Meatloaf and Melodrama

A food blog sharing quick and easy recipes for your family, featuring one dish dinners, Instant Pot recipes, easy desserts and everything in between!

Easy Recipes

Southwestern Lasagna (Enchilada Casserole)

Southwestern lasagna (enchilada casserole) is a comfort food dinner with ground beef, cheese and veggies layered between tortillas and baked to perfection.

southwestern lasagna enchilada casserole on plate with sour cream lettuce tomatoes and olives

I’ve got another easy dinner idea for you today— Southwestern Lasagna, aka Enchilada Casserole. It’s cool and rainy here today, and I’m in the mood for some serious comfort food! When you live in the desert, cool weather is always cause for celebration, especially after a long, hot summer.

Some people call this ground beef dinner an enchilada casserole or Mexican lasagna or layered enchilada casserole. Some even call it taco pie.

I’ve always called it Southwestern lasagna. And since it’s one of our favorite comfort food casseroles, I gave this older post a much needed update.

So whatever you call it, Southwestern lasagna enchilada casserole is just plain good!

Southwestern lasagna is super easy to prepare, and my family absolutely loves it. You can even prepare all of it or part of it ahead of time and heat it up when it’s time for dinner. Plus, it works well for leftovers!

I’ve made this dish with chicken and ground beef, and we like it both ways. It’s really like making easy enchiladas, only you don’t have to roll the tortillas up.

Think of it as enchiladas without the work!

How to make Southwestern Lasagna (Enchilada Casserole)

Basically, you brown the ground beef in a large skillet, and then you add the veggies. Then, you layer the ingredients in a baking dish between some flour tortillas, along with cheese and enchilada sauce.

brown ground beef corn black beans and peppers for southwestern lasagna casserole

I had two layers of meat and three layers of tortillas.  It really is a lot like traditional lasagna.

The sauce will be absorbed as the dish cooks.

layer ground beef mixture for southwestern lasagna enchilada casserole l

And for a bit of extra crunch, I add some crushed nacho chips to the top layer, right before the dish is ready. I don’t always do this, and it’s optional, but it just adds extra texture and flavor.

Then, I add a little bit more cheese — can’t have too much cheese in comfort food!

baked southwestern lasagna enchilada casserole

Of course, you can add as much cheese as you want, but this is just a guide. If you don’t like spicy food, you can always leave out the jalapenos. I like to serve this enchilada casserole dish with some shredded lettuce on the side and top it off with sour cream, diced tomatoes and extra jalapenos. Enjoy!

southwestern lasagna enchilada casserole topped with sour cream

Looking for more enchilada style dinners?

Recipe for Southwestern Lasagna (Enchilada Casserole)

southwestern lasagna enchilada casserole on plate with sour cream lettuce tomatoes and olives

Southwestern Lasagna Enchilada Casserole

Southwestern lasagna (enchilada casserole) is a comfort food dinner with ground beef, cheese and veggies layered between tortillas and baked to perfection.
5 from 8 votes
Print Pin Rate
Course: Main
Cuisine: American
Keyword: enchilada casserole, Southwestern lasagna
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 40 minutes
Total Time: 45 minutes
Servings: 12 servings
Calories: 430kcal
Author: Dee

Ingredients

  • 1 pound lean ground beef
  • 1 onion, diced
  • 1 bell pepper, seeded and diced
  • 1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and diced
  • 1 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1 15-ounce can of black beans, rinsed and drained
  • 1 cup frozen corn
  • 1 teaspoon sea salt
  • 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
  • 1 teaspoon ground cumin
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
  • 4 cups shredded Mexican-style cheese or cheddar and Monterey
  • 6 large flour tortillas
  • 1 large can of enchilada sauce

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
  • In a large skillet, brown the ground beef, and drain fat, if necessary
  • Add onion, pepper and jalapeno pepper, and cook until slightly soft.
  • Season with sea salt, garlic, cumin, smoked paprika and pepper
  • Stir in corn, and 1 cup of enchilada sauce, and cook until heated through. Remove from heat
  • Grease the bottom of a 13X9 pan with cooking spray or olive oil, and then add some of the enchilada sauce to the bottom.
  • Place 2 tortillas in pan over the enchilada sauce. The ends will overlap
  • Add half of the meat mixture and 1 cup of cheese over the tortillas
  • Place 2 more tortillas over the first layer, then add the remaining meat mixture and 1 cup of cheese over meat.
  • Add last 2 tortillas, and spoon enchilada sauce over tortillas and around the sides. Top with remaining cheese, and bake for about 30 minutes or until bubbly and the cheese is completely melted.
  • Remove from oven, and allow to rest for about 10 minutes before slicing

Notes

You can also tear the tortillas lengthwise to resemble lasagna noodles.
1 packed of taco seasoning can be used in place of spices.

Nutrition

Calories: 430kcal
Loved this recipe?Mention @meatloafandmelodrama or tag #meatloafandmelodrama!

Enchilada Casserole Southwestern Lasagna is easy comfort food made with ground beef, cheese and veggies layered between tortillas and baked! It's spicy, cheesy and perfect for leftovers!

I hope you enjoy this easy Southwestern Lasagna enchilada casserole as much as we do!

Reader Interactions

Comments

  3. Yum, this sounds so good, Dee! How can you go wrong with something named Southwest Lasagne, I mean, really?

    Thanks for your sweet comment on my Fall Tablescape. Have you always been "noreply" on your email? I thought I remembered responding directly to you when I got an emailed comment, but maybe not……age, memory…..oh, well!

    Reply

  8. We love it, Carol! 🙂 I thought I fixed the comments, but somehow it went back to noreply. So, I just try to visit everyone's blogs as soon as I can and stay in touch that way. 🙂

    Reply

  13. Hi Dee,
    Your Southwestern Lasagna looks fabulous. Hope you are having a great fall day and thanks so much for sharing this awesome post with Full Plate Thursday.
    Come Back Soon!
    Miz Helen

    Reply

  18. Thank you for this recipe.I really love to cook Lasagna and this one looks great! Have you tried cooking lasagna without baking? Well, I'm just wondering if it is possible. 🙂

    Thanks again and God bless.

    Reply

  19. I made this and my family just loved it!
    I was having another look at e recipe today to cook tonite and then I noticed the calorie count. Is it really 1700+ calories per serving?

    Reply

    • Oh my gosh, no! I think the serving size is wrong since this feeds our family of 7, and there are leftovers. I’m going through my older recipes and updating them, so this one is definitely on the list to do soon!

      Reply

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