Black Bean and Cheese Enchiladas with Ranchero Sauce

Simple to make resulting in a rich ranchero sauce not very spicy yet flavorful. Did make it the previous day and let it set in the fridge overnight. I wonder what it would be like if the bean/cheese/onion mixture was puréed?

Have to agree with WLBETH; the sauce was very bland. Had to add quite a bit of hot sauce to spice it up.  Because I save the leftover sauce, will add more hot sauce to that before reheating.   Very disappointing; won't make again.

This is going to be on our regular dinner rotation, for sure! It is a bit of work, but when I make a labor intensive recipe, I make a double batch and put the second pan in the freezer. Rolling the extra enchiladas only took an extra 5 minute, and I love the feeling after a rough day of being able to pull something delicious out of the freezer :). I added a can of corn to the beans as others had mentioned. I think the key to not having issues with the corn tortillas is to warm them in the microwave before filling in batches of 6 between dampened paper towels for 45 seconds. I didn’t have any problems with them at all. A scant 1/3 measuring cup of the filling mixture works perfectly.

Increased the amount of filling by adding kernels from one ear of sweet corn & one link of chorizo, diced.  Otherwise made to recipe.  Very tasty.   Served with side of tomatoes/onion/cilantro and some limeade.  Good family dinner.

Everyone I make this recipe for thinks I'm an incredible cook. Thank you!

This is a great recipe. The sauce needs to cook longer to effectively reduce and thicken, other wise I followed the recipe exactly and was delighted with the end result. This is a keeper!

The sauce is fantastic, though a bit of work and clean up.  I roasted 2 half chicken breasts at 375 degrees on the bone, rubbed with a little olive oil and salt and pepper, and cooked to 160 degrees, then left to get to 165 on their own and cool down. Removed skin, took them off bone, and shredded. Delicious, moist, and tender. Added to the beans and cheese. Used 8 8-inch flour tortillas and filled them and divided in half in 2 8 X 8 inch baking dishes and froze one. Cooked covered at 350 until good and hot, then uncovered and added more cheese and  cooked at 375 for 10 min. They were very good. I tried to find good corn tortillas this time, but failed--so used flour. I softened them by moistening a long roll of paper towels and wrapping them in it and microwaving about 20 seconds.

I'm giving it 4 stars because although I know it's wrong to add chicken, even with my chicken there wasn't enough beans, and I think the ratio of corn tortillas to beans is overwhelmingly too much tortilla. I like mine with more filling and fewer carbs, although here, actually, I might add more beans, like a half a can next time, and reduce the chicken a bit.

To the reviewer who added corn to make a protein--isn't there corn in corn tortillas????

This enchilada sauce is the one!!!!!!

This recipe was excellent! Sauce needs to simmer a bit longer then 5-8 min - more like 15-20, but when I logged this recipe in my fitness pals it says the 595 calories a serving 🙀 Almost double what you listed and the serving size is serves 6, 2 each - which is what this recipe states. Might want to look into that.

I make double the sauce whenever I make this recipe and freeze the extra so I save a bunch of time the next time I make it. It freezes well.

I noticed a few comments about the sauce being too thin. I'd just say be patient. It will get there. It takes closer to 20-25 minutes or so in my experience to get it where it needs to be.

Yum yum yum!!!

Just made this for dinner and everyone loved it, even the non- vegetarians in our household. I made just one small change to the recipe that I recommend, and that is to mix a tablespoon of cornstarch into the sauce, as I found it wasn't thick enough on its own. 10 out of 10 from me!

I made these tonight and could NOT find my ancho chilies so I took the easy route and did 2 tablespoons of chili powder mixed with that cup of water. If you ask me, nothing was missing. I did not think the filling was enough for 12 tortillas (I got 8) but it was sufficient for what I had. This can come together very quickly if you prep the chopping ahead of time and skip the ancho chili part. Also, I had to add some cornstarch to my onion mixture. It just wouldn't thicken. I served my enchiladas with homemade pico de gallo and it was perfect. My husband said this is his new favorite vegetarian mexican dish!

Delish, great sauce; so much better than can sauce. Had to add poached shredded chicken to half, because of the carnivore in the house;-/

This was amazing, especially the sauce, which was made much easier to prepare with the use of my immersion blender (every serious home cook NEEDS one of these). I also prepared this as a casserole as my corn tortillas just would not roll up. The whole family loved it and we will definitely make these again.

I loved this recipe! I made it exactly as the recipe states, but I added corn per the suggestions from others' comments. It was delicious! I also did this more as a casserole than traditional enchiladas. I spread the 1/2 c. sauce on the bottom of my dish, made a single layer of tortillas across, added the filling, made another layer of tortillas, then topped it with the rest of the sauce and cheese. It looked and tasted wonderful! Helpful hint: if you can't find dried ancho chilis, look in the "Hispanic" section of your seasoning aisle. That's where I found it at HEB.

I couldn't find the ancho chiles and didn't have the blender BUT I did have canned jalapeños and a magic bullet so I made do with those instead and it turned out pretty good. I would love to try it someday with the chiles though.

This was really delicious!! I personally prefer black beans with lots of flavor, so I would either use leftover or I just cooked some in their liquid and added seasoning to them. I also put a bit of brown rice in with the beans, complete protein and a bit more filling. Serve it with a salad that has lots of veggies on it... oh this was goooooood! The ranchero sauce was delicious, and a bit spicy, but my very young kids still LOVED it! (with the sour cream and a cup of milk of course!)

Ok guys, ok, so it's a decent recipe as written, and easy peasy. But let me tell you how to make it a GREAT recipe (still easy peasy). First add a guajillo to the chiles (two anchos, one guajillo; and while we're at it, 2 cups water is too much, reduce it to 1.5 to get a more concentrated soaking liquid). Wham. ALSO add some extra chile flake to the sauce. Bam. THEN put all the green onions in the filling with some salt and a coupla squeezes of lime. Thank ya ma'am. The result is a rich, smokey, spicy sauce with a slightly tangy filling covered in cheese. Doesn't need sour cream. Serve with a meyer lemon margarita (google it). PS- I totes used dried oregano even though I'm usually against dried herbs (HERB SNOB). But I've made it with the fresh and I liked the dried better. Plus fresh herbs can be expensive so it's a win-win. Unless you can get some epazote at your local latin market, in which case do that.

I love this recipe. It takes a little while, but it's worth it. I use green chile tortillas from Whole Foods the regular corn tortillas fall apart more than I like.

I really loved this dish. Took a bit of time to make the ranchero sauce. I made the recipe mostly as written - except layered the corn tortillas instead of rolling them. Extra cheese never hurt anyone... :) Then allowed them to sit a bit and settle after cooked... Added cilantro and then sour cream to top. Was excellent. Next time (and there will be a next time soon!) I will add extra beans and extra cheese and tomatoes to the top after cooking + cilantro and maybe corn to the inside

I must have done something wrong because the ranchero sauce was thin and tasteless. I had to add a lot of salt and cayenne to get any flavor. Husband was kind and said it wasn't bad but I wouldn't make this again. Not worth the effort.

Great recipe! I added tofu "hamburger" and everyone loved it! I also substituted greek yogurt for the sour cream and no one noticed. Definitely a repeat is required.

Fantastic recipe! Family didn't notice there was no meat. Winner winner enchilada dinner!

Sauce is real nice. I used whole wheat tortillas which was a mistake, texture wasn't right.

Great recipe. We are trying to incorporate more meatless meals into our diet and this is a delicious recipe. I have prepared it twice with great results. Now a part of the regular menu rotation.

After reading other reviewers comments, I decided to use a wheat/ corn tortilla blend which held up perfectly in the oven. I also used a 7.5” tortilla versus a 6” tortilla, which gave me 7 enchiladas, and so I cut the serving size down to 1 enchiladas per serving. I followed the ingredients exactly after those slight modifications, using Ancho chilies and Tillamook Mexican Cheese blend, but when I make these in the future I will considered doing a pulled meat such as chicken. Overall I thought that this was absolutely delicious, and the sauce was fantastic. I generally tend to have a high sensitivity to the heat in chilies, but I found that the Ancho chilies really imparted a nice flavor on the sauce, and when it got too much for me I would just add a little more sour cream.

This recipe is delicious. I used flour tortillas insted of corn and chicken broth in place of veggie. I made a mistake in adding the reserved liquid from the chiles in with the broth and tomato paste and onions to cook down and thicken, however I will continue to make the recipe this way as I liked the way the sauce was nice and thick. I feel it would be too runny if I followed the directions. This was a tasty lunch and I will definately be adding it to my collection of wonderful cooking light recipes!!

while the flavor of the sauce was nice, the texture was terrible and ruined the entire dish.

Very good. Easy

This recipe was amazing! I'm a beginner vegetarian and I didn't miss the meat at all. It is a little messy but its all about the taste right? I couldn't find dried chilies so I used the canned ones in adobo and added some of the juice to a cup of water. If you go that route I would suggest only using one because it was a little spicy. Another problem I had was there wasn't enough of the black bean mixture to fill 12 tortillas so you may want to double the beans accordingly. This will definitely be my go to meal when I'm having a Mexican food craving.

Made this tonight and it was excellent! My husband loved it, too. I didn't have ancho chiles, so I used canned diced green chiles and just added them in during the blending process. Didn't have scallions, but we didn't miss them. I also used chipotle chili powder, instead of red pepper, because I like the smoky taste, and also dried oregano. I thought the filling seemed a little skimpy, so I used 8 tortillas, instead of 12, and they were perfect. To make up for the lost liquid from the ancho chile cooking, I just added another 1/2 cup of vegetable broth. I thought the sauce would be too thin after I poured it onto the filled tortillas, but it thickened as it baked and turned out just right. Delicious!

This is a delicious recipe, but it looks really really bad once you serve it up! I've made this recipe three times with corn tortillas (I have even used different types of corn tortilla) and each time I make it the enchiladas collapse into a mess. It always tastes good, just looks very unappetising. I have made it once with flour tortillas and it worked much better. I am going to work on my own recipe using corn tortillas (with a thicker sauce, using less of it) to see if I can achieve good taste AND good texture!

Not something I would serve to company (other than family!), but these were pretty good. I did add some extra salt to the sauce and quite a bit of Cholula hot sauce to give them a bit of a kick. I also chopped up some cooked chicken I had on hand to add to the protein, but I think they would have been great without it. My sauce was a little thinner than I would have liked - I may just have not cooked it enough. All in all, a good, solid recipe that I'm sure I'll make again.

This was an amazing vegetarian dish! My husband and I both enjoyed it and are thrilled we have leftovers. I added corn to the filling as other reviewers suggested. My tortillas did get a bit soggy, but I think that was my mistake. The flavor was incredible either way. I don't think I will ever buy canned enchilada sauce again. I think I will try it as a casserole next time to make prep go a little quicker. In all, a great dish!

This is a great veggie enchilada dish.

Loved It!! I used canned chiles instead of the fresh and dried oregano instead of the fresh, LOVED IT!!! Thanks for the Vegetarian Dish! Also used whole wheat tortillas instead of the corn tortillas.

Delicious! This recipe is all about the ranchero sauce. I follow the recipe exactly as written. Using 3 tablespoons of filling per enchilada produced only 8 enchiladas for me, but they were yummy!

This was really good. I was having trouble rolling my tortillas without them breaking so layered them as another reviewer suggested; so much quicker and easier! The sauce was fantastic; I will use this as my go-to enchilada sauce instead of buying canned. I will definitely make again.

I just made these for dinner tonight. I used bigger flour tortillas so I only got 5 enchiladas, but that's okay cause I'm the only one that will eat them. The ranchero sauce was delicious! I will definitely make these again.

These are delicious! I used flour instead of corn because my husband hates corn tortillas, but I made everything else as specified. The sauce is amazing.

This recipe is perfect if you're craving Mexican, but don't want to feel guilty afterward. :) We made these using whole wheat tortillas because we don't like corn tortillas. The filling was enough for 11 enchiladas, but if we had used more of a level tablespoon rather than a slightly heaping tablespoon, we would have had 12 perfect enchiladas (we just added some cheese to the last one). We paired this with Cooking Light's "Fiesta Rice" recipe. The leftovers were great too. I was honestly a little sad to see an empty pan after finishing the last of them. Will definitely make these again!

Yum! These were the star of the dinner party. The flavors blend great and every bite was delicious. As a friend brought the dish I am going to have to make them myself to see how easy they are to make.

These are so good! The sauce is fantastic. It would be great for a mexican dinner party.

This was a really good recipe for vegetarian enchiladas. The sauce was very tasty and not nearly as spicy as I was afraid it would turn out. Next time I will probably use less liquid to make the sauce a bit thicker, and maybe add some sauteed veggies, like peppers and squash, in with the beans and cheese, to make the enchiladas themselves a bit thicker.

I added a shredded rotisserie chicken to the bean mixture. I added a bit more cumin and red pepper to the ranchero sauce than called for, and I used 2 teaspoons of dried oregano rather than 2 tablespoons of fresh. I also used a hand blender instead of a regular blender--worked just fine. Instead of rolling the enchiladas up, I made this a casserole, placing a layer of sauce, then tortillas, then chicken, beans, and cheese, and repeating. The last layer was tortillas, then I spooned the remainder of the sauce over that and topped with cheese. I served this alongside Mexican rice. Good, tasty recipe for a chilly fall night.

Made the ranchero sauce to go with my roasted enchilada stacks last night. The sauce was perfect! The only adjustment I made was, I only used 1/2 c. of water from the cooked chili's. I think it could be even less if you want to keep it pretty thick. Not very spicy and kid friendly.

Super yummy, I've made this three times now and it always turns out great. The last time I roasted a red pepper and added that into the bean and cheese mixture and it was even better; I also saved some of the ancho chili liquid to make some rice with. I didn't have corn tortillas and flour worked just fine; just make sure to the sauce saturates every tortilla.

Tortilla need to be freshly heated so that they roll easily.

Really great, filling vegetarian dish with authentic flavor. I had a hard time keeping the corn tortillas intact until I microwaved them with a splash of water and for longer, so they were really pliable. Served with Trader Joes' Peruvian Chimichurri Rice on the side, which wsa great. These would be really fast if you made the sauce the night before.

This is a 4 1/2 stars dish.. It was great, especially as a veg option. . The ranchero sauce really made it. I used 8 inch whole wheat flour tortillas as I was out of corn tortillas. I also added some corn to the beans, as another reviewer recommended. I also added a little dried cliantro. It made 7 enchiladas. Ranchero sauce would be good on chicken enchildas

Very good! I sautéed ground beef with the onions and garlic, which were blended in to make the ranchero sauce, and the meat gave it great depth of flavor. I would definitely make this again!

turned into mush for some reason. Flavors were decent; texture was poor. There are better enchilada recipes out there.

These were delicious! I also used California chiles in place of the anchos which I couldn't find and the taste was amazing. Although this recipe was not classified as "kid-friendly" my 8-year-old loved it and went back for seconds. Not too spicy with a great flavor. I used about 2 Tbs of the bean mixture per enchilada and ended up with 12 enchiladas. They were on the small side but still filling.

Delicious and so simple! I made this for a weeknight meal by making the ranchero sauce the day before. It was ready in a snap. I only got 7 enchiladas out the bean and cheese mixture even with measuring out the 3 tbls per tortilla. Next time I'll double the beans. I didn't reduce my ranchero mix enough so I added some corn starch to it and it turned out perfect. Will definitely make these again.

Loved these! I saved time and just made a casserole out of this instead of rolling the enchiladas up invidually. This is a great meal for a meatless Monday, and really hearty too.

I used whole wheat tortillas and added corn to the filling. Easy and delicious!

Yummy yummy yummy. I've been trying to add more vegetarian meals into the week and this one was great! The sauce was very good and easy as well. Could easily use it with meat and/or fill the enchiladas with anything you'd like...I added corn and diced green chilies to ours and used flour tortillas as an alternative. Will make again!

My family loved these. I made them for dinner last night and used California chilies rather than the Anchos. Other than that, I followed the recipe exactly. We rate every meal when we try it the first time and we gave this one an easy 5-star - no easy feat with my family. Everyone went back for seconds! Served it with mexican rice.

My boyfriend, who HATES black beans, took a bite and told me these were the best burritos he had ever eaten. I was expecting sarcasm, but he was serious. He even raved about them later to friends. The sauce is very flavorful with a great kick and it goes perfectly with the simple but tasty filling.