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.
Hi Brandi,
I just had to send you a note to tell you how much we LOVE your tortilla bake!!! We’ve already made it twice and love the “cheese” sauce so much have already been thinking about using it as a base for many other recipes.
Also, because I prefer to use blue-corn, I decided to forgo the tortillas in the recipe (as I could not find any blue-corn tortillas in my grocery store). I just baked up the rest of the ingredients, crumbled the chips onto the bake, which was delicious and crunchy (I only crumbled it onto the portion on my plate, so that they didn’t get soggy in the leftovers).
Thank you again!! This has been such a great addition to our plant-based recipes!!
I haven’t been this excited about a recipe in a long time, and this completely exceeded my expectations! My husband and I scarfed this down and are ready to have it on weekly rotation. I can’t say enough good things about this one!
Yesssss! Amber, your review and photo on Instagram totally made me chuckle! I’m so happy you and your hubby loved this so much! I feel the same way about this dish, LOL! Thank you so much for taking the time to rate the recipe!
OMG This just took me back to late night tacos at ‘jack in the box’ in the early seventies.
Great taste and simplicity!! Who could ask for more!
10 STARS
Haha! That is so awesome to hear Dave, thank you so much for the amazing feedback!
Our favorite dish. We make it weekly.
Whoop! I love hearing that!
This recipie is so amazing!! First vegan cheese sauce that tastes amazing..
Woohoo, love hearing that Amy, thank you so much!
Just made this and it is sooooo good. I will totally make again and again. Thank you.
Yay! So very happy to hear that Taylor, thank you so much!
I’ve made this with the yogurt and with the tofu/vinegar substitution – both taste phenomenal! I’ll keep using the tofu substitution, since it’s less processed. Thanks for an incredible recipe – easy and tasty!
SO awesome to hear that Sara, thank you so much for the wonderful review!
Awesome dish! My family loved it! Thank you!
So awesome to hear that TC, thank you for the feedback!
My family loved this recipe! I made it using half cashews, half beans. My husband asked me to add it to our dinner rotation!
So very happy to hear that Nina! I love the half and half version too because the beans are undetectable!
I just made this tonight. It is absolutely delicious….total cheesy goodness!!! My husband scarfed a huge bowl and gave it two thumbs up. And t was easy to make….yay! Thank you for creating such a tasty and healthy recipe with gorgeous photos!!!
That is awesome to hear Carrie! Yay! Thank you so much for the amazing review!
Awesome Carrie! So very happy to hear how much everybody loved it, thank you!
I made this last week for a family dinner. I honestly hate to cook, and I struggle daily with what to make for dinner that will be healthy, plant-based and well received by two teenage boys. This recipe was so simple, healthy and DELICIOUS. My husband proclaimed that he would eat it regularly. One son seemed to like it, while the other ate everything but the corn. SIGH. I definitely plan to make it again and I look forward to trying more of your recipes!
That is so awesome to hear Michelle! And if he only picked off the corn, I’d say that is a huge success, haha! Some people just don’t like corn. Thanks so much for the feedback!
Wow I REALLY liked it. Just made it tonight in the wrong sized dish but still tastes great . Thanks again for another delish dish
So glad you loved it Rebecca! Thank you for the feedback!
Hi Brandi! I made this dish last night and I really like it! I didn’t have a whole cup of cashews, so instead I used a mixture of cashews, macadamia nuts and walnuts all that I soaked and it still turned out well! I think it may have been ‘creamier’ if I had all cashews, but it was still really good! I will totally made this again!! I have just started to heavily think about going to a plant based diet and I LOVE your blog! I can’t wait to try more of your recipes! =)
Awesome Marni! Yes, cashews are sooo much creamier than all other nuts, but glad you still enjoyed it!
We have been plant basedfor four years and I have stayed away from fat and cooking with cashews. I was excited about this recipe. The cheese sauce was good. Brandi says it gets cheesier with cooking. I am going to make it again and heat it on the stove and serve as a dip. It had a cheesy tang and was great. First cheese sauce recipe we have liked. We did not enjoy the casserole. Too much tortilia and too rich. Great recipe for people used to eating higher fat. I will try again cutting nuts and tortilias. Thank you so much for all your hard work Brandi. I am anxious to buy your cookbook.
Hi Cindy! So glad you loved the cheese sauce and the first one you’ve liked, that is great! Yes, this is a super cheesy tortilla casserole so it is meant to be very rich, as that is how I like my recipes to taste and so they always go over with non-vegans so well. But if you’ve been fat-free for four years, then yes, it may be too rich for you. I am not fat-free, so it’s heaven to me and so many readers, haha. But thank you for the kind compliment, I appreciate it! Since you loved the cheese sauce, yes, many readers use this over nachos and burritos, etc. so that could be a great option for you to control how much cheese sauce you get at once 🙂
this looks great! I’m thinking of remaking this into a hamburger helper-ish thing by subbing tortillas for macaroni and adding vegan ground beef. I’ve been craving something cheesy and zesty.
Ooh, that sounds yummy!
So….I just made your cheesy Mexican bake last night and it was fantastic! I added sautéed veggies and left out the tortilla shells( only because we didn’t have them!), put that shit over fresh romaine and holy cow! Trish Delish!
Thank you so much for such a great recipe!
My husband said this morning that we should immediately make that again!
You are a culinary genius! I enjoy so many of your dishes! Keep up the tasty work! 💜
Hahaha, thank you so much for such a funny and KIND review Sara! I’m so happy you loved this so much! The reviews have been so amazing and I love reading them, thank you for taking the time to leave feedback!
My daughter and I are vegetarian and trying to go vegan, but we love cheese so much! I made this recipe last night and was eating the “cheese” sauce while preparing the dish. It was so easy and really DELICIOUS! That sauce would be a great dip for tortilla chips or cheese sauce for nachos!
That is so wonderful Karen! That cheese sauce is seriously my favorite and yes, good on so many things! Thank you for the awesome review!
I am blown away! I made this on Monday and my husband (who is not vegan), devoured it and said this was one of his favorite things! He also had me save him some for dinner tonight! Super easy and i was soooo impressed with that “cheese” sauce! I also just made your cheesey sweet potato soup with the roasted broccoli…seriously! I can’t wait to try more of your recipes…I’m hooked!!
Yay Kori! So very happy to hear how much this was loved by you and your husband! So glad you loved the broccoli soup as well, thank you so much for the wonderful feedback!
I asked this in the comments to the video too, but I’m cooking right now and realized I’m out of corn! I have frozen peas though. Do you think peas would work at all in place of corn in this recipe????
Hi Alexandra, so sorry I thought I had already commented on this but don’t see it now, yes, peas or just more beans would probably taste better than peas!
We are only three or four weeks into our vegan adventure and I have used so many of your recipes. I am in love with this dish! Didn’t have smoked paprika, so added paprika and a few dashes of our beloved smoked chipotle hot sauce. This and your bbq lentil loaf are going to be staples for us! (Also loved the red pepper pasta sauce). Cant wait for your cookbook!!
Aww, that is so awesome to hear Jeannine! Thank you so much for the lovely review! Glad this and the lentil loaf were such hits!
Hello! I plan to make this for a family get together. It looks so good. Do you think doubling the recipe and using a 9X13 would work? How many servings does the 8X8 (single recipe) serve? Thanks! Can’t wait to try it.
Yes, I think that should work fine! I believe several others have done the same! You may need to cook it longer covered in case just to make sure it gets nice and hot and then remove the foil just to heat and somewhat firm up the cheese on top!
Oh, and the 8×8 I cut into 9 squares, but most people eat two and are satisfied!
Made this for dinner and it was absolutely incredible. However, we had issues with the sauce. When the pan was covered with tin foil in the oven, it didn’t seem to cook the inside of the dish, so we ended up having to take the tin foil off, thus overcooking the sauce. Any idea why this happened/have you heard of this happening before? We followed all instructions and ingredients exactly. Thanks for this and all the other AMAZING recipes!
I should add that the dish was still absolutely phenomenal tasting, just wondering where we might have gone wrong! Thanks
Hi Samantha! So glad you loved it! Hmmm, that’s odd. I’ve received over a hundred reviews or so and have never heard that. Maybe your oven just takes a bit longer to heat up?? Was it on the center rack? Also, how long did you leave it covered before removing the foil. Next time I would just leave it covered until it’s nice and hot in the center and then remove the foil to cook the top of the cheese sauce to get warm and slightly firm. The dish being in a hot oven will eventually cook the interior with the foil on anyways and you definitely don’t want to leave it off too long, which as you saw it overcooked your top. I cook mine exactly the same each time and it comes out perfect each time. Just maybe need to cook yours a bit longer next time. Maybe cook it covered 25 mins next time and then remove the foil. Another thing, make sure your oven is well preheated as that can affect how quickly it heats up the dish too.
Made this tonight and we LOVED it!! My 8 year old said she wanted to drink the “cheese” sauce! We are not vegan but we are dairy free, and trying to incorporate more plant – based meals into our life. This one is going in the rotation.
I used white beans because i need it to be nut -free and I used Yoso plain coconut yogurt. I’m looking forward to trying different types of yogurt and hopefully the cashew version when i don’t need left overs for school lunch 🙂
Thanks for another amazing recipe (your sweet potato ice cream is also incredible)!!!
That’s so awesome to hear Angie! Haha, I pretty much eat the cheese with a spoon myself! So glad it was a hit!
I love your recipes!!! Have tried so many and loved them all. For this one I cannot find unsweetened non dairy yogurt! Have been to several stores. Do you have any suggestions on something I could use instead. Almond milk and cornstarch? Lol 🤷🏼♀️
Just an update: I did as someone suggested above and took a cup of unsweetened almond milk and let it sit with a tbsp of apple cider vinegar for a few minutes. Then cooked it on the stove with a tbsp of cornstarch. Got nice and thick and cheese sauce turned out amazing!!! We were shocked at how good this is. Thank you so much for the hard work you put into your recipes.
That is so wonderful to hear Cheryl! Thank you so much for letting me know and the amazing feedback!
How are you such a genius and what would we ever do without you? Thank you for doing wonders for showing people how amazing, easy and creative plant-based cooking can be!
Aww thanks sweetheart!! You are amazing and such a gem!!
I’m making this for supper and have it along with my fermented cashew sour cream. The omni hubby says he’s willing to give it a try!!
Wonderful Darlene, I hope the cashew sour cream tastes and bakes up well. Let me know!