Cheesy Chick’n Enchiladas – Healthy Vegan Recipe
If you love Mexican food, this recipe is for you! I absolutely LOVE enchiladas, but haven’t been able to find a healthy nutritious version that is vegan. I have eaten vegan enchiladas at restaurants but they are always SO greasy and wind up making me feel sick. Not only is this recipe made with clean ingredients, it can easily be made in under an hour! All ingredients are plant-based and gluten-free except for the chick’n which can easily be substituted.
Seitan Substitutions
I eat a mostly gluten-free diet due to an intolerance – it won’t kill me if I eat gluten, and I find I’m okay if I eat a small amount once in awhile. If you absolutely cannot eat gluten, here are some easy substitutions for the “chick’n”:
- Shredded Jackfruit. I have never prepared a jackfruit from scratch, I always buy it canned. Canned jackfruit is usually covered in brine, so if you choose this method make sure to rinse your jackfruit really well. remove core and use your hands and a knife to pull apart into shreds. I don’t like mine chunky which is why I use a knife, but you can leave some chunks if you want. sautee for 5-10 min in avocado oil, cumin, chipotle powder, salt, pepper, and tomato paste.
- Tofu Crumbles. This would be more like a beef than chicken – simply crumble tofu with a fork and sautee in avocado oil, cumin, chipotle powder, salt, pepper, and tomato paste. If you want your tofu to resemble chicken, slice it into thin strips and toss in a bowl with the same ingredients mentioned above. sautee for 10-15 minutes or cook in your air fryer which is my preferred method.
If you try this recipe, let me know what you think!
Cheesy Chick’n Enchiladas
Healthy enchiladas made with plant-based and whole foods ingredients.
Ingredients
Filling
- ½ tbsp avocado oil
- 1 tbsp minced garlic
- 1 small onion, diced
- 1 block seitan, shredded
- 1 can black beans
- 1 can corn
- ½ cup shredded vegan cheese, I used Miyokos Creamery pepper jack shreds
- 1 cup spinach
- 1 tbsp cumin
- salt & pepper, to taste
- 1-3 tbsp red pepper flakes, add depending on how much spice you like
- 1 cup salsa verde, I bought mine fresh at the farmers market, but store bought works too as long as there are no sketchy chemicals!
Enchiladas
- 6-8 tortillas, I used Siete Farms cassava & chia tortillas
- fresh cilantro, topping
- pico de gallo, topping
Instructions
Filling
- preheat the oven to 375 degrees. wash your seitan and "shred" by chopping into thin slices. set aside.
- in a large pot over low-medium heat add avocado oil. once hot, add diced onion and minced garlic. once onion is translucent, add the shredded seitan. cook for 10 min or until golden brown.
- drain and rinse corn and beans then add to mixture along with the cumin, red pepper flakes, salt & pepper. if mixture starts getting dry add a small amount of veggie stock or water. if you want the enchiladas extra cheesy, add shredded cheese to the filling.
Enchiladas
- add 1/2 of the salsa verde mixture to the bottom of a large casserole dish. start gently wrapping the tortillas with the filling inside (don't go overboard, you can only do a small amount of filling or the tortillas will burst) and add to the casserole dish face down.
- once the casserole dish is filled with the wrapped tortillas, add the remaining salsa verde to the top of the enchiladas followed by an even layer of the cheese on top.
- bake for about 25-30 minutes. top with pico de gallo and cilantro and serve!