Vegan Enchilada Casserole

What is an enchilada

An enchilada is a classic Mexican dish made with rolled corn tortillas stuffed with a beans filling and covered with a savory tomato sauce. I have tweaked this Mexican recipe and made a layered taco casserole using red kidney beans, and red enchilada sauce. It's a fun and easy way of serving enchiladas.

My first time with Mexican cuisine

The first time I ever tasted Mexican food was way back in college. The world cuisine was just making its entry into the Mumbai food scene and the local restaurants began serving dishes like pasta, tacos, enchiladas, and pizzas to name a few.

My bestie was gung-ho about Mexican food so I decided to try this cuisine out for myself. And I am so glad I did! In fact, an enchilada was the first Mexican dish I ever had! 

That day I discovered a cuisine that eventually went on to become one of my favorites! It's flavors are very similar to the Indian cuisine. I now enjoy making a variety of Mexican recipes like Mexican Pani Puri, and Taco Boats!

Mexican weeknight dinners

I have so many readers write to me asking for easy to make weeknight meals that are vegan or vegetarian. Mexican cuisine is definitely one of the go-to cuisines when you need to cook up something real quick that's also loaded with flavors. Cooking Mexican food need not be daunting at all.

It is one of the easiest and simplest cuisines with some appetizing flavors. Take this Mexican layered taco casserole recipe with red kidney beans for example. I call it the Mexican Lasagna. The red sauce used in this enchilada is perfectly tangy and spicy, the beans are juicy and the gluten-free tortillas are moist yet crisp. All in all, a winning dish. It all gets perfectly baked together in the oven! No more rolling enchiladas again!

The first step is to make the vegan red enchilada sauce. This homemade sauce is so easy to make and delicious that you will never buy it from the store ever again.

1. Grind the tomatoes with garlic and green chilies to make a smooth puree.
2. In the skillet, add the ground tomato-garlic paste. Bring it to a boil and reduce the flame to a medium. This could take 12-15 minutes. Chef Tip - Keep scraping off the sides of the pan as it cooks.
3. Add salt, coriander powder, cumin powder, paprika, mixed herbs and enchilada seasoning. Mix, and cook for a minute. Reserve 1.5 cups of this sauce for later use.
4. Then add cooked/canned kidney beans to the pan. Mix it all together lightly and mash some lightly. Cook it for 5 minutes. Take it off the pan. Vegan red enchilada sauce is ready.

5. Heat a skillet and toast the mini gluten-free tortillas for 1-2 minutes. This is a low-fat option than frying.
6. Mix chopped bell peppers, onions, and cilantro in a bowl and keep it aside.

7. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Brush a baking tray with oil. Smear some reserved enchilada sauce (without the kidney beans) on it.
8. Place 4 toasted mini tortilla on the baking tray. Chef Tip - If you want you can also cut the tortillas in half and arrange them in a crisscross manner to ensure there are no gaps.
9. Spread some of the prepared vegan enchilada sauce over it.
10. Sprinkle the mixed veggies all over it.

11. Follow it by adding shredded vegan Mexican cheese blend all over.
12. Place another tortilla over it and follow the same steps until the casserole fills up. I added up to 12 mini tortillas in total because of the size of my baking tray.
13. Lastly, spread half of the reserved sauce all around the tray. Top it with some more cheese. You can either bake it immediately or later. Bake them for 10-15 minutes or until the cheese melts.
14. Once done, garnish with chopped cilantro along with some vegan sour cream on top. Allow it to cool a bit, then cut them and then dig in. Repeat all of the above steps to make another batch with leftovers. This recipe will yield a total of 2 batches.

Serving suggestions

Vegan Beans Enchilada Mini Casserole is ready! To add more flavor, garnish with chopped cilantro and mixed herbs along with some green onions, vegan sour cream and/or guacamole on top. Allow it to cool a bit and then dig in.

This crunchy, flavorful and cheesy vegan enchilada casserole is perfect for parties, weeknight dinners and even meal prep for the week. You can also serve some Cucumber Salad on the side. 

This vegan enchilada casserole can also be served as an entrée for Thanksgiving, Christmas, parties, festive occasions, potlucks, Diwali, date nights, brunches, etc.

Top recipe tips

Use fresh tomatoes instead of canned ones. If doing so, you will need around 5-6. Grill the tomatoes and garlic before grinding them for a smoky flavor to the enchilada sauce. Adding guacamole or enchilada sauce at the bottom prevents the first layer of tortilla from sticking to the tray.

If you don't have one big baking dish, you can make it in mini casseroles. The measurements that I have provided should yield 2 batches (each with 12 tortillas). If you can fit all the 24 tortillas in one big tray then use all of the sauce, chopped veggies and cheese.

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