Looking to add more veggies to your diet in 2022? My Veggie Enchiladas with Hatch Green Chile – Spinach Sauce make it easy to enjoy a favorite comfort food while loading up on plenty of healthy vegetables.
Veggies in the filling include corn, onions and zucchini (throw in mushrooms too, if you like) while the sauce made easily in a blender includes fire-roasted green chilies and spinach. The veggie filing reminds me of a quick side dish I often make, but now I’m stuffing it corn tortillas as the main dish.
When most people think of enchiladas without meat, they don’t exactly think “loads of protein.” However, these vegetarian enchiladas feature my secret low-fat protein boost ingredient – cottage cheese! I like to blend cottage cheese for a smooth texture and 1 ½ ounces has about 6 grams of protein, which how much is stuffed into the center of each enchilada (along with additional protein sourced from other ingredients that totals 19g per enchilada).
Hatch green chile season is typically August through September, so sourcing fresh can be difficult if not impossible in the winter. I’ve found the next best thing is diced frozen hatch peppers that have already been roasted – I buy in bulk from The Hatch Chile Store and keep in freezer so I can satisfy my cravings year-round. If you absolutely must substitute, a green chile salsa would be my next choice and then green chiles from a can after that.
The sauce comes together quickly in the blender. No need to simmer, a deep, complex flavor like it’s been on the stovetop all day already exists when using hatch that have been oven-blistered or fire-roasted. I like to just pulse sauce ingredients together so everything stays chunky – but if it’s your preference, blend it smooth.
Assemble enchiladas with cottage cheese, cheddar cheese and sauteed veggies. Roll up and place seam-side down. Pour sauce evenly over top and sprinkle with a little extra cheese. Bake for 30 minutes and garnish as desired.
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Easy Veggie Enchiladas with Hatch Green Chile and Spinach Sauce offer loads of vegetables and a surprising amount of protein thanks to cottage cheese blended smooth. In fact, each enchilada has about of protein! Sauce is prepared in blender, and the casserole bakes up for 20 to 30 minutes in oven until bubbling! Great for make-ahead weeknight meals.
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- ½ cup chopped white onion
- 1 large zucchini chopped (between ¾ and 1 lb.)
- 2 cups frozen corn kernels
- 2 teaspoons minced garlic
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- ¼ cup white wine
- 8 ounces 2% cottage cheese pureed smooth
- 8 ounces pepper jack cheese grated
- 8 ounces white cheddar grated
- 16 ounces roasted hatch green chiles; skinned seeded and diced*
- ¾ to 1 cup vegetable broth
- 2 cups fresh spinach
- ¼ cup half and half
- ½ teaspoon each: cumin salt, ground black pepper
- 8 white corn tortillas
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Preheat oven to 375F.
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Add olive oil to large skillet and bring to medium-high heat. Add onion, corn and zucchini and sauté for 4 to 6 minutes until softening and getting brown on some of the edges. Add garlic and cumin, and sauté for 1 minute, stirring constantly. Add wine to deglaze pan and stir quickly for about 30 seconds to pull up the browned bits on skillet. Remove from heat and set aside.
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In 9” x 13” baking dish, arrange 8 corn tortillas. Pour an even amount of the pureed cream cheese in each as well as equal portions of the cheese (reserving ½ cup for the top).
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Spoon in approximately 2 heaping teaspoons of the vegetable mixture on top of cheeses. Roll up tortillas and turn seam to bottom of dish.
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In blend, pulse together green chiles, broth, spinach and half and half until coarsely blended – does not need to be smooth.
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Pour sauce across top of enchiladas and sprinkle top with remaining cheese.
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Bake at 375 F degrees for 20 to 30 minutes, or until bubbling and cheese lightly browning on top. Let cool for 5 minutes before sprinkling with additional garnishes like avocado, diced tomato, red onion, etc.
