This tasty Mexican lasagna recipe has layers of tortillas and is packed with a cheesy meat sauce including black beans and fire-roasted tomatoes! Not only is it a great option for a freezer-friendly meal, but it’s also ready in just 1 hour! Serve with your favorite toppings and sides for the ultimate Mexican casserole!
Busy nights call for an easy recipe, but it has to be a family favorite so we can avoid fighting with the kids! That’s when we go with this Mexican lasagna. It’s also a fun twist on Taco Tuesday and much easier than assembling a traditional Italian lasagna.
A Mexican casserole like this already has a ton of flavor, but you can always serve it with homemade guacamole, tortillas, and queso, or Mexican rice (here’s the Instant Pot version). Some like to add refried beans to the lasagna, but I prefer serving those on the side so the tortillas do not get soggy.
Why You’ll Love This Easy Mexican Lasagna Recipe
- Makes a perfect weeknight dinner that the whole family will love.
- This baked casserole is also a great make-ahead meal.
- So much easier than a classic Italian-style lasagna.
What Ingredients do I Need for Easy Mexican Lasagna?
- ground beef
- yellow onion
- minced garlic
- taco seasoning mix
- water
- fire roasted diced tomatoes
- green chilies
- black beans
- corn tortillas
- shredded cheese
- tomatoes
- green onions
- Sour cream for serving
Pro Tip: Be sure to drain and rinse the black beans. Else they will make the casserole soggy and the juices contain a lot of unnecessary sodium.
How to Make the Best Mexican Lasagna Recipe
PREP: Grease a 9×13 casserole dish and preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
COOK: Brown the ground beef and onions in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Stir in the minced garlic and saute for a couple of minutes. Add the taco seasoning and water. Stir in the tomatoes, chiles, and black beans.
ASSEMBLE: Cover the bottom of the baking dish with 6 corn tortillas that overlap slightly. Spread ⅓ of the meat mixture over the tortillas, then cover with cheese. Repeat the layers, so that there are 3 layers in total.
BAKE: Cover with aluminum foil and bake until the casserole is bubbly and the cheese has melted. Garnish with tomatoes and green onions. Let the lasagna cool slightly for 10 minutes before serving.
- If you aren’t using a lean ground beef, you may want to drain the excess grease from the pan.
- Salsa can be used in place of the roasted tomatoes. I would recommend 1.5 cups of salsa. The juices provide the necessary moisture for the dish.
- The corn tortillas hold up really well in the recipe. The texture is nice and it doesn’t get soggy.
Recipe Variations
- Change up the taste entirely by adding salsa verde or enchilada sauce.
- Ground turkey or ground chicken can be swapped for beef. Some even like to go with shredded pork instead!
- We love using shredded cheddar cheese, but you can also go with a Mexican cheese blend or a few spoonfuls of queso too.
- Corn can be added to the beef mixture.
- Use soft flour tortillas instead of corn, however, they do not hold up as well as the corn tortillas.
- Try using actual lasagna noodles as you would with a traditional lasagna recipe!
- Some like to add bell peppers and black olives.
Keep leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for 3-4 days. You can also freeze it for up to 2 months. To reheat, place it directly in the oven from the freezer and bake at 350 degrees until warm.
Freeze in individual servings for meal prep if you don’t want to take the whole casserole out.
Sure can! Follow the recipe to assemble. Once you are finished, either wrap and refrigerate or freeze until you are ready to serve.
More Mexican Inspired Recipes
Mexican Lasagna Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 pound ground beef
- 1 medium yellow onion diced
- 2 teaspoons minced garlic
- ¼ cup taco seasoning
- ½ cup water
- 1 14.5 oz. can fire roasted diced tomatoes do not drain
- 4 oz. can green chiles
- 15 oz. can black beans drained and rinsed
- 18 corn tortillas
- 6 cups shredded cheese jack and cheddar
- 1-2 medium tomatoes diced for garnish
- 1 bunch of green onions sliced for garnish
- Sour cream for serving
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Spray a 9×13 casserole dish with non-stick cooking spray and set aside.
- Cook ground beef and onion in a large skillet over medium heat until the meat is browned and the onions softens.
- Add minced garlic to the skillet and saute for 1-2 minutes longer.
- Add taco seasoning and water and stir over medium heat until well combined.
- Stir the tomatoes (juices included), green chiles, and black beans into the meat mixture and heat through.
- Line the prepared baking dish with 6 corn tortillas, overlapping slightly to cover the bottom of the casserole dish.
- Spread ⅓ of the meat mixture over the tortillas. Sprinkle 2 cups of the cheese over the meat mixture.
- Continue layering corn tortillas, meat mixture, and cheese to form three layers total.
- Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 30-40 minutes until casserole is bubbly and the cheese is fully melted.
- Garnish with diced tomatoes and green onion. Let the casserole sit for 10 minutes for easy slicing and serving.
- Serve with sour cream.
Notes
Ground turkey can be substituted for ground beef. You can use salsa instead of the fire-roasted tomatoes – I would recommend 1 ½ cups of salsa. The juices in the tomatoes (or the salsa) provide the necessary moisture for the dish. Since we’re layering with corn tortillas, the filling needs that moisture. Corn (canned or frozen) can be added to the meat mixture. We loved the corn tortillas in this recipe. They soak up just enough moisture from the rest of the casserole but do not get soggy and add some nice texture and sturdiness to the dish.
Nutrition
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Comments & Reviews
Norma Wagner says
Wow !!!!!! Amazing and so quick and easy to make thank you ❤️❤️❤️❤️delicious
Heather says
Is this your recipe? In my search, I found the same one, including the same photos and instructions on Amanda’s Cookin. So not sure if it’s yours or hers but I thought it wise to get it out there for copyright protections. Whoever has “borrowed” the content should be attributing it to the right author.
Stefanie says
Hi Heather, thank you so much for your concern. I sometimes do the recipe development and photography for others as well, and this is a case where we do indeed share the recipe.
Randy says
Excellent dish !!! very easy to make and it tastes great !!!
Shirley jones says
I’m getting ready to make it. Can it be made the day before baking?
Stefanie says
I think you can assemble it the day before, the tortillas might get soggy, but everything should still cook up well. I haven’t tried it, but let us know if it turns out!
Darcy DeBlanc says
Me and my girls get together once a month and cook. This time we decided on Mexican. Went to Pinterest and found this recipe. Usually I read comments but didn’t this time. We got all the ingredients as written, doubled the recipe even and let me say it did not disappoint! I went to comments while it was in the oven and read about it needing more flavor, let me just say I’m from Cajun Country and we love our spices so I was kinda disappointed when I read that and didn’t have too much hope it would be that good. So I was pleasantly surprised when I took the first bite and it was delicious! The only thing I did different was add a little salt and pepper when the ground beef was cooking and that’s it! This will definitely be put in the rotation of what too cook! Thank you so very much for this one! That lasagna set up so nice after the 10 minute mark! Mmmmmmmmm good!
Stefanie says
Thank you so much for this, Darcy! What a fun tradition. This is one of our favorites too.
Darcy says
One of my friends brought some to work for her coworkers and they loved it! Again, thank you for this one!
Stefanie says
Wonderful to hear! Thanks!
Jackie says
If you want to freeze this recipe, do you just build it and freeze or do you cook it first?
Stefanie says
Hi Jackie, yes, cook the meat and onions and make up the meat mixture. Then build the lasagna and freeze. Thaw in the fridge overnight and bake. It may take a little longer to heat through since it will be going into the oven cold, but you can always check the temperature of the middle and look for the sauce bubbling up. If you had already cooked the lasagna, you can also freeze the leftovers.
Kim Meeks says
Will this work with flour tortillas
Stefanie says
Hi Kim! You can definitely make it with flour tortillas – they get a little soggier so the layers might mush together more, but if you prefer flour tortillas, it’s definitely not going to be bad. lol.
Deb Geb says
Loved it and so did everyone at church! I added a cup of mild salsa on bottom of dish because the bottom tortilla was to hard the first time and cut the can of beans to half per husbands request. Used both frozen and can corn, both were good. Also doubled the the taco mix on second try, I just felt it needed a little more taco flavor. Definitely a keeper. Thank you!
Stefanie says
Mmmm, sounds so good!
Jill says
How many people does this recipe serve?
Stefanie says
You can get about 12 servings out of it!
Lazy Susan says
Followed instructionas a s written. Came out beautifully and easy to cute. Pretty presentation. My husband and I both think it lacked flavor. But still good