I hate when I’m really excited about a meal, and then I look at the pictures and think, “Oh, no! It doesn’t look as good as it tasted!” Clearly, I tried extra hard with this one. See that little piece of parsley I even added to brighten up the photo? Seriously, though, this meal is outstanding and the picture does not accurately depict its goodness. If you are looking for a decadent vegan recipe to take the place of your standard dinner for a night, this one would be an amazing choice. And even though these enchiladas taste decadent and feel like an indulgence, each enchilada is just over 100 calories. I didn’t feel guilty at all when I took a third one after scarfing down the two pictured above.
Another great thing about this recipe is that you can either make 12 enchiladas or you can make 8 enchiladas and have leftover filling to serve over rice for a leftovers lunch. I chose the latter option, as you know how I love my leftover lunches!
PrintVegan Butternut Squash and White Bean Enchiladas
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 40 minutes
- Total Time: 60 minutes
- Yield: Makes 12 enchiladas or 8 enchiladas + leftover filling 1x
- Category: main meal
- Cuisine: Mexican
Ingredients
- 2 teaspoons coconut oil
- 1/4 onion, diced
- 1 leek, white part only, cut in half and then sliced thinly, so you have half-moon shapes (reserve light green part for another use and throw out the stalk)
- 1 medium butternut squash, cut into small cubes and cooked
- 1 1/2 cups (or 1 15 oz can, rinsed and drained) white beans (I used Great Northern beans that I cooked in my slow cooker)
- 1 (14 oz) can coconut milk (I used regular, but lite would probably work)
- 1/2 cup vegetable broth
- 1/2 teaspoon fresh minced ginger
- 1 1/2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
- 1/2 teaspoon coriander
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
- freshly ground black pepper
- 1 tablespoon arrowroot+1 tablespoon water (cornstarch can be substituted)
- 8–12 whole grain tortillas (I used Smart and Delicious High Fiber Whole Wheat Tortillas)
Instructions
- If you haven’t already, cook your squash. You can simply steam it, or roast it. {Hint: I cooked the squash during Meghan’s nap time so this step was done} In a large saute pan, heat the oil over medium to medium-high heat. Add the onion and saute until it is just starting to brown, about 6 minutes. Add the leek and continue to saute until both the onion and the leek are nicely browned, about 6-8 more minutes. Add the coconut milk, broth, ginger, lime juice, coriander, cumin, salt, and a generous helping of freshly ground black pepper. Allow to simmer for about 5 minutes.
- Combine the 1 tablespoon arrowroot with 1 tablespoon cold water in a small bowl and mix until the arrowroot is dissolved in the water. Add to the sauce and stir just a few times. Give the sauce a minute or two to thicken a little, then take out about 1/4 cup of the sauce and spread it into the bottom of a casserole pan. Then take out an additional 1/2-3/4 cup and reserve it. If you are making 8 enchiladas, you’ll need about 1/2 cup. If you’re making 12, you’ll need closer to 3/4 cup.
- Gently stir in the cooked squash and beans to the remaining sauce.
- Add a small amount of the squash and bean mixture to a tortilla. I added about this much:
- Wrap it up tightly and place in your casserole pan seam-side down. Continue until you have filled all of your enchiladas. They should fit snugly in the pan. Cover with the reserved sauce. I used a silicon brush to ensure the tortillas were evenly covered.
If you are making 12 enchiladas, you will likely need two pans, unless you have a giant casserole dish. If you are making 8 vegan enchilada babies, you will have this delicious leftover filling: 
Just waiting to be eaten up as a leftover lunch! This filling is so incredibly good on its own, it definitely doesn’t need to be wrapped in a tortilla to be enjoyed.- Bake the enchiladas in a 350 degree oven for 20 minutes. Serve alone or with brown rice.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 of 4 servings
- Calories: 441
- Sugar: 7.5g
- Sodium: 620.5mg
- Fat: 20.7g
- Carbohydrates: 56.7g
- Protein: 12g
Keywords: vegan main meal
I am pretty enamored with this vegan dinner, and Tim likes it, too. These were his exact words: “The flavor’s really good. It’d be even better if there were some chicken in there.” Too bad, buddy. We had salmon for dinner last night and we don’t follow up a fish meal with a meat meal. Duh.
Meghan does not like messy food, so I knew better than to try to serve her part of an enchilada. I deconstructed hers, serving her some white beans and butternut squash separated. Beans are hit or miss with her. Sometimes she gobbles them up and asks for more, other days she won’t touch them. Butternut squash (and most orange vegetables) are normally a no-go with her, but I continue to offer in hopes that her palate will develop a taste for it. I added some avocado sandwich (mashed avocado+nutritional yeast) to her plate to add more bulk to her meal.
She gobbled up the avocado sandwich and asked for more, ate about 5 beans, and ate exactly 0 bites of the squash. For dessert, she devoured an apple.
Oh, the joys of feeding a toddler.
Lisa says
January 4, 2011 at 9:57 amMaryea, What type and how much of the beans did you use? This looks heavenly. Unfortunately, my husband won’t eat beans. The boys and I love them, though. So, maybe we can plan to eat these one night when he won’t be joining us for dinner. Can’t wait to try them out. By the way, we totally loved the no bake nutty cups. For some reason, I told my boys they were ooey, gooey treats. After all, they were ooey and gooey! Hard to stay out of them.
Maryea says
January 4, 2011 at 11:08 amThat information would certainly be helpful to include in the recipe, wouldn’t it?! 🙂 I edited it to show that I used 1 1/2 cups Great Northern beans. Thanks!
Candy says
January 4, 2011 at 5:32 pmThose sound really good! I can totally relate to how some things are hit or miss when feeding kids healthy foods. It can be frustrating, but at least it is getting better as they get older!
Maryea says
January 4, 2011 at 8:01 pmThat’s good to hear, Candy–there’s hope!
debbie koenig says
January 6, 2011 at 2:34 pmWow, these look FANTASTIC. I’ve got everything but the coconut milk. A trip to the store may be in order.
[email protected] says
January 7, 2011 at 11:10 pmmmm, these look incredible. definitely a must make.
Marcie Placke says
February 7, 2011 at 6:36 pmI just made this for supper….oh my gosh it wasnthe best meal EVER. I threw in a little chicken in a couple for my meat eating hubs, but he said he wouldn’t miss it! Have you tried it yet with the low fat coconut milk, I am curious if it’s just as good??? Thanks this is a keeper! Everyone must try it. :-).
Maryea says
February 8, 2011 at 6:28 amGlad you liked them Marcie! I haven’t tried it with the lite coconut milk, but when I do I’ll get back to you.
Marcie Placke says
April 2, 2011 at 2:06 pmTried it with lite coconut milk. Still very good 🙂
Maryea says
April 2, 2011 at 2:13 pmGood to know!! Thank you. 🙂
Lisa says
March 30, 2011 at 7:21 pmMaryea, We made these tonight, however, I didn’t see where to add in the ginger so I ended up skipping it. They were very good and we enjoyed them a lot. We have a lot of leftovers, though. I stuffed some brown rice on the inside of each enchilada to make them a bit more hearty since my 9 y/o has a voracious appetitie these days. Thanks!
Maryea says
March 31, 2011 at 9:25 pmGAH! Thanks for letting me know; I’ll go edit the post. Great idea adding brown rice–I’ll bet that was delicious. The leftover filling is delicious served on top of brown rice. 🙂
Tammi says
May 31, 2014 at 2:47 pmI’m going to make this sometime this week. Although I might mash my white beans and saute with a little olive oil to make a refried so they don’t fall out of the tortilla and and add some yellow curry, fresh basil (usually I’d add cilantro but this seems more like a thai style enchilada with the coconut milk/oil.
But it looks to die for…I’ll let you guys know! 😀
Maryea says
June 2, 2014 at 4:09 pmYour adaptation ideas sound great! Let me know how it turns out–this is one of my favorites. 🙂