TLDR: Seeking tex-mex enchiladas recipes not the "healthier, fancier" type enchiladas.
As a southern Texan, cheese enchiladas have been my favorite food ever since I stepped foot inside my first tex-mex restaurant at the age of 5.
Like the first pics (top and bottom) : Cheese enchiladas w/ red sauce, refried beans, and Spanish rice. Add a small scoop of sweet coleslaw and lettuce and tomato garnish and the meal is complete. Maybe a fancy "white sauce" to go along with chips and salsa. The perfect platter. I have not had this simple yet tasty meal in 15 years. If I'm lucky enough to go to a Mexican restaurant with a vegan option, I always opt for the enchiladas. What I get is usually more like the 3 examples on the following slide. While there is a time and place for all manner of enchiladas, this is not what I'm after. I don't understand why vegan enchiladas always have to have chunks of tofu, corn, and yes sometimes even broccoli. etc. Again I've enjoyed all types, but my hankering for the picture on the left has rarely been met. I have been to a small handful of restaurants that were close, in maybe El Paso and New Mexico. And even the Amy's frozen meal has to be all weird with tofu etc. I did enjoy their vegetarian frozen enchiladas. Why can't they just make a vegan version of this!
And cooking has never gotten the results I'm after, either. Again I can make some yummy versions, but I don't know how to recreate this deliciousness. Any tips of how to make restaurant style tex mex. Including the beans and rice. Killer salsa or guacamole recipes welcomed, as well 😋 🥑
by Icy-Ambition533
7 Comments
I’m hoping someone posts a recipe for this, I would totally try it. Lately, i have been craving a vegan version of cheesarito (Taco Bell in the 90’s). A similar simple classic!
I use Homesick Texan’s recipes and just swap impossible beef or another meat substitute, better than bouillon vegan stock + vegan cheese and sour cream. The beef enchiladas with chipotle pasilla gravy or the cheese enchiladas (I sub in some leftover mashed potatoes for some of the cheese on those) are both really good, as are the sour cream chicken enchiladas for a white sauce alternative!
Brown gravy is what you’re after. The rest you can figure out on your own (shred some vegan cheese and dice some onions) It’s really just making like a roux or gravy from oil, flour and spices. My dad was born and raised in south Texas. He doesn’t use any animal product in his gravy. I don’t know it by heart but I know he uses chili powder and cumin for sure. He also uses vegetable oil and flour. The corn tortillas I know he warms up in a skillet with a little baste he makes to soften so they roll easily. So just heat up your tortillas. Put a little gravy inside load cheese in there and roll top with diced white onions. I will save this to come back and drop his recipe when I can grab it.
Fry the corn tortillas AFTER you’ve dipped them in the enchilada sauce. Dip again, fill with vegan cheese. It makes a big difference to double dip in the sauce and using lots of oil. Just like my mother in law does it.Â
I made enchiladas yesterday 😋here is my recipe:
I add tofu because protein but you could skip it and use double cheese if you want.
1 block extra firm or firm tofu
Press, crumble up and mix with taco seasoning and olive oil and a bit of liquid aminos (you can sub salt)
Bake at 375 spread out on a cookie sheet in a thin layer for about 20 min. You don’t want it to be too crispy or chewy but it should be dry.
Finely dice 1/2 red onion
Mix with 1 bag of violife mexican blend shreds (but save a little to put on top)
And the tofu (if you omit the tofu add taco seasoning or at least cumin salt and pepper)
I use this to fill 10 corn tortillas and I use one jar of store bought red enchilada sauce. Pour half on the bottom of a 9×13 pan then roll up the tortillas with filling and spread the other half on top. Be sure to cover all of the edges with enchilada sauce and top with remaining cheese and bake at 375 for 20 min
Source: I grew up in Texas and cheese enchiladas used to be my favorite. But now I am vegan.
[This]( https://www.newmexico.org/things-to-do/cuisine/recipes/red-chile-sauce/) is the sauce.
Heat corn tortillas in hot oil a few seconds per side and roll around preferred filling.( Refried )black beans and/or tofu browned and seasoned any way (just salt pepper and garlic powder will work) are great. Grilled peppers/mushrooms/zucchini/tomato or a combo is also great filling
Jeez, I’ve been making enchiladas so long, I never even thought about looking at a recipe.
I usually make mine pretty Tex-Mex style, because I’m from the SW. My tips would be:
The filling should taste good before you put it in the tortillas. What you want inside them is entirely up to you. I just saute everything in a big pan beforehand. I usually go heavy with peppers, onions, beans, and sometimes some faux meat/TVP.
When you’re putting them in the baking dish, smother them in sauce. Like way too much sauce, and the sauce should be quite runny. Bake it until the sauce thickens to almost where you want it, then slap the cheese on top and keep baking until it looks done.
This is how I do it, but I don’t follow a recipe. I kinda just wing it, usually cooking with what I have or what I’m in the mood for, but it sounds like we have similar ideas of what a nostalgic enchilada is. I also make mine with Spanish rice, refried beans, a bed of greens, and garnish with stuff like cilantro, green onions, and black olives. I know the black olives are divisive, but that’s how my grandma made em, and sometimes that’s what I want.
If you make your enchiladas the way you like them, you really can’t fuck it up.