Vegetarian Elote Tortilla Casserole

Today’s hearty Vegetarian Elote Tortilla Casserole is just packed with elote style frozen corn, spinach, black beans, and salsa verde — plus, of course, plenty of melted cheese! Enjoy yours on Meatless Monday, Taco Tuesday, or any night you’re looking for a flavor explosion of a recipe.

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Vegetarian Elote Tortilla Casserole: A recipe inspired by ALDI special buys! This week’s ad features frozen elote style corn, which made me remember that I impulse bought a bag the last go-round that has just been languishing in my freezer ever since.

If you’re seeing this in between elote sales at ALDI, though, Trader Joe’s carries a frozen Mexican style roasted corn with cotija which should also work great…

This elote style corn was a serendipitous freezer (and ALDI) find this week, because:

• I’m working on using up my stockpile before I move, and
• I want to to try out some new recipes with ALDI’s new salsa verde

Two birds, one delicious tortilla casserole! I also threw in some black beans for protein, as well as a bag of spinach for extra flavor and texture (and, because it was on its last legs).

The spice level here will vary depending on the salsa you use, but was not particularly fiery with a mild roasted salsa verde. You can always cool off your serving with additional sour cream, if desired.

Vegetarian Elote Tortilla Casserole

Ingredients

2 Tbsp olive oil
1/3 cup diced onion
2 tsp minced garlic (about four cloves)
8 oz fresh spinach
12-14 oz bag frozen elote style corn
Can of black beans, rinsed and drained
16 oz jar salsa verde, divided
1/2 cup sour cream or plain Greek yogurt
12 medium flour tortillas
2 cups shredded cheddar, jack, or Mexican-style cheese

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees and spray a 13×9 baking dish with cooking spray. Chop your onion and garlic.

Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Saute the onion for three minutes, then stir in the garlic and spinach. Continue to saute over medium heat until spinach is wilted, stirring occasionally.

Meanwhile, microwave the corn to package directions. Drain & rinse the beans.

Add the corn, beans, sour cream (or Greek yogurt) and 1 1/2 cups of salsa verde into the skillet with the spinach mixture

Stir until everything is nicely combined and the sour cream is melted in. Turn off the heat under the pan.

Pour the remaining 1/2 cup of salsa verde into the prepared baking dish, using the back of a spoon to spread it out to cover the bottom.

Line the baking dish with three tortillas, tearing the third one in half to fit it on the sides. Top those tortillas with 1/3 of the spinach, corn, & beans mixture, and sprinkle that with 1/2 cup of the cheese.

Repeat this process until you have used all of the ingredients, noting that the top layer will be just the last three tortillas topped with cheese.

Cover your baking dish tightly with foil, and bake the tortilla casserole at 375 degrees for 20 minutes. Remove the foil and continue baking for another 10 minutes, until cheese is nicely melted and slightly browned.

Note: I recommend serving your casserole with sliced avocado as shown here, but you could also try cilantro, sour cream, guacamole, or other toppings of choice.

Tortilla casserole is a great choice for elote style corn…

Vegetarian elote tortilla casserole has all the flavor you’d want from vegetarian enchiladas, with none of the work involved in rolling them up. So good! The sweet corn pops against the mildly spicy salsa, the spinach & black beans are both flavorful and filling, and the cheese and sour cream provide a creamy tang that brings the whole dish together.

And let’s hear it for leftovers, too, because this tortilla casserole reheats really nicely. I cooked it up last night for Meatless Monday, then enjoyed another helping for lunch earlier this afternoon and was just as pleased.

Looking for more vegetarian recipe ideas? Take a few minutes to browse through the Meatless Monday category for additional dinner options — or, check out fifteen favorite meatless meals to jump start your vegetarian cooking.

Vegetarian Elote Tortilla Casserole, printable recipe

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Vegetarian Elote Tortilla Casserole

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Today’s hearty Vegetarian Elote Tortilla Casserole is just packed with elote style frozen corn, spinach, black beans, and salsa verde — plus, of course, plenty of melted cheese!

Course dinner

Cuisine casserole

Keyword basic black beans, corn, elote, meatless monday, sauteed spinach, tortilla casserole, vegetarian

Prep Time 25 minutes minutes

Cook Time 30 minutes minutes

Total Time 55 minutes minutes

Servings 6

Author Rachel Singer

Equipment

large skillet

9×13 baking dish

Ingredients

• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• 1/3 cup diced onion
• 2 tsp minced garlic about four cloves
• 8 oz fresh spinach
• 12-14 oz bag frozen elote style corn
• Can of black beans rinsed and drained
• 16 oz jar salsa verde divided
• 1/2 cup sour cream or plain Greek yogurt
• 12 medium flour tortillas
• 2 cups shredded cheddar jack, or Mexican-style cheese

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees and spray a 13×9 baking dish with cooking spray. Chop your onion and garlic.
• Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Saute the onion for three minutes, then stir in the garlic and spinach. Continue to saute over medium heat until spinach is wilted, stirring occasionally.
• Meanwhile, microwave the corn to package directions. Drain & rinse the beans.
• Add the corn, beans, sour cream (or Greek yogurt) and 1 1/2 cups of salsa verde into the skillet with the spinach mixture
• Stir until everything is nicely combined and the sour cream is melted in. Turn off the heat under the pan.
• Pour the remaining 1/2 cup of salsa verde into the prepared baking dish, using the back of a spoon to spread it out to cover the bottom.
• Line the baking dish with three tortillas, tearing the third one in half to fit it on the sides. Top those tortillas with 1/3 of the spinach, corn, & beans mixture, and sprinkle that with 1/2 cup of the cheese.
• Repeat this process until you have used all of the ingredients, noting that the top layer will be just the last three tortillas topped with cheese.
• Cover your baking dish tightly with foil, and bake the tortilla casserole at 375 degrees for 20 minutes. Remove the foil and continue baking for another 10 minutes, until cheese is nicely melted and slightly browned.

Notes

I recommend serving your casserole with sliced avocado as shown here, but you could also try cilantro, sour cream, guacamole, or other toppings of choice.

Recipes in the real world

Be sure not to miss the free ALDI meal plans, which show you how to use these easy family recipes to meal plan affordably and realistically for your family. Or, find more recipe ideas with the Recipe Search!

Be sure not to miss the free ALDI meal plans, which show you how to use these easy family recipes to meal plan affordably and realistically for your family. Or, find more recipe ideas with the Recipe Search!