[addtoany]

Lasagna is one of my favorite dishes to make for my family. A bit fancier than a typical casserole, lasagna is filling and tasty. In fact, I like lasagna so much that I came up with another variation on it that uses different flavors.

Mexican lasagna is a great change from regular Italian lasagna. Between the robust spices and the tortillas instead of lasagna noodles, this is a very filling dish that takes much less effort than traditional lasagna. If you like a little heat, go for medium or spicy Picante sauce. For younger children stick with the mild.

Mexican Lasagna Recipe

Mexican lasagna is so easy that it seems like a no-brainer. You still use the same ground beef that you would in traditional lasagna. But if you want to change the recipe, even more, you could use a mixture of ground beef and chorizo to make it taste more authentically Mexican.

Instead of pasta sauce, you could also use plain tomato sauce in addition to the salsa. Another way to change up this recipe is to add a can of black beans or Ranch Style beans. If your family likes onions, you could sauté the onion with the beef so that it won’t be too crunchy.

A can of corn (or bag of frozen corn) also goes well with the flavors in the recipe. When I used to make this when my kids were really young, I called it “taco lasagna” and it was a big hit with the family. We served it with a dollop of sour cream and garnished with black olives and sometimes sliced green onions.

Lasagna with Tortillas

This recipe saves time over traditional Italian lasagna because it uses tortillas. This saves the step of having to boil lasagna noodles to make the layers between the sauce and cheese. Yet the tortillas hold up surprisingly well under the weight of sauce and cheese, making it a perfect substitute.

One of my kids actually isn’t that crazy about traditional Italian lasagna. But he will happily eat up this Mexican-inspired variation on lasagna. Because even if the concept is similar, with layers of meat, cheese, and sauce, the flavor is totally different. This tastes more like tacos or enchiladas than an Italian pasta dish.

You can even make this in the slow cooker for a meal that will be ready with very little prep time. You can prepare the meat in advance and put everything in the slow cooker so that it will be ready when you get home after a long day out of the house.

This recipe is even modifiable for low-carbohydrate diets. If you get low-carb tortillas or choose to use zucchini, the recipe is appropriate if you’re watching your carbs. It still has plenty of protein and fat to keep you full without the carbohydrates.

You can also make this recipe vegetarian. Substitute the ground beef for vegetarian crumbles, such as Boca or Morningstar Farms ground meatless products. This recipe can even be gluten-free if you use corn tortillas instead of flour tortillas.

Mexican-style lasagna is one of the easiest dishes you can make. You can adapt it to any dietary need or just make it as the recipe is written. The beauty of it is that no matter how you make it, it’s sure to be delicious.

If you enjoyed this recipe, make sure to check out our Taco Dip Recipe and our Enchilada Recipe.

Print

Easy Mexican Lasagna

Mexican lasagna is a great change from regular Italian lasanga. Between the robust spices and the tortillas instead of lasagna noodles, this is a very filling dish that takes much less effort than traditional lasagna. If you like a little heat, go for medium or spicy picante sauce. For younger children stick with the mild.

 

Ingredients:

1 pound ground beef
1 large green pepper, chopped
2 cups Tomato Basil & Garlic pasta Sauce
1-1/2 cups picante Sauce
1 Tablespoon chili powder
8 flour tortillas, (6-inch)
16 ounces shredded Cheddar cheese
4 1/2 ounces sliced pitted ripe olives, drained

 

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F.

2. Cook the beef and pepper in a 10-inch skillet over medium-high heat until beef is well browned, stirring to separate the meat. Drain any fat.

3. Add the pasta sauce, 1 cup picante sauce and chili powder. Heat to a boil.

4. Reduce the heat to low and cook for 10 minutes.

5. Spread the remaining picante sauce in 3-quart shallow baking dish. Arrange 4 tortillas in the dish.

6. Top with half of the beef mixture, half of the cheese and half of the olives. Repeat the layers.

7. Bake for 20 minutes or until it's hot and bubbling. Let stand for 5 minutes.

 

 

 

The image featured at the top of this post is ©iStock.com/Sean Gardner.