Our Mexican Lasagna Recipe with Tortillas is by far the best taco bake recipe you will ever taste! It is a drool-worthy dish using ground beef, chiles, Mexican cheese, taco seasoning, and corn tortillas.
This easy make-ahead Mexican casserole with tortillas is perfect for back to school dinners and meal planning on a budget. It’s ready in 1 hour and freezes well!
If you love Mexican cuisine, you are going to fall head-over-heels for this tortilla lasagna. Trust me! Along with Elotes Mexicanos, this is by far my family’s favorite Mexican food ideas.
Mexican lasagna is one of the best kid-friendly dinner ideas for weekly meal plans on a budget. Even picky eaters can’t resist this taco bake using tortillas!
The best part is, making lasagna is easy when you’re using corn tortillas. Unlike a traditional lasagna recipe, Mexican lasagna requires very little prep. Tortillas make layering lasagna easy!
Plus, because it calls for corn tortillas, you can enjoy this recipe on a gluten-free diet. That’s right – it’s a gluten-free lasagna!
🍽 Equipment
To make this Mexican lasagna recipe, you will need:
- 9” x 13” baking dish
- Aluminum foil
- Non-stick spray
This is one of the most simple ground beef recipes that bakes right in your oven without any extra components needed. It’s such an easy dish, you could even cook it as a skillet lasagna.
I use a 9 by 13 inch baking dish, which is perfect for a lasagna with 8 servings. You can scale it down to feed 4, but I love having the leftovers!
🌮 Taco Lasagna Ingredients
- ground chuck, cooked and drained
- taco seasoning packet
- water
- chopped green onions
- corn kernels, thawed if frozen*
- your favorite salsa brand
- 6″ corn tortillas
- mild and diced canned hatch chiles
- grated Mexican blend cheese
- mild enchilada sauce
- Optional, for garnish: chopped green onions and fresh tomatoes
You can use frozen corn kernels to make this easy lasagna recipe, or you can use leftover corn from one of our corn recipes!
We have guides on how to grill corn on the cob in foil and how to grill corn on the cob with and without husks in our Elotes Mexicanos recipe.
If you’re planning on cooking corn already, why not save some to make this taco lasagna?
Salsa Sauce for Beef Taco Lasagna
Instead of Italian tomato sauce as in a traditional lasagna recipe, our Mexican lasagna recipe uses salsa sauce!
With so many salsa brands to choose from, you can pick your favorite to use for tortilla lasagna, and it is guaranteed to be delicious.
When we make this Mexican tortilla recipe, we use medium heat salsa. But, if your family prefers less spice, mild salsa works perfectly.
Keeping it Gluten-Free
- To make this a true gluten-free recipe, look for gluten-free taco seasoning. McCormick makes a gluten free taco seasoning perfect for this recipe.
- Check the enchilada sauce you’re using to make sure it’s gluten-free. Old El Paso enchilada sauce is naturally gluten-free.
- Make sure you’re using gluten-free tortillas. While corn tortillas are naturally gluten-free, double check the packaging to make sure they weren’t processed with products containing gluten. It’s always good to check!
🥬 How to Make this a Vegetarian Lasagna
You can easily make this lasagna vegetarian by substituting the beef for zucchini and peppers.
But, the possibilities are endless. Have fun, add some beans, some spinach and make this Mexican lasagna recipe your own!
🔪 How to Make Mexican Lasagna
- Preheat oven to 350°F.
- Heat a pan greased with cooking oil over medium heat.
When the pan is hot and shimmering, add ground beef and break it into pieces using a wooden spoon or spatula.
Let it begin to brown, and then break the beef into smaller pieces. Cook until all beef is broken up and browned.
- Combine cooked ground beef with taco seasoning, water, and green onions. Stir in salsa and corn until well-combined.
- Spray a 9” x 13” pan with non-stick spray. Begin layering lasagna by placing a layer of tortillas along the bottom.
Top with a third of the diced hatch chiles, ground beef mixture, Mexican cheese blend, and enchilada sauce.
Repeat layers twice in that order, topping it all off with cheese.
Cover with foil and bake at 350°F for 45 minutes. After 45 minutes, remove foil and bake an additional 10 minutes. - Allow taco lasagna to sit, loosely covered, for 10-15 minutes before serving. Top with chopped green onions and fresh diced tomatoes, if desired.
For exact measurements, tips, and more, keep scrolling to the recipe card!
⭐ Family Foodie Tips
Top Tip: When browning the ground beef, try not to stir it around too much in the pan. In order to really let it brown, it needs to have the time to stick to the pan. Break it up as you go along, but otherwise, leave it alone.
In this corn tortilla recipe, I add additional corn to the meat mixture after browning to put my own spin on things. To finish it off, I sprinkle the baked Mexican lasagna with green onions and fresh tomatoes.
All in all, this gives our Mexican lasagna recipe a fresh flavor you will love!
👪 Serving Size
This Mexican Lasagna recipe makes enough for 8 servings.
To feed just 4, halve the recipe ingredients and bake in a smaller dish. I recommend using 4 tortillas for the bottom layer.
You can bake right in a cast iron skillet like our cast iron skillet lasagna, or use a smaller square pan instead.
💭 Questions about Making Taco Lasagna
Can I make changes to this taco lasagna recipe?
Yes, you can! Mixing things up is easy to do with this Mexican lasagna recipe.
It’s basically a taco bake with tortillas, so there are a few ways you can experiment with this recipe:
- Add some spice. Use diced jalapeno to add a little spice to this recipe!
- Change the protein. Ground beef is our favorite, but you could also try chicken, turkey, or your preferred vegetarian substitute.
- Try new toppings. Try other taco toppings for this taco lasagna, like guacamole, sour cream, or cilantro. All the best taco toppings pair well with this recipe! Just take a look at what we put on our Pulled Pork Tacos.
Can you make Mexican lasagna ahead of time?
Yes! One of the best parts about making this Mexican lasagna for dinner is that you can easily prepare it ahead of time, making it perfect for meal planning.
- Prepare the layer of ground beef, taco seasoning, water, and green onions, then refrigerate until ready to assemble.
- Add the corn and salsa, then simply assemble the Mexican lasagna with tortillas and bake as directed.
Hands down, this is one of my favorite easy weeknight meals on a budget. I’m sure you’ll agree once you try it out!
Can this Mexican lasagna recipe be frozen?
Yes! You can divide this recipe between 2 smaller casserole dishes and enjoy one and freeze the other, or freeze the whole lasagna.
Freeze the uncooked taco bake, then defrost in the refrigerator and pop it in the oven.
Or, bake it straight from frozen by adding an additional 10-15 minutes of baking time.
Reheating Mexican Lasagna
You can reheat this Mexican lasagna recipe in the oven or in the microwave, whichever you prefer.
How to reheat in the oven:
- To reheat it in the oven, transfer the taco lasagna to an oven-safe dish (if you removed it from its original baking dish), and cover it with foil.
- After preheating the oven, bake at about 325°F for around 20 minutes or until heated through.
How to reheat in the microwave:
- If you want to reheat a smaller portion in the microwave, simply add your taco lasagna to a microwave-safe container and heat it on HIGH for one to two minutes, or until heated through.
One of the many wonderful things about Mexican recipes is that you’ll enjoy it even more the second time around!
🥗 What to Serve with Lasagna
This Mexican lasagna recipe is one of our favorite Cinco de Mayo recipes, and we love to pair it with dishes that complement its flavor!
Traditional Mexican side dishes include squash recipes and Elote corn. We also love pairing a fresh tomato cucumber salad or a simple vegetable salad with this dish.
Here are some ideas for what to eat with Mexican lasagna:
- Perfect Rice or Instant Pot White Rice are a perfect side.
- Grilled Corn on the Cob for extra corn, this grilled corn is delicious!
- Chicken Taquitos make a great appetizer!
- Fresas con Crema for dessert – a Mexican strawberries & cream recipe
Also try Carlota de Limon or Key Lime Pie Bars for dessert!
For fun drink recipes, try serving:
- Moscato Sangria for the adults
- Watermelon Lemonade for the kids
📖 Easy Mexican Recipes
- Carne Asada and Carne Picada
- Mexican Rice Bowl with Shrimp
- Vegetarian Enchiladas Recipe
- Instant Pot Mexican Chicken and Rice Soup
- Chilaquiles con Rojos (Mexican breakfast skillet)
Homemade Lasagna Recipes
- Lasagna for Two
- Slow Cooker Lasagna
- Cast Iron Skillet Lasagna
- Healthier Make Ahead Lasagna Freezer Meal
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We would love to know what you think about this dish. It is easily one of our favorite taco casseroles! Leave a comment below with a rating to let us know what you think.
📋 Recipe
Mexican Lasagna with Corn Tortillas
🍳 Equipment
- 9" by 13" baking dish
- Aluminum foil
- Oven
🥘 Ingredients
- 2 pounds ground chuck cooked and drained – see note 1
- 1.25 ounce taco seasoning packet
- 3/4 cup water
- 1 cup green onions chopped
- 1 cup corn kernels thawed
- 16 ounce salsa your choice
- 12 corn tortillas 6 inch tortillas
- 20 ounces hatch chiles five 4 oz. cans, diced
- 1 pound Mexican Blend cheese grated
- 10 ounce enchilada sauce mild
- Chopped green onions and fresh tomatoes for garnish, if desired
🔪 Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F.Heat a pan greased with cooking oil over medium heat.When the pan is hot and shimmering, add ground beef and break it into pieces using a wooden spoon or spatula.Let it begin to brown, and then break the beef into smaller pieces. Cook until all beef is broken up and browned.
- Combine cooked ground beef with taco seasoning, water, and green onions. Stir in salsa and corn until well-combined.
- Spray a 9” x 13” pan with non-stick spray. Begin layering lasagna by placing a layer of tortillas along the bottom.
- Top with 1/3 of the diced hatch chiles, ground beef mixture, Mexican cheese blend, and enchilada sauce.
- Repeat layers twice in that order, topping it all off with cheese.
- Cover with foil and bake at 350°F for 45 minutes. After 45 minutes, remove foil and bake an additional 10 minutes.
- Allow taco lasagna to sit, loosely covered, for 10-15 minutes before serving. Top with chopped green onions and fresh diced tomatoes, if desired. Serve, and enjoy!
Video
Notes
- Make-ahead Tip: Prepare the beef layer of ground beef, taco seasoning, water, and green onions, then refrigerate until ready to assemble. Add the corn and salsa, then simply assemble the Mexican lasagna and bake as directed.
- We recommend using Certified Angus Beef ® brand ground chuck for best results.
Alisha says
Thank you