Vegetarian Mexican Casserole
on Apr 10, 2019, Updated Apr 16, 2024
This vegetarian mexican rice casserole is packed full of veggies, cheese, and black beans. An easy meatless dinner that is sure to be a family favorite!
You will love this Mexican rice casserole!
This family favorite casserole is packed full of veggies, cheese, black beans and enchilada sauce. Serve it with sour cream and tortilla chips for a delicious meatless dinner that everyone will love!
This mexican rice casserole is one of our favorite vegetarian mexican style dinners, just like these vegetarian stuffed peppers. It is incredibly filling, delicious, and so easy to make!
Packed full of protein, veggies, and a delicious cheesy combo of cream cheese and mexican cheese. Fresh lime juice and enchilada sauce round it all out for an incredible flavor!
Here are the ingredients that you will need to make this casserole (the full recipe and instructions can be found in the recipe card at the bottom of the post).
Ingredients needed
- red onion
- garlic
- red bell pepper
- frozen corn
- enchilada sauce
- diced fire roasted tomatoes
- lime
- cream cheese
- cooked white rice: or substitute another kind of rice
- black beans
- spices: chili powder, cumin, cayenne, salt
- mexican cheese
How to make vegetarian mexican rice casserole
Step 1: Cook the white rice. I prefer to use a rice cooker as it is just so easy and I don’t have to do anything but set it and forget it. You will need 4 cups of cooked rice.
While the rice is cooking, you will make the rest of the casserole on the stove.
Step 2: While rice is cooking, heat a large heavy bottomed pan over medium high heat. I like using a dutch oven for this recipe, but any large pot will work.
Step 3: Add 1 tablespoon of olive oil, and sauté the red onion, garlic, and bell pepper for 8-12 minutes, or until onion becomes translucent.
Step 4: Add the corn and fire roasted tomatoes and stir an additional 3 minutes.
Step 5: Add the drained black beans, cooked rice, lime juice, enchilada sauce, chili powder, cumin, cayenne, cream cheese, and ½ cup of mexican cheese.
Step 6: Stir well to combine and heat through, then salt the mexican rice casserole to taste.
For this recipe I used pre shredded mexican cheese, but any cheese will work.
Mix up the flavors by using colby jack, pepper jack, or a mix of your favorite mexican cheeses!
How to serve
The easiest way to serve this casserole is with sour cream on top and tortilla chips on the side for added crunch. Squeezing some fresh lime juice on top is always a great idea!
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Vegetarian Mexican Casserole
Ingredients
- 1 medium red onion, diced
- 8 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 red bell pepper, diced
- 1 cup frozen corn
- 8 oz enchilada sauce
- 14 oz diced fire roasted tomatoes
- juice of 1 lime
- 2 tablespoons cream cheese
- 4 cups cooked white rice
- 1 can black beans, drained
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- 3 teaspoons cumin
- ¼ teaspoon cayenne
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ cup mexican cheese , plus more for topping
- sour cream, for serving
- tortilla chips, for serving
Instructions
- Cook your rice according to instructions (I used a rice cooker) You will need 4 cups of cooked rice to add to the recipe
- While your rice is cooking, heat a large heavy bottomed pan over medium high heat (I used a dutch oven, but any large pot or deep skillet is fine to use)
- Add 1 tablespoon of olive oil, and sauté the red onion, garlic, and bell pepper for 8-12 minutes, until the onion softens
- Add the corn and fire roasted tomatoes and stir an additional 3 minutes
- Add the drained black beans, cooked rice, lime juice, enchilada sauce, chili powder, cumin, cayenne, cream cheese, and ½ cup of the mexican cheese
- Stir the casserole and salt to taste (I used 1 teaspoon of salt)
- Serve hot topped with additional mexican cheese, sour cream, and tortilla chips
My family loves this recipe. We’ve made batches of this with ground sirloin, shredded chicken & increased the amount of cream cheese as well. For my dad’s birthday we turned it into a tortilla soup by increasing the enchilada sauce, adding 32 oz beef broth, adding ground sirloin, a block of cream cheese in a large stock pot. Everyone loved it. Tonight I stuffed this mix in bell peppers & am cooking them in our slow cooker. Added a can of spicy Rotel tomatoes to the bottom of the peppers, along with the rest of the mix. Very good!
Can you make it ahead and freeze as meal prep?
I would really like to make this but I have read it 4 times and I don’t see where to add the rice. I’m confused
step 5 in the directions
Thank you for this delicious recipe. I had some leftover ground round I needed to use and decided to make it into Spanish rice. The flavors are perfect!! Next time I make enchiladas I will make just the rice as a side dish.
This recipe was great. I did however put it in the oven on 300 for 15 minutes to melt the cheese on top. It was cheesy and delicious.
Delicious! Like a couple other commenters before me, I used vegan cream cheese & cheese. This dish will definitely be going in the regular rotation!
I will be making this dish tonight
Really delicious! I just made this two weeks ago and it’s on the menu again. So good! I added a little more cream cheese. Perfecto
After you mix everything do you put it in a casserole dish, top with cheese and bake?
You could! Sounds yummy 🙂 I just top mine with cheese and serve.
Thank you for this recipe. We used vegan cream cheese and cheese and my family loved it!