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Vegetarian Enchilada Casserole is a fun and easy Mexican-inspired recipe that the whole family will love.
Whenever we have dinner at our favorite local Mexican restaurant, my husband frequently orders enchiladas. His love of them has rubbed off on our kids, evidenced by how they spend most of the meal going between what they’ve ordered and (much to hubby’s chagrin) taking repeated bites off of his plate. Given that my family’s appetite for Mexican enchiladas is greater than how often we eat out, I decided to learn how to make them. And then I came up with the Enchilada Casserole. A total game-changer.
I love making Vegetarian Enchilada Casserole because you save time by not having to roll up enchiladas. Layering the tortillas with the fillings gives you the same satisfying bite without the extra time it takes to perfectly roll up the tortillas. It makes it a little more kid friendly so they can help you layer the filling with the tortillas. Getting kids involved in the kitchen is always a huge goal for me.
If you’re not used to preparing enchiladas at home, making homemade enchilada sauce might seem a bit intimidating, but it’s actually quite easy (or at least my version is simple!). The list of ingredients may seem long, but they are all very likely things you already have in your pantry, spice drawer, refrigerator and freezer.
Mexican-inspired dishes are one of the easiest to make vegetarian, which is great for our family since Kenya is vegetarian, and the rest of us try to eat as much plant based food as possible. There are several recipes on Weelicious that are great for families that have a mixture of vegetarians or meat eaters like Vegetarian Baked Taquitos, Vegetarian Chimichangas, Vegetarian Crunchwrap Supreme and Vegetarian Sheet Pan Nachos.
If you’re like me and have a house full of enchilada lovers but want to save a few bucks by making dinner at home, you’ll be happy to discover how easy it is to do — and you can make enough so that no one has to pick off of anyone else’s plate!
Vegetarian Enchilada Casserole
Ingredients
Enchilada Sauce:
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 small onion, diced
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 tablespoon ground cumin
- 1 tablespoon chili powder
- 1 teaspoon honey
- 1 14.5 oz can diced tomatoes
- 1 cup water
Filling:
- 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon cumin powder
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 cup sour cream
- 1 large egg
- 1 cup corn kernels
- 1-15 ounce can black beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 red bell pepper, diced
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
- 2 1/2 cups shredded mexican blend cheese, divided
- 6 corn tortillas
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 F.
- Heat 1 tbsp of oil in a small saucepan over medium heat and sauté the onions for 4 minutes. Add the garlic, salt, cumin and chili powder and sauté an additional minute.
- Add the honey, diced tomatoes and water. Stir, bring to a boil, cover and simmer for 10 minutes.
- Allow mixture to cool for 10 minutes then place in a blender, puree and set aside.
- In a large bowl, whisk the onion, garlic, cumin powder, salt, sour cream and egg.
- Stir in the corn, black beans, bell pepper, cilantro and 2 cups of cheese to combine.
- Pour 3/4 cup of the enchilada sauce on the bottom of a 7×11 baking dish. Cover with 2 corn tortillas.
- Spread half of the mixture on top of the tortillas and top with another ½ cup of sauce followed by 2 more tortillas.
- Spread the remaining mixture on top of the tortillas, top with the remaining 2 tortillas, sauce and cheese.*
- Bake for 40 minutes uncovered.
- Serve.
- *At this point the casserole can be covered and frozen. When ready to serve, bake in a 350 degree oven for 45 minutes.
I have been looking for a good enchilada sauce recipe yay Will be trying this asap
Made this tonight. Absolutely delicious! My 5 year old loved it and so did we. Will be making it again for sure. thanks for another great recipe! I make at least one of your recipes every day.
Seems like a lot of cumin for the sauce…
I made this for dinner tonight and wow! So delicious! The best part: my 13-month-old son, who’s quite the picky eater, LOVED it. Thank you for another great recipe!
Made this last night – it was great! My husband is always skeptical that vegetarian dishes will be filling, but he liked it too.
I am especially glad to have a simple recipe to make homemade enchilada sauce! I hate using mystery sauce from the can, and this was so easy and tasted just like I expected it to. Thank you!
YUM!!! I may just have to make this on Meatless Monday! 🙂
This looks great! I can’t wait to try it.
This is the recipe that is good for those who are health conscious and would not like take or eat meat.
This looks great! I make a similar recipe and call it Mexican Lasagna. I cut the corn tortillas into triangles (for ease of serving mostly) and layer them. I also add zucchini…and chicken once in a while for a change. I’ll definitely try this one, thanks!
P.S. Thanks for the enchilada sauce recipe. Never tried making that myself, but will take the plunge with your version.
omg looks delish!!!!! i have to try
This looks absolutely amazing 🙂
This sounds great! Can’t wait to make it.
what size corn tortillas????
SHORT CUT: I use a can of tomato sauce (and throw in some salsa from the fridge)-add all spices above for enchilada sauce and then follow steps for layering.
When it cooks all the flavors will blend.
this looks AMAZING! my mouth is watering and it’s not even 7:30 AM lol
I make a similar recipe and you just reminded me that I haven’t made it in a while and need to! Your recipe looks fantastic. 🙂