Enfrijoladas Recipe
Cooking the comfort food that my mom prepares gets me closer to her even if it is just in my mind, like these Enfrijoladas, another dish that is an excellent example of the creativity of our culture: beans, corn tortillas, fresh cheese and some peppers. These Enfrijoladas recipe are filled with shredded cooked chicken but sometimes are filled with chorizo or just a couple of spoons of crumbled fresh cheese.
Black beans or pinto beans? Well, it all depends of what you have at hand. Even thought black beans are typical for this type of dish, the kind of bean used varies from region to region throughout the country. I have even cooked them with red Salvadoran beans and had great results with them.
Each cook has a version of this recipe, like the ones that add chicken broth to the beans to make the puree or others use a cooked tomato sauce to mix with the puree. I add árbol peppers — to give a little spiciness to the sauce — and avocado leaves, which are a very common addition to the sauce in southern México. I’ve also tried them with a hint of anise spice like some cooks do in the State of Veracruz.
This is a basic recipe that you could adjust to suit your own taste. If you want to make this satisfying meal vegetarian, then a filling of sautéing spinach or mushroom could be used.
The avocado leaves give a slight anise aroma to the beans, soups, stew and baked meats. It is used in the states of Veracruz, Oaxaca and Central Mexico. You can find dried avocado leaves at Hispanic stores and, if you find fresh ones, just make sure they are free of pesticides.
Please, read the cooking notes; you will be glad you did.
Enfrijoladas recipe
Instructions:
- In a Blender place the avocado leaves and peppers with the cooked beans their broth. Blend until smooth, if it is too thick add water or chicken broth until you have the consistency of a sauce. (Please check the ingredients list below)
- Heat the 2 tablespoons of oil in a skillet and add the bean puree; simmer for about 3 minutes and season with salt if needed. Set aside and keep warm.
- Heat the rest of the oil in a skillet and fry briefly each tortilla, one by one on both sides. Drain and place on a warm plate. Cover with an aluminum foil if you wish to do so.
- Now you have two options here to assembly the Enfrijoladas Recipe:
Option one: You can immerse each tortilla in the bean puree (like in the picture above); transfer to a plate and spread some of the chicken or chorizo and fold in half. Overlap each tortilla, spoon some cream, sprinkle crumble cheese and garnish with chopped onion and cilantro.
Option two: Spread a thin coat of the bean puree across the center of each tortilla and add the filling of your choice; fold the tortilla in half and place 2 in each plate; pour some of the bean purees over the tortillas. Garnish a spoon of cream, some sprinkles of cheese, chopped onion and cilantro. Serve Immediately.
- 2 1/2 cups of cooked pinto or black beans with their broth
- 2 cups of cooked shredded chicken or 3 cooked chorizos
- 2 avocado leaves slightly toasted in a skillet or comal optional
- 2 árbol peppers slightly toasted in a skillet or comal optional
- 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil
- 12 corn tortillas
- 1/4 cup of vegetable oil for frying.
- Salt to taste
- 1/2 cup of Mexican cream
- 1/2 cup of crumble Mexican fresh cheese or farmer cheese About 3 oz.
- 1 onion finely chopped
- Optional Garnish: Chopped Cilantro
-
In a Blender place the avocado leaves and peppers with the cooked beans their broth. Blend until smooth, if it is too thick add water or chicken broth until you have the consistency of a sauce.
-
Heat the 2 tablespoons of oil in a skillet and add the bean puree; simmer for about 3 minutes and season with salt if needed. Set aside and keep warm.
-
Heat the rest of the oil in a skillet and fry briefly each tortilla, one by one on both sides. Drain and place in a warm plate. (This step is done quickly). Cover with an aluminum foil if you wish to do so.
-
Now you have two options here to assembly the Enfrijoladas:
-
You can immerse each tortilla in the bean puree; transfer to a plate and spread some of the chicken or chorizo and fold in half. Overlap each tortilla, spoon some cream, sprinkle crumble cheese and garnish with chopped onion and cilantro.
-
Spread a thin coat of the bean puree across the center of each tortilla and add the filling of your choice; fold the tortilla in half and place 2 in each plate; pour some of the bean purees over the tortillas. Garnish a spoon of cream, some sprinkles of cheese, chopped onion and cilantro. Serve Immediately.
The main ingredients of this dish — as bean puree, chopped onion, cooked chicken or cooked chorizo — could be prepared ahead of time and kept refrigerated. When ready to assembly just warm up the bean puree and your filling of choice.
Remember to avoid broken tortillas that are falling apart when making Enfrijoladas or enchiladas and use thicker tortillas or a day old tortillas if you bought them fresh made. If your tortillas are store bought, leave them outside the package overnight over your kitchen counter wrapped with a kitchen towel. Do not leave them to long or they will dry.
I am happy that you stopped by and would love to hear your questions and comments.
¡Buen provecho!
Mely,
More recipes:
Yucatan Fried Beans
Dirty Beans Dip
Yuuum!!! aqui en casa somos fanaticos de las enfrijoladas, nos encantan. La primera vez que las probe fue en casa de la suegra de mi hermana y de ahi asta el dia de hoy sigue siendo una de las recetas preferidas de toda la familia.
Gracias Mely como siempre por tus geniales recetas 🙂
Hola Ruth,
Gracias a ti por visitar.
Un abrazo,
Mely
Oh Mely, this looks fantastic! We should definitely be neighbors. 🙂
A very yummy dish. I wanna try them
yumm, that does look tempting.Especially the sauce
Mmmm… qué ricas son las enfrijoladas Mely.. tan buenas que yo esta semana también las publiqué jajaja!!!!
Me gusta tu receta…
Saludos querida Mely
Oooooo!!! That sounds (and looks) fabulous! I have some of the corn shelled now, and so soon, perhaps you can teach me how to cook it? – Yolanda
I love enfrijoladas, Mely…and I saw Pily's version last week and have been craving them ever since. And now I know I must make them this week or the craving will never go away. I love your version, they sound absolutely fabulous!
Thank you all for your kind comments. I always love to hear from you all.
Pily, I need to go check out your recipe.
Have a great week everyone.
Mely
looks wonderful love the sauce you have made with the black beans yummy 🙂
Mely, me gusta mucho tu receta de enfrijoladas. Yo las preparo a menudo porque a mi vegetariano le encantan pero nunca la he hecho con frijoles negros – tengo que probar.
Saludos!
I would love this Mely – kind of like enchiladas except dipping them in the bean sauce instead of the enchilada sauce. I'm going to try to remember this!
I am eager to find out more about the avocado leaves! I had been told that avocado is such a healthy fruit by ladies that grow wild ones. Your dish sounds and looks fantastic and I adore Mexican food!
Hola Mely que delicia de enfrijoladas nada mas de imaginarme el sabor que les da el chile de arbol, se me hace agua la boca, me encanto tú receta mil gracias, saludos cariñosos que tengas una agradable semana.
Yummi!
Ya se te extrañaba tu cocina
Me encanta como le das el toquecito gourmet a estos clásicos de la cocina mexicana.
Me imagino estas enfrijoladas en mi desayuno con un juguito de naranja y el periódico, un sábado después de levantarse a las 10
Un besito!
In Serbia we make a bean puree, but it's completely different. I would love to try your enfrijolada, because I am always on the lookout for new dishes with beans (plus, we love Mexican food, and living in SoCal made it possible to taste some truly authentic dishes:)
I am intrigued by the avocado leaves – did not know that you can cook with them. I just have to find friends (or neighbors) with avocado trees:)
Enfrijoladas? I've never had these or even heard of them. They look fantastic, and so much better than the bland enchiladas my grandmother used to make. Not only that, they look like a fantastic cure for a hangover.
Mmm qué ricas Mely, yo las preparo a los varones del hogar y les encanta ya sea rellenas de queso o pollo.
Creo que yo me prepararé tu versión con el chile de árbol, no lo había hecho así.
Gracias
Wow!!!Hi Mely, Those enfrijoladas look amazing…I love Mexican cusine!
I have never heard of these but the idea of them makes me want to try them right now. Excellent post!
Mely, qué ricas, se ven deliciosas, fíjate que después de volver a Italia no he cocinado mucho de mexicano, pero éstas se me antojan un chorro!
Me gusta mucho como cocinas las salsas y los frijoles (tambien en otras recetas) se ve todo sabrosisimisimo.
Un abrazo!
Oh my goodness Mely,
You have got me drooling, I would just love this dish. I can almost taste it, great recipe! My very best wishes to you and your family for a blessed Thanksgiving. Thanks for sharing with Full Plate Thursday and hope to see you again real soon!
Miz Helen
Mely, qué antojo! Yo también las haga así pero con chipotle. Y a veces las he hecho con frijoles claros (peruanos) y quedan muy ricas. Y a veces con un poco de pipián molido del que venden las paisanitas.
Besos
I will need to try this. I have dipped plenty tortillas in enchilada sauce, but I know I would love this.
Thanks!
Hi, Taste of Beirut and Bibberche:
The avocado leaves give a slight anise aroma to the beans, soups, stew and baked meats. It is used in the states of Veracruz, Oaxaca and Central Mexico.
You can find them dry at Hispanic stores and if you find fresh ones just make sure they are free of pesticides.
Thanks fro your comments,
Mely
Hola Nora,
Ya me las imagino con chile chipotle, ricas, ricas.
Thanks all for your kind comments.
Hugs,
Mely
Hi Mely! Thanks for stopping by and commenting. The roll recipe made two full cookie sheets of rolls. I am estimating that there were close to thirty rolls on each sheet. I hope you enjoy them! Have a wonderful Thanksgiving! Candace
Delicious and gorgeous as usual, Mely! Estas enfrijoladas si que te quedaron para re-chuparse los dedos 🙂 Espero que pases un hermoso Thanksgiving Day junto a tu familia!
HUGS <3
This sounds delicious and full of flavor. I don't think I've ever seen avocado leaves, but then again I probably wasn't looking. I will be keeping my eyes open wide now for them since we're in Florida.
Sam
Hi Mely. Hope your Thanksgiving was wonderful and hope you are well. I love your enfrijoladas, looks so good. Thank you for stopping by my blog. Take care.
enfrijoladas are our go to dinner during lent!! thank you for sharing!!
Mely,
Ya me antojaste otra vez, tus enfrijoladas tan ricas! Mmm
Mi ama las hace con pinto beans.
Espero que te las pasaste bien en dia de gracias cont familia.
Besos
Wow! Very simple. I am going to make this soon:) Hope you are doing well.
Hello Vanessa,
I am doing fine, thanks for visiting. I enjoy looking at the pictures of Lucas.
Be good. 🙂
I must give This Recipe a try, I love all Things Mexican Food! Thank you!