Mexican Lasagna

Helga Glaesel de BlandingApril 24, 2015

This post is also available in / Esta entrada también está disponible en ESPAÑOL (SPANISH)

This is a great dish for weekday meals. Think of lasagna, but instead of Italian ingredients choose Latin flavors, such as cilantro instead of basil, Monterrey Jack cheese instead of mozzarella. Or, you could also choose a spicier type of cheese, such as pepper jack. I’ve made this one several times already because it’s not only a family favorite but easy to prepare and one of the weekday meals that I make ahead to warm up later. Adding sour cream to the layers, or a little diced and seeded jalapeño can only make this even more delicious, so go ahead and add some of your favorite extra ingredients. I adapted this recipe by adding shredded chicken to every layer, but you can keep it meatless, and will still be delicious.

2021 Update!

We have made some updates and tweaks to the recipe, keeping it vegetarian but loaded with extra ingredients to make it even more nutritious, and the result was amazing! See our notes on the recipe below, you can keep any vegetables you don’t like out of the recipe, or use fewer vegetables but add shredded chicken, for example.

Helga

Mexican Lasagna

Recipe adapted from One Pot Cookbook
Serves 4

Ingredients:
1 cup fresh cilantro leaves
4 scallions coarsely, chopped
Coarse salt and ground pepper
10 ounces fresh spinach (1 bag)
14 (6-inch) corn tortillas
1 can (15.5 ounces) pinto beans, drained and rinsed
1 cup prepared salsa (mild or medium)
8 ounces Monterrey Jack cheese, grated (about 2 cups)
1 red bell pepper, sliced lengthwise and sauteed
1 white onion, sliced and sauteed
2 Roma tomatoes, sliced
1 cup refried beans, softened so they are easy to spread
1/2 a small red cabbage, sliced and sauteed

Optional: 1 boneless chicken breasts, cooked

Procedure:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. In a food processor, combine cilantro, scallions, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper with as much spinach as will fit; pulse, adding remaining spinach in batches, until coarsely chopped.
If using chicken, cut the cooked chicken breasts into small pieces, or shred them with two forks.
Coat an 8-inch square baking dish with cooking spray. Lay 4 tortillas in the bottom of the baking dish (they will overlap slightly). Layer with a thin layer of refried beans, half of the black beans, half of the sauteed onions cabbage and bell pepper, sliced tomatoes, half of the salsa, spinach mixture, chicken (if using), and 1/3 of the cheese; repeat with another layer of tortillas and remaining ingredients, ending with a final layer of tortillas and cheese and pressing down gently.
Cover dish with foil; place on a rimmed baking sheet. Bake until bubbling, 25 to 30 minutes; remove foil, and continue baking until golden, 15 to 20 minutes more. Cool 5 to 10 minutes before serving.

Have you made this recipe? Please let me know how it turned out for you! Leave a comment below and share a picture with the hashtag #thefoodieskitchen!

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