This Black Bean Enchilada Casserole with Butternut Squash is such a hearty and delicious meal that’s perfect for winter! Even carnivores love it!
On Monday I posted a guide on how to roast butternut squash and today we’re putting one of those methods to use! Roasted vegetables and Mexican food are two of my favorite things so I thought it would be perfect to combine the two in this Black Bean Enchilada Casserole with Butternut Squash recipe!
Don’t get me wrong, I love traditional style enchiladas. I make them occasionally and always order them when we’re out, but sometimes all the rolling of the tortillas gets a little tedious and I just want an easier option.
Enter the Black Bean Enchilada Casserole! It still tastes exactly like it would taste if you rolled all the filling into some tortillas, but instead it contains chopped tortillas and everything is mixed together.
I first had this idea of chopping the tortillas when I made my One Pan Stove Top Enchiladas a few years ago and I’ve been using it ever since. It’s so much easier to make and takes much less time!
For this recipe today I decided to combine black beans with roasted butternut squash. You could use whatever type of beans you like, but for some reason to me black beans seem to go really well with butternut squash.
I roasted the butternut squash up with some peppers and onions and they all have such a nice flavor to add to the enchiladas. You’d never guess they’re packed with so many nutritious ingredients!
I feel like most restaurant style enchiladas aren’t the healthiest meals out there. And I’m totally guilty of ordering the cheese filled ones and loving them, but when I make them at home for my family I like to add all the veggies I can.
Enchilada casseroles are the perfect way to do that. You don’t have to worry about over stuffing the enchilada or having all the filling come out because everything is mixed together and baked in a pan. These are also great re-heated as leftovers!
Recipe Tips for Black Bean Enchilada Casserole with Butternut Squash:
- If you don’t love black beans you can use any kind of bean you prefer.
- If you can’t find butternut squash, or prefer not to use it, you can substitute sweet potato instead. Or these would be really good with regular roasted potato too!
- If making vegan, you can either omit the cheese or use vegan cheese.
- You can also add any other veggies you like!
Black Bean Enchilada Casserole with Butternut Squash
- Total Time: 1 hour 50 minutes
- Yield: 6 1x
Description
This Black Bean Enchilada Casserole with Butternut Squash is so hearty and filling!
Ingredients
- 6 cups cubed butternut squash (see tutorial here)
- 1 small green pepper, diced
- 1 small red pepper, diced
- 1/2 onion, diced
- 2–3 teaspoons olive oil
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 3/4 teaspoons ground cumin
- 3/4 teaspoons paprika
- 3/4 teaspoons garlic powder
- 3 cups cooked black beans, or 2 (15 oz) cans drained and rinsed
- 8 corn tortillas, diced into bite size pieces
- 2 cups enchilada sauce
- 1 1/2 cups grated cheese, divided
- Optional toppings: avocado, onion, tomato, cilantro
Instructions
- Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees F. On a large sheet pan toss together butternut squash, bell peppers, onion, olive oil and all the spices. Roast vegetables until fork tender, about 50 minutes, flipping once.
- Lower oven to 375 degrees F. In a large bowl mix together the roasted veggies, black beans, corn tortillas, enchilada sauce and 1 cup of the cheese. Pour into a large baking dish, spread out to make sure it is even and then top with the remaining 1/2 cup of cheese. Bake enchilada casserole until bubbly and cheese is melted, about 20 minutes.
- Serve immediately with your favorite garnishes.
- Prep Time: 30 mins
- Cook Time: 80 mins
- Category: Dinner, Gluten Free, Vegetarian
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: Mexican
Looks wonderful! Thanks!
I’m excited to try this! Can flour tortillas be subbed for the corn kind, or will the flour ones turn gummy?
Definitely! I hope you enjoy!
Making this tonight….lots of cutting, but worth it for the butternut squash…ok, recipe was delish….I would double the spices to give it more flavor, and omit the tortilla…it is not needed fo a yummy hot dish! It is company-worthy, for sure.
Glad you enjoyed it!!
I made two of your recipes this week! This one was excellent! I used sweet potato instead of squash, and was very heavy handed with the spices. Really, really good and much faster than rolling enchiladas!
Yah!! I’m so glad to hear you enjoyed them!
This looks great! What size corn tortillas did you use? Taco size? “Super” size? Just trying to figure out what to buy and/or how many tortillas to use as I’m likely to buy the smaller (taco size) ones.
Thank you! I just used regluar taco sized ones 🙂
This was great! Question: did you mean to say 50 minutes for roasting the cubed butternut squash? That seems longer than necessary. Most recipes (and the instructions on packages of pre-cubed butternut squash) say to roast it for 30 minutes at 400 degrees. My cubes were fully cooked at 30 minutes, so I wonder if the 50 minutes would be overkill. I added some snipped green chives to the top for more color. After reading the other comments, I also doubled the spices and it came out very tasty. It’s a beautiful, colorful recipe, and super easy, so thank you!
Hmm, maybe my oven is a little slow on roasting haha! I’ll have to try it for just 30 minutes next time. Glad you enjoyed it!
Looks great! Have you tried assembling ahead of time to bake the next day? I worry the tortillas may get too mushy.
I think that would actually work great!
What size baking dish do you recommend?
I usually use 9×13 or a little smaller
This is so Tasty!!! I made this recipe for the first time last night for my mother and I and it is sensational! I used cashew flour tortillas which bakes beautifully into the casserole and is extremely tasty. I ended up baking it a bit longer at 375 after the initial 20 mins to get a little bit more juice out of it from the enchilada sauce which was amazing! The seasoning is so simple on the veggies and tastes great on its own. I roasted the veggies on parchment paper which made the tossing of oil and seasoning easier, evenly and clean up was much easier at the end. I used the whole butternut squash and covered the veggies with the seasoning without measuring (that’s the way I like to flavor) and it came out perfect!!! Sadly, I didn’t have a green bell pepper only yellow and red, but it still came out great. Also, used yellow onion and I absolutely love love love this recipe. The last thing I did was used pepper jack cheese on the top which gave it a hint of spice, which mom and I enjoy spice, but not overload on it. The next time I make it, I will take a picture. Mom and I were so excited about eating it, we forgot to take the picture to share. It makes GREAT next-day and third-day meal for lunch or dinner. Highly recommend giving it a shot.
I’m so glad you enjoyed it!! I love the idea of using pepper jack cheese!
My husband and I had this for dinner a couple of night ago and really enjoyed it. Then we reheated this morning, I made some friend eggs to go on top and we had huevos rancheros for brunch this morning with my mom. Huge hit! New favorite!
Yum!!!
I’m a little late to this party, but a couple of questions: if you wanted to make this ahead, how long can it sit before baking? Can it be frozen either before or after cooking?
I would store in the refrigerator for up to 2-3 days before baking, or if freezing, freeze it before cooking. I hope that helps!
This is great..jdelicious combo! I used leftovers in a burrito. And I doubled the recipe and froze the second batch for a future quick meal.
So glad you enjoyed it!!
Have you made this the night before? Worried that the squash might be mushy. Sounds delicious.
That should work great!