Vegetarian Enchilada Casserole
If you’ve never had enchiladas in a casserole before you are in for a treat! My vegetarian enchilada casserole is both satisfying and full of flavor. You won’t miss the meat because it is chock full of tasty vegetables, beans, and a classic and delicious enchilada sauce. Not to mention cheese.
Making an enchilada casserole is like pushing the easy button. Instead of individually rolling enchiladas for your entire family, you layer the ingredients in a baking dish and pop it in the oven.
Then you set a timer and walk away, coming back when dinner is ready.
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Same Day or Make Ahead Meal
I love meals like this! It takes less than fifteen minutes to put together. While it’s baking for forty minutes or so, you can go play a game of cards with your husband, watch Secret Life of the Zoo with your kids, or read a good book. No standing in the kitchen!
Did you know you can get this dish ready the night before you want to serve it?
Get it all in the baking dish, cover it tightly, and store it in the fridge until you are ready to bake! If you know you are going to be busy tomorrow, tonight is the perfect time to throw dinner together.
You can also freeze an uncooked vegetarian enchilada casserole to have on hand in a dinner emergency.
In a hurry? If you need dinner on the table in less than thirty minutes, try my skillet chicken enchiladas instead!
Ingredients for Vegetarian Enchilada Casserole
The ingredients for this tasty casserole are usually things I keep in my pantry. You’ll need your favorite enchilada sauce so when you don’t want to make your own be sure to grab that at the store.
If I don’t have time to make the sauce, I prefer the La Victoria Red Enchilada sauce for this recipe.
Corn tortillas, red pepper, fresh Roma tomatoes, frozen corn, canned black beans, canned kidney beans, cheese, green onions, and spices round out the ingredients list.
Also, want to lower the carbs? Check out Mr. Tortilla! They’re sturdy, and only 1 carb per tortilla!
You may also want cilantro for garnish. The beans give this dish so much substance! It’s very filling.
Make it Spicy
If you want to add some heat to your casserole, you could try adding diced jalapeños or habaneros with or without seeds, spicy crushed or dried peppers, ancho chili spice, or a bit of hot sauce mixed with the enchilada sauce.
Be sure to add one of these items to your grocery list if spicy is your preference.
Up the Veggie Content
If you have a bunch of veggies that need to be used up you could totally add any of these to your casserole: yellow squash, zucchini, sweet potatoes (shredded so they bake thoroughly), and spinach would all play nicely.
If you increase the veggie content be sure to increase the spices accordingly.
Zucchini is one of my favorites because it absorbs other flavors and blends in so nicely. although because of the water content only add about 1/2 cup and if you are serving kids, dice it small.
How to Make Vegetarian Enchilada Casserole
This dish really is all about layering the ingredients. It’s that easy! Start with a thin layer of sauce and a layer of corn tortillas. Having tortillas on the bottom and top gives the casserole structure. It’s similar in this way to a lasagna.
All the veggies and spices are then mixed together and added as a layer. Then cheese. Then tortillas again. Then another layer of the veggies, cheese and tortillas.
Finished with sauce and cheese, the ooey gooey goodness of this when it all comes together. Oh my.
Garnish
When it comes out of the oven with toasty browning cheese on top, add chopped green onions and cilantro for garnish. Let it sit for about five minutes to firm up before serving. Again, think Mexican lasagna.
Serving the Casserole
When you bring vegetarian enchilada casserole to the table you’ll want to serve it with sour cream, guacamole or sliced avocado, and maybe even some salsa or pico de Gallo.
You might also like to include these homemade tortilla chips.
My preference is to serve it as a one-dish meal. Because why use the easy button and then make it more complicated?
However, if you need to add side dishes to feed a crowd, try an easy side salad, corn cakes, or Spanish rice.
When Leftovers Happen
With just my husband and I at home these days, we have leftovers more often than not. Don’t let the leftovers go to waste!
Leftovers of the vegetarian enchilada casserole are great to take to work the next day. You can get them ready in individual-sized containers.
Stick a couple of these in the fridge and the rest in the freezer to reheat when you don’t feel like cooking. If you do this every time you have leftovers, you’ll have a nice variety in your freezer in no time!
Vegetarian Enchilada Casserole
Ingredients
- 12 – 18 corn tortillas
- 16 ounces 2 cups enchilada sauce
- 1 bell pepper diced
- 2 roma tomatoes diced
- 1 cup frozen corn
- 1 14 ounce can black beans
- 1 14 ounce can kidney beans
- 2 teaspoons chili powder
- 2 teaspoons garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 4 cups shredded “Mexican blend” cheese or 2 cups shredded cheddar and 2 cups shredded monterey jack
- 2 green onions diced
- Cilantro for garnish
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375°F. Pour about ½ cup of enchilada sauce on bottom of a 9 x 13 inch baking dish.
- Place a layer of tortillas on bottom of dish (you will need 4 to 6 tortillas per layer, depending on size of your tortillas). Set aside.
- In a large bowl, combine diced pepper, tomatoes, corn and the beans. Stir in chili powder, garlic powder and salt. Spread half of this mixture on top of tortilla layer.
- Spread 1 ½ cups cheese on top of veggie layer.
- Place another layer of tortillas, then repeat veggie and cheese layers.
- Place one more layer of tortillas on top. Spread remaining 1 ½ cups enchilada sauce over the top, and sprinkle with 1 more cup of cheese.
- Bake for 40 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool for 5 minutes before slicing. Top with green onion and cilantro if desired. Serve with sour cream, and/or guacamole or diced avocado.
Nutrition
Disclaimer
Please note that the nutritional information provided are guidelines and may vary based on the brand of products used. For your specific nutritional goals use My Fitness Pal or Verywell Fit recipe calculators. All content within this site is not intended as medical diagnosis or treatment and should not be considered a substitute for professional medical expertise.
PIN TO YOUR MEXICAN AND CASSEROLE BOARDS
Yum, My family loves enchiladas! Your vegetarian version is such a great way to get them to eat more veggies.