P
Mexican
Enfrijoladas (black bean sauce enchiladas)
Enfrijoladas are enchiladas coated in a black bean sauce instead of chile sauce — corn tortillas dipped in warm pureed black bean sauce (made with epazote, chipotle or pasilla, and lard), filled with cheese or chicken, and served with crema and queso fresco. The bean sauce is thin enough to coat the tortillas but thick enough to cling. A simple, economical dish that is a vehicle for leftover beans. Common in Oaxaca and central Mexico.
‹Swipe for the next dish›
I
The Market List
The benchmark for each ingredient, and who stocks it near you. Tap a stockist to go straight to the product.
For the black bean sauce
500 g
cooked black beans
reserved with their cooking liquid, cooked with epazote
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
250 ml
black bean cooking liquid
including epazote; plus more to adjust consistency
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
1
chipotle in adobo or pasilla negro
added to blended beans for complexity
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
2 tbsp
lard
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
12
corn tortillas
15 cm diameter
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
For the filling
200 g
queso fresco
crumbled; or shredded poached chicken
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
For the garnish
120 ml
crema mexicana
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
80 g
queso fresco
crumbled
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
½
white onion
thinly sliced raw
Your own market
2
limes
cut into wedges
Your own market
II
The Method
1
Combine the cooked black beans, their cooking liquid (with epazote), and the chipotle or pasilla negro in a blender. Process until completely smooth. Pass through a medium sieve, pressing with the back of a ladle, discarding solids. The result should be a fluid, dark purée — the texture of thin pouring cream.
From the canon — Epazote (Dysphania ambrosioides) is one of Mexico's defining culinary herbs — a pungent, aromatic annual with a distinctive smell sometimes described as petr… Epazote — identification and usage →
2
Heat the lard in a wide, heavy saucepan over medium heat until shimmering. Pour in the strained bean purée carefully — it will sputter. Fry, stirring constantly, until the sauce deepens in colour and the raw starchy edge cooks out, 3 to 4 minutes. Adjust consistency with reserved bean liquid: the sauce must coat a spoon but run off it in a thin, even sheet, not in slow ribbons. This is the step on which the dish lives or dies — a sauce too thick will clump and smother the tortilla; too thin, it will run from the plate.
From the canon — The corn tortilla is the foundational food of Mexican cuisine — a thin, round disc of nixtamalized masa cooked on an ungreased comal (flat griddle) until it … Tortilla — hand press, comal, and the puff →
3
Keep the black bean sauce warm over the lowest heat, or set the pan in a bain-marie. It must remain warm throughout service — a cold sauce coats but does not penetrate the tortilla.
4
5
Working one tortilla at a time, dip it into the warm bean sauce, turning to coat both sides. The contact should be brief — a dip, not a soak. Lift it out and lay it flat. Place a modest amount of filling (crumbled queso fresco or shredded chicken) across the centre. Do not overfill; the bean sauce is the main event. Fold or roll the tortilla closed and place seam-side down on a warmed plate. Repeat with two more tortillas per portion, working quickly.
6
Spoon additional warm bean sauce over the assembled enfrijoladas. Finish with crema, crumbled queso fresco, and thinly sliced raw onion. Serve immediately with lime wedges. The surface should appear glossy and evenly sauced; a dull, thickening skin signals the dish has waited too long.
III
Quality Hierarchy
01
Reserve — Beans soaked and cooked from dried with fresh epazote and a pasilla negro; lard rendered from good-quality fatback; handmade corn tortillas pressed and cooked to order; crema made in-house.
02
Estate — Dried black beans cooked the day before with dried epazote; a chipotle in adobo for the sauce; good commercial corn tortillas; cultured crema and a firm, fresh queso fresco from a Mexican producer.
03
Market — Good-quality tinned or vacuum-packed cooked black beans, rinsed and supplemented with epazote added to the blending liquid; chipotle in adobo; store-bought corn tortillas warmed to pliability; commercial crema and queso fresco.
04
House — Tinned black beans with epazote stirred in; a little adobo sauce from a tinned chipotle; vegetable oil in place of lard; flour tortillas if corn are unavailable; soured cream and mild feta in place of crema and queso fresco.
IV
Sensory Tests
◇Sight. Strained bean purée runs off a lifted spoon in a thin, even sheet — the texture of thin pouring cream — neither pooling into a thick ribbon nor sheeting off entirely clear.
◇Smell. After frying in lard, the sauce loses its raw, starchy edge and takes on a deeper, roasted-bean aroma with a faint smokiness from the chipotle or pasilla.
◇Touch. A warmed tortilla bends fully in the hand without cracking at the fold — it is ready to dip.
◇Sight. Assembled enfrijoladas on the plate carry a glossy, continuous coat of sauce; any dulling or thickening skin means they must be served at once.
◇Where it lives or dies. The bean sauce must hold the consistency of thin pouring cream — too thick it clumps on the tortilla, too thin it abandons the plate entirely.
Pillar V
Cross-cuisine parallels are part of membership.
The dishes this one teaches you, across the cuisines — on every recipe.
Enter · from $49 a year
VI
What to Pour
A cold Mexican lager or a light, unoaked white — the earthy, smoky bean sauce needs a clean, low-tannin companion; a sparkling agua fresca de jamaica is the non-alcoholic counterpart used in the home kitchens where the dish originates.
The whole pairingPillar VII
Origin and lineage are part of membership.
Where the dish comes from and how it came to be — on every recipe.
Enter · from $49 a year