Spinach Enchiladas are one of those guilty pleasures that make one feel a little less guilty about eating an abundance of cheese. These particular spinach enchiladas have so many wonderful ingredients that your cheese guilt diminishes. The spinach filling is a mixture of wilted fresh spinach, toasted piñon (pine nuts), raisins and just a bit of feta to give it a little saltiness. Separating two layers of spinach are 3 layers of corn tortillas and a spicy green chile cheese sauce.
Let’s return to the spinach filling for a minute. Right now you’re probably thinking “Raisins?”. Yes, raisins. Raisins and nuts are pretty common in Mexican cuisine. Several years ago, at an authentic Mexican restaurant, we had chile rellenos that were stuffed with a mixture of meat, raisins, and nuts. They were excellent. Since then I’ve been adding raisins and nuts to a variety of Mexican inspired dishes. The raisins add a touch of sweetness balancing well with the earthiness of the spinach and the spiciness of the chile. You’ll be pleasantly surprised when you try it.
The green chile cheese sauce is a Mornay sauce with lots of roasted green chile and two types of cheese. The chile I used in this batch was an organic chile from Mi Abuelo Organic Chile in Las Cruces, New Mexico. I used their medium-hot Big Jims. They were spicy, but not hot, allowing me to use two cups of chile without making the sauce too hot. In fact, the enchiladas were pleasantly spicy and the chile added another delicious layer of flavor to the overall dish (as green chile always does).
I hope you enjoy these enchiladas as much as we do. Oh and by the way, these are stacked enchiladas (layers of corn tortillas, spinach mixture and sauce). I find stacking the tortillas is much easier than rolling them during assembly; however feel free to roll them if that’s your preference.
Spinach Enchiladas with Green Chile Cheese Sauce
Stacked spinach enchiladas smothered with a Hatch green chile cheese sauce, filled with ingredients that create a fusion of Mexican and New Mexican cuisines.
*See Kitchen Notes for more information, related links, and substitutions.
- 1 Tbsp. oil
- 2 large bunches fresh spinach, coarsely chopped
- ½ large onion, chopped
- 3 Tbsp. toasted piñon* (pine nuts)
- ½ cup raisins
- 1 cup loosely packed cilantro, chopped
- ½ generous cup crumbled feta
- 3 Tbsp. unsalted butter
- 3 Tbsp. flour
- 2 1/2 cups whole milk or 2%
- 4 ounces Fontina*, cut into pieces
- 1 cup grated Monterey Jack cheese
- ½ tsp. Kosher salt
- ¼ tsp. ground white pepper
- 1.5 – 2 cups medium, roasted green chile*, peeled, seeded, and chopped
- 12, 6 – 8 inch corn tortillas
- 1 cup grated Monterey Jack cheese
Heat oil in large skillet over medium heat.
- When hot, add the onion and cook 1 minute.
Add the spinach and 2 Tbsp. water. Reduce heat to medium low, cover and simmer, stirring occasionally until spinach has wilted.*
- Add the raisins, remove from heat, cover and let rest.
Toast the piñon in a small skillet until lightly toasted. Spread over the top of spinach mixture along with the chopped cilantro.
Remove the cover to let cool.
Melt the butter in a sauce pan. When melted add the flour and whisk until smooth.
Slowly add the milk, whisking as your pour for a smooth texture. Over medium heat, bring the sauce to the start of a gentle boil.
Lower heat to a simmer and whisk in the white pepper, salt, and Fontina. Stir until Fontina has melted.
Remove from heat and stir in 1 cup of Monterey Jack until melted.
Add the roasted green chile and stir*. Transfer sauce to a wide bowl (a little wider than the width of a tortilla.)
- Preheat oven to 350°F.
- Add the feta to spinach mixture and mix to thoroughly distribute the ingredients.
Generously coat the bottom and sides of a 12 inch, oven-proof skillet* with butter or oil.
Dip 4 tortillas (one at a time) in the sauce and lay the tortillas in a single layer across the bottom of skillet so that most of the surface is covered. There will be a little overlapping. Scoop about 1/2 cup of the green chile sauce over the tortillas. Top with half of the spinach mixture.
Dip 4 more tortillas in sauce and place in a single layer on top of spinach layer.
Pour about 1/2 cup of the green chile sauce on top.
Spread the rest of the spinach mixture over the tortillas.
Dip the last 4 tortillas in the tortilla sauce* and layer on top of the second spinach layer.
Pour the remaining green chile cheese sauce on top of the last layer of tortillas, then top that with 1 cup Monterey Jack cheese.
Bake for 30 minutes in preheated oven or until sauce becomes bubbly and cheese starts to brown.
- Remove from oven and let rest 5 minutes.
- Cut and serve.
Skillet – I prefer using a 12″ oven proof skillet but you could also use a rectangular casserole dish (large enough to hold 3 layers, each layer with 4 tortillas, 2 layers of filling and sauce).
Piñon (aka pine nuts) – Good substitutions are toasted chopped almond, Brazil nuts, or pepitas (pumpkin seeds).
Spinach – That’s a lot of spinach to fit in a skillet; therefore, you might need to add a little bit at a time as the spinach begins to wilt.
Fontina – Substitute the Fontina with another low temperature melting, mild flavored cheese like provolone, Gouda, Gruyere, or mozzarella.
Roasted Green Chile – As always, the amount of chile used depends on the spiciness of the chile and how much heat you can handle. I usually make the sauce quite spicy because it becomes less spicy once incorporated into the enchiladas.
Substitution – If you don’t have access to New Mexico green chile you can substitute roasted poblano.
Thickness of green chile sauce – Don’t let your sauce get too thick before adding the cheese because it will thicken with the cheese and later in the oven. Your sauce needs to be just thick enough to coat the tortillas when dipping. After dipping the tortillas for the third layer, your sauce may be pretty thick. Add a little milk to give you enough to pour over the top of the finished enchiladas.
Looking for more enchilada ideas? Here are a few of my favorites.
I tasted and fell in love with my very first spinach enchilada when I was in Taos, NM at the Mabel Dodge Luhan house where I stayed for a conference. They were simply outstanding and I’ve been on a search since 1995 for a recipe that may come close to those special enchiladas in Taos. MJ to the rescue!!! I love the cheesiness of your recipe PLUS, the layering instead of rolling! Great idea! I’m pinning, saving, and printing this one.
Thanks so much, MJ!
Ciao,
Roz
I love spinach with raisins. Put in an enchilada with green sauce, yes I would love it.
Thanks Karen.
Mmmmm these look delicious! We are always looking for new meatless meals and this looks perfect.
Thanks Amy. Yes, it does make a delicious and quite hearty meatless meal. Of course I could replace meat with enough cheese any day. 🙂
I’ve never seen a stacked enchilada before. What a great idea! It looks so much more interesting that rolled one, I have to say. I love the ingredients in yours, by the way! From the spinach to the pine nuts to the raisins to the green chiles. Wow!
Thanks Jeff. Stacked enchiladas is pretty common here in New Mexico. In fact, restaurants will sometimes ask you “Stacked or rolled?”. Obviously I prefer stacked for the reasons I mentioned. I think the leftovers heat up better as well.
Oh, these sound so good! Wish I could come to your house for dinner! I often make spinach stir fried with raisins and either walnut or pine nuts. But I’d much rather have it all slathered in green chili!
Thanks Abbe. We need to tried out visiting each other. I’d love to eat at your house as well. 🙂
Goodness gracious, so delicious! (I didn’t mean for it to rhyme 😀 )
Thanks Darlin. A perfect rhyme to this dish. 🙂
MJ, I love the touch of sweet added to spicy and savory. And this green chile cheese sauce is absolutely dreamy!
Thanks Kelly. This dish pretty much has it all – sweet, spicy and savory. 🙂
Just seeing this. It looks wonderful! I definitely will be trying this one. BTW, making posole for lunch.
Well, I certainly hope you enjoy! Now you have me wanting posole. Thanks! 🙂
Picadillo is one of my favorites — according to Wikipedia it is: “a traditional dish in many Latin American countries and the Philippines. It is made with ground meat, tomatoes, and also raisins, olives, and other ingredients that vary by region. It is often served with rice or used as a filling in dishes such as tacos, savory pastries or croquettes.”
As you say, nuts and raisins are all over the Mediterranean as well, such as in Turkish stuffed vegetables with pine nuts and currants, and many savory dishes with almonds (also in some versions of picadillo.)
best… mae at maefood.blogspot.com
Thanks Mae. Great information.
“An abundance of cheese” sold me!! These sound amazing, MJ!!!
Thanks Liz. Cheese, cheese and more cheese – right? 🙂
This is wonderful MJ. Everything with layers of spinach and pine nuts is great for us ! Must do !
Thanks Davorka. I am a pine nut fan. Just wish they weren’t so expensive.
This sounds really delicate yet so potent. The raisins would give it an interesting texture and flavour which does work well with those chillies and cheese
Thanks Raymund. Potent is a good word for it. 🙂
Oh MJ, this looks scrumptious! I can’t keep my eyes off that first image with the layers of tortillas… your green chile cheese sauce sounds irresistible especially in this dish (salivating). So interesting about the raisins and nuts… reminds me of the traditional french meat pie that was popular when I was growing up in Québec (tourtière – there would often be some mixture of raisin/currants and nuts) – I like your pine nuts here — looks like the recipe makes a generous batch too so lots of leftovers for lunch, yeah? (or maybe not ;o).
Thanks Kelly. I’m starting to find a lot of cuisine that use raisins and nuts in a dish. It’s so interesting and I just love the combination. I’ve been adding raisins and piñon to my Swiss chard pies for years and love it. Yes, this does make a big batch. It gives Bobby and me two meals The second meal, we just slice and heat in the microwave. Works just fine and tastes just a delicious. 🙂
MJ, this is such a creative and delicious dish! Can serve it for breakfast, lunch, or dinner … my hubs will especially enjoy leftovers for breakfast with a soft egg on top.
Thank Judy. There is nothing wrong with have enchiladas for breakfast. 🙂 My husband usually puts an egg on top of his enchiladas as well, but didn’t do it with these for some reason. Cheers!
I adore everything about this and will make it very soon. Thanks for a great idea.
Thanks Lea Ann. Hope you enjoy!
this looks so very delicious MJ. i prefer sultanas to raisins but this is a great addition. Yum!
Thanks Sherry. I interchange raisins with sultanas (what I call golden raisins :)) quite a bit. I’m sure they would be excellent as a substitute.
Dear MJ, I rarely such a delicious-looking meatless dish! I love everything about it (especially the cheese I couldn’t live without! green chile cheese sauce sounds fantastic! ). I’m very curious about the raisins in the Mexican cuisine too. We often have just a slight idea about foreign cuisines and then assume certain products are typically European. I still remember someone commenting on my Korean dish post and saying that walnuts were an “interesting twist”, while they are actually grown and eaten in Korea!
Fabulous photographs, as always!!!
Thanks Sissi. Like you, I just love discovering new ingredients or, I should say, unusual ingredients in a dish. The raisins and nuts in a relleno were quite a surprise. Through blogging I have discovered several interesting combinations and ingredients. You turned me on to Gochujang years ago and now I use it on sandwiches, in noodles and rice and my favorite, a tortilla egg and cheese sandwich.
When it comes to sharing tips, information, advice, etc. I’m rarely as happy as when I make someone discover and love a new chile-based product! I’m so glad you’re a gochujang fan!
yum. That filling is stupendous. And the sauce… wow. What a wonderful dish, as a meal or as a side dish. (Definitely a side for my husband!) Thanks!
Thanks Mimi. Actually we serve this as a meal. I eat one serving and my husband eats two. 🙂
MJ, love this recipe! Great little vegetarian recipe that even the boys are going to love. Just need to find soft corn tortillas. Did you make your own?
Thanks Bobbi. For enchiladas, I usually use storebought but for tacos, I always make my own.
I usually eat the whole cheesy topping first 🙂 This looks so good!
Thanks Angie. You eat enchiladas like I eat cake. I always start with the icing. 🙂
A very appetizing recipe I’ll most certainly copy tho’ I’ll have to see which chillies are available here at the moment. I would not even mention the amount of cheese here unless one took the whole dish to bed for a onesome feast ! . . . and one can use a tad less sauce and a wee smaller amount of Monterey Jack which I shall have to substitute anyways 🙂 ! The use of pine nuts and raisins in such dishes is very familiar to me from Mediterranean, eg Sicilian cooking and I love it as I do the amount of coriander used . . . looking forwards to the taste . . .
Thanks Eha. I didn’t realize that raisins and pine nuts were used in Sicilian dishes. I’ll have to check that out. If you can find poblano chile, those would work as well.
Back in our early days in Albuquerque there was a restaurant on San Mateo and Menaul that Joe used to take me to that served spinach and cheese enchiladas that I absolutely loved. It’s no longer open as most things have changed since we moved back but your recipe really brings it all back. This sounds wonderful and making me a bit hungry! Great post MJ!
Thanks Jan. Always happy to bring back old memories. For years we frequented El Patio on Harvard and I loved their spinach enchiladas but they always smothered them in red which was delicious but I think I’ve grown to like the green with spinach.
I usually prefer stacking my tortillas too. Easier, and in some ways more straightforward to serve (of course you always have the problem of getting the first slice out of the pan!). The chile cheese sauce looks excellent — love all that green chile. 🙂 Really nice recipe — thanks.
Thanks John. Oh yes, that first slice is always a challenge. 🙂