Chilaquiles Rojos with Black Beans

If you love Mexican food, then you’re going to adore chilaquiles rojos! This classic Mexican dish is filled with black beans, peppers, tomatoes, and spices with layers of corn tortilla smothered in a rich tomato sauce. It’s a vegetarian-friendly Mexican casserole the whole family will love!

Chilaquiles is a classic Mexican casserole dish.

It’s traditionally made with fried tortilla chips topped with a spicy tomato sauce, tons of cheese, and eggs.

Delicious? Yes! Healthy enough to eat on a regular basis? Not so much.

But my version of chilaquiles rojos keeps all of the flavor of the original recipe with none of the guilt!

I recommend taking this dish to your next party or potluck. It will seriously disappear right in front of your eyes, and everyone will rave about how good it is.

This recipe is perfect for feeding a large group of people for breakfast or brunch, or even as a breakfast-for-dinner for two with lots of leftovers later.

The leftovers taste great after making this dish, since it just gives the spices even more time to blend together!

Tools and Equipment You’ll Need

Recipe Ingredients & Notes

• The Sauce: While you can use store-bought enchilada sauce for this recipe, I highly recommend making your own. I’ve incorporated my homemade enchilada sauce into this recipe. It takes just 5 minutes and tastes way better than store bought – so making it at home is so worth it!
• The Tortillas: Chilaquiles is typically made with deep fried corn tortillas. I used fresh corn tortillas in this recipe to lighten it up! To get a similar texture as the deep fried version, you can lightly toast or bake your corn tortillas before adding them to this dish.
• The Filling: The filling ideas are pretty much endless here! I chose black beans, peppers, corn, tomatoes and onions but you can use any veggies + protein you like!

How to Make Chilaquiles Rojos – Step by Step

Step 1: Preheat oven to 400°F. Lightly coat a 9-by-13-inch baking dish with cooking spray. Meanwhile, make the sauce: combine the tomato sauce, vegetable broth, chili powders (all 3 of them), garlic powder, onion powder, and dried oregano in a medium sauce pan over medium heat. Whisk to combine, then turn the heat down to low and let simmer.

Step 2: Heat olive oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion and bell pepper and cook, stirring often, until starting to brown, about 5 minutes.

Step 3: Stir in beans, tomatoes, corn, cumin and salt and cook, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are heated through, about 3-5 minutes.

Step 4: Scatter half the tortilla pieces in the casserole dish.

Step 5: Top with half the vegetable mixture, half the sauce and half the cheese. Repeat with one more layer of tortillas, vegetables, sauce and cheese.

Step 6: Cover the casserole with foil and bake for 15 minutes. Remove the foil and continue baking until the casserole is bubbling around the edges and the cheese is melted, about 10 minutes more. Top with diced tomatoes and green onion.

What Makes This Chilaquiles Rojos Healthy?

• Low Calories: Each serving of this healthy chilaquiles rojos is huge and only has about 250 calories! It’s great for keeping you full and pleasing your taste buds too.
• Protein: Eating plenty of protein is good for your bones, helps you maintain weight, and keeps you full. Each serving has over 11 grams of plant protein!
• Fiber: Another important nutrient you need is fiber to help control your blood sugar and aid in digestion. Each serving of these chilaquiles has over 8 grams of fiber!

Will Kids Enjoy Chilaquiles Rojos?

Kids are going to love everything about this chilaquiles rojos recipe. The corn tortillas, cheese, seasonings, and black beans are kid friendly ingredients. If your kids are especially sensitive to spice, I’d omit the chipotle chili powder in the sauce and adjust the rest of the spices as needed.

The hardest part about feeding this Mexican casserole to kids is that they aren’t going to want to stop eating it. They will almost always go back for another helping, but don’t worry! It’s healthy for them, so it’s a great recipe to feed those little growing bodies.

Recipe FAQs

Topping Ideas and Variations For Chilaquiles

We enjoy this recipe just the way it is, but you can certainly add all your favorite toppings if you want. Here are a few ideas to consider:

• Sour Cream or Plain Greek Yogurt: 1-2 tsp per serving is plenty!
• Guacamole: Add some freshly made guacamole. It’s delicious and goes so well with all of the other ingredients.
• Pico de Gallo or Salsa: If you love pico de gallo, add a tablespoon or so on top right before serving.
• Cilantro and/or Green Onions: Dice some fresh cilantro and green onions and sprinkle all over top. It’s bright, vibrant and adds a touch of freshness!
• Eggs: Chilaquiles are typically served with a fried egg, or scrambled eggs. Feel free to cook up some eggs (fried, scrambled, poached, or however you like it) and top these healthy chilaquiles with them after they come out of the oven!
• Baby Spinach: For even more veggies and extra greens, add 6oz fresh baby spinach to the black bean mixture (add it at the step when you add the black beans).
• Refried Beans: For some extra protein, you can serve these up with some refried beans on the side.

Top Tips For Making Chilaquiles Rojos

• Allowing the sauce to simmer brings out all the flavors of the seasonings.
• Don’t forget to add foil when baking the casserole. It will keep the top from burning while heating it all the way through.
• Evenly dice your chopped vegetables so that they are about the same size. This will give the casserole a good texture, and make sure you get all the flavors in one bite!
• If you want tortillas with a little bit of bite, bake them at 350 degrees for 5-10 minutes, or toast them in the toaster oven before assembling.
• Feel free to switch up the toppings and filling with your favorite ingredients!
• Make these vegetarian chilaquiles vegan just by omitting the cheese, or using a vegan alternative!