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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
Looks really good……And the parsley looks like it is floating
This was perfect! Creamy, spicy, easy. I think I might make it with mild enchilada sauce and no cayenne for the kids next time. Thank you!!!
Can’t wait to try this recipe! It sounds delicious!
About the Target sizes, they can be confusing because anytime you have an odd # size (7,9,11) is a Junior’s garment (pre-teen or teen). Even number sizes are Misses or Women’s sizes (so when you usually fit into a 4, that’s a small Women’s size). So take heart…an 11 is not large. And that also explains why sometimes those odd number sizes don’t fit quite right because they are designed for girls that haven’t developed their curves yet.
I will be making this on my next night off for dinner it looks great and I love Mexican dishes that are easy to make and very enjoyable. Comments coming soon.
Thanks for sharing
I made this and it is FANTASTIC!! So easy and even my kids loved it. Thank you for sharing!!
This looks so amazing! I will convince my mother to cook this the upcoming weeekend – it must be delicious :)
Is it okay if I leave out the green chiles? First of all, to be honest, I’m not quite sure what those even are. English’s not my first language so finding the right translation and/or substitution is sometimes really nerve wracking. And…I don’t think frozen corn exists where I live – or I never have seen it though :/ Can I just use the normal one from a can?
Thanks a lot for sharing this recipe ^^
Made this tonight – SO YUMMY!! My family loved it. Only thing I did was omit cayenne pepper for the kids but it still had a nice kick to it. Def a keeper!!!
I’m drooling! I showed it to my hubby and now we’re having this for lunch on Saturday! :)
Made this tonight after I found it on pinterest!! The only change I made was toned sown the cayenne an had to leave out the peppers.. :( (to please a six yr old) next time I will maybe add a bit more enchilada sauce, but otherwise.. turned out really well and everyone loved it!!!!
LOVE THIS> we are ‘dairy free’ and this turned out SO GOOD. I omitted the sour cream and cream cheese and just used 8oz Vegan Cream cheese…. it is SO creamy and delicious… Thanks for the easy to customize recipe….yum.