I am perpetually making homemade enchiladas. I like burritos a lot, but enchiladas are the real deal! For this recipe, I made everything from scratch. From the black beans and rice to the corn tortillas and enchilada sauce. To top things off, I even grew the red chilis, habaneros, and tomatoes.
You don't have to go through all of this effort, though! If you want to go for broke and make everything yourself, this recipe provides all of the steps. If not, you can easily substitute store-bought ingredients of your choice. After all, the most important thing about cooking is just doing it! So, you be you. Use what you have at hand. And have fun with it.
Either way these homemade enchiladas are absolutely delicious! I made them from predominantly homemade produce with the addition of a few staple ingredients. Stovetop Black Beans are primarily made from dry black beans, various peppers, garlic, shallots, bay leaves, limes. Brown Rice utilizes butternut squash, cherry tomatoes, red onion, garlic, habaneros, lime, and bay leaves. Enchilada Sauce is made from red chilis, tomatoes, garlic, and red onion. And I make corn tortillas with masa harina, water, and a touch of olive oil.
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Variations of Homemade Enchiladas
I maybe only make enchiladas once a year. Which, in hindsight, sounds like far too little! Because they are absolutely delicious. I tend to reserve them for special occasions and when I'm really in the mood, though.
But I do make a lot of things that are similar to enchiladas. Burritos are kind of my go-to lately. I've made countless numbers of them this summer! And utilizing ingredients like black beans and brown rice are some of my favorites.
Enchiladas are my absolute favorite thing to make from scratch. These homemade enchiladas combine perfectly seasoned squash and brown rice with savory black beans and spicy enchilada sauce. Everything from the black beans and rice to the corn tortillas and enchilada sauce are do-able in a weekend.
In order to make this entire recipe from scratch, you'll need to assemble a couple of things! If you're planning on making all of this, I would recommend starting with the beans (because they need to soak overnight) and ending with the corn tortillas right before you're planning on dinner (because they're more pliable warm). The entire process done at once would take about 3 hours, but all of these recipes can be made ahead of time over the course of a couple of days and you will have leftover beans and rice for future meals!
Cook Stovetop Black Beans. I like this recipe better than opening a can of refried beans or actually having to go through the process of frying them! This does require some forethought, though, and takes overnight to soak and about 2 hours to cook the next day. It requires a large pot on the stove and a potato masher or food processor if you want to achieve the creamier texture.
Cook Brown Rice w/ Squash & Habaneros. This takes about an hour and requires a rice cooker or stove. You can also easily create a different flavor profile or utilize the produce that you have on hand. I almost always keep a batch of rice or quinoa in the fridge for exactly this purpose.
For the hot sauce on this, I also used Enchilada Sauce w/ Red Chilis. These recipes take less than an hour and require an air fryer and a large pot on the stove.
Cook Corn Tortillas. This takes about an hour and only really requires masa harina and water. It's helpful to have a tortilla press, but you can use a rolling pin or even squish the tortillas between two baking dishes to flatten.
Assemble the Enchiladas
Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.
Lightly oil a medium or large-sized baking dish.
Fill the tortillas about halfway with rice and beans.Make sure not to overfill, or they won't roll! It's also easier to do this while the tortillas are still warm. If they aren't pliable enough, wet them slightly and heat for about 30 seconds in the microwave or in a skillet on the stove over medium heat.
Roll into cylinders and place seem-side down in the baking dish.
Cover with enchilada sauce.
Optionally top with any cheese or additional toppings of choice.
Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until the enchiladas are heated throughout. Serve immediately.Everything is already cooked, so you're more warming the enchiladas than actually cooking them!
Tips, Tricks, & Notes
There are a couple of things in this recipe that I would tweak for next time! As always, every recipe is a learning experience for the next time. And this was no exception! So, here are my perfectionist notes on the matter.
The enchilada sauce that I use, while delicious, was made a couple of days ahead of time. Hence, it thickened as it sat in the refrigerator. In hindsight, I would add probably 1/2 - 1 cup more water and simmer a little bit more before topping the enchiladas with it.
There was also a little bit of oil leftover in the skillet when I cooked the tortillas. So the first one deep fried a little bit! To avoid this, just make sure that the skillet is clean and DRY!
You can also easily top these with cheese, queso fresco, sour cream, lettuce, tomatoes, Guacamole, or any toppings of choice! My favorite thing is to get a bunch of ingredients together and let people top them for themselves. I decided to go with an entirely vegan recipe for this, but you can also add any meat of choice for the carnivores out there.
Also beware if you're substituting store-bought beans and rice, they aren't necessarily vegan. One of the key ingredients to a lot of restaurant and canned Mexican food is lard. I like to substitute vegetable broth to achieve a similar taste without adding animal products.
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