Tex Mex Lasagna – this casserole dish turns your traditional lasagna into a Tex Mex dish with the Mexican flavors you love.
While still using pasta, we add in beans, corn, and your favorite spices like cumin, corriander, and chili powder.
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Why You’ll Love this Recipe for Mexican Lasagna
This recipe for Mexican Lasagna takes your traditional lasagna and adds all your favorite Mexican food flavors. It is easy to make, delicious, and family-friendly.
While most Mexican Lasagnas have tortillas in place of pasta, this one still has that lasagna pasta you love!
What you’ll need for Mexican Lasagna with Noodles
- ground beef
- taco seasoning (here’s the recipe I use)
- roasted green chile
- frozen corn
- enchilada sauce
- pinto beans
- cottage cheese
- pepperjack cheese
- egg
- cumin
- corriander
- chili powder
- salt & pepper
- lasagna noodles
- cheddar cheese
How to make this Mexican Lasagna Recipe
Detailed instructions and measurements are listed in the recipe card at the bottom of this page.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F.
- In a large, deep skillet add your ground beef and sprinkle with the taco seasoning. Cook, breaking up into pieces until no longer pinked and fully cooked through.
- Add the green chiles, frozen corn, enchilada sauce, and pinto beans to the skillet. Simmer for 10 minutes and remove from the stove.
- In a separate mixing bowl, combine the cottage cheese, 1 cup of pepperjack cheese, egg, cumin, coriander, chili powder, pepper, and salt.
- Spray a 9×13 casserole dish with non-stick spray and add a thin layer of sauce to the bottom. Assemble your lasagna as follows: thin layer of sauce, 3 lasagna noodles, 1/2 of your cheese mixture, a layer of sauce, 3 lasagna noodles, the remainder of your cheese mixture, a layer of sauce, 3 lasagna noodles, the remainder of your sauce, and then top with your shredded cheddar and remaining pepper jack.
- Cover your lasagna with foil and bake for 30 minutes. Remove foil and bake an additional 20 minutes.
- Remove from oven and allow it to cool for 10 minutes before serving.
Tex Mex Lasagna Tips and Tricks
Always allow any lasagna to cool at least 10 minutes before serving. By allowing it to properly cool, it won’t be runny and separate. It will stay together when you cut and serve.
DO NOT use “oven ready” noodles. I hate them. They result in a rubbery texture. Use just regular lasagna noodles, uncooked.
Use an enchilada sauce you love! Whether that’s homemade, canned, whatever. We personally really love Gebhardt brand enchilada sauce. The flavor is spot on.
How to serve Mexican Style Lasagna
The great thing about Tex Mex Lasagna is that it is a complete meal all by itself, but you could also serve it alongside:
- Chips and queso
- Pico De Gallo
- Guacamole
- Sour Cream
- Cilantro
Mexican Lasagna Recipe Storage
Mexican Lasagna should be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
Can you freeze this recipe?
You can freeze this tex mex lasagna. Allow the lasagna to cool completely and then place it in an airtight container in the freezer for up to 6 months.
Tex Mex Lasagna FAQs
No. Please don’t. I’m begging you.
Absolutely.
My favorite traditional lasagna uses cottage cheese and we prefer the resulting flavor.
Cottage cheese gives a more salty flavor while ricotta gives a sweeter flavor. I reserve ricotta for stuffed shells, manicotti, etc. But you do you! If you’d prefer ricotta over cottage cheese, feel free to use that.
You can. I purposely wanted this recipe to be a pasta based recipe, but if you’d prefer tortillas, feel free to sub them out. You wont’ need as long of cooking time.
You’ll want to put a little bit of sauce down first in lasagna, followed by the first layer of pasta. The layer of sauce will help the pasta from sitting directly down on the bottom of the dish.
Traditional lasagna is an Italian dish.
Lasagna has 3 layers of pasta.
Depending on the location, traditional lasagna is made of pasta, meat sauce, and and cheese (ricotta and mozzarella).
Traditional lasagna from southern Italy does have ricotta.
Taco Lasagna with Noodles Alterations & Substitutions for Picky Eaters
Use their favorite protein/meat – whether that is ground chicken, ground beef, ground turkey, etc. Use the one they love.
Don’t let them see the cottage cheese!! When the lasagna is done, there’s no trace of cottage cheese texture so if they’re someone that freaks out about seeing what’s in a recipe, don’t let them see that step.
If they’re sensitive to spice, omit the green chile, chili powder, and use monterrey jack cheese in place of the pepper jack.
Use their favorite beans. If they don’t like pinto, opt for black beans, cannellini beans, whatever they enjoy!
Use a great tasting enchilada sauce. I can’t stress enough how much of a difference the right enchilada sauce can make!
Mexican Style Lasagna Alterations to Lower Calories
- Use ground turkey, elk, or venison in place of ground beef
- Use extra lean ground beef
- Choose a lower calorie/lower point enchilada sauce
- Use whole wheat lasagna noodles for a zero point option on WW Purple Plan
- Choose a low fat/non fat cottage cheese
- Use reduced fat or fat free versions of cheddar and pepper jack cheeses
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Mexican Style Lasagna
Ingredients
- 1 lb ground beef
- 2 tablespoons taco seasoning
- 1/2 cup chopped roasted green chile
- 1 cup frozen corn kernels
- 20 oz enchilada sauce
- 15 oz canned pinto beans rinsed and drained
- 2 cups cottage cheese
- 2 cups shredded pepperjack cheese divided
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1/4 teaspoon corriander
- 1/4 teaspoon chili powder
- salt & pepper to taste
- 9 lasagna noodles do NOT use oven ready
- 1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F.
- In a large, deep skillet add your ground beef and sprinkle with the taco seasoning. Cook, breaking up into pieces until no longer pinked and fully cooked through.
- Add the green chiles, frozen corn, enchilada sauce, and pinto beans to the skillet. Simmer for 10 minutes and remove from the stove.
- In a separate mixing bowl, combine the cottage cheese, 1 cup of pepperjack cheese, egg, cumin, coriander, chili powder, pepper, and salt.
- Spray a 9×13 casserole dish with non-stick spray and add a thin layer of sauce to the bottom. Assemble your lasagna as follows: thin layer of sauce, 3 lasagna noodles, 1/2 of your cheese mixture, a layer of sauce, 3 lasagna noodles, the remainder of your cheese mixture, a layer of sauce, 3 lasagna noodles, the remainder of your sauce, and then top with your shredded cheddar and remaining pepper jack.
- Cover your lasagna with foil and bake for 30 minutes. Remove foil and bake an additional 20 minutes.
- Remove from oven and allow it to cool for 10 minutes before serving.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
My kids are absolutely obsessed with this recipe! They ask for it once a week now, so easy to make and kid approved.