These Black Bean and Summer Squash Enchiladas are the perfect light meal because summer squash add heartiness and flavor without adding calories. Baking them in individual serving dishes makes them easy to serve.
My husband had been asking for enchiladas for a couple of weeks, and there was always some reason I couldn’t grant his request. Either I didn’t have all the ingredients or I had other ingredients with more pressing expiration dates.
D doesn’t often make dinner requests, so I hated having to put off his enchilada feast over and over again, but we were out of corn, which I usually use in black bean enchiladas. Finally, I decided to create an enchilada recipe that would use the expiring produce du jour–the last of a big bag of patty pan squash–as a replacement for corn, and it was a big hit with the whole family.
Every time I see these saucer-shaped, bright yellow squash at the farmers’ market, I wind up buying more than I really need. They’re just too cute to turn down. Then I spend the next week adding squash to everything.
Fortunately, their flavor is so mild that just about any seasoning agrees with them (Cajun, anyone?) and you can use them in any recipe where zucchini or yellow squash are used. (They make a particularly beautiful raw “pasta.”)
Like zucchini and yellow squash, patty pans are summer squash, which means that their water content is high and their starch content is low; plus they’re a great source of vitamin C and fiber. So eat up!
But don’t worry if you don’t have patty pan squash: any summer squash will work beautifully in these delicious enchiladas. So grab your zucchini and get cooking!
Black Bean and Summer Squash Enchiladas
Ingredients
- 1 medium onion , chopped fine
- 2 cloves garlic cloves , minced
- 1/4 cup green or red bell pepper , chopped
- 12 ounces patty pan, zucchini, or yellow summer squash , diced (about 2 medium squash)
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon Ancho chile powder (or mild chili powder)
- 1/8 -1/4 teaspoon chipotle chile powder (or to taste)
- 1 1/2 cups cooked black beans , well rinsed and drained
- 1/2 teaspoon salt (or to taste)
- 1 tablespoon nutritional yeast
- 2 teaspoons lime juice
- 1 10-ounce can enchilada sauce (or 10 ounces homemade sauce)
- 8 corn tortillas
- chopped green onions , for serving
Instructions
- Saute the onion in a medium-sized saucepan until it begins to soften. Add the garlic and cook for another minute. Stir in the bell pepper and squash and cook, stirring, for about two minutes, until squash is just beginning to become tender. Add the cumin, chile powders, black beans, and salt. Simmer for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in the nutritional yeast and lime juice. Check seasoning and adjust to taste.
- Preheat oven to 350. Lightly spray one large rectangular baking dish or 4 individual baking dishes with olive oil. Place a thin layer of enchilada sauce on the bottom of each dish, reserving most of it to go on top. Microwave the tortillas for about 20 seconds to soften them. Place a tortilla in front of you and arrange about 1/4 cup of the bean mixture across the center. Roll up and place seam-side down into the baking dish. Repeat with remaining tortillas and beans. Pour the remaining sauce over the top.
- Bake for about 20 minutes, or until hot and bubbling. Sprinkle with sliced green onions to serve.
Nutritional info is approximate.
More Patty Pan Squash Recipes
- Stuffed Flying Saucer Squash from Eat’n Veg’n
- Summer Squash Pie from Picks Over Peas
- Roasted Patty Pan Squash and Herbed Chickpeas (vegan option) from Chocolate and Zucchini
- Patty Pan Squash stuffed with Lemon and Currant Quinoa from Bron Marshall
- Stuffed Patty Pan Squash from My Own Sweet Thyme
Please pin and share!
Olga
August 18, 2010 at 7:05 amAhhh great recipe! Another easy way to cook squash. I suspect it will taste just as good with any other type of squash…
Olga
Robin
September 11, 2010 at 8:45 amI made these yesterday using yellow squash and regular chili powder totaling the amounts of the two in the recipe. For the enchilada sauce, I substituted fresh onion and garlic for the powders adding a bit more chili powder. I only had 6 corn tortillas (Ezekiel 4:9 brand) making 6 chubby enchiladas. The kitchen smelled wonderful. The dish was not too dry or watery and the flavors were spot on fabulous. Even the hubby didn’t complain about missing meat or cheese! They don’t cook up saucy (read: greasy) like a Tex-mex traditional enchilada delivering lovely textures and taste.
Julie
September 13, 2010 at 7:52 amJust like all of your other recipes, these also are amazing. I made these last week for dinner and my husband took the leftovers for lunch the next day. We both loved them and will definitely be making this again. You’re the best!!
Nancy
January 21, 2011 at 3:53 pmThis was soooo good. I might make it again for dinner tonight!
Gayathri
March 2, 2011 at 10:18 amI am making this tonight and I can’t wait. I really hope McDougall Enchilada sauce packs in a good load of flavor. I have started reading can labels for sodium recently and I was *shocked* to see how much the Enchilada sauce can in my pantry carried! 🙁 Only solution is learning to make my own sauce. Wish me luck and thanks for a great lookign recipe, Susan!
jennifer
May 5, 2011 at 2:22 pmLooks super yummy and I cannot wait to try this! But what is nutrutional yeast? and why is it needed, I have seen it in other recipes and at the health food store….never sure what is was!?
By the way, I love love love your blog for all my veggie food needs!
Thanks!
Jennifer
Karen
June 16, 2011 at 11:50 pmThis was a favorite of mine last year. I recently used the filling for a quick taco. Great to take to work.
Julie & Marty
June 20, 2011 at 9:08 pmThis was wonderful! It’s a keeper and we will be making this again.
KBeane
July 3, 2011 at 7:55 pmThis was an excellent way to use the patty pan squash we got in our CSA basket this week. I added some chopped chard that needed to be used as well. I think maybe it would be worth making my own enchilada sauce next time, but the filling was great!
Antioxidants
August 6, 2011 at 4:47 pmA great recipe SusanV, thanks. I have added my little ‘twist’ to it and put some Quinoa in it..delicious! Currently I am addicted to the stuff, as it is one of the most nutritious foods on the earth. Try it, if you haven’t already 😉
Fiona
August 31, 2011 at 4:04 amMy fiance and I just polished it all off and declared it to be “definitely repeat-worthy”! I was a bit upset to see how much sodium was in my jarred enchilada sauce however! Especially because I checked after I added 1/2 tsp salt to the bean mixture. Oh well. I am feeling lazy this week so all of my dinners are coming from your Ridiculously Easy section, plus this one because it’s easy too, especially when you make it like a casserole and layer it like I did tonight. I forgot to put the lime juice and nooch in the bean mixture so I just topped the whole thing off at the end with the lime juice and nooch and it was just fine. I had a lot of zucchini so I just used that and didn’t bother with the bell pepper. I also didn’t use the chipotle chili powder because it’s not available in Australia. Thanks for another great recipe! Can’t wait to hear about the conference!
Fiona
September 30, 2011 at 3:47 amI just had this again but made a few changes. I made it like a lasagna instead of rolling each tortilla and made the whole things a lot bigger. I used sweet potato, red cabbage, and broccoli instead of squash. I also added 3 T of molasses and 1 T of almond butter. It came out fabulously! I really liked the addition of molasses – I highly recommend!
karen
September 15, 2011 at 8:56 pmI made this last night. So good. I used the link for fat free enchilada sauce (the canned stuff is so expensive). This sauce was so easy, no need to buy a can of it again. I added a can of hot green chilis to the sauce while it was simmering.
I added spinach. And I sauteed mushrooms on the side for my serving.
I too, have always made enchiladas as a casserole. Never had much luck with rolling them.
We call it “enchiladasagna”
Nicole
August 25, 2012 at 8:42 pmI just made this tonight and I loved it, and my omnivore hubby loved it, too! I not only used some yellow summer squash we had but also some fresh corn (cut the kernels off the cob). I bought some vegan (Teese) cheddar to add in but then I decided to make it without it and it was delicious just as is. I bought enchilada sauce from Whole Foods – two packets each 8 oz., and their corn torillas which are tiny – so I just made as many would fit in the 9 x 13 baking dish. I think I could have used even more enchilada sauce to keep the tops of the tortillas from drying out a bit, but other than that it was absolutely delicious!
sandy
July 4, 2013 at 12:21 pmOh My! I could not find this recipe in my cupboard. I haven’t made it since last summer. Heart is racing. So I googled it, so glad it was still here!
Thank you!
I love this recipe! It is so good, I have served it to guests as well as taken it to a potluck. Always gets eaten. The sauce recipe tastes just like the canned style. It’s cheaper also. Thank you for that recipe also!
Yum!
Esther J
April 1, 2014 at 8:42 pmYummy, as usual, McDougall sauce and all (although I did add some cumin to that)!
Following the suggestion of others, I also added sweet potato to the veggie mixture, which was a nice balance to the heat of a half of a jalapeno and an eighth of a teaspoon of chipotle chili powder I used.
Nice one (and pretty quick, too).
Thanks and be well. 🙂
Amber
July 8, 2014 at 2:21 pmThese are now one of my favorite meals!
I LOVE authentic Mexican food and enchiladas are my favorite…these are SO tasty!!!
I’m newly vegan…about 6 months…so I’m always looking for good recipes to substitute for my favorite dishes.
I used the link and made the homemade enchilada sauce…easy peasy and I also threw a little “faux” cheddar on top before baking.
Baking them covered with foil also helped them to not dry out
livinrsd
August 22, 2014 at 8:54 pmThis is fantastic! As I am disabled, prep time takes far longer for me than e average bear. This led to cooking beginning later than I had liked so I decided to skip the rolling and baking. First night we had it warm on top of salad with the sauce over. Great! Next night I added fresh pineapple chunks and served it over a baked sweet potato, again with the sauce on top.
The following week when I made this for a second time I topped baked sweet potatoes with it on the first night. On the second night I again added pineapple (forgot when I made it) and decided to serve it over brown rice. As it was late I grabbed a pkg of ready-made rice. As I was serving, I realised rather than plain brown rice I had heated brown pilau rice. We decided to have a mu.ti-cultural feast and combined e dry thing together. The flavour combination was incredibly delicious. Who knew?
When I reheat the overlefts I always add extra zucchini and beans to bulk it out.
Than-q for your hard work in providing us with recipes that have been tried and tested by real vegans living real lives. You are appreciated more than you may know.
Arlinda
October 27, 2014 at 10:04 pmJust found this recipe and made using spaghetti squash. So delicious! My omni bf loved them too!! Great recipe. I will definitely make it again and again. 🙂
Katrina
May 18, 2015 at 10:54 pmThese were so good, thanks!
caren
July 14, 2015 at 11:21 pmAll I can say .. unless you’re Chef Rasmey, this is way more then 15 min to prep. I can cook but, i’m in there for at least an hour! With some custom merchandising, this is a fab bunch of enchiladas! Thanks Susan
Anne Greene
August 11, 2017 at 2:44 pmThese were delicious! My kids, who normally turn their noses up at summer squash, LOVED these!! I added more squash than the amount called for in the recipe because I wanted to use them up. My kids picked up extra squash during our last trip to the farmer’s market and asked me to make these again 🙂 I smothered them in homemade enchilada sauce. Thanks for sharing!
Chris
December 1, 2017 at 2:07 pmHi Susan – QUESTION – I love this recipe and the Mexican casserole. You used to have a recipe for enchilada sauce embedded in one of your recipes (not linked to fatfree vegan site). It didn’t have tomato sauce and was more authentic (got it’s redness from chili powder, not tomatoes). I can no longer find it. Do you still have it and would you share? Thank you!
Susan Voisin
December 1, 2017 at 2:35 pmHi Chris–I remember exactly what you are talking about, but I’ve scoured both this blog and my main site and can no longer find the link. I believe the recipe must have been taken off-line and I removed the link when it didn’t work. If I find it, I will let you know by email. Meanwhile, I did see a few recipes when I Googled “enchilada sauce without tomatoes.” Good luck! I would love to have that recipe again, too.
Donna
January 9, 2018 at 6:24 amI love these enchiladas (and other of your recipes). Have you ever tried it with butternut squash? I would like to but I am wondering if you have done so before. If so do you have any tips to pass on?
Thanks.
Susan Voisin
January 9, 2018 at 8:15 amI haven’t tried this recipe with butternut because it takes longer to cook than summer squash. But I’ll bet if you pre-cook the squash, you could substitute it.