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A piece of butternut squash and black bean enchilada casserole topped with sour cream, green onions and cilantro on a white plate with a fork.
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Butternut Squash and Black Bean Enchilada Casserole

This easy enchilada casserole has lots of Mexican-spiced butternut squash, black beans and other veggies layered with enchilada sauce, cheese and flour tortillas. It's a delicious meatless dinner that you'll want to put on repeat!
Prep Time25 minutes
Cook Time50 minutes
Resting Time15 minutes
Total Time1 hour 30 minutes
Servings: 6
Estimated Calories: 524
Author: Michelle

Ingredients

For the Veggie Mixture

  • 1 tablespoon avocado oil, or any neutral-flavored oil you prefer
  • 2 cups chopped onions
  • ¼ cup seeded and diced jalapeno peppers, seeds and membranes removed
  • 4 cloves garlic, minced
  • 4 cups cubed fresh butternut squash, about ½-inch pieces; peel and remove the seeds before cubing
  • 1 (14.5-ounce) can fire-roasted diced tomatoes
  • 1 (4-ounce) can diced green chiles, I use mild
  • 1 tablespoon chili powder
  • 1 teaspoon ground cumin
  • 1 teaspoon ground coriander
  • 1 (15.5-ounce) can black beans, drained and rinsed
  • ½ teaspoon salt, or to taste (I use kosher salt)
  • ¼ teaspoon black pepper, or to taste

Other Casserole Ingredients

  • 2 cups red enchilada sauce, divided; I use and recommend my Easy Homemade Red Enchilada Sauce, which is mild; you can use canned sauce instead
  • 4 large burrito-sized flour tortillas, 10 inches in diameter; 3 of them halved and 1 cut into 6 equal wedges
  • 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese, divided

Instructions

  • Preheat the oven to 400°F.

Make the Veggie Mixture

  • Heat the avocado oil in a large skillet over medium heat (I use a 12-inch skillet). Add the onions and japaleno peppers; sauté, stirring occasionally, until they have begun to soften, about 2 to 3 minutes.
  • Add the garlic; sauté, stirring constantly, for one minute.
  • Add the butternut squash, diced tomatoes, green chiles, chili powder, cumin, coriander, salt, and pepper; stir to combine.
  • Increase the heat to get the mixture going/bubbling, then reduce the heat, cover and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the squash is tender but not mushy (you want it to keep its shape), about 20 minutes.
  • Stir in the black beans. Taste the mixture and adjust the seasonings, if needed. Keep in mind that you will be adding the enchilada sauce, which is also seasoned.

Assemble the Casserole

  • Evenly spread out ½ cup of enchilada sauce in the bottom of an 11x7x2-inch baking dish.
  • Take 2 of the tortilla halves and place them in the dish over the sauce with the straight sides against the edges of the pan (they will overlap in the center). Then take 2 of the tortilla wedges and place one on each side to cover the gaps, putting one of straight sides against the edge of the pan.
    See step-by-step photo #4 in the post for reference, if needed.
  • Evenly spread ⅓ of the vegetable mixture over the tortillas.
  • Add ½ cup of enchilada sauce over the vegetable mixture, distributing it evenly.
  • Evenly sprinkle ½ cup of the cheese over the veggies and sauce.
  • Repeat the layers 2 more times: 2 tortilla halves plus 2 wedges, ⅓ of the veggie mixture, ½ cup enchilada sauce, ½ cup cheese, 2 tortilla haves plus 2 wedges, the remaining ⅓ of the veggie mixture, the remaining ½ cup of enchilada sauce, and all of the remaining cheese (which will be 1 cup).

Bake & Serve

  • Bake, uncovered, until heated through and bubbly around the edges and the cheese is melted, about 25 to 30 minutes.
    If you are concerned about bubble-overs, put the baking dish on a large rimmed sheet pan before baking.
  • Remove from the oven and allow the casserole to rest for 15 minutes before slicing. This will help the pieces hold together better when serving.
  • Serve as is or add your favorite toppings (I like sour cream, green onions and cilantro).

Recipe Notes

  • Make sure that the butternut squash cubes are all roughly the same size so that they cook evenly. The post has step-by-step photos showing how to prepare the butternut squash.
    • For an easy shortcut, use pre-cubed fresh butternut squash from the grocery store.
  • The post has a graphic showing how to cut the tortillas if you need a visual.
  • You can use 1¾ cups of home-cooked black beans instead of canned.
  • As written, this recipe has a mild heat level. Options for adding more heat: keep in some and/or all of the seeds and membranes from the jalapeno peppers, use  hot canned diced green chiles, use a medium or hot enchilada sauce, or add some cayenne pepper to the veggie mixture. 
  • If you don't have an 11x7x2-inch baking dish, you can use a 13x9x2-inch baking dish. You may need to cut up an extra tortilla or two in order to cover up any gaps. 
  • Estimated calories shown do not include any toppings.
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