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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
- 1 pound (454 g) ground beef
- ½ tablespoon (½ teaspoon) chili powder
- ½ teaspoon (¼ 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
- 12 ounces (340 g) egg noodles
- Salt & 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.
- 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.
- 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. 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.
- 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
Do you have to greasepan or dish prior?
You can definitely do that if you prefer to! I didn’t grease mine.
I made this for dinner and it was a hit! I used black bean pasta (made only out of black beans), extra enchilada sauce, soy chorizo (from Trader Joes), and lots of garlic (because I can’t live without garlic!). It was so yummy, quick, and simple. This will replace the Mexican stuffed shell recipe I used to use. I really hate stuffing shells! This will be a regular dish in my house.
I am so glad I stumbled on this recipe! It’s easy, delicious and even better reheated for leftover nights! Thank you for sharing!
I was reading your blog, but I didn’t raff the comments so forgive me if this is a little late. The reason you had to buy an 11 instead of 4 is because you bought ‘junior’ size jeans. I am also a size 4 but I’m a 9/11 in juniors. Thought I’d share. Food looks delicious!
How side of size I use???
I’m not quite sure what you’re asking?
This sounds delicious and after reading the comments I will be making this tomorrow night for dinner.
I hope you enjoy :)
Just made this. It’s delicious. Had turkey so used that instead of hamburger.
This is one of my all time favorite meals. I am 9 months pregnant and starting to make freezer meals to help with dinners once the little one arrives. Is this a good freezer meal? Would I combine it all and just not bake it? When ready to eat do I thaw or just put it right into the oven? I am new to this frezzing thing! :)
I would think this would be an excellent freezer meal! I would combine everything and not bake it. I personally would put it straight into the oven and just let it cook longer than normal, but be careful if you’re using a glass baking dish – you don’t want it to crack. So if you’re preparing this to freeze in a glass baking dish, i would thaw it before baking, but if you’re prepping this in one of those aluminum containers, then you’re fine going straight from freezer to oven.
This was just okay, but in all fairness I did forget to add salt and pepper. My husband liked it though so I will probably try it again. I think I might add more sauce as another posted suggested. And maybe a little less noodles.
Can you make this ahead, say in the a.m. but just not bake it until the afternoon? I saw that some froze the leftovers, but could it be frozen before baking?
Yes, definitely!