30 Minute Mexican Lasagna Recipe

Say hello to the Mexican Lasagna! Layers of tortilla, seasoned ground beef, black beans, spicy diced tomatoes, and cheese. This Mexican-inspired unstuffed enchilada casserole recipe will become a family favorite!

This Mexican Lasagna recipe is absolutely brilliant, and let me tell you why: It has ALL THE FLAVORS of tasty, saucy baked Mexican enchiladas, but with half the effort. 

My Mexican lasagna is so much easier to make than traditional enchiladas - the whole casserole is ready in just 30 minutes! This recipe skips the whole process of rolling tortillas one by one into enchiladas.

That's how I actually came up with this recipe in the first place - I tried making enchiladas. The tortillas just kept falling apart and I was not getting anywhere. What a mess it was.

So I decided to just layer the tortillas with all the other ingredients, top everything with cheese, and call it a day.

This Mexican Lasagna comes together very quickly, and always leaves plenty of leftovers for lunches the next day. Perfect!

Ready to make it?

Related recipe: Air Fryer Quesadillas

Ingredients

• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 tablespoon olive oil (or vegetable oil)
• 1 lb ground beef
• 1 tablespoon chili powder
• 1 teaspoon salt (or less, see notes and tips)
• 1 tablespoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon onion powder
• 1 15-oz can black beans, drained and rinsed
• 2 15-oz cans diced tomatoes with jalapeño/chilies
• 9-12 6-inch corn or flour tortillas (see notes and tips below)
• 3 cups shredded cheddar cheese (or Mexican cheese blend)
• Optional: 2 tablespoons chopped cilantro, scallions, or queso fresco
• Optional: Sour cream or guacamole for serving.

More Tex-Mex recipes to try: Baked Turkey Tacos

How to make Mexican Lasagna

Add some olive oil to a large pan. Brown the ground beef in a pan with fresh garlic and the seasonings (chili powder through onion powder), using a spatula to break up the ground beef. Cook for 3-4 minutes, stirring frequently, or until the beef is fully cooked.

Add in some black beans - they add a lovely texture to this casserole! Carefully taste the mixture and see if it needs more salt.

Now layer it all up in your casserole pan: Add a thin layer of diced tomatoes on the bottom, add a layer of tortillas (they can overlap a little), half the cooked beef and black beans, diced tomatoes, topped by shredded cheese. Rinse and repeat. Actually, please don't rinse anything. Just add another layer, topping the casserole with shredded cheese.

Bake it: The Mexican Lasagna will go into the oven for just 15 minutes to melt the cheese and bring all the flavors together.

And that's it. No lengthy baking, not messy enchilada rolling.

Just 20 minutes of cooking and you have the most flavorful dinner!

Related recipe: Taco Burgers with Salsa

A few tips about the ingredients for this Mexican Lasagna Recipe:

What kind of tortillas to use: You can use corn tortillas for a gluten free option, this recipe works great with both wheat and corn tortillas.

What size tortillas to use: I find that the small 6-inch tortillas are the easiest for this recipe, because you can really fill that casserole pan well. Don't be afraid to overlap the tortillas a bit - I find that the parts of the casserole that had overlapped tortilla were the tastiest. 

You can also rip larger tortillas in half when needed and layer those, either size is fine for this recipe.

Salt notes: Make sure your chili powder does not have any salt added to it. You might want to start with a little less salt and add give the ground beef mixture a taste after the beef is cooked, and adjust the salt if needed.

Diced tomato notes: I use 2 cans of diced tomatoes with jalapeños for this recipe. These canned tomatoes are great because they save you the step of adding jalapeños to this recipe, and I find that they add just the right amount of flavor without adding too much spice.

You can find the diced tomatoes with jalapeños in the store right next to the regular cans of diced tomatoes. If your store doesn't carry the diced tomatoes with jalapeños, look for diced tomatoes with chilies. Or you can always get them on Amazon - these are the ones I used.

Related recipe: Sheet Pan Shrimp Fajitas

To serve this Mexican Lasagna...

Add some garnish for a pop of color: chopped scallions, cilantro, or queso fresco work great!

Serve this Mexican Lasagna with a dollop of sour cream and a side of guacamole.

Print Recipe

4.80 from 10 votes

Mexican Lasagna Casserole

Say hello to the Mexican Lasagna. Layers of tortilla, seasoned ground beef, black beans, spicy diced tomatoes, and cheese. This Mexican Lasagna recipe will become a family favorite!

Prep Time5 minutes mins

Cook Time25 minutes mins

Total Time30 minutes mins

Course: Dinner

Cuisine: Mexican

Servings: 6

Author: Kate

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Ingredients

• 3 garlic cloves - , minced
• 1 tablespoon olive oil - (or vegetable oil)
• 1 lb ground beef
• 1 tablespoon chili powder
• 1 teaspoon  salt - (or less, see notes)
• 1 tablespoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon onion powder
• 1 15-oz can black beans - , drained and rinsed
• 2 15-oz cans diced tomatoes with jalapeño/chilies
• 9-12 6-inch corn or flour tortillas - (see notes)
• 3 cups shredded cheddar cheese
• Optional: 2 tablespoons chopped cilantro, scallions, or queso fresco
• Optional: Sour cream or guacamole for serving.

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 350F. Spray a 9x13 casserole pan with non-stick spray (or use a similar size baking dish).

   
• In a large skillet, saute the minced garlic in the olive oil for 2 minutes. Add the ground beef, and stir fry over high heat until the meat is mostly cooked and has released some liquid, about 3 minutes. 
• Drain the liquid released from the meat. Add the chili powder, salt, cumin, and onion powder. Add the drained black beans. Continue to cook until the meat is browned and fully cooked, about 2-3 minutes. 
• Assemble the casserole: Spread about ½ of a can of diced tomatoes with jalapeños on the bottom of the casserole dish. Place 3-4 tortillas on top of the tomatoes. I used two whole tortillas and cut one in half to cover the whole casserole dish. 
• Spread about half of the meat mixture over the tortillas. Spread the rest of the first can of tomatoes over the meat. Sprinkle with about 1 cup of shredded cheese. 
• Layer the rest of the lasagna: Add a layer of tortillas, the rest of the meat mixture, ½ can of tomatoes, 1 cup shredded cheese. Repeat with a layer of tortillas, the rest of the tomatoes, and 1 cup shredded cheese.

   
• Place the lasagna in the preheated oven and bake for 15 minutes. Turn up the heat to 425 and bake for 5 more minutes. (no need to wait for it to preheat again, just turn the heat up and set a new timer!) 
• Remove from oven and allow to cool before cutting and handling the hot dish. Sprinkle with chopped cilantro, chopped scallions, or crumbled queso fresco or goat cheese to serve. 

Notes

• The number of tortillas you need will depend on the size/shape of your casserole dish and how much you decide to overlap the tortillas. I find that the casserole tastes even better with several overlapping tortillas.
• Check if your chili powder has salt in it, and start with ½ teaspoon salt. Once the ground beef is fully cooked, give it a taste and see if you need more salt.

Nutrition

Calories: 618kcal (31%) | Carbohydrates: 2g (1%) | Protein: 27g (54%) | Fat: 36g (55%) | Saturated Fat: 18g (90%) | Cholesterol: 113mg (38%) | Sodium: 744mg (31%) | Potassium: 309mg (9%) | Vitamin A: 975IU (20%) | Vitamin C: 0.5mg (1%) | Calcium: 437mg (44%) | Iron: 2.8mg (16%)

The nutritional information displayed is an estimate and not to be used as dietary or nutritional advice. Consult a nutritionist or dietician for nutritional info based on the exact ingredients you use.