Vegetarian Mexican Tortilla Casserole

You’ll love that this Mexican Tortilla Casserole is vegetarian, gluten-free, takes only 15 minutes to prepare, and is ALWAYS a family favorite. And the best part…this recipe is great for your freezer.

I love this recipe because it tastes amazing and is so easy to make But I also love how easy it is to adapt to whatever ingredients I have on hand. Truly, this casserole should be in the back pocket of every busy family!

Are you looking for family-friendly vegetarian meals? Try my “Meat”ball Marinara Subs or Cauliflower Mac & Cheese.

Key Ingredients:

• Red onion.
• Red bell pepper. I prefer red pepper vs green in this casserole. But use your favorite.
• Taco seasoning. Purchased taco seasoning keeps this easy. But certainly, try my homemade taco seasoning!
• Tomato purée. Tomato purée is thicker and has a deeper flavor than tomato sauce.
• Kidney or black beans, drained. If you want to amp up the flavor, try using chili beans.
• Sweet corn. Frozen sweet corn works just fine!
• Cilantro. Skip cilantro in favor of parsley for those cilantro haters.
• Corn tortillas. You can use flour if you prefer but corn tortillas give great flavor and texture to this casserole! Try white corn tortillas!
• Cheddar cheese. Some of our recipe testers used a Mexican blend and loved it. Use the kind of cheese you most love on your tacos.

Can I add meat to this recipe?

You can definitely add meat to this recipe! In fact, I’m thinking Mexican Chicken Casserole using some shredded rotisserie chicken sounds pretty darn tasty… But this would be great with ground beef, pulled pork, or maybe even some chorizo.  

Recipe adaptions to try

There are lots of ways to adapt this Mexican Casserole recipe to your family’s liking. If you’re cheese lovers, try adding extra cheese or changing out the cheddar for Monterey jack, pepper jack, or a Mexican blend. If you have a mushroom hater in your home (gasp!), you can just use different veggies (and we can still be friends). And don’t feel tied to corn tortillas if your family prefers flour–just make a quick swap. 

Meat Options

• Ground chicken
• Ground pork
• Ground beef
• Chorizo
• Shredded chicken
• Pulled Pork

More veggies

• Broccoli
• Green or yellow bell pepper
• Spinach
• Kale
• Carrots
• Olives

Cheese alternative

• Mozzarella
• Parmesan
• Red cheddar
• Gouda
• Swiss cheese

How to make Tortilla Casserole

1. Prepare your casserole pan and preheat your oven.
2. Heat oil in a large skillet and saute the pepper, onion, garlic, and mushrooms for about 3 minutes or until just the onion and pepper soften.
3. Add the taco seasoning, tomato purée, beans, corn, cilantro, salt, and pepper. Stir it all and cook for another 2 minutes. Taste and add additional seasoning as you like. Remove from heat.
4. Cut each tortilla into 4 pieces and place 8 pieces of cut tortilla at the bottom of the baking dish. Cover with ⅓ of the beans mixture. Sprinkle ½ cup of cheddar cheese. Repeat again with tortilla, beans, and cheese 2 times (a total of 3 layers). Top with remaining cheese.
5. Bake for 15 minutes or until the cheese has melted and browned.
6. Remove from oven and let rest for about 5 minutes (so when you cut into it it isn’t all runny) before cutting and serving.
7. Serve with your favorite toppings!

How to make ahead Mexican Tortilla Casserole?

You can prep this Mexican Tortilla Casserole up to one day in advance and store it in the fridge until you’re ready to bake. You’ll want to pull it out and let it come closer to room temperature before baking. And while this Tortilla Casserole might remind you of lasagna, which freezes beautifully, I don’t recommend prepping and freezing this before baking. The veggies and cilantro end up soft and mushy and you will probably end up disappointed. 

Storage?

Like most casseroles, leftovers of this Mexican Casserole can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for several days. If you want to freeze your leftovers, let the food come to room temperature first. Then, I suggest wrapping individual servings so they are nice and airtight before popping them in the freezer, where they should keep for a couple of months. 

Reheating?

If you’re going to be reheating your Mexican Casserole in individual portions, I recommend the easy route of just using the microwave. If you’re going to be reheating a larger portion, or if you are not a microwave user, the oven will be your friend. Check out my post on how to reheat a casserole for more information and ideas.