Easy Oven-Baked Tex Mex Lasagna
This Tex-Mex Lasagna is what happens when you can’t decide between a cheesy pasta bake and a big plate of tacos! It’s a hearty, “dish-it-up-and-go” kind of dinner made with seasoned ground beef, creamy refried beans, and thick layers of cheddar that bubble up perfectly over oven-ready noodles. You get all that deep, savory Southwest flavor in a single baking dish!
A Quick Look At The Recipe
- ✅ Recipe Name: Easy Oven-Baked Tex Mex Lasagna
- 🕐 Ready In: 1 hour
- 👥 Serves: 6 servings
- 🥣 Main Ingredients: Ground beef, Taco seasoning, Beans, Green chilies, Salsa, Tomato sauce, Oven-ready lasagna noodles
- ⭐ Why You'll Love It: Easy and delicious, this Tex Mex Lasagna is a crowd pleaser!
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When a Casserole Dish Meets a Taco Bar
I’m a firm believer that almost any problem can be solved with a hot pan of lasagna, but sometimes the traditional Italian version feels like a whole day’s work. This recipe is my favorite way to cheat that system! We’re swapping out the slow-simmered marinara for chunky salsa and trading the ricotta for smooth refried beans, which sounds a little wild until you take that first bite.
The best part about this “Southwest makeover” is that it actually stays together better than a standard taco, so you can sit down and enjoy a proper meal without half your dinner falling into your lap. Since we’re using those handy oven-ready noodles, you don’t even have to wait for a pot of water to boil. You just stack it, bake it, and let the oven handle the heavy lifting while you catch your breath!
If you want another easy lasagna dish, check out my Crockpot Lasagna Soup recipe!
Ingredients You’ll Need
- Ground beef
- Small onion
- Taco seasoning
- Dried or fresh cilantro
- Whole corn kernels, drained
- Refried beans
- Shredded cheddar cheese
- Black beans, drained
- Diced green chilies
- Salsa
- Tomato sauce
- Oven-ready lasagna noodles
Tips for the Perfect Tex-Mex Bake
- Since we aren’t pre-cooking the noodles, they need moisture to soften. Don’t be afraid if the meat mixture looks a little “saucy” before it goes in the pan. The pasta will soak all that flavor up while it bakes.
- Don’t worry about keeping the noodles perfectly whole. I often have to break a few pieces to make sure I’ve got good coverage in the corners of my 9×13 baking dish.
- It is so tempting to dive in the second that timer goes off, but giving it 5 to 10 minutes to sit helps the layers set, so you get those nice, clean slices.
- This is great on its own, but it really shines with a few toppings. A dollop of sour cream, some sliced green onions, or a squeeze of lime juice makes it feel like a fiesta makeover!
How to Make Tex-Mex Lasagna
1. Cook the Beef
In a large skillet over medium-high heat, brown your ground beef and chopped onion. Make sure to drain off any grease once the beef is no longer pink, so the lasagna doesn’t get oily.
2. Build the Sauce
Stir in the refried beans, green chilies, taco seasoning, cilantro, and half of your salsa. Add the tomato sauce and stir with a wooden spoon until it’s bubbly and well combined. This usually takes about 4–5 minutes.
3. Add the Bulk
Remove the skillet from the heat and fold in the drained corn and black beans. This meat mixture is what makes the lasagna so hearty!
4. Layer it Up
Spread the remaining salsa onto the bottom of your baking dish; this acts as a moisture barrier for the bottom layer of noodles. Lay down your first set of noodles, top with half of the filling from the skillet, and sprinkle with half the cheese. Repeat the layers one more time.
5. Bake to Perfection
Cover with aluminum foil if you want to keep the cheese extra melty, or leave it off for those crispy edges. Bake at 350°F for about 45 minutes. You’re looking for bubbly edges and tender pasta.
Serve warm with a side of Creamy Cranberry Jalapeño Cream Cheese Dip or flavorful Mexican Street Corn Pasta for a Tex-Mex feast!
Storage and Leftovers
If you have leftovers, they stay great in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days. To reheat, I just pop a slice in the oven or air fryer for a few minutes to keep that cheese nice and gooey.
Ingredients
- 1 pound ground beef
- 1 small onion, chopped
- 1 1.25-ounce packet taco seasoning
- 1 teaspoon dried or fresh cilantro
- 1 15-ounce can whole corn kernels, drained
- 1 15-ounce can refried beans
- 4 cups shredded cheddar cheese
- 1 15-ounce can black beans, drained
- 1 4-ounce can diced green chilies
- 1 16-ounce jar salsa
- 8 ounces tomato sauce
- 1 9-ounce package oven-ready lasagna noodles
Instructions
- In a large skillet, brown ground beef and onions until beef is no longer pink in the center. Drain off any grease.
- Add refried beans, chiles, taco seasoning, cilantro, 1/2 of the salsa, and tomato sauce. Stir and place over medium-high heat, stirring constantly, until bubbly (about 4-5 minutes).
- Remove from heat and stir in corn and black beans.
- Spread the remaining salsa into the bottom of a 9×13 baking dish. Top with a layer of lasagna noodles, breaking to fit if need be. Spread 1/2 of the filling from the skillet over the noodles. Top with half the cheese. Repeat.
- Bake at 350 for 45 minutes or until bubbly and the pasta is tender. Allow to sit for five minutes before cutting. Enjoy!
This looks soooo good! I can’t wait to try it. We live in Arkansas and our
electricity was off for 4 days last week and we lost all of our freezer food. We’re starting over with our frozen meals and we will be glad to have a hot, one dish meal
with easy ingredients to enjoy to put us back into good spirits. Thanks for sharing!
Thanks for all you do to give encouragement and for sending out happy, helpful blogs! They always cheer me up and make me smile.
I admire you so much!
HAPPY NEW YEAR to the Jordans. Glad to have you back..we missed you. Glad you had some great down time. Enjoy those kiddies while you can. The tex-mex lasagna looks good. Bet it woud be extra good topped with some lettuce, diced tomatoes, jalapeños, sliced black olives and sour cream when served. Could also use tortillas instead of the pasta…my hubby isn’t a big pasta fan. Although I guess they are both just different forms of flour. We love tex-mex here. And I’m all in for the disposable dishes. A girl after my own heart. It’s the food and love inside that matters…not the dishes. What all was on the menu? Are you going to do the cooking show at your university this year? Know you didn’t have it this past fall. Would love to come to it if you have.
Hi Susan! I am going to use your ideas for the toppings. I had already planned on using corn tortillas but your topping idea is brilliant! Thanks and Happy New Year!!
I have not word one to say about the disposable dishes!!!! I think they are GREAT!! 🙂 This recipe looks GREAT I will be trying it!! Thanks for all ya do here on your blog!! have tried so many of your recipes and will keep trying!!
Denise, why oh why can’t you be my neighbor!? 🙂
That is a simply GORGEOUS set of disposable serve ware dishes.
So sparkly and Christmasy- like tinsel in the form of a dish!
Seriously- I am a BIG FAN of anything that makes Christmas easier and less stressful for our families and that includes for the cook and those who do the washing up!
Less dish washing means more time for visitin’ and spending quality time together on a very special day. 🙂
Happy New Year, Christy! 🙂 My college son LOVED the Butterfinger cake- he ate all but 2 pieces all by himself, lol. But not all in one sittin’! 😉
Oh my goodness, I think I just found my long lost sister!!!!! I dearly love you and everything about you!
I’m with Julianne – no problems with using disposables when you have a large gang, and especially for buffets! I did the same for Thanksgiving!
ok, sorry to be a pain…but this looks delicious. I am new to cooking, but i want to give this one a try! Can you double the recipe and freeze one of the lasagna’s? What do most people use to keep their frozen food in? Foil pans? To re-heat, so you do it straight from the freezer or thaw first? What oven temp would I use to re-heat? Sorry to sound so dumb…but I have never frozen a cooked meal before although I do need to start…just not sure where to start 🙁
Thank you for your help and Happy new year!
Hey Stacy! you are not in the least little bit a pain! I’m thrilled to have you here because I LOVE to be able to make things easy for folks whenever I can 🙂
Here is how I would personally freeze this one (and yes, you can definitely do so!). I would take the dish I wanted to bake it in and line it with heavy foil, leaving a good overhang on the sides. Then, prepare your lasagna in the foil lined dish. Cover it with more foil and put in the freezer until good and hard (a day or so). Then, take out the foil wrapped lasagna and wrap it again and return it to the freezer and your baking dish to your cabinet. This way, your dish is still handy when you need it and when you get ready to bake your lasagna, it fits in perfectly!
You can thaw it by taking it out of the freezer and putting it in your baking dish, then putting both in the fridge the night before you plan on having them for supper. BUT, if you’re like me, supper will sneak up on you and you’ll want to bake it directly from the freezer. While that is not ideal, it won’t kill ya either! Take your frozen lasagna and put it in your baking dish. Place both in a cold oven and then turn it on to preheat. Oh, did I mention that in all of these scenarios you should remove the foil from the top before baking? Well, do that 😉 . Then, just add about ten minutes to your cooking time.
Also, since you are talking about eating one and freezing one,you may just want to make one recipe and divide it into two 8×8 baking dishes instead of a 9×13 because it does make a good bit 🙂
I hope this helps and please just come right on back here and ask me more questions anytime you need to!
Gratefully,
Christy
Thank you for taking the pain out of this all Ms. Christy! I have been wanting to make a ziti for some time and this sounds amazingly easy. Freezing it would be good too! Especially since I work outside of the home my husband works in and still have to plan and make most of the dinners/meals.
Hi Stacy!! Just a kind word of advice, from an old fashioned, everyday, family cook… stay away from that network on television that “claims” to bring CHEFS as in IRON and good cooking… it’s nothing more than a liberal politically motivated program!!! Stick with Christy… she’s an AWESOME guide and an even better REAL LIFE COOK, too!!! Just my opinion with some common sense advice, dashed in!! Good luck… you’ll do great, most of the time with real cooking, it’s the practice and common sense things that bring savory/sweet redemption to our tables!!
Bless you!!
Kaye ; ()
I wonder.. Hmm.. could you use flour tortillas that have lost their moisture (dried out)
It’s sure worth a try! Even the worst case scenario would still be delicious!
Try corn tortillas I use them all the time when. Make my version
Great recipe.
Yum, yum, yum! Awwwwww, my sweet little Andy! Happy New Year Christy!
Are y’all tired of him yet? Because we have room…. 🙂
Tired, yes… Tired of him, no way!