Mexican Lasagna

Mexican lasagna is something I've been wanting to make for a long time. It's basically a taco casserole, but that name sounded pretty gross, so Mexican lasagna it is.

I went a little crazy with my version (PUT ALL THE DELCIOUS FOOD IN IT!!), so I've included lots of tips for when you make yours. Sometimes simple really is better, and I think this is a good case of that. :D

Step 1: Ingredients!

I got really excited when it came to ingredients for this. Waaaaaay too excited actually. It ended up having too many flavors and being a little over-seasoned.

So this is what I suggest:

• 1 pound meat of choice - shredded or ground 
• 16 oz cheese of choice  (I used a mix of cheddar and monterey jack)
•  white corn tortillas (I ended up using 16)
• 2 jars of salsa - or one salsa, one tomato sauce
• 14.5 oz can of black beans
• 14.5 oz can of corn
• 14.5 oz can refried beans
• 1 onion
• 2-3 cloves of garlic
• 2-3 tablespoons of taco seasoning to season the meat (find my recipe here!)
• green onion, fresh jalapeno, fresh tomato, cilantro, sour cream, etc - for mixing in or serving!

I used salsa, enchilada sauce and some chipotle peppers in adobo sauce in mine, which is where I ran into problems. The enchilada sauce + the adobo sauce + the taco seasoning made the lasagna have a pretty strong chili flavor. It wasn't bad but it overpowered some of the other flavors. Boo!

I think enchilada sauce on its own could be really good (use a can of it instead of salsa!) - but make sure you're using a good brand!

Also, I considered using cottage cheese for the cheese in the lasagna - that's what my mom does for her regular lasagna and it's amazing. If you do that, you can mix it with a little cheddar inside and just use plain cheddar on top.

Oh! Next time I'm going to chop up some green onions and mix them into the refried beans, too.

Step 2: Meat and Veg Prep

I used ground beef, an onion, a jalapeno and some chipotle peppers for my meat mix. 

Dice up all the veggies and cook them down with the meat. Add taco seasoning for a little extra flavor. 

I also drained and rinsed my black beans and corn and added a pinch of chili and cumin powder to them. 

Step 3: Layering Prep

Before you get started layering, get everything ready. :D 

One additional thing I did to help speed this up is to warm up the refried beans so they could be smoothed onto the tortillas a little easier.

Preheat your oven to 400 F. 

Step 4: Layering!

Woohoo! Here we go. You're about to create a food party.

This is how I layered:

1. sauce or salsa on the bottom
2. six tortillas cut in half and laid on top
3. meat/onion/jalapeno mix
4. black beans and corn
5. more sauce or salsa!
6. cheeeeeese
7. six more tortillas cut in half and laid out
8. refried beans
9. more meat/onion/jalapeno mix
10. sauce/salsa
11. more cheese
12. more tortillas!
13. spoon a little sauce over the tortillas, top with sliced jalapenos and more cheese!

Yep. That's a ton of stuff in there. At this point you can probably weight lift with it. :D

Step 5: Baking

Pop the lasagna into a 400 F oven for 30 minutes.

I recommend putting the pan of lasagna onto a larger baking sheet so it won't drip onto the bottom of your oven and smoke. 

Once it's out, let it cool for a while before cutting into it. Maybe 10-15 minutes? If you don't wait it all kinda falls apart and you will probably become a victim of cheese lava. 

Enjoy! 

I really liked it topped with fresh tomatoes, cilantro and sour cream. :D

Comments

[BellaGoose]

I use a drained chorizo and burger mix. I add some spinach and queso cheese and ricotta with my cheddar.

[mmayer4]

I immediately thought of chorizo when I saw this recipe. I want to try it with panela (creamy), and ranchera (crumbly) cheeses. For the top, queso Oaxaca and/or manchego.

There's vegetarian chorizo, so there's a vegetarian option.

[Learning1]

Really good thanks

[citin]

Really awesome..
i cocked it today and eat too mutch, of this and fell a sleep for 2 hours. Waked up and eat another portion i can't move anymore .

[dvdchris]

I sort of made up something similar, but yours looks way better...

[tootall1121]

There are probably a million variations. All of them good. I use fajita seasoning, and usually taco chips, (doritos nacho cheese) or fritos (chili cheese are good) but you can do without almost any ingredient except the refried beans, the cheese, and meat. I bet this full on version is fantastic. I call mine burrito casserole, since burittos have beans, tacos don't.

[rigtenzin]

Trust me, this works without meat. This time of year (summer), we have so many nice vegetables sitting around looking for something to be a part of, we can easily dispense with the meat. I chop them up finely, saute them with olive oil and some spices. Zucchini, tomatoes, squash, onions, and all sorts of peppers are some examples.

The photos are great. I was hungry for this as soon as I saw the photos.

[spark master]

I don't wish to be mean , but this ain't lasagna.

Call it a Mexican Surprise if you like, but don't infer it remotely resembles a nice slice of Italian Lasagna. I get heartburn just looking at this, let alone eating it. Call it Mexican Strata , that is really a better name.

My sainted family members roll in their graves.

ciao

[Miosotis]

I am going to try it, just because I like the touch of humor in writing your recipe.

[scubacarl]

I am hungry already .......................... look out mouth here it comes !

[billbillt]

great as you always do..

[Kursplat]

I could see using flour tortillas, or how about alternating layers of corn and flour?

[jessyratfink]

I think flour tortillas will definitely stand up if you're doing a drier lasagna!

I was a little worried about them falling apart since they're softer than corn and I went a bit nuts with the sauce, ha. :)

[Kursplat]

I think I've died and gone to heaven! To say I'll have to try this is an understatement.

[PennyPoet]

Absolutely great step-by-step photos !

[Klappstuhl]

Your pictures make me hungry, this looks so good!

T_T

[tootall1121]

come to think of it, you could call this deep dish Mexican Pizza!

[nanaverm]

Looks great! Beautiful pictures and clear, witty instructions, too. Thanks.

[General Zod]

That looks really good.

[Jerry Tremble]

I've had "Mexican" lasagna before and have always wanted to make it myself but had no idea what all was in it. (Some ingredients were obvious, of course) Your recipe seems like it may come close to what I've had, so I'm giving it a try this weekend! Thank you! Maybe I'll make it for my girlfriend (She's of Mexican descent). Perhaps not. I remember bringing one of my exes over to my mom's house when my mom was making lasagna (girlfriend was Italian). Not good, mom uses cottage cheese instead of ricotta and my girlfriend did NOT like it. I grew up on it, so I like it either way. Oh well, to each his or her own!