Deconstructed Vegetarian Enchiladas Skillet

Mix it up on your next Meatless Monday or Taco Tuesday with this filling & flavorful Deconstructed Vegetarian Enchiladas Skillet recipe. So easy, and naturally gluten free!

Raise your hand if you really love enchiladas, yet really hate the process of rolling and assembling them. No? Just me? Well, as my grandmother used to say: It all goes down the same! In that spirit of culinary adventure, let me present today’s Deconstructed Vegetarian Enchiladas Skillet recipe: All the enchiladas flavor you want, but with a fraction of the effort.

So the inspiration for this delicious enchiladas skillet came from Southern Living magazine, of all places. Last week I was sitting in the doctor’s waiting room flipping through ancient magazines, as one does, and spotted a recipe they’d published for a chicken enchilada skillet featuring torn up tortillas rather than rolled up enchiladas. But then we were finally called in to the doctor… so that’s about all I remember about that.

This whole enchiladas skillet thought, though, seemed like a kind of brilliant idea, so I took it and ran with it in today’s deconstructed vegetarian enchiladas skillet recipe. Enchiladas flavor without the enchiladas effort? Yes, please. Tearing up the tortillas works so nicely for chilaquiles, so how could it go wrong here?

While we’re being inauthentic… Lacking enchilada sauce (because my ALDI no longer carries it, and I keep forgetting to pick it up elsewhere), I instead kludged together a sauce with salsa, mild green chiles, and spices, adding a little cream cheese for creaminess and tang, and a little cheese because: Enchiladas.

Just add veggies and cheese to a few everyday pantry ingredients to create this easy weeknight dinner recipe — which only takes 40 minutes start to finish, and is chock full of hearty beans, tortillas, and cheese to help keep you satisfied.

Looking for more vegetarian recipe ideas? Take a few minutes to browse through the Meatless Monday category for additional dinner options — or, check out fifteen favorite meatless meals to jump start your vegetarian cooking.

Deconstructed Vegetarian Enchiladas Skillet

Ingredients

1 Tbsp olive oil
1 sweet bell pepper, chopped (I used red)
1 can corn, drained
1/4 of a medium yellow onion, chopped
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp chili powder
2 tsp minced garlic (about 4 cloves)
16 oz jar of salsa
1.5 cups shredded cheddar cheese, divided
4 oz cream cheese, softened and cut into chunks
2 cans black beans, rinsed and drained
4 oz can chopped mild green chiles
12 small corn tortillas, torn or cut into pieces

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Take out cream cheese to soften, and chop it into smaller chunks. Chop your pepper, onion, and garlic, and drain the corn.

Heat olive oil in a 12″ cast iron skillet over medium-high heat for one minute. Add the corn, onion, and bell pepper and season with cumin & chili powder. Saute over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, for about six minutes.

While the veggies are cooking, rinse and drain the beans and tear (or cut) the tortillas into pieces.

After sauteing the veggies, reduce heat to medium-low and stir in the garlic. Saute briefly, then stir in the salsa, cream cheese, and 1/2 cup shredded cheddar until cheeses are melted and well incorporated.

Stir in the black beans, chopped green chiles, and corn tortillas, making sure everything is well distributed and tortilla pieces are nicely coated in the salsa mixture. Top the skillet evenly with one cup of shredded cheddar.

Move skillet into the preheated oven and cook at 400 degrees for 15 minutes.

Serve with your favorite enchilada toppings. (I highly recommend sour cream and avocado; the chopped green onion here is mostly to add a little color.)

So much vegetarian enchiladas flavor!

And there you have it: You get all of that enchiladas flavor, just in a mix-up, mash-up, one-pan-recipe skillet format. I’ve been eating enchilada skillet leftovers for lunch these last couple of days, which hold up pretty well (but do get a little soggier). I’m so happy about easy leftover enchiladas lunch, I can’t even tell you! 🙂

This deconstructed vegetarian enchiladas skillet recipe is not only meatless, it is naturally gluten free as long as your tortillas are. The slight spicy kick here is balanced out by the sweet corn and bell pepper, so you can spice things up further if desired — and, adding sour cream and avocado while serving really makes the flavors pop. 

Deconstructed Vegetarian Enchiladas Skillet, printable recipe

Recipes in the real world

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