Vegan Creamy Poblano Enchiladas

This good old girl is from Texas, and she sure does love herself some Tex-Mex food- especially Enchiladas! I created these Vegan Creamy Poblano Enchiladas. They are smoky, creamy, spicy, savory, tasty, and all made stove-top with one pan. I used flour tortillas for a Tex-Mex flair and filled them with delicious smoky Oyster Mushrooms and Spinach. Woohoo they are good!

This was one of those recipes that just happily came to me. I was shopping at the Hollywood Farmers Market, perusing the mushroom stand, per-usual for a Sunday morning. Oyster mushrooms caught my eye. Usually, I’d bread and deep fry those puppies, or maybe I’d give ’em a good sear in my cast iron skillet, but that day I was really craving Mexican food. I bought the oyster mushrooms and kept shopping. Next thing I knew, I smelled some fresh peppers coming from a stand near-by. Poblano peppers were calling my name. I went to my greens guy, bought some spinach, and lastly I went to my salsa stand that also sells very good flour tortillas. El Machete is their name. They make amazing salsas, tortillas, chips, beans, rice, hot sauce, chimichurri- everything! Anyways, I got some flour tortillas from there (that’s what I was craving) and it all clicked in my head. Oyster Mushroom Enchiladas with Creamy Poblano Sauce. Boom baby! A plant-based Tex-Mex Dream. I was excited.

The process for making these Vegan Creamy Poblano Enchiladas really isn’t very difficult. You have to do a few things such as blacken the poblano peppers, make them sweat a bit, and then peel them. You also have to soak some cashews briefly. The best part of making these enchiladas is that it is all done on the stove-top baby! I created this recipe in the summer, and it was way too hot to turn on the oven. You make the filling, make the sauce, put the filling in the tortillas, roll them up, put them in a pan, cover with the sauce, put a splash of water, cover with a lid, and eat in minutes! It’s not all that difficult of a process, and should be sort of fun! I’d say put on a little bit of music, start cooking and enjoy yourself!

This recipe makes about six enchiladas, so if you’re feeding a crowd, I’d double or even triple the recipe. Since this is a stove top method, you might have to use a large skillet with a fitted lid or two skillets if you’re multiplying the recipe. I’ll add some additional notes at the bottom if you want to use your oven. You can also make these ahead and reheat- they turn out great!

And folks, if you make them, please let me know what you think, or tag me in an instagram post. I really love to see it when people make my recipes.

Enjoy this fabulous Tex-Mex creation, my people!

Enchilada Filling Ingredients

• 6 eight inch flour tortillas
• 1/2 lb. Oyster Mushrooms
• 1 Tbs. Olive Oil
• 2 tsp. Smoked Paprika
• 1 tsp. Cumin Powder
• 1/2 tsp. salt (or to taste)
• 1/2 tsp. black pepper (or to taste)
• “pat” of vegan butter (Optional! I used Miyokos)
• 6 oz. of fresh spinach chopped

Creamy Vegan Poblano Sauce Ingredients

• 1/2 cup of raw cashew
• Fresh filtered water for soaking
• 1 Large Poblano Pepper
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. Cumin Powder
• 1/2 tsp. Garlic Powder
• 1/2 tsp. of Onion Powder
• 1 cup of filtered water

Creamy Vegan Poblano Sauce Method

• First boil some water. Place the cashews in a bowl, and cover with the boiling water. Let them sit and soften for at least fifteen minutes.
• Place that poblano pepper directly on an open flame on the stove if you have a gas stove! I still like to cook with fire! If you don’t have a gas stove, turn your oven on to broil, and place them on a pan directly under the broiler. You will have to flip them every couple of minutes until they are charred on all sides. I like to get them really charred- they steam and peel easier.
• After they are charred place them directly into a bowl while still hot, and cover with a plate, saran wrap, or a fitted lid. You want to trap that moisture in there and let the pepper steam.
• After the poblano has steamed for about ten minutes or longer, carefully take it out of the bowl, and rub off that charred skin. Get off as much as you can. It should come off easily. If not, it may have needed to be a little more cooked or steamed for longer.
• After its peeled, take out the steam and seeds. Place the poblano in the blender.
• Drain and rinse the soaked cashews, and add them into the blender with the fresh cup of filtered water and the cumin powder, onion powder, garlic powder, and salt. Blend!
• Taste and adjust seasonings if needed. I think it’s perfect!

Filling and Enchilada Method

• Wipe your Oyster Mushrooms clean, and trim off any hard parts. Usually closer to the bottom from where they were picked. The stem closer to the caps and the caps are good to use. Roughly chop them. I’d say like 1/4 inch to 1/2 inch pieces.
• Heat up a cast iron skillet or other non-stick skillet to medium to medium/high heat. I like to put the mushrooms in without oil at first. put them in there and let them sweat a little bit. After some of the moisture has been released and they start to get a little char going, add in the olive oil and your paprika and cumin. Stir and let the flavors infuse into the oil for about a minute or two.
• Add in the fresh chopped spinach, the pat of butter (optional) and the salt and pepper.
• Filling is done! Remove the filling from the skillet. Take your tortillas and put some filling inside- enough to make it even. I wouldn’t over fill. Roll them up!
• Place the rolled and filled tortillas back in the skillet. Cover with sauce generously. Option to sprinkle with vegan cheese and chopped red onions. (Don’t need any of that as the sauce is incredible already!)
• Turn the burner on to medium heat to get it going, once it’s warm, splash some water in the sides of the pan, like 1/4 of a cup. Then immediately cover with a lid that truly fits the pan! You want it to fit completely so that steam works to heat the enchiladas, sauce and the cheese if you’re using it. Wait a few minutes, take it off the stove, and enjoy! It’s so damn good!

Additional Notes

• If you are making these stove-top please make sure that you are using a fitted lid on your pan to ensure that it steams up the sauce and the enchilada.
• If you want to fill up a casserole dish and use the oven, just set your oven to 375° F. Roll up your enchiladas and arrange in your dish. Cover with sauce and optional vegan cheese. You can put a splash of water evenly distributed around the pan (about a 1/4 cup of water) and seal with aluminum foil. Bake for about fifteen minutes.
• You can reheat stovetop with the exact same instructions or via oven with the exact same instructions. Happy Creamy Vegan Poblano Enchilada eating folks.

You may also like to try my Vegan Pumpkin Enchiladas for a fall Tex-Mex favorite, or you serve this up with my Cilantro Lime Rice. Jalapeno Cole-Slaw could also be a great side!