This Sweet Potato & Black Bean Vegetarian Meatball Enchilada Bake is ultimate comfort food!
I meant to get this post up yesterday but instead I went to bed early and it was totally worth it, haha! My sleep is very precious to me and although Eli has gotten really good at sleeping through the night (most nights), I still feel like I’m always tired.
I feel like I’m always either chasing after Eli, working on the blog or cleaning the house. Somedays it seem like all I do is clean!
At least working on the blog usually means cooking, so dinner is easy. This Sweet Potato & Black Bean Vegetarian Meatball Enchilada Bake is one of my new favorite dinners! (I made this recipe before I started Weight Watchers, so I’m not sure of the point value).
I adapted it from one of my favorite veggie burger recipes and turned it into a Mexican style dish with enchilada sauce and melty cheese. And, it’s SO good! There’s tons of spices that make it really flavorful and it’s great for a make ahead meal too.
If you’re looking to make more of a meal out of this dish, they go perfectly topped on a bed of cauliflower rice. I just tossed mine with a little salt, pepper and lime juice, but you could make it anyway you like.
Sweet Potato & Black Bean Vegetarian Meatball Enchilada Bake
- Total Time: 1 hour 30 minutes
- Yield: 20 1x
Description
Sweet potato and black bean vegetarian meatballs baked in enchilada sauce with cheese!
Ingredients
- 2 cups peeled and diced sweet potato, about one large sweet potato
- 2 teaspoons olive oil, divided
- 2 cups cooked brown rice, I like to use an 8.8 oz package pre-cooked rice to make it easier
- 1 (15 oz) can black beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 flax egg (1 tablespoon ground flax mixed with 2 1/2 tablespoons water, let sit for 3 minutes)
- 2 tablespoons bread crumbs, gluten free if necessary
- 2 tablespoons chopped cilantro
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon ground onion
- 1/2 teaspoon paprika
- 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika (optional)
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 cup enchilada sauce
- 1/2 cup grated cheese
- Optional toppings: cilantro, red onion, avocado
Instructions
- Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees F. On a large sheet pan, toss together the diced sweet potatoes, 1 teaspoon olive oil and a pinch of salt and pepper. Roast sweet potatoes until fork tender, about 35 minutes.
- Add roasted sweet potatoes, black beans and brown rice to a food processor and blend until kind of smooth but still a little chunky.
- Transfer mixture to a large bowl and add the flax egg, bread crumbs, cilantro and all the spices. Use your hands to mix until everything is combined. Use a tablespoon scoop to scoop the meatballs and roll them into balls.
- Raise oven temperature to 400 degrees F. Heat a large oven safe skillet over medium heat and add 1 teaspoon olive oil and add meatballs. Cook meatballs until warmed through and browned, about 10 minutes, flipping occasionally.
- Pour the enchilada sauce over the meatballs and top with cheese. Place skillet back into the 400 degree F oven and bake until sauce is bubbly and cheese is melted, 15-20 minutes.
- Garnish with your favorite garnish and enjoy!
Notes
If you want you can serve it over cauliflower rice to make it more of a meal.
- Prep Time: 25 mins
- Cook Time: 65 mins
- Category: Dinner, Gluten Free, Vegetarian
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Is this recipe for 4 servings?
4-6 depending on how much people eat 🙂
I have never written a review before this one but felt this deserves one! This is delicious!! I made it and served it over cauliflower rice as suggested. Thank you for such a delicious recipe my entire family liked! Can’t wait to try more of your recipes!
Yah! I’m so glad you enjoyed this recipe! And that your family liked it too, thats awesome! 🙂
This dish is amazing!! My family and I really enjoyed it.
I”m so glad to hear that, Monica!! 🙂
If you were to freeze these would you do that before or after baking?
before 🙂
So yummy! Looking for some great new vegetarian recipes and hit the jackpot with this one! Made it ahead on Monday night, had it for dinner last night and the leftovers for lunch today were even better! Only issue I had was that my kids didn’t want to eat it but because it’s been so hot here, they aren’t eating much of anything right now. Will definitely be making these again!
Yah! I’m so glad you liked it! It’s been so hot here too and sometimes it’s hard to have an appetite!
I tried making this – and while it is delicious – the “meatballs” didn’t hold their shape and kind of turned into splats in the oven once I added the sauce. What am I doing wrong?
Hmm, mine aren’t super firm like a pre-packaged veggie meatball but they didn’t fall apart either. Maybe try to refrigerate them to firm them up a little before you bake them? was your mixture really wet? Maybe add some more breadcrumbs to it. It’s hard to know exactly what went wrong!
This was delicious!
I used 2 cups and more cheese and adjusted the seasonings just a smidge. Also made a cashew cream as a condiment. But overall, this was REALLY awesome! I ate it with the cauliflower rice as you suggested. Also, used the meat as the inside of enchiladas …Ymmy as well!
I’m so glad to hear you liked it! Thank you for the kind words 🙂
I made these tonight and can’t say enough about how much we enjoyed them! So glad I listened to you and went with the enchilada sauce instead – what a great idea. Thank you for an awesome addition to my vegetarian options!!!
I’m so glad to hear you liked it, Liz!! 🙂
Looks Yummy! I will make it with your instruction. And I will use gluten-free breadcrumbs. Thanks for sharing!
Thanks! I hope you enjoy!
So freakin good!!!!
Thank you!! I’m so glad you enjoyed 🙂
This recipe was DELICIOUS!. I didn’t have flax so made a slight variation in using one egg so I needed to use a bit more flour (oat for gluten free) and ithe dish still turned out to be really tasty. I’m normally not good for leftovers for more than one day but this recipe kept me coming back until all gone!
Hi Pat! I’m so glad to hear you liked it! And glad to hear it worked well as leftovers, haha! 🙂
These were amazing! I used quoina instead of brown rice and baked them in the oven. So good!!!! My husband loved them too!
Awesome!! I’m so glad to hear you both enjoyed them! 🙂
I just made these last night. They were amazing! I used what I had on hand (half brown rice, half white / an egg instead of a flax egg… Though I should have used aquafaba which I forgot I had / dried coriander instead of cilantro / panko crumbs instead of bread crumbs). They are hearty and filling, and SUPER easy to make. I’m excited to try your other recipes!
I love that you adapted them with the ingredients you had! So glad to hear you enjoyed them! 🙂
These sound amazing!! Can I use regular egg instead of flax egg?
Thank you! Definitely! 🙂
I feel like you’re so awesome at making healthy Mexican-inspired dinner recipes! Love the idea of these “meatballs” & will definitely have to try them.
Haha, thank you, Nicole! I’m a little obsessed with Mexican food 🙂
Hey Izzy…..! This looks mouth wateringly delicious; I will try to making this from your recipe…..Thanks for sharing…keep shared your delicious recipes…..!
Thanks so much, Samantha!
Hi what kind of enchilada sauce do you use? I don’t see the recipe
Hi Merri, I don’t really have one brand that I always buy, just whatever looks healthy-ish and tastes good! I do like the Hatch brand though 🙂
Can’t wait to try this one ! Really enjoy receiving your great recipes in my inbox. Keep them coming !
Thanks so much, Jann!!
This is my first time on your website, do you ever include nutrition facts? This looks amazing btw!
Hi Marci, I do include them on some posts, I just haven’t gotten around to adding them to every post. I will work on it though!
I look forward to it, thank you.
Looks good!!