4 Authentic Mexican Dishes Made Vegetarian

4 Authentic Mexican Dishes Made Vegetarian

Mexican cuisine is filled with flavor, ingredients and textures. Its famous for items like tostadas, enchiladas, tacos, burritos and taquitos, and typically utilizes ingredients such as cheese, meat, beans and tortillas. The good news is, if youre following a vegetarian diet (or simply looking for homemade alternatives to all your favorite south-of-the-border meals) Mexican food can be easily customized. Between using bulgur in place of beef and avocado as a base for your quesadilla fillings, here are some of the top vegetarian Mexican dishes as chosen by the Bobs Red Mill team (now well just need to do a multi-day taste test to satisfy our appetites).

Enchiladas

Enchiladas originated in Mexico and usually incorporate tortillas with cheese, sauce and meat. Even when theyre made without the meat, enchiladas are still savory, rich and delicious! Here are a couple of our favorite vegetarian enchilada recipes.

Black Bean and Creamy Kale Enchiladas

4 Authentic Mexican Dishes Made Vegetarian | Bob's Red Mill Blog These Black Bean and Creamy Kale Enchiladas are filled with chopped kale, Monterey Jack cheese, fresh cilantro, garlic, onion and Black Turtle Beans. Theyre so packed with flavor, in fact, that you might not even notice the meat is missing. Not only is the base of this enchilada recipe nutrient-dense and satisfying, the sauce is, too. Its made with our Unbleached White All-Purpose Flour or GF 1-to-1 Baking Flour, chili powder, cumin, garlic salt, dry oregano, tomato pasta and vegetable broth (or water). To spice things up a notch, add some cayenne pepper for a kick. Once the sauce is poured over the enchiladas, top with sour cream and shredded cheese and bake until bubbling and beautiful. You can serve these enchiladas alongside roasted chicken and a big bowl of homemade guacamole, so meat-eating guests can still opt for the extra protein if theyd like.

Bulgur, Black Bean, & Mushroom Enchilada Casserole

In this recipe for Bulgur, Black Bean & Mushroom Enchilada Casserole, Anetta of The Wanderlust Kitchen uses whole grain bulgur in place of ground beef. This dish can be customized based on your own dietary preferences, like using a non-dairy cheese or gluten free tortillas, or steel cut oats in place of bulgur. Like steel cut oat enthusiast Garianne Sheridan from The Peachy Prodigy states, Its fun to mess around and try new recipes with an ingredient. And thats especially true with this recipe. In addition to the Bulgur Wheat, it calls for corn tortillas, olive oil, white or brown mushrooms, black beans, mild enchilada sauce and shredded Monterey Jack cheese for that quintessential enchilada flavor. You can feel free to get creative with your toppings by using items like cherry tomatoes, Cotija cheese, finely chopped cilantro leaves, diced avocado, green onions and jalapeo. This is a super easy dish to throw together for a group or a family dinner and tastes delicious for leftovers the next day, too. We love that this dish can be assembled a couple days in advance to save time and that it freezes well cooked or uncooked.

Quesadillas

Quesadillas are a Mexican specialty that consist of tortillas and cheesebut from there, the options are endless! Often youll find meat, beans and veggies tossed along with the cheese into the tortillas before theyre cooked. But we think vegetarian quesadillas can be equally (if not more) delicious.

Butternut Squash Black Bean and Quinoa Quesadillas

4 Authentic Mexican Dishes Made Vegetarian | Bob's Red Mill Blog Lauren of Lauren Kelly Nutrition combines incredible flavors in these nutritious vegan Butternut Squash and Black Bean Quinoa Quesadillas. This is an excellent dish for lunch or dinner, kids and adults. Its made with just 8 ingredients: cooked quinoa, spinach, green onions, garlic, roasted butternut squash, black beans, tortillas and cilantro for topping. If you love cheese, you can feel free to add some, though theres something wonderful about this creative quesadilla meal without it! A spoonful of homemade salsa on top is a welcome addition, too.

Avocado Quesadillas

Were going cheese-less again with this power-packed recipe for Avocado Quesadillas. If youre the type of quesadilla eater who adds mounds of sliced avocados or is always asking for extra avocado, this ones for you! Kaitlin from The Garden Grazer brings these vegan Mexican quesadillas to life with just avocado, roma tomatoes, green onion, salsa, nutritional yeast and tortillas. You can use optional seasonings like smoked paprika, cumin and garlic powder to enhance the flavors. Our only question is, do we top this avo quesadilla with more avocados? We say yes!

Tostadas

Tostada means toasted, and this dish typically uses a toasted tortilla as its base. Tostadas can be served flat or in the shape of a mexican burrito bowl and filled with everything from shredded beef, to tomato, to cheese, lettuce and avocado. For the sake of this article, forego the meat and pack your tostado with a bunch of other nutritious goodness.

Black Bean and Mango Tostadas

4 Authentic Mexican Dishes Made Vegetarian | Bob's Red Mill Blog The flavors of mango and black bean go together beautifully in this recipe for Black Bean and Mango Tostadas from Two Peas and Their Pod. This tostada recipe incorporates all the best ingredients of late spring and summer, like mango, cilantro, lime wedges (or lime juice) and tomatoes. Make this vegetarian Mexican recipe for your first outdoor gathering of the season and pair it with an ice cold beverage.

Healthy Tostadas

This recipe for Healthy Tostadas from Oatmeal with a Fork is both gluten free and vegan. To create the flattened tostadas, the recipe calls for Bobs Red Mill Masa Harina, sea salt, olive oil, warm water and cooking spray. We love that these particular tostadas are baked, rather than fried, yet are still nice and crispy. You can top them with whatever youd like, or even do as Lauren suggests and set up a tostada bar for the group!

Tacos

Tacos, tacos, tacos! One of the best and most well-loved Mexican foods around. Theyre made with tortillas and fillings aplenty (including a variety of animal proteins like seafood, pork, chicken and beef). Luckily, vegetarian tacos are incredible, too!

Vegetarian Tacos

4 Authentic Mexican Dishes Made Vegetarian | Bob's Red Mill Blog In this recipe for Vegetarian Tacos, a vegetarian substitute taco filling is made with TVP Textured Vegetable Protein, tomato sauce, sugar, garlic, chili powder and cane sugar. Serve your vegetarian mixtures in taco shells with chopped tomatoes, shredded lettuce and the cheese and salsa of your choice, and you most likely wont even miss the meat.

Rice and Lentil Tacos with Vegan Queso and Chimichurri

These wonderfully unique Rice and Lentil Tacos with Vegan Queso and Chimichurri were debuted at Feast Portland 2017. Theyre created with a rice and lentil filling thats spiced with ingredients like cumin, minced garlic and ground cinnamon. A vegan queso from raw cashews, nutritional yeast, lemon juice and garlic powder boosts the flavors and pairs well with the filling. Of course, the chimichurri at the end adds not only a wealth of flavors but a whole lot of color, too. Whether youre a vegetarian or a complete meat eater, were sure youll love this healthy Mexican entree.

Side Dishes

When it comes to Mexican vegetable side dishes, vegetarian recipes are perfect! Theyll complement your main dishes and ensure that you and your guests arent too full before the main eating event.

Southwest Quinoa Salad

4 Authentic Mexican Dishes Made Vegetarian | Bob's Red Mill Blog This Southwest Quinoa Salad from A Beautiful Plate is made with our Organic Quinoa and is simple and delicious. The flavors of fire-roasted corn, avocado, cilantro, jalapeo and cherry tomatoes are fresh, and the garlic lime vinaigrette balances out every bite. Serve this salad in small cups with taster spoons as an appetizer or alongside your entree as a side dish.

The Best Vegan Conchas (Mexican Sweet Bread)

When it comes to showstopping side dishes, its hard to beat this Mexican Sweet Bread from Sweet Simple Vegan. Jasmine and Chris use aquafaba from chickpeas to make their breads fluffy and turmeric instead of traditional food dyes to give them their vibrant color. We were happy to partner with them for this recipe and incorporate ingredients like our Organic Sugar, Active Dry Yeast and All-Purpose Flour.

More Ideas for Vegetarian Dishes

4 Authentic Mexican Dishes Made Vegetarian | Bob's Red Mill Blog If these vegetarian Mexican dishes have you excited, here are some more options to try!
  • Roasted vegetable enchiladas
  • Quesadillas with rice, cheese and veggies
  • Sweet potato tacos
  • Zucchini quesadillas
  • Butternut squash flautas
  • Tofu enchiladas with mole sauce
  • Swiss chard enchiladas
  • Bean, tortilla and avo soup
  • Avocado and black bean tostadas
  • Mexican rice casserole
  • Veggie burrito bowls
  • Peppers stuffed with rice or quinoa
  • Grilled portobello tacos
Whether youre serving Southwest Quinoa Salad as a side dish or Black Bean and Mango Tostadas as a main dish, we hope this vegetarian list has inspired your upcoming Mexican fiesta. From all of us at Bobs Red Mill, happy cooking!  
Bob's Red Mill
May 14 2019

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