This Healthy Mexican Casserole has roasted corn, roasted bell peppers, cheese, enchilada sauce, and corn tortillas. Perfect leftovers for lunches!
Healthy Mexican Casserole with Roasted Corn and Peppers
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I love Mexican food and this. is. perfection. I’ve made it twice now and I’m currently trying to convince my husband that’s it’s all we need to eat forever and ever.
Watch How To Make This Casserole
Reasons Why I Adore This Casserole
A Mexican casserole that’s both healthy AND delicious? Filled with roasted corn and peppers? Yesss.
It is delicious, vegetarian, naturally gluten-free, and loaded with veggies and beans because those are things that are good to have in your life.
This was inspired by one of my favorite meals of all time, a frozen dinner by Amy’s Organic brand. Yeah, yeah, whatever. Judge me for loving frozen food. But I can’t deny the truth which is that those Amy’s Organic Mexican Bowls are delicious and a gift to my life when I don’t have time to make dinner (read: when I don’t have time to make dinner because I’m pages deep in the world’s best memes).
They are a gift and so is this recipe. I hope you fall in love with this Mexican Casserole too!
Ingredients + How To Make This Casserole
We’re layering things up like a lasagna and it’s going to be delicious!
The layers go like this:
- Corn tortillas
- Refried beans
- Roasted peppers and roasted corn
- Enchilada sauce
- Cheese
- And repeat.
It gets pretty full even if you’re using your biggest pan, which I was, so I really only got 1.5 layers jammed in there and baked up to cheesy, veggie perfection.
You might be raising your eyebrows at the mention of the corn tortillas in there, but they actually end up being delicious when completely soaked with enchilada sauce. It just works. If Amy’s can do it, we can, too. Bjork loved this, I loved this, our friend who took some leftovers home loved this, and I super-loved that we all loved it.
Now bake until bubbly, scoop onto plate, top with guac, and devour.
What To Serve With Mexican Casserole
This casserole is a whole meal all on its own, but there are a few options to serve alongside this!
As far as toppings go, I usually like to add some avocado (like that dip) or guacamole, and some Mexican crema on top. Maybe a sprinkle of cilantro, too!
Oh and hey. Guacamole on top is not optional. You must you must you must.
Healthy Mexican Casserole: FAQs
Can I make my own enchilada sauce?
Yes, and that would be soooo good! We have a recipe here.
Can I freeze this and bring it to a friend?
Awww, love this idea! 💛 This totally works – just tell them to thaw before baking. If you need more freezer meal ideas to send to a friend, check out this post.
Is this spicy with the peppers in it?
The bell peppers don’t add any spice, and you’ll get a very minimal kick of heat from the jalapeño. You can always remove the ribs and seeds from the jalapeño if you want to take down the heat more.
Could I add meat to this casserole?
Absolutely. Some shredded chicken could be added as a layer, or some ground beef taco meat would be an excellent addition too.
Healthy Mexican Casserole with Roasted Corn and Peppers
- Total Time: 1 hour 30 minutes
- Yield: 12 servings 1x
Description
This Healthy Mexican Casserole has roasted corn, roasted bell peppers, cheese, enchilada sauce, and corn tortillas. Perfect leftovers for lunches!
Ingredients
Units
Scale
- 2 red bell peppers
- 2 green bell peppers
- 1 jalapeno or 2 chipotle peppers (optional – just for more kick)
- 1/2 red onion
- 2 cups frozen corn
- 2 teaspoons chili powder
- 2 teaspoon cumin
- 1 teaspoon salt, to taste
- 2 cups Mexican cheese (mine was a Sargento blend)
- 18–20 corn tortillas
- 1 can refried beans
- 2 cups red enchilada sauce
- cilantro, guacamole, or sour cream for topping
Instructions
- Pan-roast the veggies: Dice the peppers and mince the onions. Heat a large nonstick skillet with a little bit of oil over high heat (**note – I used to recommend using no oil, because that’s what worked best for my with my Swiss Diamond nonstick pan, but several readers have ruined their own pans doing that so I am no longer recommending that!). Add the onion and peppers, sprinkle with chili and cumin, and stir, rest, stir, rest until you get a nice browning on the outside of the peppers. Remove and set aside. Repeat the roasting process with the corn, sprinkling with chili and cumin, removing from the heat when browned and roasted on the outside. Sprinkle the roasted veggies with a little bit of salt and toss to coat.
- Prep the ingredients: Grease a 9×13 inch baking pan and preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Cut the tortillas into thin strips. Put the refried beans in a bowl and mix with a little bit of water to make them easier to spread.
- Assemble: Spread a little bit of sauce on the bottom of the pan. Layer in order: half of the tortilla strips, ALL the beans, half of the veggies, half of the sauce, half of the cheese. Cover with the other half of the tortilla strips, veggies, sauce, and cheese.
- Bake: Cover with foil (I usually spray mine with cooking spray) and bake for 15-20 minutes, until the sauce is bubbling and the cheese is melted. Serve with guacamole, fresh cilantro, sour cream, or anything in the world that you want.
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 1 hour
- Category: Dinner
- Method: Bake
- Cuisine: Mexican
Keywords: mexican casserole, healthy casserole, veggie casserole, vegetarian recipe
More Casseroles To Love
Filed Under: All Recipes Avocado Bell Pepper Casserole Dinner Gluten-Free Healthy Jalapeño Legume Main Dishes Sugar-Free Vegetarian Winter
February 24, 2014
Nice to meet you!
I’m Lindsay and I ♡ FOOD. I used to be a teacher, and now making food and writing about it online is my full-time job. I love talking with people about food, and I'm so glad you're here.
Did you make a recipe? Tag @pinchofyum on Instagram so we can find you!
Under 250 calories and ALL THE CHEESE?
You are a food wizard. And I <3 it. The guacamole on top is my life.
P.s Grumpy cat? YES. LOVE HIM.
Delish! I made this the other night, and while I would have kept the recipe as is, I had to accommodate my carnivorous boyfriend. I poached bone-in chicken breasts in vegetable broth, shredded the chicken, tossed the shredded chicken in some cilantro, garlic, a few spices- kept pretty bland. I then incorporated the chicken as a layer. Topped the finished product with some onions that I had left to pickle in some red wine vinegar, some avocado, and some cubed tomatoes, a dollop of sour cream. Absolute heaven! And it made enough for a few subsequent meals. LOVED IT.
Great idea! Thanks Monique!
What does it mean by tortillas? Can I use Tortilla chips?
I would use flour or corn tortillas which are what chips are before they are fried. So they should be soft, because you layer them in the casserole to bake.
Mmmmm….Lindsay. You had me at the first photo. This looks perfect and healthy for a weeknight meal!
I’m so amused right now with these hilarious pics. I can’t even tell you how much time I waste laughing at pointless pics on Pinterest but somehow it makes my day brighter. Love the ‘spring break’ one. Never saw that. It’s great!
I have a question about the cooking time. In the recipe itself, it says bake for 15-20 minutes but in the footer, it says cook time 1 hr. It looks delicious! I just want to make sure how long to expect when I’m making it. Thank you!
20 minutes was perfect for me.
Did you add chicken raw?
No chicken in her recipe. Monique said that she added chicken. Poached chicken.
That means cooked in liquid.
How much chicken did you add Monique?
actually grumpy cat is a girl. the irrelative information of the day lol. just reffering to the girl that said that she loves him lol! oh and btw I am totally drooling all over the keyboard right now. love your recipe so much. just need to find a vegan veggie broth to use so i can make my own enchiladas sauce to use!
Budget Bytes actually did a great enchilada sauce that used water instead of broth and I thought it was fantastic when I made it and I think it would work marvelously with this. I plan to use it when I make this dish, if you want to keep it vegan or pure vegetarian. 😀
https://www.budgetbytes.com/red-enchilada-sauce/
Great idea.
Why not use a vegi broth? I save all my vegi scraps in the freezer.. When I get a full gallon zip lock bag full I make broth and I can it, so I always have some in the house.. You can toss in extra veggies for more flavor if you wish I rarely do…
We tried this casserole tonight. Oh my heavens! Soooo good. We didn’t miss meat at all. Your website and social media is such a godsend! 🙂
PS. She’s right, do not skip the guac!
We onky have 1 avocado/guac lover in this house 🤢. Tried our toddler and baby with it and they both hated it, especially the toddler. I think avocado tastes like soil and ruins evrrything it touches. I so want to like it, bit it overpoerrs everything. I have even tried very small amounts in smoothies snd avocado brownies. Soil is all I taste. Our teenagers think sinilar, though 1 is also put off by the texture
Louise fair…I have an idea, make this without avocado or guacamole! Also, FYI avocado and guacamole are two different things.
Has anyone tried using green enchilada sauce instead of red?
Just found your site. Can’t wait to try this. My husband and I love Mexican. Unfortunately I will have to leave out the jalapeno, my stomach won’t take it. One of the things of getting older, at one time the hotter the better,so enjoy while you can. I plan to go through the rest of your recipes to find more Mexican recipes to try. Thanks for your hard work so other people can enjoy it.
Thanks and until I come to your site again may God hold you in the palm of his hand
Umm..Amy’s Burritos are a lifesaver when no one wants to cook in our house!! And I love them for lunch when there are no leftovers! So of course no judging..especially when that enchilada casserole looks that delicious!
Thanks for another infinitely customizable dinner idea.
Abby
God memes,I have a thing for the depressed pug ones.
I am oven baked veggie fan especially if has all that cheese on it. I am wanting this right now even though I have already ate.
I looooove Amy’s freezer meals … and I know EXACTLY which one this is inspired by – one of my faves! Yay! Can’t wait to make it – pinning double-fast! Oh, and I totally get how the meme thing has to happen in your head – they never sound even remotely great when I try to read them out loud to my husband! 😀
Love that you know the exact one! 🙂 AMY’S FOR LIFE
Can I freeze this at the step before the oven then throw it in at a lower temp for longer the day I make it? I am planning a meal to take to friends with a newborn baby but don’t want this to come out gross if I freeze it – but I want to be prepared – thanks!
Did you end up freezing it? I’m thinking of doing the same thing and I’m wondering how it turned out!
I baked and then froze it and have not tried it! Hopefully it turns out okay as I am also giving it to new parents! Any idea what to recook it at/how long?
Totally came looking for a recipe because of that exact frozen bowl. I had one today, and this time, I was like “I want to make this.” Yours looked tastiest. We’ll be trying it next week.
Mexican is the only way to get through Monday and bonus that this is healthy. Looks amazing!
Mexican is one of those things I’m allllways craving, so just gimme all of this!
So pretty & you did an amazing job of styling…a casserole! Not always easy for me at least! 🙂 pinned
Thanks Averie! Still trying to learn the ropes with the windows and set ups at our new house but every day gets a little easier. 🙂
LULZ Linsday, I’m such a sucker for memes too; I’m glad I’m not the only one.
One of my fave ones is THE BABY (I just wish I could post it here!), do you know “him”?
Loving this healthy casserole btw, looks so delectable!
No, I’ll have to look that one up!
HA, I LOVE Grumpy Cat. I saw a bumper sticker with a picture of him that said, “Grumpy cat hates your stick figure family,” the other day.
We love casseroles and mexican food. I’m loving this dish.
OMG I am DYING at the Spring Break pic! Thanks for the belly laugh on Monday morning 🙂
I thought I was the only one who couldn’t look at just one meme! Your casserole looks amazing. I can’t wait to give it a try.
Being a Northern transplant in Atlanta, I almost DIED laughing at your snow meme! And this casserole looks divine! Amy’s Burritos = lazy lunch or dinner. Praise be! I can’t wait to try this out!
Yes! 🙂 love that you understand.
Not to be a buzzkill on that meme, but those of us who transplanted to more rural parts of the South — you know, places where the snow/ice removal budget is nil — I have to admit, NO ONE can drive in winter precip here. I mean, you can try, but I wouldn’t recommend it. 😉
This looks delicious -Ive used corn tortillas in casseroles before – I think it works perfectly.
This looks amazing! Love all these flavours. And I’m totally with you about the memes – I always see people saying how immature they are and how they’re taking over the internet, and I just sit there quietly thinking how much I love them haha
Haha!! I totally love memes Lindsay! This post made me laugh! And oh my gosh your photos are beautiful. This casserole looks perfect!
Oh this casserole and a meme marathon are so happening in my house this week.
Mmmmm. Looks really good! I’m always down with a good laugh. A good laugh and good food, even better!
This is so beautiful! I love colorful meals, especially when they’re absolutely cheesy and delicious, too!
Mmmmm….Lindsay. You had me at the first photo. This looks perfect and healthy for a weeknight meal!
I’m so amused right now with these hilarious pics. I can’t even tell you how much time I waste laughing at pointless pics on Pinterest but somehow it makes my day brighter. Love the ‘spring break’ one. Never saw that. It’s great! 🙂
Oh, I love those Amy’s Mexican Bowls! I will give this recipe a try for sure. How well do you think it would freeze?
Not sure, usually I try to avoid freezing stuff with lots of veggies, but that’s just me. 🙂
Has anyone tried freezing this before baking?
We absolutely love this recipe. It has been in our regular rotation for a long time now! It does freeze well. You just need to thaw it completely before baking. We always make one and freeze one with this dish!
DO you freeze before or after baking?
Does it freeze well?
Do you have suggestions for substituting whole beans for the refried beans in the recipe?
This looks absolutely amazing! I can’t wait to make this. I am always looking for healthier mexican options since it is one of my favorite types of food. I also love that you calculate the nutritional information for us.
Everything about this post is great. My writing prof is in LOVE with cat memes. She puts multiple in every. single. powerpoint. It’s ridiculously hilarious! Also, I want this entire casserole please & thanks 🙂
AMAZING
can’t wait to try this recipe! looks delicious =)
I’m always looking for ways to make mexican food healthier, and this is just the ticket. Also, I love the south vs. north snow meme, so accurate!