Enchiladas in a bowl! Flavorful, spicy, cheesy, and so satisfying! With green lentils, tofu, and black beans, this weeknight dinner is ready in 30 minutes! A flavorful meal the whole family will love. Plus leftovers reheat really well!
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📘 Introduction
That's my kind of bowl. Filling, full of different textures, spicy, loaded with plant protein, and more importantly packed with flavor.
This recipe is called enchilada bowls because that's what it's all about: black beans, green lentils, and rice in a luxurious chili-cheese sauce. Think of it like deconstructed enchiladas in a bowl.
And if you are worried about protein, each serving contains over 20g of protein!
🥣 How to Make Enchilada Bowls
Rice and Lentils
It starts with the rice and green lentils that are cooked until tender, for about 20 minutes. Then, add cooked black beans. I recommend using canned beans for convenience but if you have time you can cook them from scratch, it can only be tastier!
I love to combine multiple legumes and grains. First, because it makes the texture more interesting, and second because you get complete proteins.
Tofu
While the rice and lentils are cooking, prepare the tofu. If using semi-firm tofu, press it for a few minutes to remove excess moisture. If using firm tofu, you can skip this step.
To add a ton of flavor to the tofu, we will let it marinade. Here are the ingredients you will need to prepare the marinade:
- Soy sauce: For umami and saltiness. For a gluten-free option, use tamari.
- Maple syrup: For sweetness. You can use coconut sugar, or agave syrup if you prefer.
- Almond butter: To add a subtle nutty flavor and creaminess.
- Ground Chili: For spiciness and flavor. Use chili spice mix, not chili flakes.
Preferably, you want to let the tofu marinate for at least 20 minutes (or overnight!), but if you are short on time, 15 minutes will be enough.
Next, sauté the marinated tofu for 7-8 minutes in a skillet, or until golden brown.
Enchilada Sauce
The enchilada sauce is super simple to prepare! It is a mix of browned onions, tomato sauce, chili, oregano, and nutritional yeast to add a nice cheesy flavor.
Once the enchilada sauce is ready, add the cooked rice, lentils, and black beans and stir to coat.
Divide the enchilada rice and beans between serving bowls, top with sliced avocado, chewy and crispy tofu, and garnish with fresh parsley!
💬 FAQ
- Can I bake the tofu instead of sauté? Yes, you can bake the tofu at 350°F (175°C) for 15-20 minutes.
- Can I use substitute red beans for the black beans? Sure!
- How long does this recipe keep? Tofu and enchilada beans will keep for up to 3 days in the refrigerator.
- How to reheat the enchilada rice and lentils? Enchilada bean cans are reheated over low-medium heat in a saucepan. Add a couple of tablespoons of water if needed, to prevent it from burning. Tofu can be reheated in a non-stick skillet.
If you are looking for a healthy and satisfying meal, look no further. This recipe comes together in just 30 minutes and makes 4 generous servings. It's delicious, comforting, and filling!
More Easy and Healthy Plant-based Bowls
Let me know in the comments if you try this recipe!
📖 Recipe
Enchilada Power Bowls with Spicy Tofu
Ingredients
Lentils, rice and beans
- ½ cup dried brown rice
- ½ cup dried green lentils
- 2 and ½ cup water
- 1 15-oz can cooked black beans
Tofu
- 7 ounces firm tofu
- 1 tablespoon maple syrup
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce or tamari
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- 1 tablespoon almond butter
Enchilada Sauce
- 1 onion finely sliced
- 1 garlic clove chopped
- 1 and ½ cup tomato sauce
- 1 teaspoon chili powder (2 if you like it more spicy)
- ¼ teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
- 3 tablespoon nutritional yeast
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 avocados sliced
Instructions
Lentils, rice, and beans
- Add the lentils, brown rice, and water to a medium-sized saucepan. Bring to a boil and simmer, uncovered, for about 20 minutes. In the meantime, prepare the tofu and enchilada sauce.
- Drain and rinse the black beans and add them to the rice and lentils. Set aside and cover to keep warm.
Tofu
- Whisk together all of the marinade ingredients together until combined.
- Drain the tofu very well. Line a plate with a paper towel, place the tofu on top, add another layer of paper towel, and place something heavy on top. Press the tofu for 5-10 minutes. Cut it into cubes and add it to the sauce. Stir to coat and let marinate for at least 15 minutes.
- Heat a tablespoon of oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Once hot, add the tofu and cook for 5-6 minutes, stirring frequently until the tofu is light brown. Remove from heat and set aside.
Enchilada sauce
- Heat two teaspoons of oil in a saucepan, add the onion and cook for about 10 minutes, or until soft and golden brown. Add the chopped garlic and cook for another 5 minutes.
- Add the tomato sauce, spices, apple cider vinegar, nutritional yeast, and salt to the saucepan and whisk until combined. Cook for another 5 minutes.
- Add the rice, lentils, and black beans to the enchilada sauce and mix until everything is well coated with the sauce. Taste and adjust saltiness if needed.
Bowls
- Divide the enchilada rice and beans between 4 serving bowls, top with half of an avocado (sliced or cubed), and sautéed tofu. Garnish with fresh parsley and serve!
- Leftovers will keep in the fridge for up to 3 days.
How can you not be satisfied with these photos!? The colors are gorgeous!
I made this last night, and it was very delicious! It just took me longer than 30 minutes...
Thanks for the feedback! I eyeballed the time required so it may not be completely accurate. Your challenge next time is to do it under 30 minutes 😉
Where (and what part of the grocery store) can you buy nutritional yeast? I've never used it before, thank you
You should find it in the seasonings section of the grocery store.
Do you have a Whole Foods or a Clarks Nutritional Store near you. They both carry it. If you have a Mothers or other health food store where you live, they probably carry it. If none of those are available, try Amazon.com!
I really loved this recipe and so easy to make. I would recommend you start with the sauce and marinating of the tofu while everything else is getting ready...Delish! Thanks so much
Great! Thanks for your rating Natalie!
I've seen it at Winn Dixie and maybe Walmart in the salad dressing isle.
I tried this recipe last week and LOVED IT! It's a hearty, stick your ribs kinda bowl!! It was the perfect mid-day meal. I squeezed a bit a lemon over it for a hit of acid and .....Perfection. 🙂 It kept me going through my end of day run/workout and clear on through to dinner.
WINNER!
Thanks!
I'm so glad to hear you liked these bowls Cathleen!
Lots of carbs to fuel your workout! 🙂
You must be one of those crazy people who doesn't like cilantro. I'm going to make this tonight but with that very important substitution 🙂
You're right! I definitely don't like cilantro 🙂
I just made this today and it was fantastic! Added cilantro instead of parsley and used a pre-made vegan friendly enchilada sauce for the 'tomato sauce'. SO good! Thanks for sharing!
I made these enchilada bowls with the enchilada sauce which was the absolute bomb! I am eating whole-grain plant based with no oil so I cooked the onion and garlic in a stainless steel pot without oil by cooking it on low, then added all the other ingredients and of course a sauce results. I used a red sauce from Costco for the tomato sauce. Truly, the enchilada sauce is the bomb! Then when I made the marinade for the tofu I used aquafaba instead of almond butter. And instead of sauteing the tofu, in oil, I baked it. The tofu was very tasty, although mine did not look nearly as pretty as yours does.
In addition, instead of brown rice, I used this brown, red, black rice combination that I buy at Winco, and is my favorite rice these days. That said, the bowls were a huge success and I loved the combination of the lentils with the brown rice with the black beans. I loved the enchilada sauce and brown rice lentil black bean combination so much that I made stuffed peppers with it and enchiladas with it......I could make everthing Mexican I can think of with these ingredients!!!! Thank you so much Thomas! You did great!
Thanks so much for your great feedback Rebecca!
I'm glad to hear everything turned out well with your changes. I also like to use grain combinations like red/black/white quinoa for example.
Nice idea to make stuffed red peppers 😉 I should try it next time!
Thomas, your enchilada sauce is so incredibly tasty that if we made a restaurant, that would be our enchilada sauce. You make vegan taste so good, non-vegans will love it. With recipes like yours, being whole-grain plant-based eating is not only easy, but extremely tasty. I too started out eating meat and dairy, but since my Dad and my uncles had heart disease and my Dad also had type two diabetes, I read Dr. Esselstyn's "How to Reverse and Prevent Heart Disease" and Dr. Barnard"s "How to Reverse and Prevent Diabetes". The most interesting thing was that both books epoused the exact same diet: Whole-grain and plant-based. Eating this way will start to heal the lining of the arteries, and allow your insulin to be more receptive to triggers. I was blown away! I lost my Dad 6 years ago and I'm so mad that the doctor never told my Dad about how eating this way could reverse both his diabetes and heart disease! So that's why I started eating whole-grain plant-based about 1 1/2 years ago. I eat so well and feed my family with such tasty meals, we will never go back to eating meat or diary. We also saw "Cowspiracy" and "Forks over Knives" and "Earthlings" DVDs. I also read "The China Study". I'm glad that eating this way got rid of your acne, and you are doing your body, and the world a great favor.
Thank you so much for your kind words Rebecca! 🙂
I'm sorry to hear about your dad and uncles, unfortunately from what I read Doctors (not all of them hopefully) have no real knowledge in food effects on the body, they prefer to give drugs rather than useful diet advices.
I watched Cowspiray and Forks over Knifes too, Earthlings was a bit too much for me and saw no reason to watch it (and feel the pain) since I was already vegan.
Glad to hear your whole family is loving vegan meals!
Very good, made it last night and am enjoying leftover for lunch today. The tofu is great! Thanks for the recipe
Glad to hear you liked it Jan!
This recipe was a super odd combo. The sauce and rice/lentils/bean combo was a Mexican vibe, whereas the tofu marinade was very much an Asian recipe. Did not go well together at all. Did love the enchilada sauce recipe though! Would only recommend making that aspect.
Sorry to hear you didn't like the combination of spicy tofu with the beans!
I made this for dinner tonight, it's a keeper. I made the recipe exact (ingredient wise) but I did put the lentils & rice in my instant pot so that was 10 min instead of 20-30 for that step. My only negative and it isn't really negative that the name says spicy and this wasn't with just chili powder, next time I'll add the heat that my husband loves but this recipe is really good.
Thanks for the rating Jody, so glad to hear you liked the recipe!
Thus was really yummy. I didn’t have almond butter so I used peanut butter and added a little sirachi to the tofu mixture. We really enjoyed it and will definitely make again. Great recipe
Any nut butter works great here! Thanks for the feedback Karen 😉
Delicious! No need to tweak anything, it’s that good!
Thanks for the feedback! Glad to hear you liked it Rebecca!
I found this recipe to be very bland. It was not spicy at all.
Did you follow the exact recipe and used all the spices? I make this regularly and no one finds it bland, maybe try adjusting the salt and/or chili?
Loved this recipe! I am a non-vegan trying to incorporate more plant-based foods into my diet and this was the perfect use for the tofu I had in the fridge and hadn't yet been bold enough to open! (Thanks for the in-depth directions on preparing the tofu, by the way--they helped a rookie immensely!) I didn't have the nutritional yeast so I threw in a little extra soy, and it was still a really nice, complex sauce, even without the cheese flavor.
Delicious, filling, and plenty of leftovers for a few more meals. Thank you, Thomas!
Thank you so much for the feedback Rachel! I'm glad you liked it 🙂
this looks and sounds really tasty - I must give it a try at the weekend - but minus the chilli for me 🙂
Thanks Christine!
This was absolutely delicious!
Thanks for the feedback Jennifer!
My brown rice always takes 45-50 mins to cook. Your directions are for only 20 mins. Doesn't that result in hard rice?
Well if your rice takes 45 mins to cook then yes it will result in hard rice. I would recommend cooking it on the side, not with the lentils.
I learned that not all brands of brown rice have the same cooking time. If you use basmati brown rice, or Thai brown rice, it usually only requires 20 mins.
This was so good! My meat loving boyfriend even was going for seconds!
Awesome! Thanks for your feedback Cassandra!
Delicious! Substituted quinoa for brown rice and added lots of cayenne & Cholula for heat. Cilantro too - otherwise it was a perfect, hearty bowl. Thanks for the recipe, cheers!
Awesome! Thanks for your feedback Meghan 😉
This recipe is amazing, so tasty and clean eating. Avocado is a must, it really does enhance the meal.
Glad you liked it, thanks for your feedback!
Is the nutrition info with or without the avocado please!
Without the avocado.
Wonderful recipe! I used the leftover enchilada mixture to stuff some zucchini the next day. The taste of the tofu was incredible. My daughter who isn't a big tofu fan, loved it.
Awesome! 🙂
i loved it i need to find more like this
Thanks 🙂
This makes for a very delicious post-workout lunch! I made one batch of this but made a few tweaks. I added 2 cans of black beans instead of one to make it a little more hearty. I also used a whole 16 oz block of tofu, and tripled the marinade ingredients. If I were to do this again, I would have just doubled the extra, as triple was a bit too much. And I baked the tofu at 375 until crispy instead of pan-frying it. I always struggle pan-frying tofu as it tends to break apart on me. When eating, I top with a hearty amount of avocado and lime juice. The one flavor that throws me off is the almond butter - to me, the tofu tastes Asian and sweet, not exactly what pairs well with an otherwise Mexican lending flavor. If I were to make this again, I would probably make it a little more of a Chipotle flavor, but that's just me! This recipe is a great base for adding your own spin on it, and I appreciate greatly this idea to add a variety of plant power to your day!
Thanks for your feedback and sharing your tweaks Nicola!
Great idea - the sauce, for me, turned out horribly, so I used a medium-spice salsa instead and that was great. I also did the quick and easy marinate the tofu in oil and taco seasoning 🙂
Sorry to hear that Kelly!
Hi, due to health reasons (thyroid insufficiency) I try to avoid soja. Is there a substitute you would recommend for this recipe?
Hi Andrea, you may want to use seitan.
Fantastic and very easy my family loved it. Great recipe for family's to do together. Looks like a lot of things but very simple. Loved doing it with my son ,also I did chicken cubed and marinaded in sauce also for those that don't like tofu, but the ate both and liked them.
Thanks for your feedback Scherril! 🙂