Spinach Artichoke Enchiladas
Hearty spinach artichoke enchiladas with a simple homemade red sauce! These lightened-up vegetarian enchiladas will please the whole family.
Updated by Kathryne Taylor on August 29, 2024
I’m on a spinach and artichoke kick. I blame the new bar in town that offers an exceptionally tasty spinach-artichoke dip. Tessa and I order it almost every time we meet for happy hour and I daydream about it in between our weekly sessions. It’s more spinach-y than cheesy (how do they pack so much spinach in there?) and has passed for dinner more than once. I can’t get enough of the combination and Tessa can’t either, apparently!
I caught a mention of spinach-artichoke enchiladas on a menu in Austin and didn’t get a chance to try them, so here we are with my homemade version. I based them off memories of the enchiladas my mom makes at home. She is not one to change it up, so her enchiladas consistently feature green chilis, sour cream, flour tortillas and store-bought red sauce. Oh and cheese on top, of course.
I made sure to incorporate all of the above into these lightened-up vegetarian enchiladas, but took it upon myself to create a healthier from-scratch red sauce. I tried spice-based sauce first, followed by tomato-based sauce and finally settled somewhere in between. My recipe is made with common dried spices, tomato paste for some umami-rich tomato flavor, vegetable broth as base and flour to thicken it up.
I’m always doing my best to accommodate my vegan and gluten-free eaters, but we might need to crowdsource this one. Vegan eaters, I tried the enchiladas without cheese and sour cream and thought they were a bit lacking. Maybe you could add some cashew cream inside and top with creamy chopped avocado.
Gluten-free friends, you could substitute corn tortillas for the flour tortillas. Just be sure to warm the tortillas first so they don’t crack when you bend them. I’m stumped on what to thicken the sauce with instead of flour—I tried using 1 1/2 tablespoons arrowroot powder in place of the flour, but the sauce didn’t sufficiently thicken up and pooled at the bottom of the pan. Let me know if you find a better solution!
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Spinach Artichoke Enchiladas
Hearty spinach artichoke enchiladas with a simple homemade red sauce! These lightened-up vegetarian enchiladas include black beans, a modest amount of sour cream and some golden cheese on top. Recipe yields 6 large enchiladas. You might as well make a double batch of the sauce and freeze it for later!
Ingredients
Homemade red enchilada sauce (yields 2 cups sauce)
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 3 tablespoons whole wheat or all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons ground chili powder
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ¼ teaspoon dried oregano
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ⅛ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 2 cups vegetable broth
- 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar or distilled white vinegar
- Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Enchiladas
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 cup chopped red onion (about 1 small red onion)
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 4 cloves garlic, pressed or minced
- 1 heaping cup drained artichokes (either jarred or defrosted frozen), quartered if necessary
- 1 (4-ounce) can green chilis, drained
- 12 ounces baby spinach, preferably organic
- 1 (15-ounce) can black beans, drained and rinsed
- ¼ cup sour cream
- Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 6 (8-inch) whole wheat tortillas
- 1 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese
- Handful chopped cilantro, for garnish
Instructions
- Before you make the sauce, measure the flour and spices into a small bowl and place your tomato paste near the stove. In a medium-sized pot over medium heat, warm the oil until shimmering (it should be warm enough that the spices sizzle on contact). Pour in the flour and spice mixture. While stirring constantly with a whisk, cook until fragrant and slightly deepened in color, about 1 minute. Whisk the tomato paste into the mixture, then slowly pour in the broth while whisking constantly to remove any lumps.
- Bring the mixture to a simmer, then reduce heat as necessary to maintain a gentle simmer, whisking often, for about five minutes, until the sauce has thickened a bit and a spoon encounters some resistance as you stir it. (The sauce will further thicken as it cools.) Remove from heat, then whisk in the vinegar and season to taste with a generous amount of freshly ground black pepper. Set aside.
- To make your enchiladas, preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit with racks in the middle position and upper third. Lightly grease a 13 by 9-inch pan.
- In a large skillet, warm 2 tablespoons olive oil over medium heat. Once the oil is shimmering, add the chopped onion and ¼ teaspoon salt. Cook, stirring often, until the onion is tender and translucent, about 4 to 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook, stirring constantly, until fragrant, about 30 seconds.
- Add the drained artichokes and green chilis to the skillet, then add a few large handfuls of spinach. Cook, stirring and tossing frequently, until the spinach has wilted. Repeat with remaining spinach. Continue cooking, stirring frequently, until the pan is no longer wet with excess moisture. Remove from heat and transfer the mixture to a bowl. Stir in the drained black beans and sour cream. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
- Pour ½ cup enchilada sauce into your prepared pan and tilt it from side to side until the bottom of the pan is evenly coated. To assemble your first enchilada, spread ½ cup spinach artichoke mixture down the middle of a tortilla, then snugly wrap the left side over and then the right, to make a wrap. Place it seam side down against the edge of your pan. Repeat with remaining tortillas and filling. Drizzle the remaining enchilada sauce evenly over the enchiladas, leaving the very ends of the enchiladas bare. Sprinkle shredded cheese evenly over the enchiladas.
- Bake, uncovered, on the middle rack for 20 minutes. If the cheese on top isn’t golden enough for your liking, carefully transfer the enchiladas to the upper rack of the oven and bake for an additional 3 to 5 minutes, until sufficiently golden and bubbly.
- Remove from oven and let the enchiladas cool for 10 minutes (trust me!), then sprinkle chopped cilantro on top and serve.
Notes
Enchilada sauce roughly adapted from The Complete Vegetarian Cookbook. Enchilada filling based on my spinach artichoke lasagna.
Nutrition
The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice. See our full nutrition disclosure here.
Mmmm…I love enchiladas! Your homemade sauce sounds amazing…I can’t wait to give it a try!
Your sauce looks perfectly poised for flour tortilla draping. I always prefer flour to corn for my enchiladas, too. Does that make me un-Mexican?
Probably no more un-Mexican than you already are! ;) I grew up eating flour tortilla enchiladas, so I always thought those were the standard until I was researching enchilada recipes this week. Oops.
Ohhh I’m totally going to try these with some cashew cream of some sort! Love love dinners with other bloggers, it’s like someone actually understands the crazy blogging brain, right?!
Haha, yes! It is so nice to have friends who “get” this crazy blogging thing.
These look amazing but I’m afraid my kids, pretty adventurous eaters, won’t likevthe artichokes. What would be a good substitute?
Hi Rachel, if they like beans, I would just add more beans!
For the flour for us gluten intolerant cooks, I love cup4cup gluten free flour. It is the best I have tried. It is from Thomas Keller of French Laundry and Bouchon in Napa Valley. Available at Whole Foods, Lunardis and online.
Thanks, Karen! I’ve heard great things about cup4cup. Do you know if it will act as a thickener in sauces like flour does?
Love, love this flour. Use it most of the time. Namaste also makes a version of the cup4cup that is really good, also.
These looks so delicious! Love the spinach-artichoke stuffing. I’ve been on an enchilada kick, so these are going on my ‘must make now!’ list.
To make the enchilada sauce gluten free, how about some masa harina? Looks delicious and I love that dip too so off to make sure I’ve got the goodies to make them later today.
I never would have thought of masa harina! That’s a really interesting idea. Thanks, TinaLouise! Let me know how they turn out for you, please!
Non-GMO cornmeal thickens enchilada sauce very well I use it in a quick enchilada sauce roughly similar to Kate’s.
Thanks, Letty! I bet that would work great.
I bought whole wheat tortillas this week (which I haven’t in years since giving up bread, but treat night right?) and this is perfectly timed! I’ll try the vegan version but thanks for the inspiration :)
This sounds amazing. I love how you used artichokes and made your own sauce. I seriously am so psyched to try this! Enchilada party coming right up!
Thanks, Sydney! Please let me know how they turn out!
Kathryne! How are you lady? It has been a while since I checked in.
Looks like you are up to deliciousness as always… I’ve been on a major enchilada craving lately… I’m ready to dive into that top picture for breakfast. Heaven.
xoxo
E
Hi sweet Erin! I’m well. Hope you are, too! I’d love to see your gluten-free take on this one. :)
Kate, this looks amazing — I also love the spinach/artichoke combo!
My boyfriend is an avid sour cream hater. Do you know if I can swap out the sour cream for plain greek yogurt and get similar results?
Yep, for sure!
These look amazing, especially your sauce! I’ve also been on a spinach artichoke kick lately.
These enchiladas look gorgeous. I love the artichoke-spinach combo too.
These look wonderful. Thank you and I will make them in the future. Have a great Wednesday.
Thank you, Liz! Hope you’re having a great day!
Those look amazing!!
I love nutritional yeast as a thickening agent! Susan at FatFreeVegan has a great write up for anyone worried about whether nooch really qualifies as both vegan and gluten-free.
Interesting! I didn’t know that nooch could work as a thickener. I’m off to learn more…
Just made them for dinner, and they were amazing! I was dubbing what to make for dinner tonight, opened your website, and immediately knew these were on the menu. It is spring but also a bit chilly here, so these warming, yet springy due to the spinach and artichoke, enchiladas were perfect for tonight!
Wow, you are quick! So glad you loved the enchiladas, Evelyn! :)
Mmm, I love that last steamy shot! I would have never thought to put artichokes in anything Mexican but now that I see it, I like it. Keep the spinach and artichoke recipes comin’! :)
Oh I will! Thanks, Sarah!
Love enchiladas and spinach! My favorite!
This flavour sounds so good!! Love this!
Those look so yummy!
Skip the flour and add up to 1/2c cashew cream to the sauce! I do this with all of my enchilada sauces and they get thick, bubbly, and soooooo creamydelicious!
Great, now I want enchiladas for dinner… ;-)
Great idea, Gretchen! I’ll have to give that a shot soon.
I made these tonight for dinner for my family of five. I am vegetarian, my three daughters (ages 7 to 13) and husband are certainly not. My girls devoured this meal and my husband told me he would eat less meat if vegetarian tasted this good. Thank you!
Excellent! Happy to hear it, Amy. :)
Made these tonight. Used broccoli instead of artichokes (it’s what I had on hand, chopped it up and nuked it for two minutes to soften before adding it like the artichokes), and used two minced chipotle chilis instead of green chiles, but truly, truly fantastic recipe.
Picture here.
Thanks, Aaron! Your enchiladas look perfect!
Thank you for tonight’s dinner inspiration! They were delicious!! I made them with cashew cream (cashews, apple cider vinegar, nutritional yeast, sea salt and water) instead of regular sour cream, and daiya cheese on top. I also had surprisingly little spinach, so I supplemented with kale. Yummers to our tummers! As always, you knocked it out of the ballpark (watching a Dodger game :-))
So glad you all enjoyed the enchiladas! I like the idea of kale enchiladas!
Hurray for spinach and artichoke! Can you bring this to happy hour? :) It looks amazing!
Made this last night. Everything worked well and tasted great. Thanks!
Awesome! Thank you for letting me know!
I love your recipes! With Monsanto, I have ceased eating corn unless it is “Certified GMO Free” or organic, but can’t find corn tortillas. Any suggestions?
Hi Judy, that’s a good question. Another commenter, Julie, suggested looking for Ezekiel brand corn tortillas, which are often sold frozen near the sprouted bread. I bet Whole Foods offers organic corn tortillas. I usually buy mine at Trader Joe’s because they claim that their private labeled products are GMO-free, but I would feel better if they were officially labeled as such.
This looks like an amazing enchilada recipe, I have to give these a try!
Judy Jones-
Corn tortillas are in your grocers freezer near the frozen sprouted bread. Non GMO. They are good not at all weird tasting. I can’t recall the brand off hand though. I hope this helps.
I think they’re Ezekiel brand! Thanks, Julie!
Appreciate you passing along those gluten free tips for making this recipe! I’ll let you know how I modify it.
Made these last night and they were a HUGE hit! That sauce blew my mind, I wanted to lick the sauce pan clean. I used some leftover faux sour cream from another recipe (cream from a can of chilled coconut milk + lime juice + sea salt) and it worked very well. I was nervous since it had a slight coconut flavor, but once baked it was not detectable at all.
Awesome! Thank you, Mandy! I’m intrigued by your coconut sour cream!
I made these today, and they were AMAZING! I am so happy that I’ve found your website, the spring salad with quinoa and herbed avocado has become a favourite in my family :-D
Looking forward to trying out more of your recipes, I’m making the blueberry margaritas tomorrow.
Hi Synne! That’s so nice to hear, thank you. Hope you loved the margaritas!
I made these last night for my husband and 2 daughters (4 & 7) and everyone loved them! They went great with your skinny margaritas…. Thank you so much for your recipes, every one that I’ve tried has turned out perfect!
Thanks, Jen! So glad you all enjoyed the enchiladas. Bet those margaritas were a great complement!
The enchiladas look fab! You might try a Garbanzo or Chick Pea (same thing) flour to thicken the sauce. I taught International Vegetarian Cooking for years, and that’s what I used to thicken any sauce or curry. Whisk a tbl. or two into a tiny bit of water, then stir into the sauce. It should work great!
Love that idea! Thank you for sharing, Elisha.
Wow! This recipe has my mouth watering. There are so many delicious vegetarian/vegan dishes that I need to try! I want to kick the meat eating for good.
Your homemade enchilada sauce sounds TO DIE FOR. Lick that pan clean good. I’m also a huge fan of the spinach artichoke twist here. Love that it lightens things up while staying big on flavor!
Looks delish!! Can’t wait to make this. So which bar are you referring to in the beginning? I would love to try the dip coz spinach more than cheese sounds heavenly!! :)
I am a fellow local vegetarian lover! :)
Hi Neha! Summit Bar and Grill in Waldo. Go during happy hour and the spinach dip is like $5!
I made the vegan version that you recommended. Except I added twice the amount of cashew cream because I love it. IT. WAS. AMAZING. Thank you for this inspired recipe!
I love your blog and creativity!
So great to hear! Thanks, Katelyn!
Kate, these look so good! I usually use enchiladas as a vehicle for whatever leftover veggies I have in the fridge, but I need to make it a point to try the artichokes. Also–I agree with masa as a thickening agent. It works best if you add it alone or as a slurry toward the end, and let the sauce refrigerate overnight. I do it all the time for chili.
Awesome, thank you for the masa tips, Tessa! Great idea to use leftover veggies for impromptu enchiladas. I’ll have to try that now that I have my sauce recipe down!
Yummy and fast! Took me less than an hour, including baking time, making it a really good option for busy evenings. I have some chipotle in adobo in the fridge (left over from your cauliflower and lentil tacos) that wants to mingle with the next batch of sauce. Someone asked about yogurt instead of sour cream–that’s what I used and it did the trick. (I love sour cream, but I had yogurt–necessity/mother of invention.)
Hi Anne! Delighted to hear that you enjoyed these. Chipotle is lovely in this sauce!
Kate, these were amazing! I’ve enjoyed a number of your recipes, but have to say that this is my favorite — and that means a lot, since a lot of homemade enchilada recipes (especially with sauce!) are either too labor/ingredient intensive or not nearly flavorful enough! I think I’ll replace the black beans with mushrooms next time just to get more of that earthy flavor. How did you reheat these? I was able to leave leftovers, although it was hard… :)
Hi Claire! So glad to hear that you loved these, yay. I just reheated my enchiladas in the microwave because I’m lazy, but I bet they would turn out better if warmed in the oven, covered with aluminum foil or parchment paper, until warmed through again.
It was amazzzzing! I switched it around a little, because of course, the very day I wanted to try it: the store was out of artichokes (what are the odds). So In stead I did spinach with peppers, parsely root, beet root and some toasted aubergine instead, it was pretty damn good as well. The sauce was to die for – thanks for the great inspiration!
Well, now I want to try your version! Thank you, Adriana! :)
Delicioso! I just made these and unexpectedly had a friend over for dinner. Perfect timing! Now we both have lunch for tomorrow too. I only had 6 oz of spinach, so made 5 enchiladas. Thanks, Kate.
Awesome. Thank you, Lisa!
I’m going to have dreams about these enchiladas. And I’m adding them to my menu asap. I can’t wait! I’ll let you know how my gluten-free sauce thickening attempts turn out:)
Awesome! Do let me know, Sarah! :)
I made these over the weekend and wanted to let you know they turned out awesome and the flavors were excellent together. I will definitely be making these again especially for company. I also will double the sauce to freeze. Thanks for such an awesome recipe! Keep up your good work I look forward to always reading your new ideas. Oh by the way I am Vegan so I used vegan cheese and made the cashew cream to go along with it. It definitely made the tastes blend well together.
Thank you, Missy! Delighted to hear it!
I’ve been on a Mexican kick lately and made these for dinner twice in a row. The leftovers are also great for lunch (just microwave them). The red sauce is to die for! Keep up the great work Kate!
Thank you, Deepthi! So glad you’re loving the enchiladas!
New follower to your blog and just made these last night for dinner. They were awesome! Your recipe turned out perfectly, my meat-loving husband enthusiastically devoured them, and I am excited about having leftovers for dinner at work tonight. Can’t wait to try more of your recipes, Kate!
Welcome, Susan! So glad you two enjoyed the enchiladas and hope you love my other recipes just as much!
Delicious! I made my sauce from gimmesomeoven.com which is similar to yours. Loved this meal. I used artichoke hearts that are grilled and vacuum packed from Monterey Farms which they have at Whole Foods and taste so fresh. I also halved this recipe but used the full amount of beans. Made just the right amount for dinner for 2 and enough for lunch tomorrow. Thanks Kate.
Thank you, Marry! So glad to hear it. Those artichokes sound fantastic. I’ll keep an eye out for them!
Wow! These are amazing! I made them last night for supper and they got rave reviews! Best red sauce I have ever had! I also paired the enchiladas with your green rice recipe and it went so well together. Thanks:)
Thank you, Melissa! So glad you enjoyed the enchiladas. Fantastic idea to pair them with my green rice!