Easy Enchilada Casserole ( AKA Enchilada Pie) with Sweet Potato, Corn and Black beans – and optional 5-minute Enchilada Sauce. A fast and healthy version of enchiladas made with layered tortillas instead of rolled- time-saving! Keep it vegetarian or add chicken!
It is the soul itself that has brought us to this difficult place in order to enlarge us,
to ask more of us than we planned on giving.~James Hollis~
Here’s a quick and easy dinner recipe, perfect for busy weeknights – Enchilada Casserole with Sweet Potatoes, Corn and Black beans and my 5 Minute Enchilada Sauce.
It can be kept vegetarian as you see it here, or for heartier appetites, add rotisserie chicken, or ground turkey or beef. The flavorful enchilada sauce is simple, yet delicious, and whips up in a blender. No cooking involved! When pressed for time, this is a hearty meal that can be assembled in 20-25 minutes, with the oven doing the rest of the work. Top it with cilantro, avocado and sour cream and dinner is ready!
Enchilada Casserole | 45-sec video
It has become my go-to meal when Brian has the guys over for band-night because I can pre-assemble it and when he’s ready he just plops it in the hot oven for 30 minutes. And did I mention how tasty it is? It’s SUPER tasty.
I just got back from a dreamy little getaway to a town in Mexico, called Sayulita, just South of Puerto Vallarta. It’s amazing what a little sunshine and saltwater does for the soul. Not to mention the food. Somehow the warm vibrant flavors revive the palate, and I always come home feeling refreshed and inspired.
I traveled with my friend Mikki who I met 20 years ago in the Counseling Psychology Program at Gonzaga – and though she lives far, whenever we connect, it’s just like old times.
She gave me a book, which, when I first read the title, made me want to throw across the room, because well, it’s called Finding Meaning in the Second Half of Life by James Hollis and it’s hard for me to get my head around the fact, that yes, I’m in the second half of life, because… when did that happen?! Ha!
But title aside, the book is a treasure – and it has been a while since I’ve been this moved. It just reaches right in and speaks the truth, about what we probably already know, but don’t normally have the courage to face.
The writing is incredible, the author so candid and eloquent. If you are over 40 and are seeking depth, meaning … give yourself a gift. You will love it. There is a section on relationships that is particularly poignant.
The recipe starts with making the 5 minute Enchilada Sauce- which of course you can buy, as well (I like Trader Joe’s brand ) But this literally takes 5 minutes, so why not make it? Blend up the ingredients in a blender until smooth, and that’s it, no cooking required. In winter I use canned tomatoes, but in summer, when fresh ripe tomatoes are available, I prefer those. This would also be something really great to can or freeze for winter if you are one of those lucky ones who can grow multitudes of tomatoes.
The recipe makes about 2 cups of Enchilada sauce.
Then make the filling and assemble!
Then begin layering the ingredients, first with a little sauce to coat the bottom, then 4 corn tortillas.
Lather with filling, cheese, sauce, more tortillas, and repeat, finishing with the remaining enchilada sauce. Cover and bake.
When its warmed through, uncover and bake for 10 more minutes. At this point you could add more cheese to the top to melt, but to keep it healthy and light, leave it off and garnish it well with fresh diced avocado, cilantro and sour cream. 
And there you have it …. fast and easy Enchilada Casserole! This could easily be made ahead, and refrigerated. Or bake it ahead for mid week meals.
Vegetarian Enchilada Casserole
- Prep Time: 15 mins
- Cook Time: 40 mins
- Total Time: 55 mins
- Yield: 8
- Category: Main
- Method: Baked
- Cuisine: Vegetarian -with Meat Options
Description
A fast and easy recipe for Enchilada Casserole, with black beans, corn, sweet potatoes and a quick 5 Minute Enchilada Sauce. Comforting and healthy! Keep it vegetarian or add cooked chicken or ground turkey!
Ingredients
- 12 ounce bottle of enchilada sauce (or make my 5 minute, no-cook enchilada sauce)
- 8 x 6 inch corn or flour tortillas
- 2–3 cups grated mexican style cheese
- 4 ounce can green chilies, (optional)
Garnish: chopped cilantro, diced avocado, sour cream, hot sauce
5 minute Enchilada Sauce:
- 14.5 ounce can diced tomatoes (or tomato puree or tomato sauce)
- ¼ cup water
- 2 Tablespoons olive oil
- 2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 2 teaspoons chili powder
- ¼–½ teaspoon chipotle powder – optional (plus more to taste, or add a canned chipotle pepper, or smoked paprika and cayenne for heat)
- 1 ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 garlic cloves (or 2 teaspoons granulated garlic)
- 1 teaspoon oregano- optional (dry or fresh)
Casserole Filling:
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- ½ an onion, diced
- 4 cloves garlic, rough chopped
- 1 large yam or sweet potato, diced into ½ inch cubes (optional, or sub 1 large bell pepper, or zucchini)
- 12– 16 ounce bag frozen corn (regular or fire roasted ) – or sub fresh corn.
- 15 ounce can black beans ( like Trader Joe’s Cuban Style Black Beans) Or substitute with 2 cups cooked chicken, browned seasoned ground turkey, or beef.
- 2 teaspoons cumin
- 2 teaspoons chili powder
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 F
- Make the Quick Enchilada Sauce: Place all ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth, set aside.
- Make the filling: Saute onion, garlic and sweet potatoes in the olive oil over medium heat, until tender, about 10-12 minutes, covering ½ way through, allowing potatoes to steam and get tender. Add corn and black beans, cumin, chili powder and salt and saute until warmed through.
- In a greased 9 x13 inch baking dish, spread out ½ cup of enchilada sauce, to lightly coat the bottom. Spread out 4 tortillas on top of the sauce. Spread out ½ of the filling over the tortillas. Scatter half of the canned green chilies (if using), and 1 cup of the grated cheese. Drizzle with a ½ cup enchilada sauce. Top with 4 more tortillas, add the remaining filling, green chilies, 1 cup cheese and top with 4 more tortillas. Lather the top with the remaining enchilada sauce and any additional cheese if you like a cheesy top.
- Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes. Uncover, and bake 10 more minutes. Garnish with diced avocado, cilantro and sour cream. The sour cream really adds a nice creaminess.
Notes
In winter, I love adding the diced sweet potato for extra richness, but in the warmer months I’ll opt for zucchini and/or bell pepper. Feel free to load the filling up with seasonal veggies- tasting and adjusting salt and seasoning accordingly. Or add a protein like cooked ground meat or chicken.
Keywords: enchilada casserole, enchilada pie, mexican casserole, enchilada casserole recipe, tortilla pie,
Here is the recipe for an authentic Mexican enchilada sauce:
4 guajillo peppers seeds removed.
4 ancho peppers seeds removed.
2 garlic cloves chopped
¼ teaspoon Mexican oregano
Salt and pepper to taste
Slightly roast the peppers in a hot griddle, pressing them flat with the help of a spatula. Make sure NOT to burn them. This step takes a few seconds on each side of the peppers.
Once roasted, place them in a saucepan with water and turn the heat to medium and simmer for about 15 minutes or when they look soft.+
Remove saucepan from stove and let them cool for another 10-15 minutes. The pepper skins should look soft.
After the resting period, drain the peppers and place in the blender along with the garlic cloves. Add ½ cup of clean water and blend until you have a smooth sauce. If necessary, strain the sauce into a large bowl using a fine strainer. Season with the oregano, salt, and pepper, and set aside.
This sounds delicious Lucy and I will absolutly try it. Thanks for sharing!
I make this quite often. I use a green chili enchilada sauce with extra green chilis and low carb spinach tortillas. My friends love it!
Love this Logan- you gave me such a good idea! Thanks!
Delicious! I made one with cheese and a vegan one for a brunch with friends. It was delicious and a big hit. Everyone loved it! It will be my new go-to brunch recipe. Thank you for always having such great recipes!
★★★★★
thanks, Michelle- so glad you liked this one. Did the vegan one have vegan cheese?
This was simply delicious. I bought the enchilada sauce that comes in a pouch, but made my own tortillas. I made eight tortillas and that was enough, I didn’t put the third layer on and will not when I make this again. Thanks for the recipe.
★★★★★
Hey Sylvia,
If I were to freeze this, would I assemble, bake, and then freeze, or just assemble and freeze?
Thank you!
I think I would bake first, then freeze. Thaw first before heating.
Amazingly delicious! One bite in and my boyfriend said that it had to be a new staple! Thank you for another great recipe!
★★★★★
Can you make the recipe fit on one or two pages? 5 is excessive.
ARe you printing from the recipe card at the bottom?
could I make this with your verde sauce (using the recipe for the chicken/corn enchilada Verde – and use the same layering technique? How far in advance could you make this? Thank you.
yes, I think that would taste great!
So easy and delicious, another hit recipe from this website. I used 1/2 a large sweet potato, 1 red bell pepper and 1 zucchini because I had them on hand, so why not!
★★★★★
Perfect!
Was delicious! Instead of 8 tortillas, it looked like you used 12. I only had 8 and was still great. Easy and simple. Thank you!
Loved avoiding rolling into enchiladas! Sauce was so easy to make. Added ground turkey. Yummy and even better as leftovers
★★★★★
Absolutely loved this! My one-year- old cleaned her plate and my husband loved it too! Another hit from this website! Thank you , thank you!
★★★★★
Yum! Everyone asked for seconds! What a great way to get more veggies into my picky family.
I made as listed including the homemade enchilada sauce. Used a white sweet potato to trick my 10 year into eating it – she claims she doesn’t like sweet potatoes. (it worked)
Thanks for another great recipe
★★★★★
ANOTHER GREAT RECIPE THAT MY FAMILY WILL HAVE ON ROTATION!
★★★★★
This was so delicious! I can’t believe how easy it was to make the enchilada sauce. I didn’t have chipotle powder so added one chipotle en adobo. I added fresh jalapeno and habanero to the sauteed vegetables for a little more heat. Just wonderful!
★★★★★
Family loved the vegetarian enchildas! Thank you-you have great recipes!
★★★★★
thanks so much Shannon! xoxo
I would like to make this the day before serving it to transport to use at my parents home. Do you have an advice about or experience with making this ahead to use the next day? Bake first and reheat later? Assemble and bake the next day? Thanks!
Either way would totally work! Take your pick!
This was easy, beautiful and delicious. I substituted eggplant from the garden for the sweet potato, kept it vegetarian. The 5 minute enchilada sauce will become a staple in my house. Thanks fir a great recipe!
★★★★★
It seems almost too simple to be interesting, but it’s a delicious way to use sweet potatoes. We went the easy route this time by using canned organic enchilada sauce, dairy free sour cream and cilantro from the garden. MMmm! Trying not to use the oven too much in warm summer months, but this one will reappear in our fall and winter rotation for sure.
★★★★★
Subbed the onion powder with a shallot and smoked paprika for the chipotle> BEST TACO SAUCE EVER
Didnt have potatoes so left those out, instead used some diced celery. Also added a slight pinch of cocoa powder to the filling. Both the sauce and filling taste lovely. Its now in de oven and ill eat it after working out 🙂
Thanks so much and happy you liked it!
This recipe was so good! I didn’t expect to like it so much, but I took a chance because I haven’t had a bad meal from this blog! Another success, thanks!
★★★★★
Love it- and glad it worked for you Michele!
We have recently committed to eating vegetarian. another winner recipe. My son said he has not had a bad meal yet. This was simple and delicious.
★★★★★
Can this be frozen?
Yes!
The only change I will make to this next time I make it is I will leave out the olive oil in the sauce. It’s great sauce, but I could taste the olive oil too much. I cut half of the tortillas in half (and note you’ll need 12 tortillas as written) and put the straight edges along the edge of the pan for full pan coverage. I also think this filling would make a great topping for nachos.
★★★★
I really like this updated version! I loved the old one too so it’s fun to have an option depending on my timing. One question: in this version the ingredients list 8 tortillas but the directions call for 12. I made it with 12 but was wondering how you normally make it?
Easy and so tasty. Only one thing to add, the recipe calls for 8×6” tortillas but there are three layers of four which makes 12 tortillas. Did not miss the meat. Great for leftovers too. Loving the recipes on your blog.
★★★★★
Easy and very tasty!
★★★★★
Any recommendations to lower the sodium?
Just cut back the salt and Low sodium black beans?
We really like this recipe. The enchilada sauce was great and it is fun that you can change things up depending on the season. It is very filling!
★★★★★
Really tasty and easy to do. I made it with my nine year old. The only changes we made were to do it as traditional rolled enchiladas and we left out the chilli as she doesn’t like spicy food.
★★★★★
Spectacular. So much easier than other enchilada recipes. I used some beans, some beef, corn, and zucchini. Yum!
★★★★★
Thanks so much, so happy you enjoyed it!
I made this the other day but I was out of tortillas. I ended up substituting thinly sliced polenta rounds from a tube of trader joe’s polenta and it was SO good! The polenta added an unexpected creaminess. I also doubled my sweet potatoes and adjusted the seasonings as you instructed and it added such a nice wintery warming effect. I’m going to make it with polenta from now on! I love those surprise ingredients when you’re out of something and you wing it and end up discovering something tasty 🙂 Thank you for the recipe. So simple but oh so yummy!
★★★★★
I LOVE that you used polenta instead of tortillas! Such a great idea! I will have to try this myself! xoxo
What do you mean by “Mexican style cheese or blend”?
I adjusted recipe…sorry it was so vague! Sometimes in the grocery store there are Mexican -Style Cheese Blends that are already grated.
Thanks for the reply. I made this the other night and we really enjoyed it. My local rural grocery store did not have “fire-roasted” anything but even with the “plain jane” ingredients this was bursting with flavor.
A couple of questions for you:
What kind of tortillas did you use in the above pictures? And did you pre-cook them as they look a bit charred? My yellow generic ones seemed to almost dissolve.
Also, do you drain the tomatoes for the enchilada sauce as the picture of your sauce looks thicker than mine?
Thanks again for the delicious recipe!
Hi KJ,
I do not drain the tomatoes, yes sauce is rather thin. I used corn tortillas that I toasted in out toaster oven. I either toast them or grill on top the gas burner of the stove.
Amazing Mexican recipe! My family absolutely loved it and it was simple to make. This will become a family’s favorite for sure!
★★★★★
Awesome Caroline…. glad your family enjoyed it! Yes, very simple and fast!
Loved it! Used jackfruit as a meat substitute. It needs to be green jackfruit And if you get canned, buy it packed in water. Also used vegan cheese.
Oh Perfect! Thanks for sharing how you adapted!
NEVER MIND….I found the ingredients to the 2 MINUTE ENCHILADA SAUCE.
DUH…… What exactly is the RECIPE (INGREDIENTS) to the 2 MINUTE ENCHILADA SAUCE?
Looks delish!!
Any suggestions for keeping it vegan for my hubby?? Maybe a layer of avocado inside instead of cheese?? Other thoughts? He’s newly vegan so I’m trying to expand my repertoire and learn new tricks!
Thanks – and thanks for all your terrific recipes. He’s been enjoying the baked tofu most recently ?
You could make a tofu “ricotta”…have you done that yet?
Or Try using a vegan cheese?
★★★★★
I made this tonight and it got rave reviews from all around the table! I added a little chicken to please the meat eaters. We will make this again and again, thanks for sharing your delightful recipes!
★★★★★
I have made this twice now and it was delicious & easy!! Such a great recipe
Hi Suzie, so glad you are enjoying it…thanks for letting me know…appreciate it so much!!
Hi Sylvia. So here I am for your super simple and quick enchilada sauce. I can’t wait to whizz it up tomorrow. Love the chipotle in there. It really adds a deep punchy heat that I’m sure we’re going to love. Thank you!
Thanks!
I want this right away, it looks so delicious! I love a good Mexican dish Sylvia and your quick sauce sounds delicious.And used ingredient is hygienic that is good for health.
★★★★★
Thank you!
We made this at the lake cabin this weekend. In the morning I topped leftovers with a fried egg for instant makeshift huevos rancheros. Delish!
Yum! Great idea!
Hahaha, yah, when did that happen?! It is crazy how fast time flies! I guess I need to read it too! These enchiladas are making me so hungry, they have everything I like. YUM!!!
★★★★★
I used to love eating out at Mexican restaurants before I started dealing with some health issues that required me to make most of my meals from home so I could control the ingredients. I miss enchilada sauce and can’t wait to recreate it with this recipe!
I love a good Mexican dish Sylvia and your quick sauce sounds delicious. I make something similar to this, but have not given homemade sauce a go. Thank you for your inspiration! Mexico sounds really nice, and I couldn’t agree more about having a bit of sunshine on these gray PNW days. We just returned from HI a few weeks ago and I’m still dreaming of it. I too blinked and find myself in the second half. I’m eager to read James’ book. Thank you for this my dear!
Thank you Traci! Always so good to get away isn’t it? Glad you got to go to Hawaii and warm up. Sounds divine! Let me know what you think about the book!
Hi again Sylvia,
I am so glad I came across your website. Aside from your meals looking so delicious and nutritious 😉 (I did make your Tumeric broth – yum), I simply love your posts. The book you mentioned sounds like the kind I have been wanting to come across, so I’ll read some reviews and see if we have it at our library. Thanks so much for the recommendation!
Incidentally, I visited PV for the first time ever this last July (yes, very hot!). I made a point of visiting Sayulita for one day – loved it. It kind of reminded me of the Mexican version of Carmel, CA, if that makes sense. Would absolutely love to go back one day. Glad you had a nice getaway with your friend!
I look forward to your future posts – thanks again.
Have a great week,
Heather
Thank you Heather, appreciate your words and yes, look up the book and let me know what you think. Have a beautiful day! xo
so amazing easy … I will make this next weekend!
Yum!! I want this right away, it looks so delicious!
Thanks, it’s so easy and delicious!