Guest Recipe: Unprocessed Enchilada Casserole - 100 Days of Real Food (2024)

This recipe is a guest post by Andrew, our “Tech Guy” who also has a real food blog of his own called Eating Rules…to learn more about Andrew check out ourteam page!
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Thank you Lisa for inviting me to share another guest post with your readers! We’re currently in the middle of theOctober Unprocessed challenge, and this is a perfect “unprocessed” recipe to make for your family – or for yourself, with plenty of leftovers!

Try these Gluten Free Enchiladas too!

I may not yet have kids of my own (I added that “yet” in there to give my mom hope), but I sure do know how to feed a crowd. Every year I throw a big New Year’s party in which we do a lot of cooking and eating together… oftentimes we’re making dinner for about 30 people.

So we’ve learned how to feed a hungry group quickly and efficiently. A few years back, my friend Dan made “Enchilada Casserole” for the crew, and it immediately became a part of our holiday dinner rotation. It’s easy to prepare, and barely any extra work to double or triple the recipe. You can also prepare the casserole in advance and just throw it in the oven an hour before dinnertime.

It’s easily adaptable to special diets, too.Already vegetarian (adding meat issonot necessary — it’s hearty enough!), we usually make one “regular” version and one vegan version (just skip the cheese), and most people have trouble deciding which they like more. If you use corn tortillas, it can be gluten-free, too. A couple of years ago, I started using 100% whole wheat tortillas instead of white flour tortillas, and people didn’t even notice.

It helps to think of this dish as sort of a “Mexican Lasagna.” You’re basically layering the bean mixture, tortillas, veggies, and cheese the same way you’d build a lasagna. As you layer things together, tear the tortillas in halves or quarters as necessary to create a single layer. I usually start with one whole tortilla in the middle, and then tear another in half to create flat edges, which go on the outside of the pan. I may tear a third one in quarters and use that to fill in the gaps. It’s good if they overlap a little. Like so:

Andrew Wilder is a self-proclaimed “Healthy Foodie,” and he writes about the confluence of healthy and delicious on his blog, Eating Rules. He also leads the October Unprocessed challenge each year, trying to get as many people as possible to eat no processed food whatsoever for the entire month. 6,000 people have taken the pledge so far, and it’s not too late for you to join in, too! You can also find Andrew on Facebook,Twitter, and Pinterest.