Vegan Butternut Squash Poblano Enchilada Casserole
This Vegan Butternut Squash Poblano Enchilada Casserole is creamy, savory and filled with black beans and roasted veggies. Perfect weeknight dinner!
Enchiladas are one of my all time favorite meals to eat. But sometimes the idea of making the filling, rolling the enchiladas, prepping the sauce can be a little daunting. Well, I can put those thoughts to bed, because this is one of the easiest enchilada casseroles ever.
There’s no rolling, no fuss. Just roast your veggies (all on one tray), make your creamy white sauce (which is super fast and easy), then layer it all together in one baking dish and put it in the oven.
TSV TIP: More of a meal prep kinda person? Make this ahead of time and freeze it for an easy weeknight dinner. There’s really no reason not to make these.
To make this recipe even more “Fall-ish” I opted to use butternut squash and poblanos. This combo of veggies is seriously delicious. The squash makes this casserole filling and adds another creamy texture to the mix and the poblanos add a nice texture and work really well with everything else.
How to make Vegan Butternut Squash Poblano Enchilada Casserole
Not a poblano fan? No problem, swap them out for bell peppers. And if you don’t feel like tackling a butternut squash, (and can’t find one pre-cut like I did – shoutout to Trader Joe’s) then use a sweet potato instead.
To make the super creamy white sauce, you just need a few ingredients. Vegan butter, flour, vegan cream cheese, green enchilada sauce, green chiles and vegan chicken broth.
Most of these ingredients can be found at your local grocery store, but I have also linked some of my favorites.
How to serve Vegan Butternut Squash Poblano Enchilada Casserole
Once your sauce is made and your veggies are roasted, you will just add a couple of things to the veggies before assembling – more enchilada sauce, black beans, corn and jalapeños – before giving it all a good stir.
To assemble, layer white sauce, tortillas and the veggie mixture in your baking dish. Repeat these layers a second time, then top it all off with a final layer of tortillas and the rest of your white sauce.
Put it in the oven for 20 minutes (plus 5 more under the broiler) and let it rest for a few before digging in.
I topped mine with lots of fresh cilantro (because I love it) and avocado.
If you have any leftovers, place them in individual containers for easy workday lunches. They will keep in the fridge for 2 days.
Need more recipe inspo? Check these out:
Vegan Butternut Squash Poblano Enchilada Casserole
Ingredients
- 2 cups butternut squash cut in cubes
- 1 small red onion sliced
- 2 poblano peppers deseeded and diced
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1/2 tbsp dried oregano
- 1 tsp smoked paprika
- salt & pepper to taste
- 3 tbsp vegan butter
- 3 tbsp flour
- 1.5 cups green enchilada sauce* separated
- 1 cup vegan chicken broth**
- 8 oz vegan cream cheese***
- 1 4-ounce can green chiles
- 1 15-ounce can black beans drained and rinsed
- 1 4-ounce can diced jalapeños
- 1/2 cup corn frozen or canned
- 18 corn tortillas
- cilantro and avocado for topping
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Add squash, poblano and red onion to the baking sheet. Drizzle with olive oil, oregano, paprika and a good pinch of salt & pepper. Toss to coat evenly. Place in the oven for 20 minutes, flipping halfway.
- While the veggies are roasting, prepare the creamy white sauce. Melt butter in a pan over medium heat. Add flour to the pan and whisk until smooth and bubbly.
- Add 1 cup of enchilada sauce and vegan chicken broth to the pan and stir to combine.
- Add vegan cream cheese and green chiles and whisk until smooth. Remove from the heat and set aside. This should make about 3.5 cups of sauce
- To make the filling, add the roasted veggies, black beans, diced jalapeños, corn and remaining 1/2 cup of enchilada sauce to a bowl and toss to combine. Taste the filling and add salt if needed.
- Lower oven heat to 350 degrees.
- To assemble, pour 1 cup of white sauce in the bottom of the baking dish, followed by 6 tortillas and 1/2 of the veggie/bean mixture. Repeat this layer, starting with 1 cup of white sauce. Finally, pour 1/2 of the remaining sauce, followed by the last 6 tortillas and then the remaining sauce.
- Place the casserole in the oven, uncovered, for 20 minutes. Turn oven to broil and bake for an additional 3-5 minutes (or until top browns slightly). Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 5-10 minutes before cutting.
- Top with cilantro and avocado, cut into 8 pieces and enjoy.
Video
Notes
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I would recommend mixing the veggies all together on the baking sheet so they marinate in each other’s flavors
This is absolutely delicious—LOVE the butternut squash w/ the poblano peepers and just a little bit of smoke w/ the paprika!! I made my vegan creme cheese w/ tofu (firm tofu, 2 T lemon juice, 2 T apple cider vinegar and 1 tsp sea salt in food processor) to make the recipe healthier w/ more protein and less fat……a winner!!
Woo – love the homemade vegan cream cheese add!
Excellent tip. I used half cream cheese (dairy) and half soft tofu (1/2 package MoriNu)! I will try it with all tofu or almost all tofu in the future!
I have made this recipe twice now! I add more spices to the sauce when I make it (bit of cumin and a touch of coriander, garlic powder, and more heat). I also substituted fresh chilis for the canned jalapeno (for more heat).
These were absolutely DELICIOUS! I subbed a shallot for the red onion and used an enchilada sauce that had some green chiles so I left out the can of green chiles. I also only used about 8 tortillas. Seriously so good though I would have never thought to put butternut squash or poblanos in this and the sauce is SO flavorful! Thank you for sharing, I love every single recipe I’ve made of yours and I’ve made a lot of them! lol
Thank you so much! And I’m so glad you liked it!
Made it with real cream cheese and the sauce came out amazing, veggies were tender and awesome amount of spice, I will definitely make this again!
Yay! So glad you liked it!
I just got a Le Creuset casserole dish for my birthday and knew I had to break it in with a tasty vegan casserole. I made this last night and WOW. The flavor profile, texture and spice are all unreal. I could even smell the savory smokiness while it was baking (I think from the poblano and smoked paprika?). The creamy texture of the white sauce and roasted veggies combined with the crispiness of the top tortillas from the broiler make this dish truly delicious until the last bite. The leftovers tonight were just as good. I highly recommend adding the optional avocado on the top, it adds a fresh component that helps balance out the spice. I will definitely keep this on rotation.
So glad you liked this. And congrats on your new Le Creuset! I got my first one last year and it feels so special to cook with it!
Wow this is so fantastic!!! I added some zucchini to the veggie mix but otherwise followed the recipe as written! My husband was very impressed with the way it browned up on top under the broiler. This recipe is definitely a keeper, can’t wait to dig into the leftovers for lunch tomorrow!
So glad you both liked it. And there’s nothing wrong with some extra veggies 🤗
Made this last night. It was delicious! thanks very much for this 🙂
So glad you liked it!
Absolutely delicious, will be making this frequently!
Awesome 🎉 So glad you found a recipe to add to your recipe rotation!
I wonder how this would be with lasagne noodles?
Thank you for sharing this recipe! I made it for dinner tonight and my husband and I loved it! So delicious! Will definitely make it again and again!
Awesome – so glad it was a hit with you and the hubby 🙂
I haven’t tried this, yet but the recipe seems a little confusing. In the list of ingredients it says 1.5 cups of enchilada sauce, but when I read the directions I cannot find where the extra 1/2 cup of enchilada sauce is used (the white sauce only calls for 1 cup of enchilada sauce).
Good catch! I updated the recipe to include that last 1/2 cup 🙂
What size casserole dish do you use? Trying to determine if this will actually serve 8 for the family I’m cooking for (you know how everybody’s serving sizes are different ?)
I used a 9×13 dish and I would say the serving sizes are decent, especially if you served it alongside a side or two 🙂
I’m not vegan so I used real light cream cheese and thought this dish was awesome! Super spicy and filling with all that squash and beans. I will make this again!!
Awesome – so glad you liked it!!!
Excellent, definitely a keeper on the regular meal list.
Awesome! So glad you liked it!
Do you ever use nut-based homemade cream cheese for this? If so how much, etc.
(I find that I like the flavor of most of your recipes, but I’m aiming for a more whole foods approach and I’m still kinda new to it all- I can’t quite gauge how to make substitutions yet. lol)
Hey Rebecca – you can definitely make a homemade cream cheese. I don’t personally have a recipe for one, but there are plenty on the internet. Also, the cream cheese I use is almond-based, and has pretty clean ingredients. So, I prefer the convenience factor while still eating pretty “whole”. Hope that helps 🙂
The white sauce really ruined this for me. Once the vegan cream cheese was added it completely overpowered the other flavors and that’s really all you could taste. It ended up tasting really sweet, not like queso at all and then it ruined the rest of the casserole by completely overpowering that too. The vegan cream cheese was just way tooooo much. Glad some people liked it, but I think this is a recipe that’s only going to appeal to a very limited following.
Sorry it didn’t work our for you. It could have possibly been the brand of cream cheese used – or maybe this one just isn’t right for you. Either way, I’m glad you gave it a try 🙂
This was phenomenal! I made it for my omni husband and he said the queso was so real He said I knocked it out of the park. I think I’ll make if for Thanksgiving too. Thank you for creating it.
Yay! So glad it was a hit. And this sounds like a great addition for a Thanksgiving menu – but be on the lookout for lots of new Thanksgiving recipes that are coming in November too 🙂
This was SO good! I’ll be adding this to the regular rotation!
Yay! So glad you liked it!!!
Sorry, forgot to rate! 5 Star fo sho!!!
This was sooooo delicious!!! Next time I will “chop” my red onion though instead of “slice”. Everything else is chopped into bite-sized pieces, so when ya get to an onion you actually have a long spaghetti-string like piece that ya either have to cut or slurp up. Lol This one’s a definite keeper, right up there with your Soyrizo Pasta that has become a weekly asked-for-by-my-carnivore-husband meal!!! <3 <3 <3
This was absolutely delicious! Thank You Rene! My only change was I used sweet paprika instead because it was the only one I had on hand.
I really want to try this recope, but am not a fan of corn tortillas. Do you think I could sub with flour tortillas?
Totally. I actually love this recipe with flour tortillas. Some people don’t like flour tortillas in baked casseroles like this because the texture can be a bit soggy. But I don’t mind the texture at all.