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Mexican lasagna is a spicy twist on classic lasagna with flour tortillas and shredded cheese smothered in green chile enchilada sauce!
Although we love our traditional Mexican dishes like Tacos, Enchiladas, and Burritos, it’s fun to switch it up now and then with a dish like this Mexican lasagna!
a Classic Meal – Mexican Style!
My family are HUGE fans of Mexican food!
We make it all the time for typical weeknight dinners, and you can pretty much guarantee that it will make an appearance at nearly every extended family gathering.
It was actually my mom who found this recipe for Mexican lasagna years and years ago in the LDS Living Magazine. To my surprise, it was one of the best recipes I had tried in a LOOOONG time!
It’s called Mexican lasagna because all of the ingredients are layered, similar to a traditional Italian Lasagna, except they are all ingredients you would find in Mexican food – Tortillas instead of lasagna noodles, chicken in green chile sauce instead of beef in tomato sauce (you get the picture).
This dish is perfect for large gatherings because it can easily feed a crowd. It’s a recipe you are sure to love!
Layer and Bake!
This Mexican lasagna with flour tortillas is an easy prep and a delicious variation on a family favorite!
PREP. Preheat oven to 350°F. Cut tortillas in half and set aside.
FILLING. Mix chicken, sour cream, black beans, 1½ cups enchilada sauce, corn, half of the cilantro, and spices into a large bowl.
ASSEMBLE. In a 9×13 pan, scoop ⅓ of the chicken mixture into the bottom of the baking dish. Spread evenly. Place one layer of cut tortillas over the meat mixture. Top with ⅓ of shredded cheese.
Repeat with chicken mixture, tortillas, and cheese. In the end, there will be 3 layers of the chicken, tortilla, and cheese sequence. For the third layer, pour the remaining enchilada sauce over the tortilla layer and then sprinkle the cheese on top.
BAKE + ENJOY! Bake for 22-25 minutes or until the cheese is bubbly or the dish is cooked all the way through.
Serve with additional sour cream, homemade Guacamole, chopped tomatoes, and cilantro if desired. It tastes great with a side of Mexican Rice!
Variations
Change up this Mexican casserole with any of these recipe variations.
- Extra ingredients. Try adding black olives, red bell peppers, diced onions, sliced jalapenos, or chili peppers.
- Tortillas. Substitute the flour tortillas with similarly sized corn tortillas.
- Chicken. The chicken can be substituted with shredded or ground beef, shredded or ground turkey, or ground vegetarian meat. Whichever you choose, be sure that it is precooked before adding it to the recipe.
- Cheese. Using a different cheese blend can certainly change the flavor. We recommend a Mexican cheese blend but you can try a grated marble Colby Jack, or a cheddar and pepper jack blend.
Recipe Tips
Use these tips to create the perfect Mexican lasagna with tortillas.
Garnish. If this Mexican lasagna isn’t already delicious enough, bring it up another level by adding your favorite toppings such as sour cream, diced tomatoes, cilantro, diced green chiles, Green or Red salsa
Seasonings. Replace the cumin, chili powder, and garlic powder with taco seasoning. If you like a spicy Mexican dish, increase the heat by adding cayenne pepper or red pepper flakes.
Chicken. If you don’t have time to make shredded chicken, use canned chicken or a rotisserie chicken and shred it with a fork.
Serving suggestions.
Making ahead and storing
Make ahead of time. Before baking your Mexican chicken lasagna, cover it with plastic wrap and store it in the fridge for up to 2 days. Remove plastic and bake according to recipe directions.
STORE. Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for 2-3 days. Reheat in the microwave or in an oven. Preheat to 350°F and bake for about 10-15 minutes depending on the amount of leftovers.
FREEZE. Cover the uncooked dish with plastic wrap adding aluminum foil over the top sealing the edges tightly. Label and store in the freezer for up to 3 months.
Thaw overnight in the fridge before heating. Bake according to the recipe directions.
Recipe FAQ
This Mexican lasagna recipe calls for a Mexican cheese blend that includes shredded Monterey Jack cheese, cheddar cheese, asadero cheese, and queso cheese. You can create your own blend using those cheeses or including mozzarella cheese, Colby Jack, or pepper jack cheese.
You can substitute the flour tortillas with corn tortillas to make this Mexican lasagna recipe. Bake the lasagna covered with foil to help keep the corn tortillas from drying out. Take the foil off during the last few minutes of the baking to time to let the cheese brown a bit.
Easily turn this recipe into a vegetarian dish by substituting the shredded chicken with ground vegetarian chicken. Cook the vegetarian chicken in a large skillet over medium-high heat, then stir it in with the black beans, enchilada sauce, corn, and cilantro.
For More Easy Mexican Dishes, Check Out:
- Red Cheese Enchiladas
- Green Chili Smothered Burritos
- Sheet Pan Chicken Fajitas
- Beef Enchiladas
- Creamy Chicken Enchiladas
- Taco Casserole
Mexican Lasagna Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 pound chicken cooked and shredded
- 1 (16-ounce) tub sour cream
- 1 (15-ounce) can black beans drained and rinsed
- 1 (19-ounce) can Las Palmas Green Chile Enchilada sauce
- 1 (15.25-ounce) can corn drained and rinsed
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon cumin
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ cup chopped cilantro
- 12 small flour tortillas
- 8 ounces Mexican blend cheese shredded
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F.
- Cut tortillas in half and set aside.
- Mix chicken, sour cream, black beans, 1 ½ cups enchilada sauce, corn, half of the cilantro, and spices into a large bowl.
- In a 9×13 pan, scoop ⅓ of the chicken mixture into the bottom of the pan. Spread evenly. Place one layer of cut tortillas over the chicken mixture. Top with ⅓ of shredded cheese. Repeat with chicken mixture, tortillas, and cheese. In the end, there will be 3 layers of the chicken, tortilla, and cheese sequence. For the third layer, pour the remaining enchilada sauce over the tortilla layer and then sprinkle the cheese on top.
- Bake for 22-25 minutes or until the cheese is bubbly or the dish is cooked all the way through.
- Serve with additional sour cream, chopped tomatoes, and cilantro if desired.
Video
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
So good! We always add the suggested jalapeños. This is a favorite.
Delicious! Best Mexican lasagna recipe I’ve found!
Wonderful! I always used to make my lasagna with ground beef until I found this recipe. It is amazing and so easy to make. I love using the chicken and green sauce, but the one change I made was to use corn tortillas – they are what I had on hand and it turned out just fine. I would say that they may not need as much liquid as flour shells, but we still love it! This is going into my recipe box and into my menu rotations. Thanks for sharing!!
Jump to video, it says, so I do, and it takes me down to where it says video, but we can’t click on it. It surely would have been nice to see a video, before I make this. Disappointing.
Very interesting, fed my family twice! Definitely not something I’ve ever had before and it was very creative.
PS We baked the steam table pans covered with foil sprayed with cooking spray so the cheese wouldn’t stick. We took the foil off to brown them for the last 10 minutes. We also made a vegetarian version with our house made faux chicken made from tofu and wheat protein.
This was great, we made enough to feed 82 people at a local community feeding program. We took advantage of donations of grilled chicken and tortillas from a local catering company and some fresh sweet corn from some university test plots and house made salsa verde from some green chilies donated by a local CSA. We didn’t have sour cream but used our stash of cream cheese whipped with lime juice. Baking time for full size steam table pans was 50 minutes at 375. All the volunteers took some home which doesn’t happen very often.
Wow! That is incredible! I’m so happy to hear that the recipe could be used for such an awesome cause. Thanks for sharing!
This recipe was so good I made a second batch the next day. Not because my family and I eat it all my dog got on the stove and finished off the remaining eight pieces!!!!
He’s obviously a big dog, couldn’t resist🙄
I added green chilies, black olives, mushroom and onion, super yummy.
Also in response to the person’s question about making it vegetarian I found using veggie ground beef works great in these recipes
I’m so glad you and your family AND your dog liked it too! 😉 All of those additions sounds delicious! Thanks so much for sharing what you do!
Delicious!!! I did not have the the green chile enchilada sauce so i made recipe with the reD enchilada sauce. My family loved it!!! Tgis rexipe is a keeper!
That works too 🙂 Thank you for sharing that!
Has anyone done this with corn tortillas?
I have not tried, but it’s a great option 🙂
We made this tonight with corn tortillas. While the flavor was amazing, the top layer of tortillas dried out in the oven and were a little tough to cut through. I’d recommend maybe covering it with sprayed aluminum foil for most of the cooking time then uncovering it at the end. Again, it’s delicious and we’re definitely going to make it again. 🙂
Thanks for sharing that!