A couple months ago, I went to a dinner gathering at my grad school friend Maria’s house — she had a bunch of us over right before we finished coursework as one last hurrah. She served us all a delicious Mexican Chicken Lasagna for dinner and ever since, I’ve been meaning to recreate it. Sunday night, it finally happened. 
One of the best things about recipes like this is that they’re so versatile! Leave out the chicken to make it vegetarian (the beans will still be plenty of protein and texture), or swap the whole grain tortillas for corn tortillas to make it gluten free. I used these sprouted grain tortillas from Ezekiel brand — my favorite — but any kind will do.
I used this recipe that Maria followed as my inspiration, but scaled it down, tweaked some of the ingredients and the amounts, used Greek yogurt instead of sour cream, etc. Matt and I made the recipe together — he cooked the chicken and prepped some of the other ingredients while I did the assembling (and the photo taking, of course).
This was a fun recipe to make together — and it would be a great one to make with kids, too, because the ingredient amounts and the layers don’t have to be perfect by any means — just have fun with it!
Mexican Lasagna
Serves 8 to 10
This simple recipe is perfect to make on a Sunday and enjoy throughout the week. Leave out the chicken for a vegetarian option or use corn tortillas to make it gluten free. Serve warm, topped with avocado and hot sauce, if desired.
Ingredients:
- 6 whole grain or corn tortillas
- 2 cups shredded cooked chicken breast (optional)
- 1 can (16 oz) kidney beans, rinsed and drained
- 1 can (16 oz) black beans, rinsed and drained
- 1 jar (16 oz) salsa
- 1 cup nonfat plain Greek yogurt
- 1 large green pepper, chopped (we used raw peppers, but they would also be great cut into strips and sautéed)
- 2 cans (2.25 oz each) sliced ripe olives, drained
- 1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
- Fresh cilantro, chopped, if desired
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350.
- In one large, deep baking dish or two smaller dishes, arrange a layer of tortillas. On top of the tortillas, layer on roughly half the chicken, beans, salsa, yogurt, green pepper, olives, and cheese, in that order. Add another layer of tortillas and repeat, saving a little of the salsa and cheese to go on top. Add one final layer of tortillas and top with the rest of the salsa, then the cheese. Add some chopped cilantro, if desired.
- Bake 20 minutes.
Enjoy!
I used two pans (one shallow larger pan and one deep bread pan) because I didn’t have one large and deep enough to handle the whole recipe, and it worked just fine.
Ready to go in the oven! The smaller dish ended up only getting one layer while the other had two — so again, just be creative with this recipe — you don’t have to follow the directions perfectly for it to be delicious.
20 minutes later… voila!
Matt and I both gave it two big thumbs up.
Especially with the addition of this Cholula chili garlic hot sauce — best hot sauce ever. I’m not even really a hot sauce person and I LOVE this stuff!
Enjoy! If you make it, let me know how you like it! After eating a couple times this week, I’m now going to freeze what we have left for later — it will be nice to have it on hand for a night we’re feeling lazy and starving!
yummy!
I love any excuse to try a new Mexican recipe. And you can get all these ingredients abroad. I sometimes have a hard time finding some special stuff (like flax seed) in Amsterdam.
Hi Jeanelle, have you come across this store in Amsterdam yet? They stock a lot of these kind of things, and even have Vega and some ezekiel products (albeit at quite a marked up price!) http://www.unlimitedhealth.nl/
(They also have a cafe and yoga studio)
Also, here’s the blog of someone who lives in Amsterdam- she is very into health foods and I’m sure she frequents other places too, she might be able to give you the best tips about the cheapest place around: http://some-like-it-raw.com/blog/
Such a creative idea! I love all your recipes
Thanks
Thanks for this recipe! My boyfriend and I love Mexican food and it’s so easy to make gluten-free!
Thanks for sharing! I was wondering what I was going to make for dinner tonight since it has to be quick. This fits the bill! I already have all the ingredients on hand. I was thinking chopped avacado would be a yummy addition. Such a versatile dish to experiment with!
We added avocado on top – it was delish!
This looks delicious!
Oh, that looks so inviting. I love anything tomato based.
I pinned the recipe. Looks really good!
Thanks!
I am with you! I LOVE recipes like this – so simple, versatile, nutritious, satisfying, scrumptious! What more can you ask for? And leftovers? Yes please!! Have you tried sriracha? Delish! I had it to everything =)
Looks awesome! Thanks for sharing. And pls let us know how it tastes as a leftover! Well done!
I make a vegetarian tuna lasagne, but usually use wholemeal pasta. I might try and make it using the tortillas instead. Simple, but great idea. Thanks Anne!
I am definitely going to try this but will mix some Jalapenos with the green peppers.
Thanks for a great recipe.
Sunny
That looks delicious!! I am definitely going to try it:) Thank you for the recipe.
I just found you on Google. What a great blog you have. This Mexican lasagne is something new. I really do like it. Thanks
Yum Yum Yum! I’m so glad you shared this recipe! I will definitely have to try this sometime!
Happy that I inspired you!!! maria =)
Miss you!!
I’ve used those ezekiel tortillas in enchiladas and love them! They get perfectly crispy on the outsides and soft in the middle. I love how easy this recipe is too. Perfect for a college budget like my own
Easy and delicious! Thank you!
I love all of the colors.
Great recipe! I used the Ezekiel wraps and they fit perfectly in a round marinex glass baking dish I own. One side was ground beef for hubby other side just beans for me, it was fantastic. Leftovers for lunch today
I’m so glad you enjoyed it!