Mexican Vegetarian Flautas with Black Beans

If you love Mexican cuisine, you won’t be able to resist these healthy Vegetarian Mexican Flautas. Packed full of flavor, these crispy flautas are easy to make, kid-friendly, and are perfect for an easy dinner any night of the week!

My family loves Mexican cusine – Enchiladas, Nachos, Flautas, Quesadillas, etc. So a lot of times I’ll find myself in the kitchen experimenting with how to make a healthier version of these traditional recipes that still taste great but are so much better for us! 

Flautas are rolled tortillas that are stuffed with various fillings. They are delicious but the traditional flautas recipe calls for them to be deep-fried, and vegetarian versions found at Mexican restaurants are usually just filled with cheese and nothing else.

I wanted to create something that was reminiscent of flautas but could be baked instead of fried, and had a healthier filling than just plain cheese.

For this latest recipe, I filled the tortillas with a black bean and corn filling and oven-baked the tortillas — and it turned out great! I hope you love it as much as we did – these really were some of the best flautas we’ve ever had. Spice up your Taco Tuesday with these vegetarian flautas, they’re a delicious vegetarian Mexican recipe!

👩‍🍳 Why This Recipe Works

• Healthy and Flavorful
• Great Recipe for Family Dinners
• Authentic Mexican Recipe
• High in Protein
• Loaded with Veggies
• Simply Seasoned

🥘 Ingredients

Black Beans: Use canned organic black beans that have been drained and rinsed. You can also use refried beans, or my homemade vegan refried beans if you don’t have whole beans.

Corn: I prefer to use frozen corn because it’s so easy to use. But you could also opt for fresh corn or even canned corn if you like.

Olive Oil, Red Onion and Garlic: The start to any delicious meal in my opinion is garlic and onion sauteed in olive oil. It adds a rich depth of flavor to the black beans. For additional spice, add in 1-2 diced poblano peppers.

Tortillas: I used yellow and white corn tortillas, but you could even use sprouted whole wheat flour tortillas if you want to use a soft flour tortilla and don’t need this recipe to be gluten free.

Salsa: Use your favorite salsa or pico de gallo. Make your own or use store bought for ease.

Spices: This recipe calls for simple spices such as kosher salt, chili powder, taco seasoning, and cumin.

🍽 Equipment

• Cutting Board
• Chopping Knife
• Large NonStick Skillet or pan 
• Wooden Spoon
• Baking Sheet

📖 Variations

Easy Chicken Flautas Recipe: If you’re making this recipe for meat eaters, replace the black bean and corn mixture with shredded chicken cooked with taco seasoning and Mexican spices. Top with cheese so the chicken mixture binds well to the tortillas!

Vegetarian Cheese Flautas: If you don’t need to make this recipe vegan, you can add shredded cheddar cheese, monterey jack cheese, pepper jack cheese, or any shredded Mexican cheese that melts well.

Potato Flautas: Try a combination of mashed potatoes and shredded cheese as the filling for these delicious flautas! You can even turn these into sweet potato flautas by using roasted or mashed sweet potatoes instead of regular potatoes. It turns out to be super creamy on the inside, crispy on the outside. Your taste buds will thank you!

Your Favorite Toppings: You can top these easy black bean flautas with a variety of options based on your personal preference! Try an avocado salsa, guacamole, hot sauce, taco sauce, fresh pico de gallo, green salsa or salsa verde, Mexican cream, sour cream or even plain Greek yogurt!

🔪 Instructions

Step 1: Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Cook diced onion 3 to 5 minutes in the hot oil, or until soft. Reduce to medium heat. Add minced garlic, and cook 1 minute, or until translucent and fragrant.

Step 2: Stir in beans, chili powder, taco seasoning, cumin, garlic powder and 1 cup water.

Step 3: Reduce heat to medium low, and simmer 10 minutes, or until most of liquid has evaporated.

Step 4: Remove from heat. Mash beans until mixture is thickened but still chunky, and some beans remain whole. They should resemble refried black beans.

Step 5: Stir in 1 cup salsa and corn, and season with salt and pepper. Cool.

Step 6: Preheat oven to 425F. Coat 2 large baking sheets with cooking spray or line with parchment paper. Spoon 1/3 cup black bean mixture down the center of each tortilla.

Step 7: Roll tortilla around filling, and secure closed with toothpick, and place seam side down. Set filled tortilla on prepared baking sheet. Repeat with remaining tortillas and black bean mixture. Make sure to place flautas seam side down on the baking sheet so they stay rolled up.

Step 8: Bake 6 to 10 minutes, or until tortillas are golden brown and crisp. Note: If you want to add more crispiness, you can put these vegan flautas under the broiler for a few min and top each one with 1 Tbsp of queso fresco to get a nice crust on top. You could also crisp them up in the air fryer!

👪 How To Serve

Combine fresh cilantro and remaining salsa in a small bowl. Place 2 flautas on each plate, and top with remaining salsa. Add salt and black pepper to taste.

You can also top this main dish with a squeeze of lime juice and green onions. If you need more spice sprinkle with cayenne pepper.

Side dishes with great flavor that go well with this easy weeknight dinner include: this tomato, cucumber and avocado salad, these air fryer tortilla chips, this instant pot tomato soup, or this tortilla soup!

❄️ How To Store

Refrigerator: Allow flautas to cool to room temperature. Transfer to an airtight container. Store in the refrigerator for 4-5 days.

Freeze: After flautas have cooled transfer them to a freezer safe container. They will keep in the freezer for up to 2 months.

Reheat: When ready to reheat from the refrigerator warm in the microwave, or place in the oven or toaster oven for 10 minutes at 350 F to warm and crisp.

❓Recipe FAQs

💭 Expert Tips

• Let the filling cool completely before filling the tortillas, otherwise they may crack.
• To make the tortillas pliable for rolling, you can heat them in the microwave for a few seconds, or place between a damp paper towel or dish rag.
• Soak your toothpicks for at least 20 minutes in water before inserting them into your flautas. The moisture that is absorbed while soaking will prevent the toothpicks from burning during the baking process.
• If you want to pack more veggies into your flautas, try adding in 4 cups baby spinach, chopped and cooked down and/or 1-2 yellow or orange bell peppers, diced into your filling. Note: if you add in these veggies you need to increase the spices & salt to taste!
• For a soft flour tortilla that is easy to roll, place between a damp paper towel or dish rag.

🌮 More Delicious Mexican Recipes!

• Healthy Mexican Stuffed Peppers
• Vegan Taquitos
• Mexican Rice Casserole
• Potato Tacos
• Vegetarian Stuffed Poblano Peppers
• Smoky Vegetarian Fajitas
• Keto Enchiladas
• Vegan Black Bean Tacos
• Healthy Black Bean Quesadillas

📋 Recipe Card

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Print Recipe

5 from 15 votes

Healthy Vegetarian Mexican Flautas

Packed full of flavor, these Mexican flautas are easy to make, kid-friendly, and perfect for a healthy weeknight meal.

Prep Time15 minutes mins

Cook Time25 minutes mins

Total Time40 minutes mins

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: Mexican

Diet: Gluten Free, Low Calorie, Vegan, Vegetarian

Servings: 6

Calories: 315kcal

Author: Anjali Shah

Ingredients

• ▢ 2 tsp olive oil
• ▢ 1 medium red onion chopped (about 1 cup)
• ▢ 5 cloves garlic minced
• ▢ 30 oz canned black beans rinsed and drained
• ▢ 2 tsp chili powder
• ▢ 2 tsp taco seasoning more to taste
• ▢ 1 tsp ground cumin
• ▢ salt to taste
• ▢ 16 oz prepared salsa divided
• ▢ 1 cup fresh or frozen corn kernels
• ▢ 12 6 inch corn tortillas
• ▢ ¼ cup chopped cilantro

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Instructions

• ▢
  Heat oil in skillet over medium heat. Cook onion 3 to 5 minutes, or until soft. Add garlic, and cook 1 minute, or until translucent and fragrant.
• ▢
  Stir in beans, all of the spices, and 1 cup water.
• ▢
  Reduce heat to medium low, and simmer 10 minutes, or until most of liquid has evaporated.
• ▢
  Remove from heat. Mash beans until mixture is thickened but still chunky, and some beans remain whole.
• ▢
  Stir in 1 cup salsa and corn, and season with salt and pepper. Cool.
• ▢
  Preheat oven to 425F. Coat 2 large baking sheets with cooking spray. Spoon 1/3 cup black bean mixture down center of tortilla.
• ▢
  Roll tortilla around filling, and secure closed with toothpick. Set on prepared baking sheet. Repeat with remaining tortillas and black bean mixture.
• ▢
  Bake 6 to 10 minutes, or until tortillas are browned and crisp. Note: If you want to add more crispiness, you can put the flautas under the broiler for a few min and top each one with 1Tbsp of cheese to get a nice crust on top. Meanwhile, combine cilantro and remaining salsa in small bowl. Place 2 flautas on each plate, and top with remaining salsa.

Notes

Top Tips for making Healthy Mexican Flautas

• Let the filling cool completely before filling the tortillas, otherwise they may crack.
• To make the tortillas pliable for rolling, you can heat them in the microwave for a few seconds.
• Soak your toothpicks for at least 20 minutes in water before inserting them into your flautas. The moisture that is absorbed while soaking will prevent the toothpicks from burning during the baking process. 
• If you want to pack more veggies into your flautas, try adding in 4 cups baby spinach, chopped and cooked down and/or 1-2 yellow or orange bell peppers, diced into your filling. Note: if you add in these veggies you need to increase the spices & salt to taste!   

Recipe adapted from Vegetarian Times.

Nutrition

Serving: 2flautas | Calories: 315kcal | Carbohydrates: 59g | Protein: 13g | Fat: 4g | Sodium: 1175mg | Potassium: 846mg | Fiber: 15g | Sugar: 5g