Black Bean and Butternut Squash Casserole - meatless and gluten-free dinner recipe! This Southwestern-style enchilada casserole is made with lots of vegetables and corn tortillas.
I love making recipes with butternut squash in a casserole dish, such as everyone's favorite butternut squash and spinach lasagna. Butternut squash is a great vegetable with a rich flavor which works great in meatless recipes! Take a look at beautiful butternut squash tortellini.
Butternut Squash Casserole - meatless and gluten-free recipe
- The vegetables are roasted in spices (cumin and chili powder). That adds lots of Southwestern flavor!
- Other ingredients include green and red bell peppers, corn, salsa, enchilada sauce, sour cream, Mozzarella cheese, and corn tortillas.
How to make butternut squash casserole gluten free
- This recipe is gluten-free. Use corn tortillas, and all other ingredients are also naturally gluten-free.
- Use gluten-free enchilada sauce. Keep in mind that some store-bought enchilada sauces can have gluten ingredients. So look carefully at the label. You can also make your own gluten-free enchilada sauce or skip it in this recipe.
How to store butternut squash casserole
- Store butternut squash casserole refrigerated and covered air-tight for up to 5 days.
- This black bean and butternut squash enchilada casserole is amazing when hot right out of the oven. It tastes even better the next day, or 3-4 days later! I just finished the last slice of this casserole 5 days later, and I can tell you that it was better than the 1st day! I guess all the flavors really blend while sitting in the refrigerator for days. 🙂
Other butternut squash recipes
- Roasted Butternut Squash, Brussels Sprouts, Pecans, Cranberries
- Butternut Squash and Spinach Salad with Pecans, Cranberries, Pomegranate Seeds
- Butternut Squash Chili
How to make black bean and butternut squash casserole:
1) Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a large skillet on medium-high heat.
2) Add chopped onion, chopped green bell pepper and chopped red bell pepper, and seasonings.
3) Add corn to the skillet and roast the vegetables in olive oil on high heat until charred a bit.
4) Add rinsed black beans.
5) Add roasted butternut squash.
6) Mix all vegetables, add more spices and salt, if needed.
7) I used a casserole dish 11 inches x 8.5 inches x 3 inches deep. Add 1 cup of salsa to the bottom of the 3-inch deep casserole dish and spread to coat the bottom evenly.
8) Start layers. Layer 1: Place 4 corn tortillas over the salsa, overlapping to cover the bottom of the casserole dish.
9) Spread ⅓ of the vegetable mixture over the corn tortillas.
10) Top with ½ cup sour cream, dropping it in small dollops all over. Then spread it carefully over the veggies.
11) Pour ½ cup enchilada sauce evenly all over, spreading sour cream evenly all over.
12) Sprinkle with ½ cup Mozzarella cheese.
13) Repeat all layers 2 more times. Sprinkle the final layer generously with cheese. Use at least ½ and ¼ cups of Mozzarella cheese.
14) Cover with foil.
15) Bake at 375 F in the preheated oven for 25 minutes covered. Then remove foil. Bake for 10 more minutes uncovered.
This is what the black bean and butternut squash enchilada casserole looks like right out of the oven:
Let it cool a little bit, then slice it right in the casserole pan.
Black Bean and Butternut Squash Casserole
Ingredients
Roasted Butternut Squash
- 5 cups butternut squash cubed (store-bought, or make your own - see recipe below)
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- ¼ teaspoon salt
Vegetable mixture:
- ½ onion , chopped
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 green bell pepper , chopped into cubes
- 1 red bell pepper , chopped into cubes
- 1 teaspoon cumin or more
- 1 teaspoon chili powder or more
- 8 oz corn (from the can, rinsed and drained)
- 15 oz black beans (from the can, rinsed and drained)
- ¼ teaspoon salt (add more, to taste)
Other ingredients for assembling the casserole:
- 1 cup salsa (to go on the bottom of the casserole dish)
- 12 corn tortillas , 6 inch diameter each (4 corn tortillas per each of 3 layers)
- 1 ½ cups sour cream (½ cup sour cream for each of 3 layers)
- 1 cup enchilada sauce (if you're gluten free, make sure to buy the sauce without gluten!)
- 1 ¾ cups Mozzarella cheese , shredded
Instructions
How to roast butternut squash:
- Preheat the oven to 375 F. Line the baking sheet with aluminum foil and grease with 1 tablespoon of olive oil.
- Peel the squash and slice it into ¾ inch cubes. You will only need about ½ of the medium size squash.
- Toss the squash cubes in a large bowl with 2 tablespoons olive oil and generously sprinkle with salt.
- Place cubed butternut squash on the greased baking sheet and roast for about 30 minutes, until soft.
- Flip the squash cubes over midway through baking. Let it cool slightly.
How to roast vegetables on the stove top:
- Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a large skillet on medium-high heat.
- Add chopped onion, chopped green bell pepper, and chopped red bell pepper, 1 teaspoon cumin, and 1 teaspoon chili powder.
- Roast the vegetables in olive oil and spices on high-medium heat for about 1 minute, until charred just a bit.
- Add corn. Add rinsed and drained black beans. Add roasted butternut squash.
- Season with ¼ teaspoon + ⅛ teaspoon salt and taste. Add more salt if needed.
- Add more chili powder or cumin, than indicated in the recipe, if needed.
How to assemble the butternut squash casserole:
- I used a casserole dish 11 inches long x 8.5 inches wide x 3 inches deep.
- Add 1 cup of salsa to the bottom of this 3-inch deep casserole dish and spread to coat the bottom evenly.
- Layer 1. Top with 4 tortillas, overlapping to cover the bottom of the casserole dish. Spread ⅓ of the vegetable mixture over the tortillas. Top with ½ cup sour cream, dropping it in small dollops all over, then carefully spread it over the veggies. Pour ⅓ cup enchilada sauce evenly all over, at the same time spreading sour cream evenly all over. Sprinkle with ½ cup Mozzarella cheese.
- Repeat the layer described above 2 more times. Total you will have 3 layers. On the final layer, add extra cheese: Sprinkle with ½ and ¼ cups Mozzarella cheese.
- Cover with foil.
- Bake at 375 F for 25 minutes covered. Then remove foil. Bake for 10 more minutes uncovered.
Video
Nutrition
The nutritional information on this website is only an estimate and is provided for convenience and as a courtesy only. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed. It should not be used as a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
I really wanted to like this but something seemed to be missing flavor-wise. To me, the bell peppers overwhelmed the flavor. Seemed like one would have been enough but some other veggie could have been included. I made it as written.
Roberta, thank you so much for your feedback! Maybe, you can also add some extra spice next time, such as smoked paprika and red pepper flakes.
This is fantastic. I'm sure I added extra cheese and sour cream because I didn't measure it. Oh I also had to omit corn for my hubby 🙂 Liked it even more than a recipe we have with chicken!! Will make this over and over!
KJ, I am so happy you tried this recipe and loved it! Thak you for taking the time to share such a positive comment and the 5-stars! 🙂
Delicious! I topped half, my husband loves spicy, with chopped jalapenos, hatch and serranos from our garden...
it's a keeper! I'll definitely again!
So glad you enjoyed this recipe! Thank you so much for stopping by to share such a positive comment - I really appreciate it!
This is delicious! My husbands favorite.
Thank you for sharing this recipe!
Jill, your comment made my day! 🙂 Glad you've enjoyed this recipe!
I'm looking for freezer meal ideas for my vegetarian daughter... do you think this recipe would freeze well? If so, would I freeze it before or after baking? Thanks so much!
Karen, yes, this dish will freeze well! I would roast the butternut squash, assemble the casserole - and then freeze it before baking (since it doesn't have any meat - you can freeze it after assembling it). Then, when it's time to use it, thaw the casserole and bake it. I hope you like it! 🙂
I have an abundance of squash this year from my garden so I needed a recipe that would help me find another use. Iam so glad that I ran across this recipe. My son actually ate and loved it and he can be a picky eater. Will definitely be making this again.
Sandy, your comment made my day! 🙂 Glad you tried the recipe and that it will be a keeper! 🙂
This is so good! Easily made vegan with Tofutti sour crème and Miyokos mozzarella. I added a half zucchini that was sitting in the fridge and that worked well too. The recipe says it feeds 8 but I think easily 9 or more!
Laura, thank you so much for such a positive comment - I really appreciate it! 🙂 And, thank you for sharing the details on how to make this vegan - it will be helpful to other readers.
Best receipe ever! We were not squash fan, but now this receipe is one of our best meal ever!
Virginie - thank you so much for such a wonderful comment. So glad this recipe is one of your favorites! 🙂
This recipe will be added to our favorites. Can't get over how good it was and that the leftovers got even better. I love that is is gluten free and vegetarian but I really needed something with more protein so I added cooked ground turkey with some cumin and chili powder to the veggie mix. OMG...it was awesome. Can't wait to have it again.
I am so happy you tried this recipe and loved it! Thank you for taking the time to write such a kind and thoughtful comment - I really appreciate it! 🙂 Love the addition of cooked ground turkey with spices - I like to add protein to most of my foods, too.
Can you freeze some of it, if you don't plan to eat it all in 4-5 days? If you can freeze, how do you suggest reheating? Looking forward to making this.
Kayla, while, of course, in the ideal world it's not really advisable to freeze a recipe that has sour cream in it, I think in this recipe you can get away with it because there are so many other ingredients to help hold up the texture.
So, you can freeze this and thaw the leftovers overnight in the fridge. Then, bake it in the oven to reheat - at 375 F for about 20 or 30 minutes.
A dear friend made this casserole for my husband and me. He’s vegetarian and both of us are counting calories. It was so filling, comforting & delicious that we have since made it several times at home. We are having it this week, and can’t wait!
Aaron, your comment made my day! Love the story behind how you found this recipe. And, thank you for the 5-star review! 🙂
Made this casserole twice already, DELICIOUS!!!!
Renata, I am so glad you've enjoyed this recipe! Thank you for the comment! 🙂
Love this dish so much!! The flavors are amazing! The only part I'm not fond of is the tortillas get mushy. I might just use this as stuffing for "tacos" or later with eggplant instead. Well done, thank you for your great recipes
Katherine, thank you so much for such a generous comment! Glad you've enjoyed this dish! Love your ideas of using this for tacos or with eggplant!
This sounds yummy! I’m considering adding shredded chicken. Thoughts?
Kathy, shredded chicken would be a delicious addition! Just added it into some of the layers.
This is excellent! I grew WAY too many butternut squash this summer and this is a perfect dish to use em up! I've made it twice now and my family loves it. Thank you!
Karen, thank you for such a great comment! I think having too much butternut squash is a good problem to have! 🙂 May I suggest another recipe that is very popular right now on my site that uses butternut squash. I am not sure if you're looking for something meatless (since this casserole recipe is meatless) - in which case you can use Hot Italian beyond meat sausage instead of regular sausage in this recipe:
Creamy Butternut Squash Pasta with Sausage and Spinach
Also, here is a great holiday side dish that uses butternut squash:
Roasted Brussels Sprouts and Cinnamon Butternut Squash with Pecans and Cranberries