Green Chili Chicken Enchiladas | 100% VEGAN

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Have I got a recipe for you! These vegan Green Chili Chicken Enchiladas are everything! Like seriously, they’re delicious, filling, AND easy to make. And aren’t enchiladas the best dish for every meal? Breakfast, lunch, or dinner, I’m always in the mood for some enchiladas. For the “chicken” I used the Mindful Chik’n from Sweet Earth Foods. It’s a gluten-free non-GMO soy based product, and is a perfect replacement for real chicken. Scroll down to the recipe for more ideas of how you can use plants to replace chicken 😉

I remember when I first became vegan in 2011, I often felt like an alien. The fact that I didn’t eat animal products was a source of confusion, ridicule, and threat to so many people––both strangers and those close to me. Half the time people wouldn’t even know what it meant to be vegan. Fast forward to today, veganism has become mainstream and I regularly meet people who tell me they’re vegan, going vegan, or aspire to be vegan. So much has changed!

Of course the conversations around animal agriculture abuses, health benefits of eating only plants, and convincing documentaries has helped make this movement mainstream. But it ultimately comes down to the food. The food has to taste good and be filling. It has also helped that people are realizing that they can veganize their favorite non-vegan foods. I wrote a whole cookbook about veganizing soul food, something many people didn’t think could be done. There are also so many amazing vegan products on the market: vegan “chicken”, ground “meat”, vegan cheese and other dairy alternatives, and so much more. I’m just waiting for the day that a plant-based meat alternative is the first choice for most Americans.

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These Green Chili Chicken Enchiladas are the perfect dish for the meat lover and vegan alike. They’re stuffed with both pinto beans and vegan chik’n, which gives them a delicious texture and makes them all the more filling. If you don’t want to use a vegan chik’n, you could swap that out for mushrooms (especially oyster), or jackfruit! These are so tasty, I highly recommend doubling the recipe and freezing the extra batch for later. Summer cook-out or potluck coming up? Take these to wow the whole party!

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5 from 1 vote

Vegan Enchiladas with Chile Verde Sauce (Healthy Comfort Food!)

By: Jenné Claiborne

Homemade Vegan Enchiladas smothered in the most zesty, craveable chile verde sauce! Stuffed with chik'n and pinto beans, this is you'd-never-know-it's-wholesome comfort food at its finest. Check the notes to swap in mushrooms or jackfruit, and make a double batch for meal prep.

Prep Time: 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 35 minutes minutes

Total Time: 50 minutes minutes

Servings: 4 servings

Ingredients 

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Chile Verde Sauce

• ▢ 1 tbsp avocado or olive oil
• ▢ 1/2 cup diced yellow onion
• ▢ 1/2 jalapeño pepper, seeded and minced
• ▢ 2 cloves garlic, minced
• ▢ 1 1/2 tbsp all-purpose flour, or garbanzo bean flour for gluten-free
• ▢ 1/2 cup water
• ▢ 2 cups roasted chopped green chiles, including the liquid
• ▢ 1 tsp salt, plus more to taste
• ▢ 1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
• ▢ 2 tsp sugar
• ▢ 1 tbsp white vinegar
• ▢ 2 tbsp fresh lime juice, plus more to taste and lime wedges

Enchilada Filling

• ▢ 1 tbsp avocado or olive oil
• ▢ 1/2 cup diced yellow onion
• ▢ 1 package Sweet Earth Mindful Chik'n or 3 cups sliced mushrooms, or 2 cans drained and chopped or shredded jackfruit
• ▢ 1 15 oz can pinto beans, drained and rinsed (about 2 cups)
• ▢ 1/2 tsp salt

Enchiladas

• ▢ 8 whole wheat tortillas
• ▢ 1/2-1 cup shredded vegan cheese, I used Follow Your Heart vegan mozzarella shreds
• ▢ chopped fresh cilantro, for garnish
• ▢ lime wedges, for garnish

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Instructions 

Green Chili Enchilada Sauce

• Warm oil in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the onions, pepper, and garlic, and sauté for 3-4 minutes or until the onions begin to turn translucent.
• Sprinkle the flour over the vegetables. Stir and cook for 30 seconds, until aromatic and nutty.
• Pour in the water and use a wooden spatula to deglaze the pan.
• Add the green chiles, salt, black pepper, and sugar, and stir. Cook for 5 minutes, then stir in the vinegar and lime juice.
• Season to taste with salt and remove from the heat. To blend right away, carefully transfer the hot sauce to a blender, remove the center vent from the lid, cover the opening with a folded towel so steam can escape, and blend until smooth. For less fuss, let the sauce cool first, or blend it right in the pan with an immersion blender.

Enchilada filling

• Warm the remaining 1 tablespoon of oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onions and sauté for 3-4 minutes or until they begin to turn translucent.
• Add the Mindful Chik'n and cook for about 5 minutes, until it begins to brown on all sides. (If using mushrooms or jackfruit, see the recipe notes for cook times.)
• Stir in the pinto beans and salt, and remove from the heat.

Assemble Enchiladas

• Preheat the oven to 350°F (or 400°F if you like the edges of your enchiladas crispy).
• Lay a tortilla flat on a plate or cutting board and spoon about 2 tablespoons of chile verde sauce onto it. Spread it evenly over the tortilla. Top with about 1/2 cup of the filling, then a sprinkle of vegan cheese. Roll up the tortilla and place it seam-side down in a baking dish.
• Repeat with the remaining tortillas and filling.
• Cover the enchiladas with a generous helping of the green chili enchilada sauce and vegan cheese.
• Bake for 20 minutes, until hot throughout and the cheese has melted.
• Serve garnished with cilantro and fresh lime wedges.

Notes

Protein swaps: Instead of the Mindful Chik'n, use 3 cups sliced mushrooms (any kind works, but oyster mushrooms are especially good here) or 2 cans of green jackfruit, drained.

Mushrooms: Cook until they've released their liquid and it's evaporated off, about 8–10 minutes, so they brown rather than steam.

Jackfruit: Cook until heated through and lightly browned, about 6–8 minutes; break up or shred the larger pieces with a spoon as it cooks.

Green chiles: Look for roasted green chiles in a can. I used four 4 oz cans of chopped green chiles, but larger cans work too if you can find them.

To make it gluten-free: Use gluten-free or corn tortillas and swap the all-purpose flour in the sauce for garbanzo (chickpea) flour.

Plating tip (optional): If you like, reserve a little chile verde sauce to spoon over the enchiladas after baking—it's purely for presentation, since the sauce they bake in is what builds the flavor.

Nutrition

Serving: 1serving (2 enchiladas with sauce) | Calories: 565kcal | Carbohydrates: 86g | Protein: 19g | Fat: 17g | Sodium: 1350mg | Fiber: 14g

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