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A healthy vegan enchilada casserole that is perfect for parties, weeknight dinners and even meal prep for the week. This recipe is easy to make, free of oil & gluten, and just so dang good!
Enchilada casserole is actually a dish that my mom would make every week for my family. After I had gone vegan, she continued to make it for us but with, of course, 100% plant-based ingredients. She would load it up with vegetables, vegan cheese, and vegan chicken (which we let out but is totally recommended if you dig that sort of thing), and Trader Joe’s enchilada sauce. That sauce was a pantry staple in our house, and I swear we would go through dozens of them each year.
We had always assumed that making homemade enchilada sauce would be complicated, so we never tried doing it. Well, we all know what assuming does…lol but really, because we never looked into it, we never realized just how dang EASY enchilada sauce is to make! Like I am honestly going to regularly make this stuff because it is so good. We even like to use it to dress pasta, as a sauce for our pizzas or even as a sauce drizzled over our grain bowls.
The key to making an enchilada casserole is making sure that the tortillas are moist before layering them in. To do so, we dip both sides of the tortilla in the sauce (as pictured above) and then layer it into the casserole. Otherwise, the tortillas will fall apart when cutting into it. We made this mistake in our dollar store challenge video if you saw it last month on YouTube!
Not only is the sauce easy to make, but this whole dang recipe is all together. I prefer making enchilada casserole over traditional enchiladas because there is no need to roll anything up and you are able to make way more food in the same sized pan!
If you’re looking for more delicious recipes similar to this one, here are some of our favorites:
- Vegan Huevos Rancheros (Mexican-Inspired Breakfast)
- Pozole Rojo with Mushrooms and Red Beans (Mexican Hominy Stew)
- Baked Mushroom & Potato Taquitos (Vegan & Gluten-Free)
- Easy Vegan Tortilla Soup (Gluten-free + 30 Minutes)
If you make this recipe, let us know what you think in the comments below! + If you post any photos on Instagram, make sure you tag us @sweetsimplevegan and @consciouschris so that we don’t miss it, we love seeing your photos!
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Vegan Enchilada Casserole with Homemade Sauce (oil & gluten-free)
- Total Time: 45 minutes
- Yield: 6 servings
Description
A healthy vegan enchilada casserole that is perfect for parties, weeknight dinners and even meal prep for the week. This recipe is easy to make, free of oil & gluten, and just so dang good!
Ingredients
Filling
- 2–3 tablespoons of water or vegetable broth
- 1 cup diced white onion
- 5 large garlic cloves, minced
- 1/2 cup corn
- 1 cup diced bell pepper
- 1 (15.5 oz.) can black beans, drained and rinsed
- 2/3 cup cilantro, roughly chopped
- 3/4 cup vegan cheese (we used 1/2 recipe of our Chipotle Cheddar Cheese)
- 11 corn tortillas*
Homemade Enchilada Sauce:
- 1 (8 oz.) can tomato and chilis* (see notes)
- 1 (8 oz.) can tomatoes
- 1 teaspoon ground chili powder
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ¼ teaspoon dried oregano
- ¼ teaspoon salt, to taste
- Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Top with (optional)
- 1/4 cup cilantro
- 2–3 tablespoons chopped green onions
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F and have a medium-sized casserole dish ready. The baking dish we used was 10×8″.
- Prepare the filling: In a medium pan over medium heat, heat about 2-3 tablespoons of water or vegetable broth. Once heated, add the onions and garlic, and sauté for 2-3 minutes or until it begins to become fragrant and translucent. Add in the corn and bell peppers, and continue to saute for 3 more minutes, adding more water or broth as needed to prevent burning. Mix through the black beans and then set aside.
- Prepare the sauce: In a high-speed blender, add in all of the ingredients for the sauce except for the salt and pepper. Blend until smooth and season with salt and pepper to taste. Transfer the sauce into a medium saucepan over medium-low heat and warm, covered, for 8-10 minutes or until thickened. Set aside.
- Assemble the casserole: Evenly distribute a thin layer of sauce to the bottom of the baking dish. Douse a tortilla in the sauce, being sure to cover both sides, and then set it into the bottom left of the dish. Repeat with a second tortilla and add that into the top left of the dish. Grab a third tortilla and cut it in half. Douse each half in sauce and then add one half onto the bottom right and the other on the top right. These tortillas are used to help create an even layer and fill any blank space that is not covered since they are round. Refer to the photos in the post if this does not make sense. Add in a layer of the vegetable mixture, along with a handful of chopped cilantro and about 3 tablespoons of cheese. Repeat these layers until you reach the top of the dish, and then add a final layer of wet tortillas. Dump the remaining sauce on top, and then top that with any remaining filling. Liberally add cheese sauce to the top of the casserole.
- Place into the oven and bake for 20-25 minutes. Remove and allow it to cool for at least 10 minutes.
- Top with cilantro and green onions, then dig in!
Notes
- The tomatoes with chilis are pretty spicy, so if you are not good with spice we recommend just subbing in another 8 oz. can of just tomatoes.
- You can opt for any cheese of your choice, including shredded vegan cheese that you can pick up from the store.
- The nutrition facts do not take into consideration the addition of vegan cheese or cheese sauce.
- Shredded vegan chicken would go great in this!
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Category: Entree, Lunch, Dinner
- Cuisine: Vegan, Oil Free, Gluten Free
Nutrition facts label provided by Nutri Fox.
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Excellent dish. I made it a day ahead and I turned out perfectly. Leftovers were good too!
My husband and I both enjoyed this dish! I didn’t have any tomatoes with jalapeños so I used one can of diced tomatoes and about a tablespoon of adobo. I made an oil-free cheese sauce (and old standby recipe) for the inside and top.
I made this about 6 hours before serving and the corn tortillas held up nicely. Thank you for an excellent addition to my repertoire!
This was really delicious! I’m new to plant-based eating and this was my first time making a ‘cheese’ sauce. I added one small diced zucchini and a jalapeno to the veggie mix, and added the same spice mix to the veggies. The tomatoes available at my store came in larger can sizes than the recipe, so I doubled the spices and figured I’d have too much sauce, but it ended up being the perfect amount. I also used fire roasted diced tomatoes for extra flavor. My non-plant based husband even loved it! I baked it in a deep dish pie plate, and it looked very pretty when sliced into.
This is the first vegan recipe I made a few years ago and the most requested meal with my family. I have made it with the cheese sauce and also with plant based shredded cheese and both are equally delicious. The spice level is just right for us. I always double this recipe as we love leftovers and it is super easy to make. Thank you for sharing.
Loved this recipe! I subbed pinto for black beans because I had a bunch and added chopped black olives. This is a keeper!
We made this recipe and it came out wonderfully..I will be looking at other recipes to make in the future..I like how simple this is!
Can you prepare all assembled in the casserole dish and then bake it the next day? Or will it get soggy in the fridge over night?
I think this dish would be best prepared just before baking.
Can this be made ahead?
Yes it can be baked and then refrigerated but it is definitely best fresh as the tortillas can get a bit mushy.
Loved this! Passed it on to all of my vegan friends too! Made with flour tortillas which obviously changes it to contain gluten, but it worked well for me. Also subbed in a red pepper based vegan “cheese” sauce.
Very tasty, thank you for sharing. The only confusing part was how to layer the tortillas- the video goes too fast, not very helpful. Had to read that step a few times before figuring out how to use up the 11 tortillas 🙂
Sorry about that, I am glad you figured it out and that it worked out! 🙂
Excellent enchilada sauce! Hard to find a great enchilada sauce recipe and we loved it. Made some vegan sour cream to top it with instead of vegan cheese sauce. Kept the filling simple – some salsa, corn, black beans, organic bell peppers and broccoli. Will use this recipe again for certain, thanks so much!
I ended up making this as enchilada bowls, since I realized I only had 3 tortillas after I started cooking, haha! Definitely saving this to make again. One question, though. When do the black beans get added? Do they go in to be sautéed with the corn and bell peppers, too? The recipe doesn’t specify.
Thanks!!
Hi Amanda! Thanks for pointing that out. You just mix them through in step 2 🙂
I just finished making these and popped them into the oven. I added vegan cheese to the top to melt and added the cilantro/ green onion as well. I am going to add you IG so I can tag you. Thanks for such an awesome recipe.
Yum, that sounds like the perfect touch! Thank you so much for sharing 🙂