*This post may contain affiliate links. Read more »
These jackfruit enchiladas come loaded with properly seasoned meaty filling, homemade enchilada sauce, and none of those soggy casserole vibes that make people say "oh, vegan enchiladas…" in a disappointed voice.
Enter your email & I'll send it to your inbox. Plus, get great new recipes from me every week!
By submitting this form, you consent to receive emails from Cinnamon Snail.
I am just going to come out and say it. These are by no means super-authentic enchiladas Rojas. These are more of a veganized version of Southwestern American ones. But hear me out, because I am going to make a strong case for these.
First of all, hella yummy. Secondly, they are quite quick to throw together. Then you've got the added benefit of not needing any guajillo or ancho chiles, or pretty much anything else really that might not be hanging out in your pantry. But the real glory of these is that your family will reliably freak out about them (uh, in a good way I mean).
Suffice it to say that these bad boyos come out craveable and satisfying without needing to cosplay as meat. Throw them down next to a plate of vegan Mexican rice, salsa ranchera and some vegan pozole verde and you have yourself a mind-blowingly yummy meal to deal with, indeed.
They're great for feeding skeptical people, hungry people, or folks who fall into both of those camps. Okay, this is the part where I gently shove you toward the stove. Let's make some enchiladas.
Jump to:
🥰 Why you'll adore this vegan enchiladas recipe
✊ Vegan AF: Like all of my vegan Mexican recipes, no animal ingredients anywhere in sight, which means no awkward label-reading debates at dinner.
🙅♀️🌾 Easily Made GF: Do you scream every time you see a single solitary morsel of gluten? Does a majestic field of wheat, blowing gently in the early afternoon breeze make you want to go postal? Simply use corn tortillas and gluten-free flour in place of the all-purp and you are all good!
⏱️ Easier Than It Looks: A few stovetop steps, one baking dish, then the oven does the work while you throw together guac or get a head start on the kitchen cleanup.
✅ Tested and Approved Worldwide: Like all of my vegan recipes, this one's been made and given a resounding thumbs up by hundreds of recipe testers from home kitchens all over the planet.
💣 Learn the bomb vegan Mexican recipes
This guide to my most popular vegan Mexican recipes is 100% FREE, & you'll love the actual heck out of it 🥰
🥘 Ingredients for pulled jackfruit enchiladas
The Jackfruit
This is the shredded, pulled-pork-like backbone of the filling once it's drained and browned properly. Use canned young jackfruit in brine only. Don't you dare go rogue and use the sweet yellow canned jackfruit (that's a totally different beast used for making desserty things like turon and ginataang bilo bilo).
Most health food stores have this in stock, but you will otherwise certainly find it in your local Asian grocery store (because it's used in many recipe from Southeast Asia too such as ginataang langka and kathal sabji).
If you make this and realize you friggin' love cooking with jackfruit, you are going to want to make my vegan carnitas tacos or vegan torta adobada next for sursies.
Chipotle Peppers in Adobo
For the beans, La Morena or La Costeña chipotle peppers in adobo (available at Mexican grocery stores) are both great picks, or make my chipotle peppers in adobo recipe if you are DIY 'till you DIE, and that's word to JFK from the CIA. 💁♂️
Pinto Beans
I wrote this to be easy to rock from scratch with canned pinto beans. Canned black beans or habichuelas rosadas also work great in the recipe. Or if you want to skip the whole mashing and seasoning step, and already have some of my vegan refried beans on hand, you can certainly rock that in these instead.
Mexican Chili Powder
The main thing I wasn't to be clear about here is that I am NOT talking about using cayenne pepper. Mexican chili powder is typically a pretty mild, almost taco-seasoning style blend containing mild chiles, cumin, garlic powder, and sometimes a small amount of salt. That's what the heck is going on here. Don't get it twisted and make these stupid spicy (I mean, unless that's your thing).
Cocoa Powder
Look, mole poblano isn't the only savory Mexican recipe that uses the complexity of a little chocolate to make things taste mad dope. Both natural or Dutch cocoa work great in this recipe. This is not a place for you to splash in an expired packet of Swiss Miss, so put away that hot cocoa mix because that would straight up ruin your enchiladas.
The Tortillas
For a more South Western enchilada, you'll want to make these with flour tortillas. If you are gluten-free, for sure use corn tortillas if you can find 6-inch ones, and remember to swap out the flour in the sauce for GF flour too.
Vegan Pepper Jack Cheese
If you can't find pepper jack, vegan nacho cheese, or really just about any meltable vegan cheese you like will work here. I teach a whole bunch of them in my on-demand plant-based cheese school class.
*See the recipe card at the bottom of the page for exact quantities, nutritional info, and detailed cooking directions.
🤯 Variations
Jackfruit enchiladas verdes
Just swap in a green enchilada sauce or use salsa verde instead. Surprise Kermit the Frog with a homemade green enchilada and freak him out by making him think he is comitting cannibalism.
50+ of my own family's fave recipes. Carefully concocted to win over even your most anti-vegan friends.
📖 How to make jackfruit enchiladas rojas
Alright, you're hungry, I'm hungry, and neither of us has time for 47 overhead shots of someone grating cheese. Scroll to the recipe card below if you want the quick print version, otherwise, let's dive into the darned slideshow already.
Step One
Shreddy Mercury:
Drain the jackfruit thoroughly in a wire mesh strainer, then squeeze firmly to remove excess brine and pull it apart into shredded, uneven pieces.
Step Two
Sauté Zonday:
Heat olive oil in a wide skillet over medium-high heat. After 90 seconds, when the oil is hot, add the jackfruit in an even layer and cook for 8 minutes, stirring and flipping every 2 minutes, until lightly golden on several sides.
Step Three
Gilmore Garls:
Add the red onion, garlic, chili powder, coriander, cumin, and oregano. Sauté for 2 minutes until the onions and garlic are fragrant.
Step Four
Enchilady and the Tramp:
Stir in the tomato paste, water, lime juice, and salt. Lower the heat to medium-low and cook for 6 minutes, stirring every 60 seconds, until most of the liquid has reduced, then remove from the heat and set aside.
Step Five
The Bean Identity:
Combine the chipotle peppers, pinto beans, water, tomato paste, and salt in a bowl. Roughly mash about ¼ of the beans with the back of a spoon, then stir them back into the mixture.
Step Six
Saucetin Powers:
Place the chili powder, cumin, coriander, cocoa powder, cinnamon, tomato paste, agave nectar, lime juice, flour, vegetable stock, and salt into a blender. Blend until completely smooth.
Step Seven
Enchilady Gaga:
Pour the sauce into a saucepan and bring to a simmer over medium heat, whisking about every 30 seconds for 5-6 minutes until thick enough to coat the back of a spoon, then remove from the heat.
Step Eight
Spread Zeppelin:
Preheat the oven to 375°F (190°C). Spread ½ cup of the enchilada sauce evenly across the bottom of a 9 x 13-inch baking dish.
Step Nine
Tortilla Soft Launch:
Warm the tortillas in a dry skillet or coil over medium heat for 30 seconds per side until pliable.
Step Ten
Roll Models:
Fill each tortilla with about ¼ cup of the jackfruit mixture and beans, roll tightly, and place seam-side down in the baking dish.
Step Eleven
The Cheese Stands Alone:
Pour the remaining enchilada sauce evenly over the enchiladas and sprinkle the cheese evenly on top. Cover the dish tightly with foil and bake for 20 minutes.
Step Twelve
Enchilady Elaine Fairchild:
Remove the foil and bake for 10 more minutes until the sauce is bubbling and the cheese is fully melted. Remove from the oven, let cool for 5 minutes, and garnish with fresh cilantro, sliced green chiles, and red onion. A drizzle of vegan sour cream wouldn't be the worst idea you ever had in your life either.
💡Serving Ideas
These vegetarian enchiladas play nicely with all sorts of sides as a standalone thing, or bigger dishes to make for a particularly slammin' Mexican food feast.
A few choice accoutrements would be tortilla chips with salsa. My habanero salsa recipe is one of the most visited pages on my site, but you wouldn't go wrong with jalapeño salsa, Chile de arbol salsa, or a milder choice like mango avocado salsa or salsa rojo either.
To make this into the centerpiece of a bigger Mexican dinner, rock it with some lion's mane fajitas, vegan carne asada, vegan chorizo torta, or some vegan pozole rojo.
👉Top tips
- Don't be a wuss about squeezing the jackfruit: Draining is not enough. Press out as much brine as possible or the jackfruit won't brown nicely, and will not give you anywhere as nice a meaty texture.
- Warm the tortillas, but just a wee little bit: Both cold tortillas, and ones that got dried out from cooking too long crack and leak your precious filling. Heat them just briefly to make rolling easier and this helps you to keep the enchiladas intact.
- Rest before serving: Especially if you are garnishing with fresh herbs, let the enchiladas sit for a few minutes after baking so the sauce settles, and so no one at your dinner table melts their darned face off.
🤷♀️ FAQ
Really, these are pretty minimally spicy. I know I am a bad judge of this because I love me some chili garlic sauce and shatta sauce with my food, but unless you are like one of the Amish guys who lets Harrison Ford hide amongst you or whatever, I think you will be fine. But like, if you are that Harrison Ford Amish guy, and can only tolerate mild flavor such as the taste of plain toast or barnyard hay, stay away from authentic Mexican cuisine altogether.
You can use fresh young green jackfruit (not the sweet yellow kind) instead of canned, but it does require a little more prep. No big deal though, right? Trim away the core, seeds, and fibrous pods, then simmer the chopped jackfruit in well-salted water for 30 minutes, drain thoroughly, and shred before using it in the filling. From there, cook it exactly as written, letting it absorb the enchilada sauce as it bakes.
🧊 Refrigerating
Store in an airtight container for up to 5 days.
❄️ Freezing
Remove each enchilada from the pan. Wrap them first in parchment and then in aluminum foil. Place them in a labeled freezer bag and freeze for up to 3 months.
🌡️ Thawing
Thaw overnight in the refrigerator until fully defrosted.
🔥 Oven reheating
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C). Place the enchiladas in an oven-safe dish, ideally with a little extra sauce or a splash of water, cover tightly with foil, and bake for 20-25 minutes until heated through. Remove the foil for the last 5 minutes if you want the cheese to get a little crispy on top.
✌️You'll also love these vegan Mexican recipes:
Master the art of vegan Mexican cooking in a super-fun recorded cooking class with Chef Adam Sobel!
Vegan Jackfruit Enchiladas
Equipment
- 9 x 13-inch baking dish
Ingredients
For the Jackfruit Filling:
- 20 oz. Young green jackfruit in brine drained
- 5 teaspoons olive oil
- ½ cup red onion small diced
- 2 teaspoons garlic minced
- 1 teaspoon Mexican chili powder
- 1 teaspoon ground coriander
- ½ teaspoon ground cumin
- ½ teaspoon oregano
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- ½ cup water
- 2 tablespoons lime juice
- 1 teaspoon salt or to taste
For the Beans:
- 3 tablespoons chipotle peppers in adobo minced
- 15.5 oz. canned pinto beans drained and rinsed
- ⅓ cup water
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- ½ teaspoon salt or to taste
For the Enchilada Sauce:
- 1 tablespoon Mexican chili powder
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon ground coriander
- 1 teaspoon cocoa powder
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1 tablespoon agave nectar
- 2 tablespoons lime juice
- ¼ cup all-purpose flour or gluten-free flour
- 2 cups unsalted vegetable stock
- 1 ½ teaspoons salt or to taste
To Assemble and Serve:
- 8 corn tortillas or flour tortillas (6-inch)
- 1 cup vegan pepper jack cheese or other cheese of your choice
- Cilantro leaves
- 1 jalapeño sliced (optional)
- 2 tablespoons red onion minced
Instructions
- Drain the jackfruit well in a wire mesh strainer, then squeeze firmly to remove excess brine and break the pieces into shredded, uneven chunks.
- Heat olive oil in a wide skillet over medium-high heat. After 90 seconds, when the oil is hot, add the jackfruit in an even layer. Cook for 8 minutes, stirring and flipping every 2 minutes, until lightly golden on multiple sides.
- Add the red onion, the garlic, coriander, cumin, and oregano and sauté for another 2 minutes until the onions and garlic are fragrant
- Stir in the tomato paste, water, lime juice, and salt. Reduce to medium-low heat and cook for 6 minutes, stirring every 60 seconds, until most of the liquid has reduced. Remove from the heat and set aside.
- Place the chipotle peppers, pinto beans, water, tomato paste, and salt in a bowl and combine thoroughly. Remove and mash roughly ¼ of the beans with the back of a spoon and add them back into the bowl of beans.
- To make the enchilada sauce, place the chili powder, cumin, coriander, cocoa powder, cinnamon, tomato paste, agave nectar, lime juice, flour, vegetable stock, and salt in a blender and blend until completely smooth.
- Pour the sauce into a saucepan and bring to a simmer over medium heat, whisking every 30 seconds or so for 5-6 minutes until thickened enough to coat the back of a spoon. Remove from the heat.
- Preheat the oven to 375°F (190°C). Spread ½ cup of the enchilada sauce evenly across the bottom of a 9 x 13-inch baking dish or casserole dish.
- Warm the tortillas in a dry skillet over medium heat for 30 seconds per side to make them pliable.
- Fill each tortilla with about a ¼ cup portion of the jackfruit meat and beans, roll tightly, and place seam-side down in the baking dish.
- Pour the remaining enchilada sauce evenly over the enchiladas and sprinkle the cheese evenly across the top. Cover the dish tightly with foil and bake for 20 minutes.
- Remove the foil and bake for 10 additional minutes, until the sauce is bubbling and the cheese is fully melted. Remove from the oven and let stand for 5 minutes before serving. Optionally garnish with cilantro, jalapeño, and red onion.
Notes
Enter your email & I'll send it to your inbox. Plus, get great new recipes from me every week!
By submitting this form, you consent to receive emails from Cinnamon Snail.
Cathy says
Chock full of delicious flavor