Description
Fluffy quinoa, fresh veggies, cashew cream, and a crunchy tortilla chip topping make this Vegan Mexican Casserole the perfect weeknight meal! You don't even need to boil the quinoa ahead of time, so it's super easy to make and filled with flavor
Ingredients
Scale
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 1.5 cup uncooked white quinoa, rinsed
- 2 bell peppers (yellow, orange or red), diced (stem and seeds removed)
- 1, 15-ounce can diced tomatoes (with juices)
- 1, 15-ounce can low-sodium black beans, drained and rinsed
- 1/2 large red onion, diced
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1 cup fresh cilantro
- 1 jalapeno, stem and seeds removed, finely diced
- 1.5 teaspoons fine grain salt
- 2 tablespoon homemade taco seasoning
- 1 cup filtered water
- 1 batch Vegan Sour Cream [Learn more about How (and Why!) to Soak Cashews in this post.]
- optional: 1 bag Tortilla Chips
Serve with:
- diced avocado, vegan sour cream, lime wedges and zest, chopped green onions, jalapeno slices, more fresh cilantro leaves
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease a 13 x 9-inch rectangular baking dish with olive oil and set aside.
- Place uncooked quinoa, bell peppers, diced tomatoes and their juices, drained black beans, diced red onion, minced garlic, tomato paste, cilantro, jalapeno, salt and taco seasoning in the baking dish and stir well to incorporate. Add water and stir again.
- Cover the baking dish tightly with aluminum foil and bake on the middle rack of the oven for 45 minutes.
- Optional: While it bakes, add the entire bag of Tortilla Chips to a 7-cup food processor. Process for 20-30 seconds until fine. No large chip chunks should remain. Set aside.
- Remove casserole dish from oven and remove the aluminum foil. Stir in the vegan cashew cream and mix well. Top the casserole with the processed chips (one even layer). Bake for another 10 minutes uncovered.
- Serve immediately while hot. Garnish with avocado, lime, vegan sour cream, green onions, jalapeno slices and cilantro if desired. Serve with more chips if desired for scooping!
- Store leftovers in an airtight container (once fully cooled to room temperature) in your refrigerator for up to five days. Keep garnishes separate for storage.
- Prep Time: 15
- Cook Time: 45
- Category: Entree
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: Mexican
