So, my original plan was to post waffles today because, if you have been keeping up with me on Instagram, you will see I’ve been making a ton of waffles. I have both a Chai Waffle recipe and a Chocolate Waffle recipe. However, I realized that several of my posts lately have all been sweet…um, oops….and due to the excitement over this recipe I shared on this Facebook post, I knew I needed to publish this one first. But don’t you worry, those Chai waffles are next. I’ve received countless waffle recipe requests since so many prefer them over pancakes. So, hold tight. 😉
This Vegan Cheesy Mexican Tortilla Bake was another spur-of-the-moment dinner idea that turned out incredible. Incredible. It’s truly hard to believe that this whole dish, with as delicious as it is, is only 8 ingredients (+salt and water). My daughter absolutely looovvved it. In fact, I’ve made it 3 times since I shared the teaser pic on Facebook. So many of you have been messaging asking when it is getting posted and yay, today is the day! Let me just say, it takes awhile to film a video with all the layers and prepare everything for the post, so that is why it took me several days to get it together.
We polished off this Cheesy Mexican Tortilla Bake in no time. Also, it’s SO easy to make. Another exciting thing? The Mexican Vegan Cheesy Sauce is made with no nutritional yeast! So many people hate nutritional yeast or are allergic, as well as many months ago I discovered it was a trigger for gout pain in my husband. Ever since then, I’ve been remaking recipes subbing out the nutritional yeast. For this recipe, I went to my #1 cheese sauce on the blog that soooo many of you say it has changed your life, the Mexican Cheese Sauce. BUT, that recipe uses a good amount of nutritional yeast. So, I had to think how to mimic that cheesy flavor without it.
In case you haven’t figured it out yet, I did it, lol. The shocking part is that I love this one better. It tastes even cheesier.
VEGAN CHEESE SAUCE IN 10 MINUTES
You don’t need to cook any veggies or do a million steps to make a homemade cheese sauce. This is SO easy to make and I swear, has the most real cheesy taste that I’ve tried yet to date and I’ve tried a lot of recipes. It’s simple, fast and delicious.
If you haven’t figured it out by now, I don’t like long recipes with a lot of ingredients. It just flat out stresses me out and this recipe is so incredibly delicious and the fact it’s ready in under an hour and just 8 basic ingredients is kind of crazy.
To remake my original cheese sauce without the nutritional yeast, I used a good amount of dairy-free soy (or coconut) yogurt. It provided an amazing tang, wonderful body and texture and honestly, tasted better to me than with the nutritional yeast. That combined with all the natural vinegar in the salsa, makes for one delicious cheesy bite.
I don’t give two hoots if it is “real cheese” or not…when something tastes good, it tastes good. Period. No matter what. And unlike dairy cheese, this one isn’t full of cholesterol.
It will be going on nachos next! Mmmmmmm.
All you need to make this recipe is 8 simple ingredients (+the usual salt and water):
- Cashews or White beans
- Salsa
- Dairy-free Yogurt
- Cumin
- Smoked Paprika
- Black Beans
- Corn
- Corn Tortillas
I hope you all love this Vegan Cheesy Mexican Tortilla Bake as much as I do. Please watch the video tutorial below, as it really makes the process easier to understand when seeing the visual.
MORE VEGAN DINNER RECIPES
- Vegan Stuffed Ricotta Shells
- Barbecue Lentil Loaf
- Oil-free Zucchini Fritters
- Cheesy Scalloped Potatoes
- Vegan 20 Minute Alfredo
- Vegan Chickpea Tomato Ragu
If you make this recipe, be sure to leave feedback below and share your pic on Instagram or Facebook and tag me @thevegan8 #thevegan8!
Vegan Cheesy Mexican Tortilla Bake
Ingredients
FOR THE CHEESE (Makes 2 1/2 cups)
- 1 cup (150g) raw unsalted cashews (See NOTES below for subs and lower-fat option)
- 1 cup (240g) mild heat runny/not too chunky salsa (I love Trader Joe's or Sprouts Mild, you can use a medium heat if you don't mind the dish being on the spicy side, not recommended with kids)
- 3/4 cup (180g) PLAIN dairy-free yogurt (I used Silk Soy yogurt found at Kroger OR SO Delicious "Unsweetened" Plain coconut yogurt)
- 1/4 cup + 1 tablespoon (75g) water
- 1 1/4 teaspoons smoked paprika
- 1 1/4 teaspoons ground cumin
- 3/4-1 teaspoon fine salt (this will vary depending on the salsa used. Start with 3/4 and keep in mind the final taste after baked you want to stand out)
FOR THE CASSEROLE
- 9 small corn tortillas, cut into fourths
- Two 15 oz cans low-sodium black beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 cup (240g) salsa for middle layer
- 2 cups (293g) sweet corn (I used frozen)
- Optional: Green onions for garnish
NOTE
- The yogurt CANNOT be subbed here for milk, that will RUIN the recipe. The yogurt is thick, creamy and tangy and using a milk will not only make it bland, it will make the rest of the dish watery and soggy. Follow the recipe for the correct results.
Instructions
- First, prepare your cheese sauce by adding all of the ingredients listed under "cheese sauce" to a high-powered blender. I did not soak my cashews since I have a Vitamix, but if you do not have a strong blender, you will need to soak your cashews overnight, drain and rinse. Otherwise, your sauce will be gritty. Taste it and tell me how darn cheesy that tastes! The cheese sauce tastes insanely delicious and cheesy straight out of the blender, but gets even cheesier after it's baked! If you are just wanting to use the cheese sauce for nachos or another recipe, I would add it to the stove and heat it just to thicken it up slightly. It is delicious on nachos!
- Preheat your oven to 375°F and lightly spray a 8 1/2 by 8 1/2 square casserole dish like ceramic or stone with nonstick spray. Layer about a 1/3 of the cheese sauce on the bottom and spread out with a spoon. REFER TO VIDEO for easy visual tutorial. Lay on top of the cheese sauce 6 of the cut tortillas per each row for 3 rows.
- Add 1 can of the beans on top of the tortillas and spread out. Add the other 1 cup of salsa and spread out over the beans. Layer 1 cup of the corn. Layer another 1/3 of the cheese sauce on top of the corn and spread out. You will notice there is only 1 layer of salsa in the middle. This is just to add another layer of flavor and moisture, it definitely didn't need 2 layers of salsa.
- Repeat the steps by adding the remaining tortillas, then the beans, corn and remaining cheese sauce. Cover everything well and top with a piece of foil gently covering the dish. This is so the cheese sauce doesn't bake up and harden too quickly.
- Bake with the foil on for 15 minutes, then remove the foil and bake another 5-10 minutes until the cheese is getting a nice firm orange-brown look on the edges. I baked it for about 8 minutes without the foil but if you prefer the cheese to be more firm, just bake it a bit longer. Just keep in mind that the longer you bake it, the drier the top cheese layer becomes after it is removed from the oven.
- Garnish with fresh green onions. I loved the crunchy, fresh element of the green onions to the warm cheesy flavor.
- This dish reheats very well also. I just reheat leftovers in the microwave and mmmmmm, delicious.
Notes
If you make this recipe, please do not repost it in full on your site, please link to me instead giving proper credit. I work very hard to create my recipes and share them for free, so please be respectful and link properly. If you are inspired by this recipe, again, please give proper credit and do not simply post it on your site and ask before reprinting any of my recipes.
Delicious!! Made it exactly as written but forgot the green onions – oops! The cheeze sauce is so creamy, we couldn’t believe it! Definitely favoriting. Thank you!
YUM! I am new to vegan cooking (and eating). I absolutely love the few recipes of yours that I have tried so far. I appreciate that you don’t really use oil, as it messes with my stomach.
So on to this recipe. My son, who rarely likes Mexican casseroles, really liked this. He was super surprised that he enjoyed it. I love the cheese sauce. I had leftovers of the sauce and cooked it in a saucepan. I added some nutritional yeast and thickened it up on the stove. YUM! I munched on tortilla chips and that sauce while I was making a vegan milkshake while waiting for dinner to finish baking.
My husband and son said it is a repeatable recipe. You are 3 for 3 so far! Thank you for sharing your delicious recipes and for making them pretty darn easy. It’s not daunting to look at your recipes.
I wanted to use the leftovers from this in a different way. I took the leftovers and put them into a pot with vegetable stock and made a creamy enchilada soup/stew. I served with tortilla chips and a little vegan sour cream. It was really good and the family even liked it.
And we just ordered your new cookbook on Amazon. I am thrilled and cannot wait to get it!
Very nice recipe chef 👍👌👏.I like to wish you and your family a very healthy happy New Year 2023⛄🎄🦌🎁🎁🎁🥂🎆🎇🌹🌹🌹🌞😎
thank you so much Jasson!
This was easy and delicious thank you!
I used a bit more smoked paprika and cumin than the recipe called for.
So glad you enjoyed it Catriona!
This was very good! For anyone who can’t have corn, I substituted chopped red and green peppers for the corn. And I also used Siete almond flour tortillas instead of corn tortillas. I did buy the Trader Joe’s salsa you recommended. Next time I would probably use 1/2 teaspoon of salt. I really liked this recipe and it came out great even with the substitutions that I had to make. Thank you!
Thank you so much for your quick reply! Neither store had non-flavored yogurt, but I did find that Sprouts Market at least showed that they normally stock an unsweetened, non-flavored brand called “Forager unsweetened non-dairy yogurt.” Fingers crossed that I can find it in stock! Thanks again. I’ll report back on how it goes at the potluck! My first vegan meal!
It was. hit! Only one other person brought a heated dish so people gobbled up my offering. Everyone was so supportive, and I learned a lot about vegan eating. I doubled the recipe, so I did have enough to bring some home. I also told them about your website! Thanks so much for making my first vegan recipe such a winner!
I’m searching for plain unsweetened non-dairy yogurt, and although I live in a very large city, I can only find Vanilla unsweetened non-dairy yogurt. Will this throw off the taste in the recipe? Hope you see this soon, as I hope to make this for a Thanksgiving potluck where I’ll be the only non-vegan! Great to get a start on vegan cooking!
Hi Rhonda! Yeah, you don’t want to use vanilla-that won’t taste good, haha. Do you have a Kroger or whole foods?? They both sell plain unsweetened.
Thwnk you did much for your quick reply! Neither store had non-flavored yogurt, but I did find that Sprouts Market at least showed that they normally stock an unsweetened, non-flavored brand called “Forager unsweetened non-dairy yogurt.” Fingers crossed that I can find it in stock! Thanks again. I’ll report back on how it goes at the potluck! My first vegan meal!
I wasn’t paying attention when buying the yogurt and bought key lime pie flavor. Oops! But, I thought, we put limes in our cervasa and it turned out fine. I don’t like corn tortillas and used white flour ones and they were just fine. I thought I could have sprinkled some black olives on the top but decided for my first try to leave well enough alone. Thank you. This was yummy.
Sounds delicious, I will try soon!! Been vegetarian/vegan bout 40 yrs, tho have had some too much sugar days, need to straighten up tho!! I do prefer to not use tin foil less I line with unbleached parchment baking sheets first then the foil, saves the danger of metals touching your foods..thanx for letting me join and thinking this could help me do better with my foods…
Raw sunflower seeds are a much better nut-free sub for cashews than white beans, I find. Looking forward to trying this recipe!
Thank you for creating this incredible recipe! I have made it many times and it is my favorite potluck dish. It is so easy and everyone always loves it. I had a breakfast potluck yesterday and I changed the filling to scrambled tofu and roasted potatoes plus the corn. It was delicious. I assembled the casserole the night before and baked it in the morning. It turned out perfectly although it needed extra time in the oven because it was cold to start.
That sounds so delicious!!!
Or maybe the exact name of the salsa on the jar. Sorry but I just want to make sure I’m getting the right one. Thanks. I’m anxious to make this casserole. I will be making it in a couple of days for an event.
Hi this is the only one I’ve ever used from there! https://www.traderjoes.com/home/products/pdp/salsa-autentica-001535
This is the one I chose when I wasn’t sure which one to get. Yay! I really appreciate your responding to my question.
Oh good, haha!! So glad!!
If you shop at Trader Joe’s, you will find many varieties of salsa. Can you tell me the ingredients on the jar? Thanks.
Which Trader Joe’s salsa do you use?
It’s just the regular jar that says trader joes on it. I don’t know of another one they sell. It’s very runny though.
GlD it’s finally cooling down so I can make this AGAIN! Even my picky 10yo asks for seconds and it reheats well so I can’t take it to work if there’s ever any leftover.
Thanks!
I have made this several times and everyone always loves it, including the non-vegans!!
That’s awesome!
I made this outstanding recipe tonight – twice! One dish to eat now (YUM!), including leftovers. The second to freeze to share with my vegan family when they visit in a couple of weeks. A question though. I used Food for LIfe sprouted corn tortillas from Sprouts, and I noticed that you replied to a comment/question that the tortillas. should be cooked. There is nothing on any of the packages of corn tortillas I saw that indicated they were cooked, just ingredients of corn, water, salt, and lime. I am puzzled by your response.Thank you for the time you spend making these recipes delicious and so easy to prepare.
I’m so happy you loved this recipe! They are cooked in those packages. The reason I specified cooked is because some tortillas are sold raw, which is obvious because it will look and feel like raw dough. But the ones you are referring to, are cooked. I buy those same ones!
This recipe is SO SO incredible! We first made it a while back and loved it. After my husband was diagnosed with Crohn’s he couldn’t tolerate some foods anymore, including cashews. I tried it again today with Great Northern beans and we loved it! We liked it more without the cashews! We didn’t taste the white beans at all. I baked it uncovered for 10 minutes. It didn’t have the same browning effect as making it with the cashews but still tasted amazing!!
Awww yay Samantha, thank you for the awesome feedback!
So delicious, I added sautéed zucchini and spinach for increased nutrition. Even non vegan dinner guests enjoyed it, also great as a left over. Definitely one of my favorite recipes
This is got to be the best cheese sauce yet!
Definitely making this again!
This is got to be the best cheese sauce yet!
This looks amazing! We are going to the beach for two weeks and I want to make this. Can you freeze it? Maybe freeze it without the sauce and pour sauce on before reheating?
Christine, did you try freezing it. I would like to make it for a beach trip too and freeze it if possible. It is really a great recipe IMO!
Same question – would love to freeze this for the beach. Has anyone tried this yet?
I haven’t tried it but think it should be ok. Hopefully won’t get soggy. Just reheat on low in the oven until warmed through.
I just made the cheesy sauce part of this recipe on a tip from a vegan coworker. I must say I had doubts. But it was very good! I don ‘t know that I would use it in every application for a cheese sauce, because it does taste very “Mexican”, but it was excellent on tortilla chips and would probably be great in a pasta dish. I am not vegan, but I am always looking for ways to eat more plant based. I used almond milk yogurt and soaked cashews. Thanks!
Just wondering if this can be prepared ahead, put in the fridge then baked the next day? I think this would be a great dish to prep ahead and then eat on our first night of glamping in our travel trailer. It screams comfort food and after driving all day then setting up at the campground, it would be wonderful to pop this in the oven…
I think so, hoping it won’t make the tortillas soggy!
Denise; did you try making it the day before? How did it turn out??
I did and it worked fine.
Delicious!! Will definitely be making this again!!