These red and green enchiladas are inspired by my trips to Santa Fe, New Mexico! I love visiting Santa Fe for my fill of saucy burritos, enchiladas and breakfast dishes. Whenever the server asks if I want red sauce, green sauce or both, the answer is always both. They call it Christmas-style or divorciadas (divorced).
Coming to you just in time for Christmas or Christmas Eve dinner, these enchiladas are a festive and delicious main dish. They’re stuffed with vibrant vegetables, spinach, black beans, and enough cheese to qualify as a holiday meal.
I’ve been keeping this recipe on reserve for the holidays, and I just now realized that I poured the enchilada sauce in the wrong fashion. In Santa Fe, they split the sauce down the middle of the enchiladas, so each enchilada features both red and green sauce. Although, my way may be a little easier to distribute (and you can always just eat two enchiladas to get one of each)!
Do as you wish—the ingredients and quantities will remain the same. You’ll find side dish suggestions to round out your meal below. Wishing you a healthy and happy holiday season!
Watch How to Make Christmas Enchiladas
Christmas Enchilada Sauce Notes
For this recipe, you’ll need to make both red sauce and green sauce. Both recipes are quite simple.
You can make double the enchiladas to use up both sauces (perfect if you’re serving a crowd) or simply freeze half of each for a future batch of Christmas enchiladas. Another option? Keep both in the fridge and drizzle them over improvised dishes like quesadillas and eggy breakfasts.
Enchilada Serving Suggestions
Round out your meal with any of the following side dishes:
- The Best Guacamole or Fresh Herbed Avocado Salad
- Cilantro Lime Brown Rice
- Easy Refried Beans
- Esquites (Mexican Street Corn Salad): Make this with frozen corn.
- Mexican Green Salad with Jalapeño-Cilantro Dressing
- Roasted Cauliflower (Four Ways!): Look for the Mexican flavor variation.
More Enchiladas to Try
You’ll love these vegetarian enchilada recipes on Cookie and Kate:
- Black Bean Sweet Potato Enchiladas
- Roasted Veggie Enchilada Casserole
- Spinach Artichoke Enchiladas
- Veggie Black Bean Enchiladas
Please let me know how your enchiladas turn out in the comments! I love hearing from you.
Christmas Enchiladas
- Author:
- Prep Time: 25 minutes
- Cook Time: 45 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour 10 minutes
- Yield: 10 enchiladas 1x
- Category: Entree
- Method: Baked
- Cuisine: Southwestern
- Diet: Vegetarian
This enchilada recipe features both red and green sauce! These vegetarian enchiladas are stuffed with fresh veggies, black beans and cheese. Recipe yields 10 enchiladas.
Ingredients
- ½ batch (1 cup) red enchilada sauce
- ½ batch (1 cup) green enchilada sauce
- 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 large yellow onion, cut into 2” long thin strips
- 2 medium red bell peppers, cut into 2” long thin strips
- ¾ teaspoon fine salt, divided
- 8 ounces Baby Bella mushrooms, cleaned and thinly sliced
- 5 ounces baby spinach
- 4 cloves garlic, pressed or minced
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 can (15 ounces) black beans, drained and rinsed, or 1 ½ cups cooked black beans
- Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 4 ounces (1 packed cup) Monterey Jack cheese or pepper jack cheese (for extra kick)
- 10 corn tortillas
- Garnishes: Chopped red onion or radish or green onion, cilantro leaves and crumbled Cotija or feta cheese
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Lightly grease a 9 by 13-inch pan with olive oil or cooking spray.
- In a medium Dutch oven, warm the olive oil over medium heat. Add the onion, bell pepper and ½ teaspoon salt. Cook until the onion and pepper are tender, stirring occasionally, about 5 to 6 minutes.
- Add the mushrooms and remaining ¼ teaspoon salt. Continue cooking for 6 to 9 minutes, stirring often, until the mushrooms start to caramelize and stick to the base of the pan.
- Add the spinach in big handfuls, stirring after each. Cook until the spinach is wilted, about 2 to 4 minutes.
- Add the garlic and cumin and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds to 1 minute. Remove the pot from the heat and stir in the black beans, followed by the cheese. Season to taste with salt and pepper as desired. Set the mixture aside to rest for a few minutes.
- Meanwhile, spread the tortillas across a large, rimmed baking sheet and bake just until they are warm and pliable, about two minutes. Stack the tortillas and wrap them in a clean tea towel to keep them warm.
- To assemble the enchiladas, pour ⅓ cup of each sauce into the base of the prepared baking dish (half on one side, half on the other). Gently spread each sauce over each half of the baking dish.
- Working with one tortilla at a time, spread about ⅓ cup filling down the center of a tortilla. Roll the tortilla around the filling, then place them snugly side-by-side in the baking dish with the seams down. Spread the remaining ⅔ cup red sauce over one-half of the tortillas (to match the red sauce in the base of the dish), and the remaining green sauce over the other half.
- Bake, uncovered, on the middle rack for 20 to 22 minutes, until the sauce is bubbling around the edges and the top of the enchiladas are turning a bit more matte than glossy. Garnish as desired, and serve.
Notes
Make it gluten free: Use certified gluten-free ingredients and follow the gluten-free variation for the red enchilada sauce.
Sauce quantity: You will use just ½ batch of each sauce. You could make double the enchiladas to use up all the sauce, or freeze the leftover sauces separately for a future batch of Christmas enchiladas.
Vegetable enthusiast. Dog lover. I'm probably making a big mess in my Kansas City kitchen right now. 
Emily
Looks yummy! What brand of corn tortillas did you use in your photos?
Kate
Hi Emily! I used a local Kansas City company, Yoli.
Diana
This looks very appealing!
Do you think l could use frozen spinach, as l don’t have fresh on hand?
Thank you
Diana
Kate
Hi Diana! Sure you can try it. Be sure to thaw and remove as much moisture as you can. Let me know what you think!
Marilyn
I am anxious to try these. My family loves your spinach artichoke enchiladas, I am sure these will be another favorite!
Merry Christmas to you and your family!
★★★★★
Kate
I hope you love these ones too, Marilyn!
Griff Neilson
Wow, these really do taste like Christmas Enchiladas! Loved the hint of cumin in these bad boys. Thanks for spreading the holiday cheer!
★★★★★
Kate
You’re welcome, Griff!
Deb
Made these tonight as a last minute dinner decision and they were a huge hit as are all the recipes that you post. Next time will have to double as there was nothing left and my boys wanted more! The only substitution was Cheddar Cheese for the Monterey Jack. The green enchilada sauce is easy to make and delicious. Had red enchilada sauce in the freezer. Very pretty presentation and perfect for the holidays or anytime! Thanks Kate!
★★★★★
Deborah Lurie
Made these tonight as a last minute dinner decision and they were a huge hit as are all the recipes that you post. Next time will have to double as there was nothing left and my boys wanted more! The only substitution was Cheddar Cheese for the Monterey Jack. The green enchilada sauce is easy to make and delicious. Had red enchilada sauce in the freezer. Very pretty presentation and perfect for the holidays or anytime! Thanks Kate!
★★★★★
Kate
I love to hear that, Deborah! Thank you for taking the time to review.
Michelle
This was spectacular. Decided to make for Xmas eve dinner so we will have leftovers for Boxing Day. So glad we did. Love the mushrooms.
★★★★★
Kate
I’m glad you loved it! Thank you for your review, Michelle.
su clift
Is the cheese supposed to be shredded?
Kate
Hi Su, Yes. I hope you love it!
Donna
To my surprise, I had all of the ingredients for this enchilada recipe in my pantry, so I course had to make it. It is delicious! Thanks for another great recipe, Kate.
Kate
You’re welcome, Donna
Lauren Hollrah
Love this so much. Yours is the only enchilada sauce I will make ever again! And now there’s an easy green sauce. These are so yummy. I made an extra half pan to freeze for later.
★★★★★
Kate
I’m glad you loved them, Lauren!
Sean Ashburner
Hi, do you use the small taco-sized corn tortillas for this? Just wondering, because the corn tortillas I see at my grocery store seem too small to wrap up the filling. If I replace them with larger flour tortillas, do you think they will still be good? Would it be the same cook time? Thanks!
Kate
Hi! Yes, I used corn tortillas for this. You can try it with flour. Let me know what you think!
sam
how do I make this dairy free?
Kate
Hi Sam, this recipe would need to be highly adapted to make dairy free. But you could try my Vegan Sour Cream in place of the cheese. I haven’t tried it so I’m not sure the result. Let me know how it turns out if you do!
Rebekah
I always love your recipes! If I wanted to leave it the mushrooms, would you suggest replacing them with something or just leaving them out? Thanks!
Kate
Hi! You can leave them out or add more peppers if you like. Let me know what you think!
Emma Anderson
Do you use the small taco-sized corn tortillas for this? I am just wondering, I will try these for the new year aside from the traditional dishes that we have been serving in the past.
Kate
Hi Emma! I used corn tortillas, which are pretty standard sizing.
Margaret
Are these enchilada’s freezable? I saw that the sauce is, however, I’m making meals ahead to freeze for someone soon to deliver a wee one.
★★★★★
Jacquie Burrows
These are absolutely perfect! Easy to make, quick to make and very very tasty. Thank you once again for creating such awesome recipes.
★★★★★
Kate
I’m glad you love them, Jacquie!
Nancy P
I made these for boxing day dinner turned out really well and a nice change from the usual Christmas meals. My hubby who is not vegetarian loved the red enchilada sauce. I had most of the ingredients on hand and will sub cheddar next time for the cheese. Thanks Cookie and Kate I am so grateful for your recipes.
★★★★★
Kate
Wonderful to hear, Nancy! Thank you for your review.
CB
These are fantastic, even better heated up the next day for lunch!
★★★★★
Kate
That’s great CB! I’m glad you loved them.
Julie
I’ve been making a sweet potato enchilada for years, but this recipe will be replacing that old standby. Big time comfort food feel and also as good as takeout/a restaurant meal! There are a few moving parts to this recipe so it will be a weekend meal for me – but it’s straightforward and all the steps are absolutely worth it (including the two sauces!). Thank you for another great recipe, Kate! You’ve become my go to source for easy, healthy meals.
P.S. I used a 10 inch whole wheat flour tortilla and they turned out really well (I just folded up the bottom). Will try corn next time!
★★★★★
Kate
I’m glad you loved it! Thank you for sharing, Julie.
Leigh Ann
OMG! I’m blown away at home awesome these are! So delicious!
★★★★★
Kate
I’m happy you think so, Leigh! I appreciate your review.
ME
This is a great recipe. I dont like rolling the enchiladas. I always find that they flop open too easily so I added more cheese and made it into a lasagna type casserole instead layering sauce, tortillas, beans and cheese. It was great. The sauces were really amazing.
Kate
I appreciate your feedback!
Sharon
I made the Christmas Enchiladas and they were exceptionally good.
Easy to make, my family loved them. Even my meat loving husband loved it. Highly reccommend. Very tasty!! The only thing different I did, was to add pepper jack and cheddar cheeses as we don’t like feta or cojita.
Love your website.
★★★★★
Kate
I’m so happy to hear that! I appreciate you sharing, Sharon.
Katherine
Just finished making these (except skipped the green sauce and did all red sauce this time out of laziness) and they are so delicious! I had a tiny bit of leftover filling and ate it right out of the pan – tasted exactly what I was expecting the inside of an enchilada to taste like! SO YUMMY
My presentation is a hot mess, I tried to fill the tortillas before they were pliable enough. Make sure you let the tortillas heat up!
The only changes I made were swapping the cheese for cheddar cheese since that was all I had, and skipping the spinach since we were out. Cant wait to try it again with the spinach added back in, the right cheese and also with the green sauce!
Thanks for this recipe! As per usual for recipes from your site and cookbook, I will be adding this to our weekly rotation.
★★★★★
Kate
Thank you for sharing your experience and how you made it, Katherine! I’m happy to hear how much you are enjoying my recipes.
Nicole
Can these be frozen after baking? Obviously without the garnish. I cook for just me & would love to try this, but I know I could never get through 10 servings in a few days.
Kate
Hi Nicole, I don’t know how they would hold up. You could try freezing them in single servings. I know some of my other enchilada recipes do well frozen. If you try it, let me know!
Jennifer B
These are soooo good! I made my own red sauce and bought some Hatch chile enchilada sauce for the green–used pepper jack cheese and kale instead of spinach. My husband and I both loved them, thank you for the great recipe and inspiration.
★★★★★
Kate
Thank you for sharing, Jennifer! I appreciate your review.
AshleyMara
Just made these and they’re delicious!!
★★★★★
Kate
I’m glad you loved these enchiladas, Ashley!
Megan
I made this last week and it turned out so yummy!! Just felt like it took a while for some reason. Also made two recipes from the cookbook this week. All great.
★★★★★
Kate
Thank you, Megan!
Ginger Ziccardi
Made these last night and they were so yummy. Will be hitting the leftovers this afternoon. Thanks so much for this and teaching me to make the best ever quesadilla. Love all the additional information and details that you provide. Love this site!
★★★★★
Kate
Thank you, Ginger!
Sandy P.
These were delicious! Great timing on the post, we made them for Christmas dinner. We used refried beans from your earlier recipe in the filling.
Christina
Where does the sodium come from? This seems low in salt but the sodium in the nutrition facts is high.
Kate
Hi Christina, more on my Nutrition Disclaimer. You can reduce by not adding additional salt or be sure to use low sodium or no salt added ingredients.
Jenny C
Omg these enchiladas are DELICIOUS. My whole family devoured them – including the kid who doesn’t like spinach and the kid who doesn’t like black beans. To be honest, I wasn’t overwhelmingly excited about this recipe but so glad I tried it. SO good. I will never be the same.❤️
★★★★★
Kate
That’s great, Jenny! I’m glad they were a hit with everyone.
Tom
These are, hands down, the best enchiladas I have ever tasted and I live in SoCal where there’s lots of great Mexican food. Since Christmas is in the rear view mirror, I opted to use only the red enchilada sauce (that’s a five star recipe by itself). The only thing I changed was I subbed mayocoba beans for the black beans. I like black beans but the mayocoba beans have a creamy texture and buttery flavor that made these enchiladas mouth-watering.
★★★★★
Cassandra
I made these enchiladas this evening and they were delicious!! I used the red enchilada sauce recipe and a similar tomatillo sauce recipe. My husband said it tasted like the enchiladas had meat in them- the beans and mushrooms gave the dish heartiness.
These aren’t typical NM Christmas style enchiladas, but the flavor combination is amazing in its own right. This is a dish I will definitely be making again.
★★★★★
Kate
I’m excited you enjoyed them and plan to make them again, Cassandra!
anne
Tried this and we all loved it. Also make your better broccoli recipe every few weeks so thanks you for your amazing recipes
Kate
You’re welcome, Anne! I’m happy you enjoyed it.
DES
I am very excited to make these. I made black beans and your red enchilada sauce tonight (yum!) and will make the green sauce and enchiladas tomorrow. It is for a birthday dinner and I’m wondering if I can pre assemble the enchiladas a couple hours beforehand and then bake closer to dinner time? If yes, should I store it in the fridge or keep at room temperature till I bake?
Kate
Hi Des! Sorry for my delay. What did you decide to do and how did it turn out?
DES
I fully assembled the enchiladas a couple hours before and refrigerated them. The only additional thing I did was lightly rub the tortillas with butter before warming in the oven; I thought a thin layer of fat would help prevent the enchiladas from getting too soggy during the wait time. I took them out half hour before baking and then baked per your instructions. They turned out amazing! The birthday girl was very pleased. I will definitely be making this recipe again. Thanks Kate for another well-written recipe and a delicious result.
Jounayet Rahman
This was FABULOUS!
★★★★★
Kate
I’m glad you enjoyed it, Jounayet!
Kathryn
Kate, I made these last night for a non-vegetarian friend and they were delicious! I admit that I doubled the cheese (so how could they not be good, right), but the veggie flavor came through and it was a nice mix of flavors. Thank you for making my dinner a success!
★★★★★
Kate
You’re welcome, Kathryn! I appreciate your review.
Malissa
New Mexican enchiladas and no Hatch Green chiles? Eeeeeee no bueno that’s lame.
★★★
Kate
Hi Malissa, Thank you for your comment and I appreciate your feedback. I try to keep recipes as authentic as I can, while adding my own interpretation. I hope you try these and let me know what you think of the taste.
Courtney
Trying to decide which recipe takes first place … this one or the black bean and sweet potato enchiladas. Overall, I think the enchiladas were tasty. I modified and added jalapeño to the mixture and an extra bell pepper. Next time I will also add additional spices like cayenne, chili powder, smoked paprika and perhaps adobo peppers to turn up the heat a bit.
★★★★★
Kate
I’m glad you like both! Thank you for sharing how you made them, Courtney.
Leanna
Hi Kate,
I’d like to up the protein in these and am considering adding either quinoa or another can of black beans. Do you have an opinion or have you tried other options in the recipe development?
Thanks,
Leanna
Kate
I would suggest more beans. Let me know what you think!
Anna
Last night I hosted my first dinner with 12 people in over 3 years. These enchiladas were such a hit! It was easy to prep slice the veggies a day ahead and make the sauce a bit earlier in the day. The enchiladas went in the oven right when our guests arrived and were warm and 20 minutes later.
We had Cilantro-Lime Rice, and Cabbage and Black Bean Slaw from the cookbook as sides. This made it really easy because the Black Bean Slaw doesn’t need to be served hot, and the rice stayed warm in the rice cooker.
Thank you for helping me host a successful dinner party. I make your recipes several times a week and couldn’t have done it without Cookie and Kate!
Sharon
I have made the Christmas Enchiladas and they have quickly
become a family favorite. Easy and full of flavor. Love the balance of the red and green sauces, makes a nice presentation. I did add some cheddar cheese and used pepper jack cheese as we like an extra kick.
Thanks for all your recipes, always a winner.
★★★★★
Kate
I’m glad you enjoy them, Sharon! Thank you for your review.