These protein-rich vegan enchiladas are made with lentils and other wholesome ingredients. It can be made ahead and the recipe is freezer-friendly. The veggie enchilada casserole is gluten-free, plant-based, nut-free, perfect for lunch or dinner, and very tasty.
Can we please take a moment to appreciate these wholesome vegetarian enchiladas? This dish was a big hit in my house, super yummy, and I can’t wait to make it again! Has your mouth started watering yet?
How Healthy Are Lentil Enchiladas?
You might ask why I used lentils to make these enchiladas rojas. Well, I love lentils – they are an amazing source of healthy protein and contain lots of vitamins, minerals, and fiber. For example, lentils are rich in folate, copper, manganese, phosphorus, iron, and zinc.
They have a great taste and texture and combined with flavorful spices, and other plant-based ingredients, they can have a similar taste to ground meat. That’s why they are the perfect filling for veggie enchiladas. I also love that lentils are inexpensive, they cook much faster than beans or chickpeas, and they are even easier to digest.
Besides lentils, these enchiladas are stuffed with other wholesome plant-based ingredients, like sunflower seeds, rolled oats, bell peppers, tomato, carrot, onion, ground chia seeds, tomato paste, and flavorful spices.
For the full list of ingredients, measurements, and nutrition facts (calories, etc.), please check the printable recipe card below.
How to Make Vegan Enchiladas
Below you’ll find step-by-step photos. You can also watch the video for visual instructions.
Step 1: Cook Lentils
Rinse lentils thoroughly to remove any dirt and place them in a medium-sized pot. Add broth and bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. Simmer with a lid on for about 20 minutes (or until tender). Then remove the pot from the heat but keep covered for a further 10 minutes.
Step 2: Make The Enchilada Sauce
While the lentils cook, prepare your enchilada sauce first and then start making the enchilada filling. To make the enchilada sauce, heat the olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add all spices and cook for about 2 minutes. Stir in the flour, and cook for another minute, stirring frequently. Add the tomato sauce and bring it to a boil. Let simmer until the sauce is thick, approximately 5 minutes.
Step 3: Make The Enchilada Filling
To make the enchilada filling: In a skillet heat oil over medium heat. Add onion + garlic and sauté for 3-4 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add chopped bell peppers, tomato, grated carrot, and 1-2 hot chili peppers and sauté for 5-7 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside.
Step 4: Blend Dry Ingredients
Add all dry ingredients (spices, salt + pepper, the oats, the sunflower seeds, and the ground chia seeds) into a food processor and blend for about 20-30 seconds.
Step 5: Add Veggies
Add the cooked veggies and the tomato paste, and blend again.
Step 6: Add Cooked Lentils
Finally, add the cooked lentils and blend until everything is combined. The mixture should stick together and the texture should look like in the pics below. If the mixture isn’t thick enough or doesn’t stick together, then add more ground oats.
Step 7: Preheat Oven
Preheat oven to 390 degrees F (200 degrees C). Also, grease a baking/casserole dish with some oil or vegan butter.
Step 8: Add Filling To Tortilla
Spread 2 heaped tablespoons (100-120 g) of enchilada filling over a tortilla.
Step 9: Roll Up Tortilla
Roll up the tortilla and place it into the prepared baking dish.
Step 10: Repeat
Repeat this step with the other tortillas.
Step 11: Add Sauce
Then pour the enchilada sauce over the tortillas. I made two layers of 4 tortillas each (7 x 11 in baking dish) but you can make just one layer with 8 tortillas. The filling is enough for 12 tortillas, so you could also make more than 8 (depending on the size of your baking dish).
Step 12: Bake
Bake the veggie enchiladas uncovered for 15 minutes. Remove from the oven, pour my easy Vegan Cheese Sauce on top (or use your favorite vegan cheese to taste), and put the enchilada casserole back into the oven for 10-15 minutes. Serve hot, garnished with fresh cilantro or herbs of choice (optional). You can also add a little Vegan Sour Cream on top if desired.
Helpful Tips and Variations
- Sunflower seeds – If you don’t like sunflower seeds you can, of course, also use any other seeds or nuts instead. Walnuts are a great substitute, for example.
- Other flour options – Instead of ground oats, you can use any other flour of choice. For example, a gluten-free flour mix or chickpea flour. Just make sure you use the amount mentioned in the recipe in grams.
- Tortillas – I used Homemade Gluten-Free Tortillas. Sometimes I also use these gluten-free Spinach Tortillas. However, you can use regular wheat tortillas or wraps of choice if you aren’t gluten-free.
- You can use cooked beans to make bean enchiladas or chickpeas instead of lentils. Textured protein (e.g. vegan beef) would be also an option.
- Top with vegan cheese – I topped these delicious gluten-free enchiladas with homemade vegan cheese sauce. That made them even more delicious, plus the sauce is ready in 3 minutes. However, you can certainly use store-bought vegan cheese instead!
How To Store
You can store the baked enchiladas covered in the fridge for up to 3-4 days. If you have sauce or filling leftovers, then store them separately in an airtight container in the fridge. This vegan enchilada recipe is also freezer friendly. Freeze in freezer bags for up to 3 months. Reheat covered in the oven until warmed through.
You can also prepare the sauce and the filling ahead and store it in the fridge, then assemble the enchiladas the next day.
Should you give these vegan enchiladas a try, please leave a comment and rating below, and don’t forget to tag me in your Instagram or Facebook post with @elavegan and #elavegan, because I love to see your remakes.
Other vegan Mexican inspired recipes you might like to try:
- Mexican Pinto Bean Soup
- Vegan Tortilla Soup
- Breakfast Burritos
- Taco Cups
- Vegan Black Bean Quesadillas
- Loaded Nacho Fries
- Oven Roasted Vegetable Fajitas
- Mexican Pizza with Refried Beans
- Chili Sin Carne
Vegan Enchiladas
Ingredients
- 12 tortillas (22 cm in diameter)
- 7 oz (200 g) vegan cheese or to taste
Enchilada filling:
- 1 cup (192 g) dry lentils (*see recipe notes)
- 2 1/2 cups (600 g) vegetable broth
- 1/2 cup (70 g) sunflower seeds (*see recipe notes)
- 1 1/3 cup (120 g) rolled oats gluten-free if needed (*see recipe notes)
- 3 heaped tbsp (120 g) tomato paste
- 2 small bell peppers
- 1 medium-sized carrot grated
- 1 medium-sized tomato chopped
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 1 large onion chopped
- 2 tbsp chia seeds (ground) or flax seeds
- spice mix: 1/2 tbsp onion powder, 1/2 tbsp garlic powder, 2 tsp dried oregano, 1-2 tsp ground cumin, 1 tsp smoked paprika
- 1-2 hot chili peppers chopped (or less if you don't like it too spicy)
- sea salt and pepper to taste
- 1 tbsp oil to fry the veggies
Enchilada sauce:
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tbsp gluten-free flour (or all-purpose flour if not GF)
- 2 1/2 cups (600 g) tomato sauce
- spice mix: 1/2 tbsp chili powder, 1 tsp onion powder, 1 tsp garlic powder, 1 tsp ground cumin, 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
- sea salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Rinse lentils thoroughly to remove any dirt and place them in a medium-sized pot. Add broth and bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. Simmer with a lid on for about 20 minutes (or until tender). Then remove the pot from the heat but keep covered for a further 10 minutes.
- While the lentils cook, prepare your enchilada sauce first and then start making the enchilada filling. To make the enchilada sauce, heat the olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add all spices and cook for about 2 minutes. Stir in the flour, and cook for another minute, stirring frequently. Add the tomato sauce and bring to a boil. Let simmer until the sauce is thick, approximately 5 minutes.
- To make the enchilada filling: In a skillet heat oil over medium heat. Add onion + garlic and sauté for 3-4 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add chopped bell peppers, tomato, grated carrot, and 1-2 hot chili peppers and sauté for 5-7 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside.
- Add all dry ingredients (spices, salt + pepper, the oats, the sunflower seeds, and the ground chia seeds) into a food processor and blend for about 20-30 seconds.
- Add the cooked veggies and the tomato paste, and blend again.
- Finally, add the cooked lentils and blend until everything is combined. The mixture should stick together and the texture should look like in the pics below. If the mixture isn't thick enough or doesn't stick together, then add more ground oats.
- Preheat oven to 390 degrees F (200 degrees C).
- Spread 2 heaped tablespoons (100 g) of enchilada filling over a tortilla.
- Roll up the tortilla and place it into a greased baking dish.
- Repeat this step with the other tortillas.
- Then pour the enchilada sauce on top of the tortillas. I made two layers of 4 tortillas each (7 x 11 in baking dish) but you can make just one layer with 8 tortillas. The filling is enough for 12 tortillas, so you could also make more than 8 (depending on the size of your baking dish).
- Bake uncovered for 15 minutes. Remove from the oven, pour my easy vegan cheese sauce on top (or use your favorite vegan cheese to taste), and put the enchiladas back into the oven for 10-15 minutes. Serve hot, garnished with fresh cilantro or greens of choice (optional). You can also pour a little vegan sour cream on top if desired.
Notes
Video Of The Recipe
- Lentils: I typically use brown lentils which cook in about 20-25 minutes, if soaked beforehand in lukewarm water. You can use 2 1/2 cups cooked lentils or beans instead (and skip the veggie broth).
- Seeds: You can use other seeds or nuts (e.g. walnuts) instead of sunflower seeds.
- Flour: Chickpea flour is a good alternative for oats. Any other flour should work too.
- Tortillas: You can use regular flour tortillas or gluten-free tortillas.
- Check the blog post for storing instructions and other helpful tips.
Nutrition information is an estimate and has been calculated automatically
Simple and Delicious Vegan Cookbook by ElaVeganCLICK HERE to order!If you are using Pinterest, feel free to pin the following photo:
Lovely Enchiladas! I used 2 carrots and omitted the tomato. I only blended 1/2 the lentils and veggies, and folded the rest in to have a more varied texture. I’ll be making my own enchilada sauce from now on.! They definitely had some spice to them, which I liked. Thank you for opening my eyes to a new type of enchiladas!
My pleasure, Kim! I am so glad they turned out delicious. 🙂
I really liked these, and thought the sauce was really tasty. I liked how the filling was kind of mushed together, since I’m not a huge lentil fan. I had lots of filling, but my peppers were pretty big and I used two smaller carrots.
So glad you liked the recipe, Cathy! Thanks for your feedback. 🙂
Hey Ela!
This recipe looks amazing and I’m hoping to make it soon, as a special dinner for my partner and I.
Got a question tho: I have never had enchilada before, and I can’t really tell from the picture how many portions these are since I can’t imagine how filling this will be. SO my question is: how many enchiladas would one only person have? What would you say?
Thank you so much! For this recipe and for the whole blog. You are making me experiment and try new recipes from different cultures which you’ve already turned vegan, and I’m loving every one of them.
Love x
Hey Yolanda, thanks for your compliments! It depends on the size of your tortillas and how much you eat (different from every person). The filling is enough for 12 enchiladas and I often eat about 3, sometimes more. Hope this helps. 🙂
Wow wow!! This recipe is AMAZING! Vegan or not, this is so delicious it’ll knock your socks off. I’m making this again!! I used corn tortillas because I’m gluten intolerant and I layered the tortillas bc mine kept falling apart. So it went tortillas. enchilada sauce, vegan cheese, and repeated until I filled my casserole dish topped with cilantro.. I was also low on some seasonings so used a whole package of gf taco seasoning after I dumped the lentils in the food processor. I can’t tell you how much my husband and I love this recipe. Thank you thank you!! My hats off to you.
Wow, thanks so much for your amazing feedback, Kolbi! I am super happy you loved it so much. 🙂
Five stars! Husband said it’s the best enchilada he’s had in his whole life. Thanks for an awesome recipe! Loved it and will make again 🙂
Yay! I am so glad you both loved the recipe! Thanks for your great feedback, Nicki! 🙂
This dish was delicious! I didn’t have any seeds, so skipped that, and I substituted Corn tortillas for the flour wraps to make it GF. Finally, I was a bit lazy so I layered everything like a lasagna, topping with a little bit of vegan cheese. This was so good! It checked all the boxes for comfort food. Thank you!
My pleasure! I am happy you loved the recipe, Kathleen! 🙂
Hey Ela! The recipe looks absolutely fantastic! Since I’ll be making it tomorrow noon, I have something to ask: is there anything I should br cautious about? Anything worth paying attention at? Like, not overmixing the batter or anything else that needs to be executed carefully for this recipe?
Thanks in advance????
Hi Chloe, actually nothing specific. It just takes a while when you make everything yourself like I did (homemade tortillas and the vegan cheese sauce).
You can check out the comments, maybe you will find some interesting tips that might be helpful.
Enjoy the meal. 🙂
I’ve recently started my journey on a plant based diet in the hopes it help with my many health issues. I wish I’d found you sooner as I would have started this change years ago! OMG! These enchiladas are so delicious. I’ve never been a big meat eater anyway but you wouldn’t even miss it in these. They are hearty, packed with spicy flavour and your cheese sauce is da bomb!!! Thank you so much. I can’t wait to try more of your recipes!
My pleasure, Brooke! I am so glad you enjoyed the enchiladas and my vegan cheese sauce. 🙂
I am a picky, PICKY person. I try tons of new things, but end up giving 85% of mine to my partner because I just cant. I was fairly skeptical about this recipe, but it had so many good comments so I tried it tonight.
I WILL say, I had to modify it a bit-no bell peppers or regular peppers, just did more tomatos in their place, and then I toned down the cayenne and Chile powder.
Its AMAZING! Who would think to put sunflower seeds with oatmeal and lentils? But it’s absolutely delicious!!! My partner ate his portion in about 5 minutes.
It was still a little spicy for me-I’m a wimp though- but a dollop of vegan sour cream made it perfect for me!
I’m absolutely making this again!!!
Thanks so much for giving me another staple recipe, it happens so rarely for me.
Aww, you are very welcome, Desi! I am glad you and your partner loved the recipe. 🙂
Once again, AMAZING recipe! I used walnuts and pumpkin seeds instead of sunflower seeds and oats based on what I had handy. I also didn’t have any tomato paste but the consistency turned out perfect. My non-vegan boyfriend was nervous when he saw the nuts and chia seeds going into the mix but ended up loving the final product! Thanks for this delicious and protein-packed recipe, I’ll definitely be making it again! 🙂
Aww, that’s awesome Jessi! I am so glad you and your boyfriend enjoyed the recipe. 🙂 Thanks for your great feedback!
Quick question..
I want to make these today without having to go to the market. I only have half a cup of brown lentils left. Can I safely cut recipe in half? I do have a whole bag of green mung beans. I can start soaking now and make half lentil half mung beans? Would that yield same flavor results?
Thank you!
Yes, you can cut the recipe in half! No need to add to mug beans. 🙂
Quite delicious!! Makes a lot of food, will have to cut in half for next time. Cheese sauce was a wonderful added touch. Thank you.
Glad you liked it, Sarah! 🙂
Could you post the nutrition of the filling just by itself? so I can figure out the calories without the tortilla as that varies by type?
ALOT of filling here… so I upped the enchilada filling to 1/4 each. Still made 12.
Also, next time I will cook the veggies in the pot of lentils to make life easier.
The texture pictures were helpful, but I also would like some chunky veggies left,
Glad I gave lentils another go in mexican style food. <3
Amazing. Served without cheese and just with cilantro and they were incredible. Thank you. Vegans and non vegans in my family enjoyed.
That’s awesome, Kat! Thanks for your feedback. 🙂
This was so delicious and contained such healthy ingredients. My family loved it. While it did have multiple steps and ingredients, it was worth the effort!
Thanks for your feedback, Debbie! I am so glad you liked the recipe. 🙂
Was very good,that sauce is way better than can.I wonder if anyone has tried the filling in a tamale?I bet it would be great.Thank you for a well written and delicious recipe.
I am glad you liked the recipe, Carol! 🙂
Good but taste of sunflower seeds is strong. If I made it again I might use half as much as recipe calls for.
This is seriously my favorite enchilada recipe of all time! My carnivorous husband and picky daughter like them too! For anyone who is curious, I have tried freezing them and they come out great! Just cook an extra 15-20 minutes.
Thanks so much for your helpful comment, Laura! I am so glad you loved the recipe. 🙂
Thank you I was wondering if I could prep these on the weekend and freeze them for another day!
Hi Cari, I think that should be fine. 🙂
Just curious where the veg broth came into play? It’s not in the directions for the filing, and I ended up not using it and they turned it fine. Just wondering Haha
Any tvp (textured veg protien) fans out there, i added .5 cups to the filling to give it a bit of a beef texture and that turned out well :] next time though may just cook it separate and add it last with the lentils so it gets pureed less
Hey Allison, did you check the very first instruction step? “Rinse lentils thoroughly to remove any dirt and place them in a medium-sized pot. Add broth and bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. Simmer with a lid on for about 20 minutes (or until tender).” 🙂
Did you use cooked lentils? I am glad you liked the recipe. 🙂
I made this for my family and my husband who isn’t a vegan. My son told me not to tell him what was in it until after he ate it. Everyone had seconds and LOVED it! They were so surprised with the ingredients and I was happy to make a healthy delicious meal for my family! Thank you for this!
Aww that’s awesome, Jacqueline! I am very glad everyone enjoyed this healthy dish. Thanks for your great fedback! 🙂