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Quick, easy, and flavorful Enchilada Pasta Casserole is a great weeknight dish for the entire family!
Enchilada Pasta Casserole
I LOVE Mexican food, especially enchiladas, but I don’t always have the time and dedication to make and roll individual enchiladas.
With this enchilada pasta casserole, I can bypass the tedious work of rolling enchiladas, without sacrificing my craving for enchiladas.
It’s like a deconstructed enchilada in a casserole where all of the beef, cheese, and sauce is freely flowing throughout a casserole dish, weaved in between egg noodles for a little pasta flair.
Don’t be afraid that a large casserole dish will make too much, trust me you’ll love having the leftovers, and I’m sure not even a single noodle will go to waste.
How To Make Enchilada Pasta
In a large pot, bring water to boil and cook egg noodles according to package instructions. In the meantime, in a very large skillet, brown your ground beef then drain the fat. Then add the chili powder, cumin, and cayenne pepper. Stir to combine and add in the cream cheese until melted and combined.
In a large bowl, combine sour cream, enchilada sauce, half the cheddar cheese, half the monterey jack cheese, corn kernels, and diced green chiles. Stir to combine. Pour mixture over the beef and let simmer for 2-3 minutes. In the meantime, drain your pasta and add it to the beef mixture.
In a large casserole dish, pour in the pasta mixture and top with the remaining cheese.
Bake until cheese has completely melted. Serve hot.
Can I Make It A Vegetarian Enchilada Pasta Casserole?
It’s very easy to make this recipe into a vegetarian option. You have a couple different options to chose from.
The easiest way to turn this into a vegetarian enchilada pasta is to simply omit the ground beef.
Since there’s a lot going on in the casserole, the dish can still stand on its own (and taste delicious) without the added ground beef.
If you don’t want to just completely eliminate that protein source, you can also add crumbled tofu to act as a ground beef substitute.
Check out this recipe for Vegan Tofu Taco Crumbles to see how to make tofu the resembles ground beef.
The last option you have is to find some plant-based “ground beef” this will be a plant-based meat-like product that will closely resemble the flavor and texture of ground beef without any of the actual meat.
BeyondMeat is a good product line to try that’s easy to find in most grocery stores.
Can I Use Different Noodles?
You can use just about any noodles you prefer with just a few exceptions. I do suggest the thicker or spiraled noodles because they are better for really grabbing all of the sauce, meat, and cheese. Thinner noodles like spaghetti won’t really work for this one because they just can’t hold up as well for a casserole like this one.
I’ve never tried it with short noodles like penne or ziti noodles, but I’m sure the recipe will work fine with those noodle types too.
Is This Recipe Spicy?
There is a bit of spice to the enchilada pasta because of the cayenne pepper, and the green chiles.
I wouldn’t say its overly spicy though. If you prefer completely mild you can skip those two ingredients, or tone them down, or choose a mild enchilada sauce.
To amp up the spice, try adding a handful of seeded jalapeno slices.
Tips For Serving and Saving An Enchilada Casserole Recipe
Casseroles are amazingly versatile when it comes to how to serve them. This Enchilada pasta casserole would be a great addition to any Cinco De Mayo party or Mexican themed fiesta.
That’s not where the line is drawn; whip out this recipe when you know you have a busy week coming up.
Casseroles are notorious for reheating well and being a dish you can feast on throughout the course of a couple days or even up to a week.
I love fixing up this recipe on a Sunday night before a particularly busy week, so I can still feel like I’m getting a home cooked meal without having to spend time making a new recipe every night.
When stored in an airtight container, in the refrigerator you can store the enchilada pasta casserole for up to one week.
You Have To Try These Other Mexican Recipes:
Stovetop Chicken Tortilla Soup
Chicken and Chorizo Rice
Enchilada Pasta Casserole
Equipment
Ingredients
- 12 ounces (340 g) egg noodles
- 1 pound (454 g) ground beef
- ½ tablespoon chili powder
- ½ teaspoon ground cumin
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 5 ounces (142 g) cream cheese
- ¼ cup (58 g) light sour cream
- 10 ounce (312 g) can enchilada sauce, I used the red sauce
- 1 cup (113 g) shredded sharp cheddar cheese, divided
- 1 cup (113 g) shredded monterey jack cheese, divided
- 1 cup (164 g) frozen corn kernels, thawed
- 4 ounce (142 g) can diced green chiles
- Salt and pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 °F (177 °C)
- In a large pot, bring water to boil and cook egg noodles according to package instructions.12 ounces (340 g) egg noodles
- In the meantime, in a very large skillet, brown your ground beef then drain the fat. Then add the chili powder, cumin, garlic powder, and cayenne pepper. Stir to combine.1 pound (454 g) ground beef, ½ tablespoon chili powder, ½ teaspoon ground cumin, ½ teaspoon garlic powder, ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- Add in the cream cheese until melted and combined.5 ounces (142 g) cream cheese
- In a large bowl, combine sour cream, enchilada sauce, half the cheddar cheese, half the monterey jack cheese, corn kernels, and diced green chiles. Stir to combine.¼ cup (58 g) light sour cream, 10 ounce (312 g) can enchilada sauce, ½ cup (56 ½ g) shredded sharp cheddar cheese, 1 cup (164 g) frozen corn kernels, 4 ounce (142 g) can diced green chiles, ½ cup (56 ½ g) shredded Monterey Jack cheese
- Pour mixture over the beef and let simmer for 2-3 minutes. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.Salt and pepper
- In the meantime, drain your pasta. After you've drained it, add the pasta to the beef mixture. Make sure everything is coated in the sauce.
- In a large casserole dish, pour in the pasta mixture and top with the remaining cheese.½ cup (56 ½ g) shredded sharp cheddar cheese, ½ cup (56 ½ g) shredded Monterey Jack cheese
- Bake for 15 minutes or until cheese has completely melted.
- Serve hot. Keep in airtight container for up to 1 week.
Notes
Nutrition
Photography by Jesse Reilly
Made this tonight sans the baking because too lazy to wait and I was hungry. Pretty tasty and love the creaminess of the cream cheese and sour cream. Thanks.
Glad you enjoyed this!
I’ve made this several times. I substitute chicken for beef. My family LOVES it. My son requested it for his birthday dinner. If you haven’t tried it with chicken….do. It’s awesome!!
I’m so glad your family loves this recipe and your son requested it for his birthday dinner! So awesome!
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve made this, it’s SO GOOD!! I like to add in some diced tomatoes as well. It’s my favorite dinner dish, for sure. So easy to make in bulk and easy to freeze! The sauce makes an awesome chip dip too. THANK YOU for posting this!
It’s one of our favorites, too, Christina! So glad you love it so much! :)
This is SUCH an incredible dish. I love enchiladas already, and this was a great way to mix it up.
Made this yummy dish this week for my cousins, who just had a baby. There was so much that I was able to make TWO casseroles. I made a couple of modifications:
– Used the whole package of egg noodles
– Green enchilada sauce instead of red (that’s what I had on hand)
– Chipotle chiles in adobo sauce instead of green chiles (we like food with a kick)
– Topped casserole with crushed Chili Cheese Fritos (I’m a child of the 70s)
– Sprinkled the remaining cheddar-jack cheese on top
Baked at 350F for about 30m. When I served it, we topped it with salsa. Holy Yum Indeed!!
Thanks for the recipe!! ;-)
I’m so glad you enjoyed this with your modifications! Yummy!
I’m gonna try this tonight for dinner, except I’m going to substitute the ground beef for shredded chicken. Cannot wait, I bet it’ll be absolutely yummy!
That sounds good!! I hope you enjoy :)
Hi there. I just had to write and say that this is scrumptious! My husband loved it too. I will be sharing this one. I hope it’s ok to do that and add a link to your site?
Thanks!
Jennifer
Hi Jennifer! So glad your family loved this. Yup, it’s fine as long as the recipe steps are rewritten in your own words, photos your own, and a link back! Thanks so much for asking and wanting to share :)
I made this yesterday and despite a power outage from storms that prevented me from simmering the cheese mixture with the meat, it turned out deliciously after the power came back on for me to bake it. Like a clean hamburger helper with no chemical additives! Cheers.
I’m glad your power came back on and that you were able to enjoy this dish!
Ok my mouth is watering. Saving this recipe. So hungry right now! The piece of Parsley didn’t trip me out til you mentioned it ;)
I hope you try it! Haha, that piece of parsley always trips me out when I see that pic!
Made this today, loved, loved it! Only change I will make next time, and there will be a next time, is to double the enchilada sauce. I will also add fresh cilantro, as someone else suggested, as my family loves it!
So glad you and your family loved it Linda! I’m happy to hear there’ll be a next time for this dish! :)
i made this for dinner tonight! it was a hit. it didnt look like the picture though….i used ground turkey and can corn and by mistake i used the white enchilada sauce because I couldnt tell what color the sauce was from the can…..I have a very picky husband, teenager and 2 year old :/
Glad this was a hit!