Quinoa Enchilada Casserole
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A lightened-up, healthy enchilada bake that you can enjoy guilt-free, chockfull of quinoa, black beans and cheesy goodness. And the leftovers taste even better!
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I think it’s safe to say that I have somewhat of a love affair with Mexican food. Whether it’s fish tacos, cheesy enchiladas or a giant burrito the size of my forearm, I could honestly live off of all of these for the rest of my life.
So when Old El Paso asked me to be their brand ambassador for the next year, well, how could I say no? It just gives me an excuse to make even more of my favorite Mexican-inspired dishes to share with you all! And to start things off, I just had to share my favorite Mexican comfort food lightened-up.
Now this is a super easy enchilada bake with quinoa instead of tortilla. By using quinoa, we’re adding in some fun healthy goodies, like protein and fiber, and there’s absolutely no rolling or wrapping of any kind. You can simply throw everything into a bowl, mix it up, and bake it from there. Yes, it doesn’t get easier than that!
After you let this bake through, you’ll have the most amazing cheesy enchilada bake! It’s so good, you’ll never want to have traditional enchiladas ever again!
Quinoa Enchilada Casserole: Frequently Asked Questions
You can use about 2 cups cooked quinoa.
Absolutely! This is our favorite recipe for homemade enchilada sauce.
Mushrooms, spinach, zucchini, and/or carrots would be great additions.
Ground taco meat and/or leftover rotisserie chicken can get mixed in with your quinoa-enchilada-sauce mixture.
Yes! You can freeze the leftovers in individual freezer bags, thaw overnight, and reheat in the oven until completely warmed through.
You can substitute vegan cheeses for the cheddar and mozzarella cheeses to make this a vegan quinoa enchilada casserole.
Quinoa Enchilada Casserole
Ingredients
- 1 cup quinoa
- 1 (10-ounce) can red enchilada sauce
- 1 (4-ounce) can diced green chiles, drained
- ½ cup corn kernels, frozen, canned or roasted
- ½ cup canned black beans, drained and rinsed
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro leaves
- ½ teaspoon cumin
- ½ teaspoon chili powder
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- ¾ cup shredded cheddar cheese, divided
- ¾ cup shredded mozzarella cheese, divided
- 1 avocado, halved, seeded, peeled and diced
- 1 Roma tomato, diced
Instructions
- In a large saucepan of 2 cups water, cook quinoa according to package instructions; set aside.
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Lightly coat a 9 x 13 baking dish with nonstick spray.
- In a large bowl, combine quinoa, enchilada sauce, green chiles, corn, black beans, cilantro, cumin and chili powder; season with salt and pepper, to taste. Stir in 1/2 cup cheddar cheese and 1/2 cup mozzarella cheese.
- Spread quinoa mixture into the prepared baking dish. Top with remaining cheeses. Place into oven and bake until bubbly and cheeses have melted, about 15 minutes.
- Serve immediately, garnished with avocado and tomato, if desired.
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Disclosure: This post is sponsored by Old El Paso. All opinions expressed are my own.
Do you think I could add browned ground turkey to this and then bake it?
Yes, of course! But you may have to adjust the other ingredients to compensate for this addition.
I absolutely love this recipe so much that I’ve made it three days in a row for lunch! My kids and hubby enjoyed it just as much. I used salsa instead of enchilada sauce and added 1 cup chopped rotisserie chicken breast and 1/2 a green pepper. Fabulous. Thank you for a new found favorited.
Was super easy to make and delicious! My kids even ate it but they wrapped it in a tortillas. 🙂
Loved it! Made it tonight and was a hit with the hubby! He is very picky about Mexican and anything that has veggies and green things, but he loved it! Keep the great recipes coming. 🙂
Hells yes! I made this last night but substituted brown rice for the quinoa (brown rice obsession, nothing against the quinoa other than it’s a pain to spell) and it was really delicious. I added some strips of streak that I pan fried with pepper and garlic salt first to keep the man happy, and added some finely diced celery, green pepper, zucchini as well as the corn and beans. It was amazing. I think this is going to be a favorite, and it was SUPER quick to make (I used a veggie mandolin/slicer for the veg) and I think it took maybe 8 minutes..thanks so much.
just made this today! It is absolutely delish! I added some chicken to it also! This will be made often in our house! Next time I am going to add some onion, peppers and jalapeños and the pepper jack cheese instead of the mozzarella. Thank for the great recipe! Love it!
Made this with a few minor changes…i used two cups of quinoa and tomato paste to thicken it up and added jalapenos and extra chili powder and cayenne. I also used a whole can of black beans. Freezes great! I added the filling to bell peppers and froze those too.
I made this and my husband and I loved it! It’s kinda like a quinoa chili. Great recipe!
This is AMAZING!!! I did make a few changes because I’m one of those people who can’t help themselves when it comes to altering recipes. I added a half of a chopped onion, a few chopped up mini peppers (those ones that come in the bag), and a small jalapeno. I also used a whole can of black beans because I didn’t see much point in saving half a can, and medium enchilada sauce. Oh, and I mixed peperjack cheese and the mexican blend by craft.
Holy guacamole. Total winner. This was easy, quick, and so delicious I couldn’t believe my mouth. I think next time I might add some shredded chicken if I have some on hand, but it really doesn’t need it. I just have a hubs who prefers meat meals to meatless (even though we were vegetarians for 2 years. Silly boys). Thanks for the great recipe, this is for sure going into the rotation.
I followed the instructions and this is very runny. ??? Would’ve used half the enchilada sauce or added a cup or rice or cup of ground turkey to soak up all the liquid.
Rosi, please feel free to add more quinoa as needed until the desired consistency is reached.
I also had the same problem. I was glad I was making two batches. 1 for my dude, and one for my boss. My boss got the second one. On the second one I just added less water to the quinoa. I also added extra veggies (some onion, and a little bit of red and yellow bell pepper). Oh! And about 2 tablespoons of polenta to help thicken it up. I think it came out much better. I would also suggest not adding ANY salt. The green chili and enchilada sauce have plenty in there IMO.
Absolutely delicious!! I eliminated the cumin only because I didn’t have any on hand. Love this! Thank you so much for sharing!!!!
Is this something I can prep a night or two before and then pop in the oven when I get home?
I haven’t tried it myself but I don’t see why it wouldn’t work – although I recommend letting it come to room temp before popping it in the oven.
Thank you!
Very easy and delicious meal. I used more corn and beans than you asked. The idea of using Jack vs mozzarella is good one that I will try next time.
Quick, easy and yummy. Perfect combo 🙂
This was very tasty and pretty simple. Mine was a bit soupy–any suggestions? We added sliced black olives, sour cream and extra cilantro for toppings.
You can add more quinoa as needed to even out the liquid. Hope that helps!
Thanks! I kinda thought the liquid might cook off/soak up during baking but it didn’t so if you have any tips as to what the consistency should be before baking, that would help a lot! Family loved it, by the way!
It should definitely be more of a “wet” texture but if you prefer less liquid, please feel free to adjust the ingredients until the desired consistency is reached.
Tried this last week, was AWESOME. No enchilada sauce so I used salsa instead. I doubled the recipe in a 9×13 stoneware baking dish and will definitely be doing it again for a staff Christmas party.
I tried a similar version of this but used lentils instead of quinoa!
Tried this recipe and everyone LOVED it… Love the fact that it is a delicious vegetarian meal, but next time, I might add some seasoned pulled chicken, or ground turkey 🙂 Two thumbs up!
this was so good! I used whole foods brand quinoa and it Was perfect. Flavors were great. My husband said he almost wanted a bit of crunch but that could easily be accomplished with a few broken tortilla chips on top. My 12 year old son ate three helpings!!!
I’m not the same Nicole as above… but I have made this 2 times in the last month at the request of my husband and 13 y.o…..I’m from Texas and need frequent mexican flavors that we cannot find in CO. My daughter is experimenting with vegetarian preferences, so this hits the spot!