Vegetarian Butternut Squash and Black Bean Enchiladas are baked in a simple, flavorful Mole Sauce. A delicious vegetarian dinner, perfect for fall! Vegan adaptable! With a video.
Butternut & Black Bean Enchiladas
Here’s a hearty flavorful vegetarian dinner that is perfect for fall! Butternut Squash and Black Bean Enchiladas are smothered in the most delicious Mole Sauce – a rich, deep & smokey enchilada sauce with a whisper of chocolate. Keep in mind, this can easily be made vegan with the use of vegan cheese!
What I love about this recipe is how adaptable it is. Use butternut squash here or feel free to try or substitute other winter squash- Kuri squash, Acorn squash, Sugar pumpkins, Kabocha, Hubbard, Delicata squash, Sweet dumplings, even roasted spaghetti squash will work well here. I’ve even used roasted sweet potato, which is not a squash at all –my point is here, the recipe is very forgiving and so, use what you have, or feel free to experiment. Today instead of butternut I picked this pretty pale butter yellow acorn squash my next-door neighbor gave us!
Butternut Squash Enchiladas Video!
How to make Butternut Squash Enchiladas
Step 1:
Peel and slice the butternut squash in half, then scoop out the seeds using a spoon.
Step 2
Dice the butternut squash into ¾ inch cubes. You’ll only need 2-3 cups. Place them on a baking sheet, toss with olive oil, salt and pepper, and roast in a hot oven for 15-20 minutes, being careful that they don’t get overly soft. A little texture is good here.
Step 3:
Blend up the quick and easy Mole Sauce. Place the mole ingredients in the blender – onion, garlic, spices, tomato sauce – everything except the chocolate and tahini, and blend until smooth.
Note: This is not “real”, traditional Mole Sauce, the kind that takes hours to build depth and flavor, but instead, a time-saving “cheater” version. This can also be used as a simmer sauce for chicken, beans, or even tofu.
Step 4:
Place the Mole sauce in a saucepan and bring to a simmer. Once the mole has simmered and cooked, stir in the dark chocolate and tahini (or peanut butter).
Step 5:
Pour the Quick Mole Sauce in the bottom of a baking dish and get the rest of your ingredients in place, to roll up the enchiladas.
Step 6:
Assemble the enchiladas.
Tip: Warm the tortillas first to get them pliable (so they are easy to roll) then stack them. To warm, place them directly on your oven rack for a few minutes, or grill them individually over the gas flame on your stove, or pan-fry them with a bit of oil- which really makes for the best enchiladas, but also the highest in calories. Your choice. Today I simply warmed them in the oven, placing them directly on the oven rack for a couple of minutes.
Fill the warm tortillas one at a time with the roasted butternut squash, black beans and a bit of cheese (or vegan cheese) and place seam side down in the baking dish, over the Quick Mole Sauce.
Step 7: Smother with Mole sauce!
Brush more Mole Sauce over the top, saving any extra for touching them up at the end.
Step 8: Bake!
Place the butternut enchiladas in the oven to bake.
Step 9: Garnish the Butternut Enchiladas!
When the butternut Enchiladas come out of the oven, sprinkle with some toasted sesame seeds, pumpkin seeds, diced avocado and fresh cilantro.
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What to serve with Butternut Blackbean Enchiladas:
- Mexican Slaw with Cilantro and Lime
- Cilantro Lime Rice
- Mexican Street Corn (Elotes!)
- Mexican Brussel Sprout Salad with Cilantro and Lime
- Southwest Black Bean Quinoa Salad
The combination of roasted butternut, black beans and the Mole Sauce is divine. Rich and satisfying and full of so much flavor. I know you will love this one friends!
Hope you like these Butternut Enchiladas as much as we do! Let us know in the comments below.
xoxo
More recipes you may like:
- Farmers Market Veggie Enchiladas
- White Chicken Enchiladas (or sub Cauliflower!)
- Chicken Enchiladas with Black Beans
- 5 Minute Enchilada Sauce
- Simple Chicken Enchiladas
- Enchiladas Verde (Green Enchiladas)
Vegetarian Butternut Black Bean Enchiladas with Mole Sauce
- Prep Time: 30 mins
- Cook Time: 50 mins
- Total Time: 1 hour 20 minutes
- Yield: 6
- Category: vegetarian, main,
- Method: Baked, roasted
- Cuisine: Mexican
- Diet: Vegetarian
Description
These vegetarian Butternut Enchiladas are filled with roasted butternut squash and black beans and baked in a simple, yet flavorful Mole Sauce. Topped with cilantro, avocado and toasted sesame seeds and pumpkin seeds, serve this up with this Mexican slaw for a fast and delicious vegetarian dinner, perfect for fall! Vegan adaptable!
Ingredients
- 1 small butternut squash ( or sub other winter squash) peeled, diced (2 1/2– 3 cups)
- oil, salt and pepper
- 1 14-ounce can black beans, rinsed, drained
- 6 ounces crumbled queso fresco cheese (or shredded jack, mozzarella or meltable vegan cheese)
- 6–8, corn or flour tortillas
Garnish: cilantro, toasted sesame seeds, toasted pumpkin seeds, avocado, sour cream
Quick Mole Sauce:
- 15 ounce can tomato sauce
- 4 cloves garlic
- ½ an onion- rough diced
- ½ cup water
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 1–3 chipotle chilies in adobo sauce, plus 1 Tablespoon adobo sauce
- 2 tsp chili powder
- 2 tsp cumin
- 2 tsp coriander
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- ½ tsp salt and Pepper, more to taste
- ——-
- 3–4 Tablespoons sesame tahini paste or peanut butter
- 2 ounces dark chocolate -bittersweet chocolate chips, or dark chocolate bar with 70% cacao (Do not use baker’s chocolate or unsweetened chocolate)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425F
- Roast the Butternut: Peel the butternut squash, cut in half and scoop out the seeds. Dice into ¾-inch cubes. Place on a parchment-lined sheet pan and drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper and give a stir. Roast in the hot oven for 20 minutes, stirring halfway through. Feel free to broil for just a minute or two to get them crispy around the edges.
- Make the QUICK Mole Sauce: Place all the ingredients ( EXCEPT CHOCOLATE and TAHINI PASTE) in a blender. Blend until smooth. Place this Mole sauce in a small pot, bring to a simmer over medium heat, cover (it will splatter) and cook 7-8 minutes over medium-low heat. Stir in tahini sauce and chocolate until melted and combined. Taste, adjust salt and sweetness, adding a teaspoon of maple if necessary (some chocolate is sweeter than others). If it feels too thick, loosen a bit with water. Turn heat off and set aside
- Warm the tortillas (toast in the oven, grill over a stovetop gas flame) to make them soft and pliable, then stack them.
- Sauce the baking dish: In a 9 x 13 greased baking dish, brush a third of the Mole sauce, coating the bottom.
- Assemble the Enchiladas. Gather your ingredients: crumbled queso (or jack cheese, drained rinsed black beans, roasted butternut squash and begin assembling the enchiladas. Fill each tortilla with 2-3 tablespoons crumbled queso, ¼ cup butternut squash and ⅛ cup black beans. Roll and place seam side down in the baking dish over the mole sauce. When you have filled the baking dish, brush a generous amount of mole sauce all over the top of the enchiladas, saving any extra for touching up later.
- Cover with foil and bake at 375F for 20-25 minutes. Uncover, and bake for 5-10 more minutes, adding extra mole sauce. Pull from oven, sprinkle with more crumbled queso (optional) toasted sesame seeds, avocado, pumpkin seeds and fresh cilantro.
- Serve with a dollop of sour cream.
Notes
Feel free to add other veggies to the mix- corn or bell pepper would be nice. For meat eaters- add cooked meat, browned chorizo, or chicken. Or keep these totally vegan with vegan cheese!
Keywords: butternut enchiladas, butternut black bean enchiladas, butternut enchiladas with mole sauce,
Would this filling work as quesadillas instead of enchiladas, with the sauce on the side?
I bet it would be tasty!
To speed this up: no need to peel your squash–just scrub and roast with the peel on. Peel is edible and when roasted gives a pleasant chew (perfect since you want a little texture here).
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Thanks Bri- great advise!
Really good recipe, wondering next time if I can make the enchiladas ahead of time, and then keep them in the fridge and boil them later on in the day?
🙂
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By boil I meant “bake”. Oops!!
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Gottcha! 😉
Yes, you mean bake them? That should be fine!
These enchiladas were delicious! I found the recipe to be quick and easy using precut butternut squash. My husband and I love mole and thought this sauce was perfect. I added extra chilis to the sauce because we like it spicy, and topped with sour cream, cilantro, and red onion. Paired with a carrot tumeric mezcal margarita, this dinner was so good.
★★★★★
Perfect Amanda!
I knew I would love this recipe as I was assembling it but wasn’t sure my picky husband would like it. Surprise! He loved it too.
This is the first of your recipes that I’ve tried and I’m looking forward to many more.
★★★★★
Awesome Mimi! My husband really liked this one too!
I loved the filling but the “mole” sauce came out way too spicy. I don’t know if it’s cuz I doubled the recipe or it was just a hot can of chipotle but I had to make a different sauce for the 2nd pan of enchiladas. The only one who could eat it with the original sauce was me, but I enjoyed it cuz I love spicy food. I think it would be good to have people start with 1 chipotle and taste it before adding a 2nd or 3rd. Also it was very thick. I would add a little more chicken stock or water. Otherwise they were very good.
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Hi Wendy- Thanks for your notes here. I will adjust the recipe to accommodate for less spicy.
We made these, but for the sake of time, used store-bought mole sauce. We added corn to the filling. My teenagers and I loved them! They turned out great. We plan to make the mole sauce ourselves next time.
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Glad to hear it Rebecca!
Can you clarify what you mean by “dark chocolate squares”? For example, the semi-sweet or unsweetened baking chocolate in brands such as Baker’s? Or a bar packaged more like a candy bar of dark or bittersweet chocolate? Does it matter? With the baking brands, it might make a difference (slight?) if you use semi-sweet or unsweetened.
Hi Jean-sorry about that! I added some more info to the recipe card. You can use bittersweet chocolate or chocolate chips- 70% cacao or higher is great- Do not use baker’s chocolate or unsweetened chocolate.
This was not my favorite of Sylvia’s recipes. The entire tray was really dry. I read the instructions again and I did not miss anything, but the enchiladas fell apart on the plate, with bits of butternut and bean rolling about, escaping the cheese and mole nuggets- the mole dried out in the oven also. More mole would not have been the answer for me although thinning it may have helped. The mole was inspired and tasty for sure, but overpowered the dish even with a ton of fresh toppings. Thanks to Sylvia for her many wonderful recipes and for helping me to try out some new dishes.
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Oh no, Alison! It has been a while since I’ve made this. Can I ask what tortillas you used? Corn or flour or a blend- just curious!
OMG these are delicious! The mole sauce with the chocolate and tahini is inspired, and is super quick to make. Topped mine with avocado and fresh coriander, but equally would be nice with any salad.
★★★★★
Awesome Alison- glad you enjoyed!
Delicious! I topped mine with queso fresco, cilantro, and red onions. So good that I’ve made it twice in the last month. The best meal I’ve made in a while.
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Glad to hear Hailey!
My husband said this is a keeper! Delicious. I cooked the ack beans in my instant pot with onion and cumin to infuse more flavor. Roasted 2 packages frozen butternut squash as a shortcut for the filling. Don’t skip optional garnishments, they are wonderfulffofe of
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Thanks so much Annee and happy you both enjoyed!
Delicious! Was surprised at how much flavour that sauce packed. Thank you Sylvia once again for an amazing recipe.
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Thanks Sara!
Oh my gosh, I loved everything about this recipe… The squash was a nice change from heavier yams in similar recipes. The mole was perfectly balanced and so flavorful. And the leftovers tasted amazing heated up the next day too. Thank you!
★★★★★