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These sweet potato black bean enchiladas are a total crowd pleaser! This tried and true vegetarian dinner is easy and full of flavor.
Here’s an incredible vegetarian recipe that’s impressive every time: these Sweet Potato and Black Bean Enchiladas! This recipe is one we originally published in 2012. And guess what? It’s stood the test of time and is a favorite of ours to this day. Tender sweet potatoes are the perfect contrast to savory black beans and tangy salsa verde. Top it off with Colby cheese, it’s the best gooey comfort food around. This one will please everyone: we guarantee it. Here we’ve made a few tweaks to the recipe to make it even better than ever!
Ingredients in sweet potato black bean enchiladas
The first reference to the modern enchilada dates back to 1885 in Mexico, but the tradition of rolling a tortilla around fillings has been around since the Aztec times. We honor the great tradition of Mexican cuisine in this recipe! Here the combination of sweet and savory makes the flavors sing. Here’s what you’ll need for this sweet potato enchiladas recipe:
- Salsa verde (green enchilada sauce): For quick enchiladas, use a great store-bought salsa verde. Mild salsa is nice if you’re cooking for a crowd, then each eater can add hot sauce to taste. Or, we think it’s perfect with a medium heat salsa.
- Sweet potatoes: Boil them for quickest prep: no need to roast here!
- Red onion, green chiles and black beans: Canned beans and chiles make it fast and easy.
- Colby jack cheese: Colby brings massive flavor versus a cheddar cheese.
- Spices: Grab the chili powder, cumin, and garlic powder for this one.
- Tortillas: Corn tortillas are traditional in Mexican enchiladas; flour tortillas are American-style and tend to be more durable
You’ll boil the sweet potatoes, a non-traditional but quick way to cook them! Then add to the filling ingredients, roll them into tortillas with cheese, and douse with salsa verde (and more cheese). It takes just 15 minutes to bake: just until the cheese melts!
Flour tortillas vs corn tortillas
What are the best tortillas for sweet potato enchiladas? Corn tortillas are traditional in Mexican-style enchiladas, and flour tortillas are more traditional in Tex Mex and American style. Here’s what to know about the differences:
- Corn tortillas are gluten-free. Some brands can split when you go to roll them! To combat this, find the best quality corn tortilla brand you can. Then brush it with oil and cook it 15 seconds per side before assembling. This makes it easier to roll.
- Flour tortillas are not gluten-free, but they are much easier to roll and more durable in general. They also get nice and gooey from the enchilada sauce.
- What about grain free tortillas? There are are other types of grain-free tortillas available at many grocery stores: almond flour, cassava flour, or chickpea flour (try Siete brand). We haven’t tested these, so let us know in the comments below if you try them!
Make ahead instructions / how to freeze enchiladas
One great thing about sweet potato enchiladas is that you can make a big batch and freeze some for later! Or, you can prep everything the night before, then slide it into the oven the day of serving. Here’s how to make these sweet potato black bean enchiladas in advance or prepare them for freezing:
- Assemble the enchiladas. Fill and roll the enchiladas as you normally would, but don’t bake them yet!
- Cover with plastic wrap. Put a layer of plastic wrap directly on top of the pan of enchiladas. (This will prevent freezer burn).
- Cover with aluminum foil. Put 1 or 2 layers of aluminum foil on top of the enchilada pan, making sure to seal the edges tightly shut.
- Refrigerate overnight, or freeze up to 2 months. You can refrigerate the night before, then bake the next day. Otherwise, pop them in the freezer! Frozen enchiladas should last 1 to 2 months in the freezer as long as the foil doesn’t tear (if it does, the enchiladas will be more susceptible to freezer burn).
- Bake. When ready to eat, preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Remove the plastic wrap and foil. Bake until fully heated through and the cheese is melted: about 20 to 30 minutes if refrigerated and about 45 minutes if frozen.
Sides to serve with sweet potato enchiladas
Want to make these sweet potato black bean enchiladas into a meal? Here are some of our favorite sides to go with enchiladas:
- Salad: This Mexican Chopped Salad is colorful and covered in a cilantro dressing.
- Coleslaw: Adding fresh veggies is a nice contrast to gooey enchiladas; try Mexican Coleslaw.
- Chips and salsa: Try our Best Salsa with tortilla chips.
- Refried beans: These Homemade Refried Beans are seriously simple and a nice pairing.
- Tomato avocado salad: This Cucumber Tomato Avocado Salad has a zesty cumin lime flavor.
More enchilada recipes
Love enchiladas? There’s nothing more cozy and comforting than a bubbling pan. Here are a few of our favorite recipes:
- Try these Easy Vegetarian Enchiladas or Cheese Enchiladas
- Skip the cheese in Vegan Enchiladas
- Opt for Green Enchiladas with Quinoa
- Go for a Vegetarian Skillet Enchiladas
Sweet Potato Black Bean Enchiladas
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Total Time: 40 minutes
- Yield: 6 1x
Description
These sweet potato black bean enchiladas are a total crowd pleaser! This tried and true vegetarian dinner is easy and full of flavor.
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 pounds (2 medium to large) sweet potatoes
- 1 medium red onion (about 1 cup finely diced)
- 15-ounce can black beans (or 1 ½ cups cooked black beans)
- 8 ounces canned diced green chilies (about 1 cup)
- ½ tablespoon chili powder
- ½ tablespoon cumin
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- Fresh ground black pepper
- 2 cups salsa verde
- 8 ounces (2 cups) Colby jack cheese, shredded
- 10 8-inch flour tortillas
- For the topping: sour cream, chopped cilantro, guacamole, pico de gallo, cotija or feta cheese crumbles
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F.
- Boil the sweet potatoes: Dice the sweet potatoes into roughly 3/4-inch cubes (you can leave the skin on or peel; make sure to cut off any dark or black spots). Place them in a pot and cover with 1 inch of water; add a pinch of salt. Bring to a boil and cook until tender when pierced with a fork, around 7 to 12 minutes. Drain.
- Prep the filling: Finely dice the onion. Drain and rinse the black beans. In a large bowl, combine the cooked sweet potato, red onion, black beans, green chilies, cumin, chili powder, garlic powder, kosher salt, and fresh ground black pepper. Mix to combine. Taste and add a few more pinches of kosher salt if desired.
- Roll the enchiladas: Warm the tortillas for a minute in the microwave, or in a pan for a few seconds per side, so that they are flexible. In a large baking dish or rimmed baking sheet*, spread 1 cup of the salsa verde. Fill each tortilla with a ½ cup scoop of the filling, add 2 tablespoons of the cheese, and roll it up. Place each enchilada seam-side down in the baking dish (there will be some leftover filling). Repeat for the remaining tortillas.
- Top with salsa and cheese: When all enchiladas are in the dish, top with the remaining 1 cup salsa verde and the remaining cheese.
- Bake: Place in the oven and bake for about 15 minutes, until the cheese is melted. Serve garnished with sour cream, chopped cilantro, and other garnishes as desired.
- Make ahead instructions: See the section above called “Make Ahead Instructions”.
Notes
*Depending on your baking dish, you may need 2 dishes to fit all 10 tortillas. This recipe technically makes enough for 12 tortillas, if you can fit them all in a baking dish or baking sheet.
- Category: Main Dish
- Method: Baked
- Cuisine: Mexican Inspired
OMG!!!! This was soooo good. I have made it twice now and everyone loved it. I didn’t change anything because it was perfect.
Thank you for making it!
Great recipe, will definitely try it. I was wondering if we can make this on a large charcoal grill on a skillet or just on a foil sheet covered, thoughts?
interesting! I’d try them on a skillet! Let us know if it works.
How can I get a copy of your recipe book?
Just look for “Pretty Simple Cooking” at any bookstore. Here is the amazon link: https://rstyle.me/+IVd_8L0ULBO_vXsOa0Hs-w
Made as directed, other than swapping the green chiles for a mix of jalepeno and bell peppers (only because I couldn’t source green chiles). Everything was delicious, and easy to prepare! A hit with everyone.
Our family has made these many times and they are a hit! I like to cook the onions though so they are nice and soft.
Went well for the vegans when I left out the cheese as well!! :)
Always make more sweet potato then I have to, so the dog has a treat!
I made these last night for my husband and very skeptical college-age son who is not a sweet potato fan. I pureed the sweet potatoes with spices in a food processor and then mixed this with the other ingredients. They were delicious!! Everyone went back for second helpings including my son!!
I have made these several times and we never tire of this dish. I love the combination of sweet potatoes and black beans.
I once used the KABOCHA squash instead of sweet potatoes and that combination is great. The squash is out of season here now.
Thank you so much for this delicious recipe. I have this in the oven now for dinner tonight.😍
I have been coming back to this recipe for years and thought that it was about time I left a review. This is great! Easy and flavorful. I do make my own corn tortillas, which is very simple to do. It makes all the difference in any recipe calling for a tortilla.
These were delicious! Will definitely make again. I think next time I will lightly sauté the onions because they were a little overpowering. And maybe add some corn. yum!!
I made this super easy recipe and it was pretty good. I would highly recommend roasting the sweet potatoes though. They were flavorless after boiling and they are an important part of the recipe. The onions could use sautéing as well as they were still raw after the 13 min in the oven. I would definitely make it again and am happy to have found this recipe.
Recipe was absolutely delicious!! I am so glad I found your recipe!! Thank you!!
These were killer! So delicious and more savory than I had anticipated. Added to my “meatless meals” list for sure. Husband enjoy them too so win/win! Thanks for creating and sharing it.
I would give it 6 starts if I could . I am an experienced cook and I think this is one of the best meals I ever Cooked.
Topped it with sour cream and piconde gallo. What I love about your recipes is that they are spiced to perfection. I can cook them without altering proportions and food comes out delicious. Also purchased your book. thank you!
We’ll take that rating! So glad you enjoyed it :)
Do you have the nutrition info? We made these and they are or new favorite but would love to know the calories. Thanks!
The info was added to the recipe card. So glad you enjoyed!
Such a great recipe, one of my go to meals now.
We made these tonight and they were AMAZING! So much flavor!! Thanks for sharing!!
Any chance this could be put together in its entirety 1 day in advance for baking later?? I have fam coming into town next week, and thought this would be an easy/ideal thing to toss in the oven after an exhausting day of sight seeing.
I’d like the answer to this too. Would love to be able to make it ahead, freeze it even, if it has been tried and proven successful
Hi! We have freezing instructions in the post above the recipes.
I’ve loved this recipe for a while now. Today I made it for my family reunion–27 people–and it was delicious. Went great with Spanish rice and salad. Thanks for sharing your wonderful recipes.
Yummy!
These were dinner tonight and FABULOUS! Thanks for the great recipe.
This recipe is a great starter, though I made a few changes – I added more spices than called for and (maybe my sweet potatoes were really big?) ended up filling a lot more tortillas than you called for – 14, actually. As a result of it making so many, they needed quite a bit more sauce, which this time around I didn’t have on hand, so I’ll remember that for next time. Quite tasty!
I made this for dinner today. It was fantastic. I am vegan, so omitted the cheese and sour cream. I topped with fresh salsa and diced avocado.
I made this tonight and it was pretty darn good except I would sauté the onion before mixing it in. Raw onion isn’t really my thing.
I agree. We made this tonight and didn’t care for the raw onions. Next time, we’ll cook the onions first. Otherwise, good recipe.
These look delicious! Has anyone tried freezing them? I’m assuming they would freeze well, but don’t want to waste a great meal!
We’ve never frozen them (they don’t last that long…), but I would think they would freeze OK.
They freeze great if you do so before baking. Pull it out when ready, thaw in fridge over night and bake as directed the next day. If they are extra cold, add 5-10 minutes.
I made this tonight and it was delicious . I think my sweet potatoes might have been extra large because there was enough filling for dinner, lunch tomorrow, and some for the freezer. I’ve definitely made some not so great vegetarian dishes lately and it was so nice to hear my husband request to have these enchiladas again!
Wonderful! So glad you liked them!
I’m curious how this recipe would be with butternut squash. Has anyone tried? Any suggestions of what I might do differently?
I think this would taste very similar with butternut squash! I would probably roast the squash as I feel it has a better flavor and texture with squash than boiling. But you could boil it as well. Good luck and let us know if you try it out!
It was super yummy with the red sauce :)
What recipe did you use for the red sauce? Sounds delish.
We just tried it with a canned red sauce…but preferred the green sauce best here :)
I made this today, it was amazing!!! Thanks for the recipe!
I have made this recipe twice so far today will be the third. it is soooo good!!!
This is one of our favorite recipes! We’ve made it several times, and it’s always a huge hit. I made it this weekend for friends who came over for dinner, and they were raving about how good it was!
Feel free to check out the feature on my blog, too!
Wonderful! So glad you enjoy them — they’re one of our favorites too! :)
any opinions on how u think it would be to add fresh corn off the cob, or use a simpler version of froz. or canned?
Sounds good to me!
I made these last week and they were delicious! I make a very similar recipe myself (without green chiles or onions and with a red enchilada sauce which, to answer Kristi’s question above, is delicious and goes very well with the sweet potatoes). I love the green chiles because I think it gives it the bite this otherwise sweet and savory dish needs. I did do two things differently that I thought others might want to try; I roast the sweet potatoes with a touch of salt and pepper (for added flavor and a texture I prefer to boiling or steaming) and I add probably about 1/4 a teaspoon a bit of cinnamon.
Thanks so much Molly!
Yes, thanks Molly. and great question, Kristi! I also think the red enchilada sauce would taste very good, but agree with Molly that the green chiles bring just the right compliment to the dish.
Kristi, let us know if you try it out! (PS I love the spelling of your name — I have two wonderful women in my life — one of them my mother — with the same spelling :) )
Has anyone tried this with red enchilada sauce? How were the results?
I made it with red sauce and it was fabulous!
This recipe is packed with flavor. I have done the unthinkable with this recipe. I was able to please three male carnivores! For my kiddos, they preferred a yellow onion to the red, that was the only change I made on round 2 of making this recipe. I love you guys! Keep being creative & inspiring!
Aww, thank you! This is so great to hear — we love to hear when the recipes are made and enjoyed — especially by a whole family! Thanks so much for writing :)
I need to try this. We live in Japan where we have great sweet potatoes.
What meat would you add if one were to cater to the carnivores?
Hmm. I think these might please all the carnivores you know, but I suppose some shredded chicken wouldn’t be too bad. :-)
I just made these for the first time with some beef (thin little pieces, like carne asada) to my husband’s enchiladas–because he’s a “where’s the beef?” kind of guy. This is an EXCELLENT recipe. Will defnitely be making again!
This sounds delightful. I have a pot of black beans simmering on the stove right now. If I was to add a meat to this dish, it would be pork. Pork is a great flavor cooked in with black beans, and pork and sweet potatoes are a match made in heaven. Pork. Definitely. Though I am positive it is a fantastic recipe as is!
I think I might make these for Friday night dinner, it’s just the two of us at home – this would be a treat.
I could eat black beans every day of the week and I never thought about a sweet potato mash up. Brilliant!
My husband actually asked me to make these when he saw them over my shoulder – and he’s not a fan when I try to cook vegetarian. Thanks for tasty looking recipe and great idea!
I’ve only had sweet potatoes and black beans together a couple of times, but when I did it was sooo tasty.
(Love that blue plate!)
Thanks! Another thrift store find :)
Sweet potato and black bean is such a perfect enchilada filling! Love it. :)
This looks delicious! I actually just had enchiladas for dinner, with adzuki beans and mushrooms. But I definitely want to try the black bean and sweet potato combination next time.
Mushrooms in enchiladas sounds interesting – great idea!
Such a great simple but delicious evening meal. Love that combo of sweet potato and black bean.
The sweet potato and black bean combo never gets old to me; I love it! And I can totally relate to not going back and re-making old recipes.We have so many “favorites” that never get made since I am always doing new things. However, it’s always worth to go back – especially when you can snap a nice new photo like this one.
Agreed about sweet potato + black bean — a classic combination! And yes, it’s always fun to revisit old favorites — we don’t to it enough either! :)
I must say I was super skeptical about this recipe. I made the filling and added butternut squash because I didn’t have enough sweet potatoes. I tasted the filling and was still nervous. I never had sweet potatoes with black beans before. I was so close to backing out of the recipe that I even left the filling in the fridge for a day. Today I decided to be brave and OH MYYY I’m so glad that I did. It is delicious once you put everything together!!!! I used whole wheat flour tortillas and put guacamole on the side. I had to stop reading to write this review. I feel so bad for ever doubting it. You guys are absolutely creative geniuses!!! Thanks for sharing this recipe.
Haha! Thank you for trusting us! Glad you enjoyed :)
What a lovely main meal! I’m SO trying this as soon as possible. Great idea!
Sounds delicious! I love recipes that use sweet potato – I’ll definitely be making this meal soon!