Vegetarian Enchilada Casserole is a fun and easy Mexican-inspired recipe that the whole family will love.
PinWhenever 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.
PinI 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.
PinIf 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.
PinMexican-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.
PinIf 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.
Can you freeze this after cooking?
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I have been making this recipe with variations for a few years now. It has served me well! Something that I do occasionally is add TVP for some extra protein. I also use Trader Joe’s chunky salsa instead of canned tomatoes. It adds some great spice to the dish and saves cooking time!
I made this recipe mostly as is – I added shredded chicken, shredded carrots, and fresh spinach. I did, however, follow the enchilada sauce exactly. The dish turned out perfect and it was not watery at all. My 16 month old (plus me and my husband) loved it!
I have found that some brands of chili powder are VERY spicy depending on which kind you purchase. Or maybe I’m crazy?
Anyway, thanks for another great recipe!
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This is now a favorite of my kids ages 8, 10 and 13. I have to admit that I use considerably more corn tortillas than the recipe calls for. Perhaps that is why mine isn’t too watery. I also added a can of sliced black olives. We love olives!
Yes! Either let it come to room temperature before baking, or add about 7 minutes to the bake time!
can this be put in the fridge over night and bake the next day??
*chili powder not cayenne pepper
I was looking forward to making this but I have to admit, I wasn’t very happy with how it turned out. It turned into mush for me as well and it was very spicy. So spicy my husband was complaining and I couldn’t feed it to my 14 month old. This was after I halved the amount of cayenne pepper. I’m not sure that I would want to try it again which was surprising because we usually love weelicious recipes 🙁