Crunchy on the outside, soft and spicy on the inside, these black bean and butternut squash chimichangas are a deliciously satisfying fall meal.
Guys, I’m so excited that we’re into squash season. As usual around this time of year, I’ve got a bunch of squash ideas. This year, for once, I’ll try to space out my multitude of butternut squash posts out over the season. I think. That’s always my intention when making these dishes, but sometimes I get excited and go a bit overboard. I’ll do my best!
Incidentally, I discovered yesterday that I might have an allergy to butternut squash. Nothing big, just a dermal allergy. I was chopping when my hands started to get irritated, particularly my left hand, which I was using to hold the squash. The skin started cracking and peeling! I Googled around a bit to see what might be up, and apparently skin allergies to butternut squash are common. Ah well. I’ll have to remember to wear gloves in the future.
This time around my squash went into chimichangas. My mom used to make chicken chimichangas when I was growing up. They were one of the few meat-oriented dishes that I remember liking, so I thought it was about time I tried a vegan version for the blog.
When I started working on developing a vegan chimichanga recipe I learned that chimichangas are normally deep-fried. Eek! I had no idea. Mom’s were always baked, and since I enjoyed those, I decided I’d stick with the oven approach. On those rare occasions that I do treat myself to some greasy deep-fried goodness, I do so at a restaurant and let someone braver than I deal with spattering grease, thank you very much.
Despite not being fried, the tortillas crisp up beautifully, while the filling stays soft and has a rich, spicy southwestern flavor, so these are really fun to bite into. The smokiness and spiciness of the chipotles goes awesome with the butternut sweetness, which I’ve enhanced ever so slightly with some agave. I can’t really remember what mom’s chimichangs tasted like at this point, but I do know that I felt just as blissful eating these as I did when I was little. Crispy little tortilla pockets of happiness, butternut squash style.
Butternut Squash Black Bean Chimichangas
Crunchy on the outside, soft and spicy on the inside, these black bean and butternut squash chimichangas are a deliciously satisfying fall meal.
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil divided
- 1 pound butternut squash peeled and diced (about 4 cups)
- 1 small red onion diced
- 3 garlic cloves minced
- 1 14 ounce can black beans, drained and rinsed
- 4 chipotle peppers packed in adobo sauce minced + 2 tablespoons adobo sauce from the can (or to taste - use less for a milder version)
- 1 tablespoon maple syrup or agave optional, to balance out the flavor - you can leave it out if you're opposed to adding sugar
- 2 teaspoons lime juice
- 2 teaspoons ground cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon salt or to taste
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/2 cup water or vegetable broth
- 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
- 4 large burrito size flour tortillas
For Serving
- Your favorite salsa
- Cashew sour cream
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400°.
- Toss the butternut squash cubes in 1/2 tablespoon of olive oil. Arrange them on a baking sheet and bake for 20 minutes, flipping about half way through, until tender and slightly crisp. Remove from the oven, but keep the oven on.
- When your squash has about 5 minutes bake time to go, place 1 tablespoon of olive oil into a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onion and sauté until softened, about 5 minutes.
- Add the garlic and sauté another minute.
- Add the beans, chipotles, adobo sauce, syrup or agave, lime juice cumin, salt, pepper, vegetable broth, and squash (which should be out of the oven by now).
- Stir everything up and cook until most of the liquid cooks off, about 1-3 minutes.
- Stir in the cilantro and remove the skillet from the heat.
- Place 1/4 of filling into the center of each tortilla. Fold up top and bottom, and roll sides closed. Place on an oiled baking surface, seam side down, and brush with the remaining olive oil. Repeat with the remaining tortillas and filling.
- Bake for about 20 minutes (oven should still be at 400°), until the tortillas begin to brown.
- Serve with your favorite salsa, avocados or cashew sour cream.
I think most people (at least Americans) bake their chimichangas. I know I did when growing up. I prefer to bake since deep frying scares me. I leave that for people at restaurants to deep fry my food. lol.
Haha! I’m so with you there! A few times I thought of trying to get over my fear of deep frying, but it might just be healthier not to. ;)
These sound great! Have to try them. Did you attempt an air fryer version?
Thank you! I haven’t, since I don’t have an air-fryer. I’d love to hear how they turn out if you try!
I am SO excited to try this recipe! The dish looks absolutely heavenly from the photos; the colors are beautiful (and so suitable for fall!).
Do you think the filling would keep well for a few days, if I were to make a large batch?
Hi Rachel! Thank you so much and sorry for the late response – I don’t know how I missed your comment. I think you could definitely store the filling for at least two days or so. :)
More butternut squash recipes, please! I have a ton of these suckers that need using up. ;)
I’ve got at least one more lined up after this!
I love this recipe, Alissa! Like, loooooove. I’ve been making it on a weekly basis since you posted it. I’m glad I finally remembered to tell you what a winner this is!
Yaaaayyy! That’s so fantastic to hear!!! I’m so glad you’re enjoying the recipe and getting so much use out of it. Thank you so much for letting me know! :)
This looks sooo good! I’ve been making bean and maitale mushroom chimichangas for about three years now. I’m alone so i make half a dozen burritos and freeze five. Defrost in the fridge overnight or add thirty minutes to the bake time.
Thank you! And that’s a great idea! I might just double the recipe and freeze a bunch next time. :)
Hi Alissa
Do you by chance have the nutritional values for this recipe?
Thanks
I don’t have nutritional info available yet, but this is a great tool if you’d like to take a crack at it yourself: https://www.verywell.com/recipe-nutrition-analyzer-4129594
I don’t blame you on the baking vs frying. I am not opposed to having a fry daddy around or using just a crapton of oil, but I just don’t do it enough for it to make sense! Even outside the mountains of bad stuff I would be putting into my body, it is a matter of practicality. I don’t need another thing around my kitchen.
Exactly how I feel! I’d be up for indulging once in a while if it wasn’t such a pain. :)
These look absolutely incredible – adding to my ‘must try’ list!
Thanks! I hope you enjoy them!
I wanted to make this recipe but I only had sweet potatoes. It came out fabulous. I love squash so I will definitely make it that way too.
Awesome! I love black beans and sweet potatoes! I’m glad you enjoyed them!
These are absolutely incredible. I will be making these again and again and again.
I’m so glad to hear that! Thanks Claudia!
Wow this was spicy and amazing!!!
I’m so glad you enjoyed it! It does have quite a kick with all the chipotle peppers! :)
I’ve had this recipe on my todo list for like a month. I finally bought the chipotle peppers to go with it and the weather feels like fall. I am so excited But I have one question:Do you peel the squash? I have varying luck when it comes to the toughness of the peel so I tend to get rid of it.
I’d definitely peel the squash. Thanks for catching that – I just added an instruction to clarify. :) I hope you enjoy these!
These were a bit too sweet for my liking – I think if I were to make them again I would omit the maple syrup and use sweet potatoes instead of pumpkin.
Can you share your favorite cashew cream recipe to go with this?
I’m looking forward to making this!
Of course! There’s a cashew cream recipe included with this post: https://www.connoisseurusveg.com/chipotle-lentil-stuffed-sweet-potatoes/ It should go nicely with the chimichangas. :) Enjoy!!
Made these tonight. I may go a touch lighter on the chipotles next time, whew!!!! LOVED it, though. Will definitely be making again : )
Glad you enjoyed them!! Thanks Chrissy!
Absolutely YUMMY! Loved this recipe :)
Yay!! I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
Made these this evening and they were absolutely delicious!! I’ve started eating a plant based lifestyle since May 1st and the transition has been easy because of your easy to follow recipes.
My husband loved them so much!!
Thank you!
I’m so glad you enjoyed them!! Thanks so much Angelica!
I’m not the biggest fan of butternut squash. It’s fine, but I will choose something else if given the option. You have any suggestions for a good substitute? I love chimichangas!
You could use all kinds of things! Roasted cauliflower, potatoes, sweet potatoes or even just some cooked chickpeas would all work well in place of the squash. I’d love to hear how any of these variations turn out if you try them!
This was my first time using chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, and I did not realize they were this spicy! I normally don’t mind a bit of a kick to my food, but this was way too much, so a warning to others who may not like too much spice. The flavors otherwise were good enough that I will try this again, with maybe half the amount of peppers and adobo sauce. Now to go get rid of my heartburn…