5-Ingredient Vegetarian Black Bean and Spinach Enchiladas - Workweek Lunch (2024)

Are you ready to try my partner’s new favorite meal? Seriously, I didn’t even get to try more than a bite — he just gobbled them all up in 2 days!

These 5-ingredient enchiladas are simple, but they are filling, so easy to make and delicious.

By the way, if these look TOO simple, I do have a more complex enchilada recipe here (which includes homemade enchilada sauce, this one doesn’t). And if you can’t find tortillas or don’t like them, you can swap them out for pasta and make an enchilada bake. Recipe here (members only).

How to change up these simple vegetarian enchiladas:

Change the protein:

The protein in this recipe is black beans. But you can use shredded chicken, ground turkey or ground beef if you want.

If you’re vegan/vegetarian, you can swap black beans out for another bean (red beans, pinto beans, chickpeas) or use veggie meat “crumbles.” Chopped up mushrooms would also be a delicious protein-packed option.

Change the veggie:

This recipe calls for spinach because it’s easy and mixes well with beans, but you can swap that out for any other dark leafy green (swiss chard, kale, etc).

You can also use mushrooms, peas, shredded carrots, chopped sweet potato, chopped bell pepper or zucchini would be easy options.

Let’s talk about the tortilla:

I love white flour regular tortillas because in my experience, they hold up well for meal prep, have great texture, are easy to work with and taste so good!

But if you want to use multigrain or whole wheat that works too. Gluten-free tortillas always work as needed!

If you can’t find tortillas, I recommend checking out the pasta bake version of this recipe because you can easily mix the black beans, spinach, enchilada sauce and cheese with cooked pasta (then bake it) to make a similar 5-ingredient meal.

Can’t find enchilada sauce?

Here are the ingredients to make it! Put all these ingredients in a small saucepan and cook on medium heat until everything is completely incorporated. It’s super easy.

• 1TBSPflourof your choice
• 2TBSPolive oil
• 2tspchili powder
• 1/2cupbroth(veggie)or water
• 8oztomato saucecanned (I’ve used regular pasta sauce in a pinch!)
• 1tsponion powder
• 1clovegarlicminced
• salt and pepper to taste

I can’t wait for you to try these out! If you’re looking for a different flavor profile, our meal prep-friendly green enchiladas are fantastic!

How to add more volume or double this recipe:

To double this recipe, simply double the ingredients! You’ll need two baking dishes or you’ll have to cook them in batches to get it done.

To add more volume, start with adding another vegetable to your filling. I’d choose mushrooms, bell peppers or zucchini as easy, tasty additions. If you eat meat, you could also easily add shredded chicken breast or ground meat to filling for more volume.

Storage & reheating notes:

These enchiladas can last in the fridge for up to 4 days and they’re freezer-friendly for up to 6 months! You can reheat them in the microwave, in the oven or on the stove.

Happy prepping!