it has fully coated the pasta. Stir in most of the sliced green onions and cilantro, reserving a little to sprinkle over top.
- Sprinkle the shredded cheese over the skillet, place the lid back on top, and let the residual heat melt the cheese. Once melted, add the remaining green onions and cilantro to the top of the pasta. Serve hot.
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Notes
Nutrition
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Step by Step Photos
Begin my mincing two cloves of garlic, then sautéing them in one tablespoon of olive oil over medium-low heat for 2-3 minutes, or until the garlic is soft and fragrant.
Next, add one 4-oz. can of diced green chiles, 1 cup of frozen corn kernels (no need to thaw them), one 15-oz can of beans (pinto or black beans, rinsed and drained), 1 tsp of cumin, and 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes (less if you’re sensitive to heat). Stir these ingredients together well.
Add 8 oz. uncooked wide egg noodles and 2 cups of vegetable broth to the skillet. The broth will not cover the noodles, but that’s okay. While it’s simmering with the lid on, the steam will cook the upper noodles while the lower noodles simmer in the broth.
Place the lid on the skillet, turn the heat up to high, and let it come to a boil. Once it reaches a full boil, turn the heat down to low and let it simmer for 10 minutes. Stir it well once, half way through.
While the skillet is simmering, slice three green onions, roughly chop about 1/4 bunch of cilantro, and shred about 2 oz. of pepper jack cheese.
After simmering for ten minutes, the noodles should be tender and most of the liquid absorbed. Stir in 1/2 cup of sour cream. Add most of the sliced green onions and cilantro, saving just a little for the top.
Lastly, sprinkle the cheese over top, place the lid back on the skillet for a few minutes, and let the residual heat melt the cheese. Sprinkle the remaining cilantro and green onion over top, then serve.
Oooh, creamy comfort.
Everyone came back for seconds. Easy to make and I thank you for the recipe!
So easy, filling, inexpensive, and vegetarian! Loved this recipe!
I’ve been meaning to make this for awhile and finally got around to it for today’s WFH lunch. Delish! Easy to make, easy to customize with what is on hand. It’s a winner!!!
Our toughest critic is our 8 yr old and she gives this… Not 2 thumbs up…10 whole fingers up :D
(The only thing I did differently was roast the peppers myself because our pick up order had extra jalapenos and poblanos)
So cute! Thanks for sharing that!
I swapped in canned enchilada sauce for the vegetable broth and penne for the egg noodles. It was great!
Question-Could you provide a suggestion if I wanted to double the amount of noodles using a whole package (16 oz) of egg noodles? Would I just double everything in the recipe, or just the broth and noodles? Thank you!
I would double everything. :)
Thank you! Take Care! :)
Very nice indeed. I used tagliatelle instead of egg noodles.
I’m so impressed with this dish! This is definitely going into our rotation. I did add a can of diced tomatoes and also sprinkled panko crumbs with the shredded cheese and put under the broiler. I’m also hoping to increase the veggies in it and may add chopped red bell pepper and spinach next time. I also used Black Beans instead of pinto because that’s what I had on hand. I believe this recipe would be 5 stars without any changes but just tweaked a few things based on our preferences and what I had in the cabinet. Great recipe!
This was a hit with my husband. He absolutely loved it. I doubled the red pepper for a little more heat.
I make this recipe constantly with little tweaks depending on what I have in my pantry. Sometimes I sub tomatoes with green chilies for the plain green chilies. Sometimes I sub plain Greek yogurt for sour cream.
Today I made it with bow tie pasta since I had half a box left from another recipe.
I can’t wait to dig in. It’s delicious every time.
Huge hit! Dealing with COVID-19 lockdowns so had to improvise on a couple ingredients I didn’t have. No cilantro – just left that out. No green onions – subbed with about 1/4 chopped yellow onion that I cooked along with the garlic. No pepper jack – chopped up some jalopenos and mixed that in near the end, and used shredded mexican cheese mix instead. Had a little extra time so got fancy and mixed some panko with the cheese and put it all in a casserole dish in the oven to get the top crispy. The whole family loved it!
I make this all the time now. I’ve found the broth you use makes a HUGE difference. I’d suggest using broth you made from a bouillon cube rather than what you can buy in a carton as the cartos can be bland. With the stock cubes you can adjust the amount of water to make a more flavourful, concentrated broth and that adds more flavour!
If anyone is wondering, I made this with protein pasta (the red lentil rotini kind from Aldi) and it turned out perfectly with the same amounts of broth and everything. Delicious!