Quinoa Enchilada Casserole
by Chungah
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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!
Featured Comment
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
Video
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.
Just made this tonight and it is delish! My first time making quinoa and it did not disappoint. 🙂
Surprisingly, I used almost the identical ingredients to make a summer salad…so yummy! I understand that Quinoa is high protein with essential amino acids which, if you are vegetarian, is a BIG plus! Can’t wait to try this tonight. Thanks
Another winner in my house. Company here for 4 days and made this tonight for the first time. everyone raved about it. We put the bit that was left ove3r in the fridge and one guest had it for bed snack, He said it tastes as good cold so we all had a teaspoon and decided it would serve up nicely as a cold summer salad with tortilla chips.
Oh and I made your enchilada sauce as I did not have any and what a great recipe that is too.
Thanks again as we love your dishes.
Love this recipe! Thank you! Have made it several times and it’s never the same twice. I usually throw in whatever is leftover in the fridge in addition to what you list – peppers, partial bags of random cheeses, half a jar of salsa. Always comes out great!
Any experience freezing already cooked quinoa? Was thinking making a few batches to freeze for ballgame nights just not baking til then.
Unfortunately, I do not have experience freezing cooked quinoa – there are generally no leftovers for us to freeze!
Can I throw it together ahead of time and then bake it later?
Yes, absolutely!
Just made this for dinner tonight, I loved it and my picky kids ate it with out complaint. It was my first time cooking with quinoa. I’m going to be making this more often. Thanks!
This looks so yummy! I am planning to make it tomorrow night, but wanted to ask if I have to cook the quinoa first before adding it to everything or not? This may be a question with an obvious answer, but just wanted to be sure!
Becky, you will start with uncooked quinoa and cook it as indicated in the first step of the recipe.
oh goodness! I completely overlooked that! Thank-you!!
This sounds really good! The only thing is I wish you would have posted the nutritional info.
Mikala, unfortunately, as I am not a registered dietician, I am not comfortable sharing nutritional information for any of my recipes. I recommend utilizing online calorie counters at your discretion to obtain such information.
Yum-o! Made this along with your Watermelon Slush, which was a perfect refresher with this dish. I skipped the spicy ingredients for my family, but I used fresh blackened corn and red peppers to add a little extra punch ‘n crunch. Still turned out to be a dinner table fav with second helpings all-around! Thanks, Chungah!
I made this for dinner tonight and it was delicious! This was only my 2nd time cooking with quinoa and let me just say that learning you have to rinse it off first saved me from hating it! This dish was easy to make and very flavorful. Even my picky 6 year old ate it (and that says a lot). Will definitely make again.
Can you freeze? If so, how? We made this and I am trying to make meals ahead right now and we enjoyed this so I could like to freeze it.
Unfortunately, I have never tried freezing this with myself so I cannot answer with certainty. Please use your best judgement for freezing and reheating.
Does anyone know what 1 serving equals in the 21 day fix? 1 green,1yellow and 1 orange??
I agree, I could live off Mexican food! I am so excited to try this, I never heard of using quinoa. I will make sure to mention this link in my blog when I do. I would love your tips and suggestions as well if you check my blog out. Thanks for the recipe!!
I doubled this recipe to be able to use my Rachel Ray bubble and brown! 🙂 Doubled well, and wonderfully versatile…I used diced tomatoes with green chiles, PLUS the green chiles it called for. Sharp cheddar and jack cheeses. Dried cilantro (just no fresh on hand). Taco sauce instead of enchilada sauce. I did find that I had to quadruple (and probably more) the spices…we like bold Mexican flavors. To serve, I threw on a dollop of sour cream avocado and green hot sauce! Thanks for the excellent recipe–great for people like me who like to build on them and make them our own!
Saving this recipe! I love enchiladas and this recipe is a lot quicker than rolling up each one individually!
Great, simple week night recipe! I made this last week but also added rotisserie chicken to it. Delicious! My boyfriend asked tonight if I’d make it again for dinner tomorrow!! My first time on your website…excited to try out more! Thanks for sharing!
When boiling quinoa, do you boil in water, chicken / veggie / beef broth?!
Any of the above! It really depends on personal preference.
I always use veggie broth, the broth just adds a bit more flavor to it.
Made this with a packet of 94% lean ground turkey in it, and bought a bigger can of enchilada sauce to make up for the added ingredient. Superb! Will be adding this my meal rotation!
Just made this for dinner and it was delicious! Super flavorful. I did go slightly lighter on the cheese and enchilada sauce to watch calories- but it still turned out super yummy! I can’t wait to enjoy these leftovers for the next couple of days!