Quinoa Enchilada Casserole Recipe

Taste of Health / By

If you’re a fan of enchiladas, this may be just the recipe for you! 

Healthy Food

This Quinoa Enchilada Casserole recipe from Evette Rios combines the rich flavors of your favorite restaurant enchiladas with some simple ingredient swaps to increase the nutrition and create a dish your whole family can enjoy.

To ensure that you can cook this dish at home and meet Healthy Dining nutrition criteria, we provided measures for the toppings – and reduced the cheese in the filling by 1/3 cup. This minor change can help you to reduce your intake of saturated fat and align your diet with the recommendations put forth by the scientific committee behind our 2015 Dietary Guidelines.

How do you increase the nutrition of your favorite restaurant choices when making them at home?

Quinoa Enchilada Casserole
Serves 4

Ingredients:
8 corn tortillas

Enchilada sauce:

  • 2 Tbs. olive oil
  • 2 Tbs. flour
  • 3 Tbs. chili powder
  • 3 oz. (½ small can) tomato paste
  • 2.5 cups water
  • ½ tsp. garlic powder
  • ½ tsp. cumin powder
  • ½ tsp. onion powder
  • 1/8 tsp. kosher salt

Filling:

  • 1 15 oz. can low-sodium organic black beans, drained
  • 1 green chili, seeded, small diced
  • 2 cups cooked (in vegetable broth) quinoa seasoned generously with smoked paprika
  • 2 green and yellow peppers, small diced
  • 3 cloves of garlic, coarsely chopped
  • 1 Spanish onion, coarsely chopped
  • 1 large tomato, chopped
  • 2 large handfuls of spinach, chopped finely
  • Pepper Jack and cheddar cheeses, 2/3 cup

Toppings:

  • ¼ cup Pepper jack and cheddar cheeses
  • 2 Tbs. queso fresco cheese
  • ½ avocado, peeled, pitted, sliced in chunks
  • 2 Tbs. cilantro, coarsely chopped
  • Lime juice as needed

Directions:

  1. In a pot, whisk olive oil, chili powder and flour until flour begins to bubble. Cook for one minute until flour is cooked through and chili is fragrant.
  2. Add tomato paste, water and spices. Bring to simmer. Simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally to prevent clumping. Set aside.
  3. Combine filling ingredients in separate metal bowl. Set aside.
  4. Lightly coat bottom of casserole dish with sauce.
  5. Brush enchilada sauce over both sides of tortillas.
  6. Add filling to tortillas and roll tightly.
  7. Place tortillas seam-side down onto pan. Repeat until dish is fully lined with tortillas.
  8. Cover with three cheeses.
  9. Bake for 15-20 minutes at 375 degrees or until golden.
  10. Top with cilantro and avocado. Squeeze lime juice on top. Serve hot.

Nutrition Information (per serving)*:
630 calories, 25 g fat, 8 g saturated fat, 30 mg cholesterol, 1170 mg sodium, 85 g carbohydrates, 20 g fiber, 11 g sugar, 25 g protein.

* Recipe and nutrition information may vary by products (and/or brands) used.