One night, after roasting carrots with cinnamon for a my Moroccan-spiced carrots, I got curious—what if I paired that same warm, slightly sweet spice with sweet potatoes in an enchilada skillet? The result? These vegetarian pinto and black bean skillet enchiladas—a ridiculously easy, flavor-packed dinner that comes together in just one pan (!!).
It starts on the stovetop, finishes in the oven, and delivers all the cozy, cheesy goodness of classic enchiladas without the hassle of rolling tortillas (thank goodness). If you're looking for a wholesome vegetarian enchiladas recipe that’s both comforting and effortless, this one’s for you!
Key Ingredients + Notes
- Sweet potatoes, black beans, pinto beans - These ingredients are the core for our enchilada "filling". Sweet potato adds a wonderful natural sweetness and body to these enchiladas (I'm obsessed). No need to peel them; the secret here is to dice them up quite small so that they soften quickly while sautéing on the stovetop.
- Cinnamon - This skillet enchiladas recipes uses a blend of spices, and the one that makes this recipe special is the hint of cinnamon! With the sweet potatoes and smokiness from the other spices... the cinnamon really stands out and makes this dish comforting and unique.
- Corn tortillas - I do recommend corn tortillas for these enchiladas for flavor and texture, and the best part is that no tortilla rolling is required! This means that even if your tortillas are a little dry, you can still totally use them without the fuss of preventing cracking. But definitely check out white sauce chicken enchiladas for your next rolled enchiladas... yum!
Please see the recipe card below for full ingredient quantities.
Sweet Potatoes: If you have more sweet potatoes to use up after you make these enchiladas, try some comforting oven-roasted sweet potatoes or sweet potato turkey chili for dinner later this week!
Step-by-Step Instructions
- Step 1: Preheat oven to 350 degrees, and heat olive oil in a large pan over medium heat. Add onions and sweet potatoes and sauté until they begin to soften, about 7 minutes.
- Step 2: Add garlic, spices, and tomato paste, and sauté for another few minutes to release all the flavors.
- Step 3: Add tomato sauce, broth, black beans, and pinto beans. Stir to incorporate, and increase heat slightly to bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer, uncovered, and allow to simmer for 10 minutes until slightly reduced.
- Step 4: Gently fold in the corn tortilla strips, making sure there are strips at multiple levels of depth (not all on top or bottom).
- Step 5: Sprinkle shredded Jack cheese over the top.
- Step 6: Transfer enchilada skillet to the oven and bake for 10 minutes, or until cheese is nice and bubbly! Remove from oven and serve with fresh cilantro, salsa, jalapeños, or some yummy fresh guacamole!
Tera's Sustainability Tips
- Clean out your crisper. Do you have some greens or other veggies that need to be used up? Dice or chop them up and add them into this recipe! Chopped cabbage, carrots, spinach, kale, peppers... using these up in veggie enchiladas is a great way to reduce waste.
- Befriend your freezer. This serves a family or group of friends nicely, but for 1-2 people it can be a lot of food. If you think you can't finish it within 5 days, place the rest in an airtight container and freeze for up to three months. You can even freeze in individual servings so that you can reheat just what you need!
- Storing sweet potatoes + onions. Sweet potatoes and onions should be stored in cool, dry places outside of the fridge, but not near each other! Onions produce ethylene gas, which causes nearby produce to ripen and spoil more quickly.
- Storing cilantro. To keep your cilantro as fresh as possible, remove any packaging and store it upright in a glass jar with water in a fridge. Use what you need for enchiladas or other recipes throughout the week!
More One Pan Recipes
Loving this one pan recipe situation? Us, too! Here are some others we love and make regularly.
Did you make this vegetarian enchilada skillet with sweet potatoes? Don't forget to leave a star rating 🌟 and comment below, and tag me on Instagram and Pinterest - I love seeing what you made!
📖 Recipe
Skillet Bean Enchiladas with Sweet Potato (Vegetarian!)
- Total Time: 35 minutes
- Yield: 6 1x
- Diet: Vegetarian
Description
These veggie and bean skillet enchiladas are a quick, one-pan twist on classic enchiladas—no rolling required! Loaded with pinto and black beans, sweet potatoes, and melty cheese, they’re flavorful, satisfying, and perfect for an easy weeknight dinner.
Ingredients
Units
Scale
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 1 onion, diced
- 1 medium-large sweet potato, diced small
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon coriander
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- 1 15-ounce can black beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 15-ounce can pinto beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 15-ounce can tomato sauce
- 1 4-ounce can diced green chiles (optional)
- 2 cups vegetable broth
- 6-8 corn tortillas, cut in half & then into thick strips
- 1.5 cups Jack cheese, shredded
- Fresh cilantro, chopped, for serving
Instructions
- Sauté aromatics. Preheat oven to 350 degrees, and heat olive oil in a large pan over medium heat. Add onions and sweet potatoes and sauté until they begin to soften, about 7 minutes. Add tomato paste, garlic, cumin, chili powder, cinnamon, coriander, salt, and pepper. Sauté for another 2-3 minutes to deepen flavors.
- Add tomato sauce, broth, beans. Add black beans, pinto beans, tomato sauce, and broth to the pan, and stir to incorporate. Bring mixture to a boil, then reduce to a simmer on low-medium heat for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Add tortilla strips. Gently fold in the tortilla strips until they're mostly submerged and evenly distributed throughout pan and from top to bottom. If adding in leafy greens, stir them in during this step (see notes).
- Top with cheese & bake. Top the enchiladas with Jack cheese and turn off the stove heat. Transfer the pan to the oven and bake for another 8-10 minutes, until sauce and cheese are nice and bubbly. Use an oven mitt to carefully remove the pan from the oven. Serve up the enchiladas with fresh cilantro, avocado, guac and/or salsa, and chips. Yum!
Notes
- More veggies. Pack more veggies into these enchiladas by adding a couple handfuls of chopped spinach or seasonal leafy greens (do this in Step 3 with the corn tortillas). This is also a great way to clean greens out of your fridge! When in season, finely chopped peppers (spicy or mild) are delicious as well.
- Storage & freezing instructions. Store leftover enchiladas in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days. If freezing, place the airtight container in the freezer for up to 3 months. You can also freeze individual portions to take out as you need them.
- Diced green chiles. If I have a small can of diced green chiles (usually they come in 4 ounces), I love adding these in Step 2 for amazing flavor.
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Category: Dinner
- Method: One Pan
- Cuisine: Mexican-inspired
Nutrition
- Serving Size:
- Calories: 447
- Sugar: 6.8 g
- Sodium: 695.5 mg
- Fat: 14.3 g
- Carbohydrates: 60.2 g
- Fiber: 16.1 g
- Protein: 22.6 g
- Cholesterol: 29.4 mg
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