Tex-Mex Lasagna
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Tex-Mex lasagna combines your favorite taco ingredients with tender lasagna noodles to create an easy and flavorful weeknight supper for the whole family.
Do you like tacos? What about lasagna? If you answered yes to both of these questions, you are in for a treat! My Tex-Mex lasagna is calling your name as it combines the best of both worlds. Taco ingredients layered with tender lasagna noodles and lots of ooey-gooey melted cheese… what more could you want?
Okay, so what do you need to make my Tex-Mex lasagna recipe? Basically your favorite taco ingredients: ground beef, salsa, taco seasoning, cilantro, corn, refried beans, cheese, green chilis, black beans, tomato sauce, and onion. Plus, some lasagna noodles, of course. These are a lot of ingredients, I know, but they’re gonna make a rib-sticking, tongue-wagging, awfully good supper!
All you need to do is brown your beef and onions in a skillet and then add the remaining ingredients. Stir all of those delicious flavors together and then it’s time to layer our lasagna. We start with a layer of salsa on the bottom and then add noodles, filling, cheese, and repeat! Bake the lasagna in the oven for about 45 minutes and your weeknight supper is ready to serve.
This is a firm family favorite in my household and I don’t mind because it’s so easy to make and tasty to boot! Ready to give it a go yourself? And if your family love this recipes they will loves these Stuffed Zucchini Boats, Tex-Mex Style, Tex Mex Dip (a.k.a 7-Layer Dip), Mexican Cornbread Casserole, and Skillet Lasagna.
Recipe Ingredients
- Ground Beef
- Salsa (mild to hot, up to you)
- Tomato sauce
- Taco seasoning
- Dried or fresh cilantro
- Canned corn kernels
- Refried beans
- Cheddar cheese
- No-cook lasagna noodles
- Chopped green chilis
- Black beans
- Onion
Helpful Kitchen Tools
How to Make Tex-Mex Lasagna
Chop your onion and brown it with your ground beef over medium-high heat until nice and done.
Isn’t this silly that I am showing you a photo of my skillet posed on a cutting board instead of on my oven? It’s just kinda dark in that oven corner of my kitchen so I came out to my little diner.
Shred your cheese if you have a block or skip this step if you have pre-shredded cheese.
Add your salsa (saving just a little for the bottom of your baking dish), tomato sauce, taco seasoning, cilantro, chilis, and refried beans to the ground beef and onions.
Stir that up really well and cook it for a few minutes over medium or so until it is nice and bubbly.
Add in your drained corn and black beans and stir them up well, too.
Like so.
Spread the remaining salsa over the bottom of your baking dish.
Cover that with some lasagna noodles.
If you have to break them to get them to fit, knock yourself out.
Spread half of your filing over the noodles.
Top with half your cheese.
Then more noodles…
I bet you know where this is going, right? ~winks~
The rest of your filling…
And the rest of your cheese.
Bake, uncovered, for 45 minutes or until the lasagna is bubbly and pasta is tender.
Let it sit for about five minutes or so before cutting.
Dig in!
Storage
- Store leftover lasagna in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days. You can reheat in the microwave or oven.
- You can also freeze leftovers for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the fridge before reheating as above.
Recipe Notes
- I’ve gotten in the habit of shredding cheese for lasagnas because it melts and gets so smooth and nice. The pre-shredded stuff (which I am STILL a fan of) is coated with anti-caking agents that keep it from getting as smooth as when you shred yourself.
- This recipe is really easy to adapt to your tastes. Here are some suggestions:
- Use whatever cheese you like, including mild, medium, or sharp cheddar, a Mexican cheese blend, Monterey Jack cheese, Colby Jack cheese, mozzarella cheese for maximum melt factor, or Pepperjack cheese.
- Use mild or hot salsa.
- Add 1 diced green bell pepper when you saute the onion.
- Opt for ground chicken or ground turkey instead of beef if you prefer.
- Leave out the corn and black beans if you like. Otherwise, use different varieties, like frozen corn, fresh corn, or kidney beans.
- If you can’t find oven-ready lasagna noodles, just buy regular ones and boil them according to package directions before assembling this dish.
- Substitute the green chiles for 1 seeded and chopped jalapeno pepper.
Recipe FAQs
Should lasagna be 2 or 3 layers?
Your lasagna can include 2, 3, or 4 layers. Take your pick!
Can you layer lasagna the night before?
Yes, you can cook and assemble the lasagna up to 24 hours before baking it. Cover it with plastic wrap or aluminum foil and store it in the fridge until you’re ready to bake it. It might just need a few more minutes in the oven the next day.
Why does the lasagna need to rest before serving?
Allowing it to rest allows it to set further and hold together better. Plus, ya know, it makes sure you don’t burn ya tongue!
What do you serve with Tex-Mex lasagna?
This lasagna is the perfect main dish as is. But you might also like to serve it with a side salad, Mexican rice, cilantro-lime cauliflower rice, or some more popular taco toppings. We’re talking about avocado/guacamole, diced green onion, chopped tomatoes, shredded lettuce, chopped black olives, and/or a dollop of sour cream. You can also add a serving of corn chips to the dining table for something different.
How do you make Mexican lasagna?
The main difference between Mexican/taco lasagna and Tex-Mex lasagna is that they use corn or flour tortillas instead of lasagna noodles. You can take this route instead if you like. Just follow the instructions and cut the corn tortillas to fit into the casserole dish. But it will probably only need about 15 to 20 minutes in the oven, as the tortillas will soften much quicker than the lasagna.
You may also like these recipes:
Stuffed Zucchini Boats, Tex-Mex Style
Tex Mex Dip (a.k.a 7-Layer Dip)
Slow Cooker Tacos With Ground Beef
Ingredients
- 1 pound ground beef
- 1 small onion, chopped
- 1 1.25-ounce packet taco seasoning
- 1 teaspoon dried or fresh cilantro
- 1 15-ounce can whole corn kernels, drained
- 1 15-ounce can refried beans
- 4 cups shredded cheddar cheese
- 1 15-ounce can black beans, drained
- 1 4-ounce can diced green chilies
- 1 16-ounce jar salsa
- 8 ounces tomato sauce
- 1 9-ounce package oven-ready lasagna noodles
Instructions
- In a large skillet, brown ground beef and onions until beef is no longer pink in the center. Drain off any grease.1 pound ground beef, 1 small onion, chopped
- Add refried beans, chiles, taco seasoning, cilantro, 1/2 of the salsa, and tomato sauce. Stir and place over medium-high heat, stirring constantly, until bubbly (about 4-5 minutes).1 1.25-ounce packet taco seasoning, 1 teaspoon dried or fresh cilantro, 1 15-ounce can refried beans, 1 4-ounce can diced green chilies, 1 16-ounce jar salsa, 8 ounces tomato sauce
- Remove from heat and stir in corn and black beans.1 15-ounce can whole corn kernels, drained, 1 15-ounce can black beans, drained
- Spread remaining salsa into bottom of a 9x13 baking dish. Top with a layer of lasagna noodles, breaking to fit if need be. Spread 1/2 of the filling from the skillet over the noodles. Top with half the cheese.4 cups shredded cheddar cheese, 1 9-ounce package oven-ready lasagna noodles
- Repeat.
- Bake at 350 for 45 minutes or until bubbly and the pasta is tender.
- Allow to sit for five minutes before cutting. Enjoy!
Nutrition
In the depth of winter I finally learned that there was, in me, and invincible summer.
~Albert Camus
This looks soooo good! I can’t wait to try it. We live in Arkansas and our
electricity was off for 4 days last week and we lost all of our freezer food. We’re starting over with our frozen meals and we will be glad to have a hot, one dish meal
with easy ingredients to enjoy to put us back into good spirits. Thanks for sharing!
Thanks for all you do to give encouragement and for sending out happy, helpful blogs! They always cheer me up and make me smile.
I admire you so much!
HAPPY NEW YEAR to the Jordans. Glad to have you back..we missed you. Glad you had some great down time. Enjoy those kiddies while you can. The tex-mex lasagna looks good. Bet it woud be extra good topped with some lettuce, diced tomatoes, jalapeños, sliced black olives and sour cream when served. Could also use tortillas instead of the pasta…my hubby isn’t a big pasta fan. Although I guess they are both just different forms of flour. We love tex-mex here. And I’m all in for the disposable dishes. A girl after my own heart. It’s the food and love inside that matters…not the dishes. What all was on the menu? Are you going to do the cooking show at your university this year? Know you didn’t have it this past fall. Would love to come to it if you have.
Hi Susan! I am going to use your ideas for the toppings. I had already planned on using corn tortillas but your topping idea is brilliant! Thanks and Happy New Year!!
I have not word one to say about the disposable dishes!!!! I think they are GREAT!! 🙂 This recipe looks GREAT I will be trying it!! Thanks for all ya do here on your blog!! have tried so many of your recipes and will keep trying!!
Denise, why oh why can’t you be my neighbor!? 🙂
That is a simply GORGEOUS set of disposable serve ware dishes.
So sparkly and Christmasy- like tinsel in the form of a dish!
Seriously- I am a BIG FAN of anything that makes Christmas easier and less stressful for our families and that includes for the cook and those who do the washing up!
Less dish washing means more time for visitin’ and spending quality time together on a very special day. 🙂
Happy New Year, Christy! 🙂 My college son LOVED the Butterfinger cake- he ate all but 2 pieces all by himself, lol. But not all in one sittin’! 😉
Oh my goodness, I think I just found my long lost sister!!!!! I dearly love you and everything about you!
I’m with Julianne – no problems with using disposables when you have a large gang, and especially for buffets! I did the same for Thanksgiving!
ok, sorry to be a pain…but this looks delicious. I am new to cooking, but i want to give this one a try! Can you double the recipe and freeze one of the lasagna’s? What do most people use to keep their frozen food in? Foil pans? To re-heat, so you do it straight from the freezer or thaw first? What oven temp would I use to re-heat? Sorry to sound so dumb…but I have never frozen a cooked meal before although I do need to start…just not sure where to start 🙁
Thank you for your help and Happy new year!
Hey Stacy! you are not in the least little bit a pain! I’m thrilled to have you here because I LOVE to be able to make things easy for folks whenever I can 🙂
Here is how I would personally freeze this one (and yes, you can definitely do so!). I would take the dish I wanted to bake it in and line it with heavy foil, leaving a good overhang on the sides. Then, prepare your lasagna in the foil lined dish. Cover it with more foil and put in the freezer until good and hard (a day or so). Then, take out the foil wrapped lasagna and wrap it again and return it to the freezer and your baking dish to your cabinet. This way, your dish is still handy when you need it and when you get ready to bake your lasagna, it fits in perfectly!
You can thaw it by taking it out of the freezer and putting it in your baking dish, then putting both in the fridge the night before you plan on having them for supper. BUT, if you’re like me, supper will sneak up on you and you’ll want to bake it directly from the freezer. While that is not ideal, it won’t kill ya either! Take your frozen lasagna and put it in your baking dish. Place both in a cold oven and then turn it on to preheat. Oh, did I mention that in all of these scenarios you should remove the foil from the top before baking? Well, do that 😉 . Then, just add about ten minutes to your cooking time.
Also, since you are talking about eating one and freezing one,you may just want to make one recipe and divide it into two 8×8 baking dishes instead of a 9×13 because it does make a good bit 🙂
I hope this helps and please just come right on back here and ask me more questions anytime you need to!
Gratefully,
Christy
Thank you for taking the pain out of this all Ms. Christy! I have been wanting to make a ziti for some time and this sounds amazingly easy. Freezing it would be good too! Especially since I work outside of the home my husband works in and still have to plan and make most of the dinners/meals.
Hi Stacy!! Just a kind word of advice, from an old fashioned, everyday, family cook… stay away from that network on television that “claims” to bring CHEFS as in IRON and good cooking… it’s nothing more than a liberal politically motivated program!!! Stick with Christy… she’s an AWESOME guide and an even better REAL LIFE COOK, too!!! Just my opinion with some common sense advice, dashed in!! Good luck… you’ll do great, most of the time with real cooking, it’s the practice and common sense things that bring savory/sweet redemption to our tables!!
Bless you!!
Kaye ; ()
I wonder.. Hmm.. could you use flour tortillas that have lost their moisture (dried out)
It’s sure worth a try! Even the worst case scenario would still be delicious!
Try corn tortillas I use them all the time when. Make my version
Great recipe.
Yum, yum, yum! Awwwwww, my sweet little Andy! Happy New Year Christy!
Are y’all tired of him yet? Because we have room…. 🙂
Tired, yes… Tired of him, no way!