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Mexican Lasagna

April 27, 2015 by Life is but a Dish 21 Comments

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This is my husband’s favorite meal. 

mexicanlasagna-6Yep.  If you were to ask him what his favorite dish is that I make, this would be the one.  Which is so ironic because he’s a biiiiiig meat eater.  He loves a great steak, slow cooked short ribs, or a double double animal style – no tomato.  

mexicanlasagna

Yet this simple, vegetarian meal seems to satisfy even the manliest of men.  It still hits that comfort feeling you’re looking for, just with healthier ingredients!  

Packed with brown rice, spinach, beans, and peppers, this recipe is full of flavor and tasty surprises. My favorite layer?  The bean/pepper mush.  I let this cook down until it becomes super soft and almost mush like. Yes, that’s a technical term. 

mexicanlasagna-2This recipe was originally created by one of my closest friends Sara. Back in the day before kids, carpools, and minivans, Sara and her husband lived in the building directly behind us in Santa Monica.  She and I would spend an entire Saturday afternoon planning a menu, shopping at the farmer’s market, and cooking dinner for our husbands.  Then we would stay up all night, stuff our faces, drink bottles of wine, play Balderdash and laugh until practically peeing our pants.  Then sleep in as late as we wanted on Sunday.  Oh, those were the days.

Anyways, Sara came up with the GENIUS idea for this mexican lasagna, which I’ve slightly tweaked, and I think have perfected.  People. Go. CRAZY for this recipe.  I don’t know what it is.  But it’s a crowd pleaser. 

mexicanlasagna-5This was one of the main dishes I served at the Dinating at Home dinner a couple weeks ago.  And it’s a great dish to serve for Cinco de Mayo!  Do it. 

mexicanlasagna-7

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Mexican Lasagna

★★★★★ 5 from 6 reviews
  • Yield: 8 1x
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Description

A delicious vegetarian lasagna made with brown rice, tortillas, and layers of veggies. 


Ingredients

Scale
  • 1 cup uncooked brown rice
  • 2 cups vegetable or chicken stock, (plus 1 cup (for the bean mixture))
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 onion, (sliced)
  • 1 red bell pepper, (thinly sliced)
  • 2 cloves garlic, (minced)
  • 1 can (15 oz pinto beans, drained and rinsed)
  • 1 can (15 oz black beans, drained and rinsed)
  • 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
  • Salt and pepper to taste
  • 5–6 whole wheat (or corn tortillas, cut in quarters)
  • 2 1/2 cups shredded colby jack cheese
  • 4 cups fresh spinach
  • Garnish with sliced avocado (cilantro, salsa, and sour cream)

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees, and spray a 9×13 inch baking dish with cooking spray. Set aside. Start cooking rice according to package using the broth as the liquid.
  2. In large saute pan, heat olive oil over medium heat. Cook onion, and red pepper in olive oil. Add a little salt and pepper and cook about 5-7 minutes. Add garlic and cook about 1 minute. Add both cans of beans, garlic powder, onion powder, and about 1/2 – 3/4 cup of stock. Stir over medium heat and reduce until thick and beans are mushy. Add more stock as necessary (about 20 minutes). Add salt and pepper to taste.
  3. Start to layer in baking dish. Lay tortillas just enough to cover the bottom, 1 cup of cheese, half of the rice, all the spinach, all the bean mixture, other half of rice, another layer of tortillas, then topped with remaining cheese.
  4. Bake about 20-30 min until cheese is bubbly and crispy.
  5. After baking, garnish with sliced avocado and chopped cilantro. Serve with, salsa, sourcream, and maybe a splash of lime.

Did you make this recipe?

Tag @lifeisbutadish on Instagram and hashtag it #lifeisbutadish

 mexicanlasagnas-8

And let me know what you think.  

 

 

Filed Under: Dinner, Healthy, Vegetarian Tagged With: cinco de mayo, dinner, Healthy, Lasagna, Life is but a Dish, Mexican, mexican lasagna, vegetarian

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. marcy grutza

    April 29, 2015 at 3:46 pm

    yum!!! Recipe saved and added to my favorites!

    Reply
    • Life is but a Dish

      April 29, 2015 at 7:57 pm

      Yay!

  2. Swills

    May 22, 2015 at 7:02 pm

    Great dish! My husband, who is also a big meat eater, absolutely loved it. I added a semi-cleaned jalapeño and some cilantro to the bean mash, so it had a little more heat to it.

    Reply
    • Life is but a Dish

      May 26, 2015 at 7:27 pm

      Sounds like a great modification! So glad you enjoyed it!

  3. Alicia

    April 2, 2017 at 8:08 pm

    We do a similar meal, without rice and add enchilada sauce. We just call it Enchilada Casserole 😉 Great dish! My husband loves enchiladas so much he doesn’t ever mind if its meatless 🙂

    Reply
  4. Rochelle Bryan

    August 29, 2017 at 7:18 pm

    Loved it! We added some pickled jalapeños to add some heat, but seriously my brood of 5 loved it. We didn’t miss not having meat. It was really satisfying and delicious.

    Reply
    • Life is but a Dish

      August 29, 2017 at 10:27 pm

      This makes me so happy!! So glad everyone enjoyed. And pickled jalapeños sound awesome!

  5. Alyse

    February 27, 2018 at 1:23 pm

    Huge hit in our home! Switched red pepper for poblano because it’s what I had on hand. And instead of oil on bottom, Trader Joe’s bottled enchilada sauce. And a little on top. Had it 2 days in a row. Thanks for this amazing recipe!

    ★★★★★

    Reply
    • Life is but a Dish

      February 28, 2018 at 1:55 pm

      Yay!! We love this recipe too! So glad you enjoyed.

  6. meisneb

    April 23, 2018 at 8:45 am

    Any issue with assembling the day before, refrigerating, and then cooking?

    Reply
    • Life is but a Dish

      April 26, 2018 at 12:49 pm

      Should be good to go!

  7. Towles Kintz

    December 12, 2018 at 8:34 am

    Yet another amazing, easy, delicious recipe! Thank you!!!

    ★★★★★

    Reply
    • Life is but a Dish

      December 13, 2018 at 1:29 pm

      Yay! SO glad you liked it!

  8. Bridgette

    March 15, 2019 at 2:28 pm

    Tried this a few nights ago and LOVED IT!!! I actually cooked some lentils and brown rice together and added that to the recipe. That was my husbands request. Besides that stuck to the recipe as written. Hubby says it’s one of his new favorites and I have to agree. Served to a group nd everyone enjoyed it. No one missed the meat.

    ★★★★★

    Reply
    • Life is but a Dish

      March 16, 2019 at 2:27 pm

      Oh I’m so happy!!

  9. Val

    May 31, 2020 at 5:45 pm

    So yummy!!! Added bonus- super cheap meal that will last a few meals 🙂 thanks for the great recipe! Loved it and definitely very satisfying, even without any meat!

    ★★★★★

    Reply
    • Life is but a Dish

      June 1, 2020 at 12:18 pm

      So glad you enjoyed!

  10. Steve

    June 9, 2020 at 3:17 pm

    Love this dish

    ★★★★★

    Reply
    • Life is but a Dish

      June 11, 2020 at 3:03 pm

      Yay! us too!

  11. Jodi

    March 8, 2021 at 7:40 pm

    Another win for the whole family. I used TJ’s quinoa tortillas and they were just okay. Will use corn tortillas next time. However, we added ground beef and yum it was a great decision. I think it impacted the lasagne part as it all didn’t stick together super well but who cares the flavor was delicious .

    ★★★★★

    Reply

Trackbacks

  1. Chicken & Black Bean Enchilada Casserole | Life is but a Dish says:
    September 17, 2019 at 11:35 am

    […] love it because he’s all about any kind of “mush” in a bowl. He always requests Mexican Lasagna or Turkey & Veggie Brown Rice Bowls. See? Mush. Classic and delicious […]

    Reply

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