Cheesy Bean Enchiladas #FoodieExtravaganza

These cheesy bean enchiladas made with pintos and refried beans are flavorful and easy to put together. They make a great vegetarian main course to serve for your Cinco de Mayo celebrations or pretty much any day of the year.

I should say up front that my favorite restaurant enchiladas are filled with ground beef. That's all I ever order at a Tex-Mex restaurant because the cheese ones are too rich and bean enchiladas are never offered. Beans - frijoles - are a side dish, not part of the main course.

This recipe came to me like many of mine do, with a question. Can beans be used to fill enchiladas without making them dry and unpalatable? The answer is a resounding yes, and the trick is mixing refried beans with your whole ones.

The two together, with enchilada sauce and cheese, make a satisfying filling that has become a house favorite. Best of all, these are delicious as leftovers the next day (packed lunches!) and freeze wonderfully. Since it’s only my husband and I at home, that’s very important.

Cheesy Bean Enchiladas

You can use your favorite cheese for these cheesy bean enchiladas, but I love a mix of extra sharp cheddar and either pepper jack or habanero jack. For the refried beans, I tend to use the vegetarian ones since those with lard are rarely available here. This dish will serve eight, with a side dish or salad.

Ingredients
For the filling:
1 can (15oz or 425g) pinto beans, drained and rinsed
7 oz or 200g extra sharp cheddar and/or pepper jack cheese, grated
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cayenne
1 can (15oz or 425g) refried beans
1 1/4 cup or 295ml red enchilada sauce (My recipe for the sauce: Click here.)

To assemble:
16 corn tortillas
1 1/4 cup or 295ml enchilada sauce

For topping:
3 1/2 oz or 100g extra sharp cheddar and/or pepper jack cheese, grated
3-4 whole jalapeños, sliced - optional
Generous handful sliced black olives -optional

Method
In a large bowl, mix together your pinto beans, cheese, cumin, salt and cayenne pepper. In another smaller bowl, stir together the refried beans and the enchilada sauce. This loosens the canned refried beans, making them easier to stir into the dry ingredients.

Pour the saucy beans into the larger bowl and fold until well combined. Set the filling aside.

Preheat your oven to 350°F or 180°C.

To assemble the cheesy bean enchiladas, start by covering the bottom of a large casserole dish with a thin layer of sauce. 

One by one, fold the tortillas in half and fill with 1/16 of the filling.

Lay them single file, slightly overlapping, in the casserole dish.

Cover with the remaining sauce, the cheese for topping and the sliced jalapeños and olives, if using.

Bake in the preheated oven for 45-50 minutes until the enchiladas are bubbling and the cheese is golden.

Leave to rest for 5-10 minutes, then cut into portions of more or less two enchiladas each to serve.

Enjoy!

It's almost Cinco de Mayo! Get out your blender for my super easy, always perfect margaritas (or perhaps switch it up with a pomelo version) but don't forget to put enchilada ingredients on your shopping list.

This month my Foodie Extravaganza friends are all sharing enchilada recipes, many using the myriad peppers available from Melissa’s Produce, sent to them with compliments. Make sure to check them out in the links below. Many thanks to our host this month, Camilla from Culinary Adventures with Camilla.

An InLinkz Link-up

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