Layered Fiesta Stack

Flavorful plant-based layers of fresh vegetables, refried beans, cheez sauce, corn tortillas, and enchilada sauce – perfect for a fiesta!

This Layered Fiesta Stack is such a fun dish to make and a great casserole to serve to your family, dinner guests, and of course yourself. The layers are comprised of healthy vegetables, fiber-rich pinto beans, a luscious plant-based cheez sauce, wholesome corn tortillas, umami mushrooms, and a flavorful enchilada sauce.

I love that you can clearly see each of these individual and contrasting layers. I especially enjoy how the flavors combine together in every single bite. In a way, this Layered Fiesta Stack is a hybrid of enchiladas and lasagna. Whatever you compare this to, it’s an incredibly tasty and satisfying tex-mex casserole.

In order of appearance, the first foundational layer is a super easy and flavorful enchilada sauce, consisting of canned crushed tomatoes. If you can’t find crushed tomatoes, you can substitute tomato sauce. But you can also puree canned diced tomatoes, stewed tomatoes, or whole tomatoes in a food processor, an immersion blender, or food processor. The sauce should be easily spreadable. You don’t want chunks that add height and dimension in what should be a lower profile layer.

The essence of this Layered Fiesta Stack comes from the smoked paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, chili powder, cumin, oregano, black pepper, and crushed red pepper in this enchilada sauce. If you prefer a mild sauce, reduce or omit the crushed red pepper. However, if you love spicy foods, just increase the crushed red pepper to your taste preference. I prefer milder foods, and recommend adding just a little crushed red pepper to add a small amount of bite or heat to this casserole. The crushed red pepper flakes add another dimension to this delicious casserole with out adding too much heat.

Next up are wholesome corn tortillas. I’m sure each brand varies, but I get mine at Aldi. I love that the primary ingredients are white corn flour and water. I like that corn tortillas typically don’t contain any oil or extra sodium – the flour tortillas at Aldi contain only 5 milligrams per tortilla. They are also naturally gluten-free, cholesterol free, and have a nice subtle corn flavor to this dish.

Even better, the corn tortillas provide the substance to maintain the structural integrity within this casserole. Whether you use a rectangular, square or round dish, you will find that it is much easier to tear the tortillas in half or quarters to get in around the edges. You can use fewer tortillas to create a thinner tortilla layer; but I recommend using the amount listed because I love the taste of corn tortillas in this dish and think it does a nice job soaking up any extra moisture.

The Mighty Cheez Sauce is the next tasty layer. This luscious plant-based cheez sauce recipe is located here and is super easy to make. Simply blend some boiled carrots and potatoes, soaked cashews, with nutritional yeast and you’ve got an incredibly creamy cheesy layer. I love how healthy and tasty this sauce is.

No matter how great it tastes, please know that this Mighty Cheez Sauce is not made with actual dairy cheese so it won’t melt like cheese. If you prefer to use a vegan shredded cheddar cheese, go for it. I just think this Mighty Cheez Sauce is perfect in this Layered Fiesta Stack. Plus, the Mighty Cheez Sauce recipe makes enough to make another tasty meal like Garden Veggie Quesadillas, Creamy Veggie Tex-Mex Pasta, or Super Nachos. Less work, more tasty food. I love two-for-for-one deals.

I think my favorite layer is the veggie layer which consists of colorful rainbow vegetables – bell peppers and zucchini. I like using a variety of bell peppers, including red, yellow, orange, and green. But honestly, you can use any bell peppers you have. For these photos, I used miniature sweet peppers because that is what I had on hand. You can even use cubanelle peppers or poblano peppers. I also like adding zucchini to the mix. Not only are they full of vibrant color and nutrients, but I love zucchini. Feel free to add any other vegetables you have, including eggplant, yellow squash, or carrots. I kept it simple with peppers and zucchini.

Alright, scratch what I said before. I think this refried beans layer is my favorite layer. I heart refried beans. They are full of fiber and protein and are so good for you. I recommend making my Instant Pot Refried Beans which contain smoky paprika, cumin, diced tomatoes with green chilis and a chipotle pepper in adobo sauce. These are so so very good.

They are made speedy quick and easy in the Instant Pot, and an immersion blender creams the beans, tomatoes, and spices together in the Instant Pot – less dishes to clean. Easy-peasy. The end result is an incredibly healthy, flavorful, and wholly satisfying Refried Beans with no added salt or oil. Not only are they healthy, they taste incredible. Click here for the recipe. Again, you can use any leftover refried beans for tacos, Garden Veggie Quesadillas or Super Nachos.

The final layer consists of a delicious umami-rich mushroom, onion, and garlic medley. These are the three musketeers in cooking. The mushrooms themselves are super healthy and help your body fight cancer. I talk about these incredible munchkins in my Savory Mushrooms and Plant-based Meatballs post. Check out this article on Dr, Fuhrman’s website for more information about the healthy attributes of eating mushrooms. And you can’t go wrong with onions and garlic. I love combining these three versatile ingredients together. The flavor, the aroma, the texture – yum. It’s such a great addition to this Layered Fiesta Stack. If you don’t like mushrooms, you can substitute eggplant and squash. Just don’t overcook them.

And finally, I like using a springform pan for this dish. It allows you to showcase your creativity and culinary skills by displaying the individual layers that you carefully built. If you don’t have one or prefer not to use one, just use a deep casserole dish – square, round, or rectangular – and layer away.

I hope you enjoy this Layered Fiesta Stack as much as I do.  Please leave a comment and rate it down below, tag a picture @pebblesandtoast and #pebblesandtoast on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook!   I’m just starting out and would love to see your results.  Enjoy!!

Layered Ingredients

• 10 Bella mushrooms, chopped (2-3 cups)
• 1 onion, chopped (1 cup)
• 6 garlic cloves, minced (2 Tbsp)
• 2 medium bell peppers (1-2 cups)*
• 1 zucchini, chopped (1-2 cups)
• 2 cups Mighty Cheez Sauce
• 2 cups Instant Pot Refried Beans
• 2 cups Enchilada Sauce (recipe below)
• 20 corn tortillas

Enchilada Sauce Ingredients

• 2 cups crushed tomatoes**
• 1 tsp smoked paprika
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp onion powder
• 1 tsp chili powder
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp oregano
• ½ tsp black pepper
• ½ tsp crushed red pepper

Prep Instructions

1. Sauté the mushrooms, onions, and garlic over low-medium heat, about 10-12 minutes.  Add a tablespoon of water or vegetable broth as needed to keep from sticking. Set aside.

1. Sauté the bell peppers and zucchini over low-medium heat until tender, about 10-12 minutes.  Add a tablespoon of water or vegetable broth as needed to keep from sticking. Set aside.

1. Combine the enchilada ingredients in a bowl. Set aside.

Layered Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350° F.

1. Pour 1 cup of enchilada sauce in the bottom of a casserole dish or springform pan.
2. Place 4 corn tortillas (torn in half, if needed) over the enchilada sauce to create an even layer.
3. Spread 1 cup of the Mighty Cheez sauce over the corn tortilla layer.
4. Spread half the bell pepper-zucchini medley over the cheez layer.

1. Place 4 corn tortillas (torn in half, if needed) over the pepper-zucchini to create an even layer.  
2. Spread 1 cup refried beans over the corn tortillas.
3. Spread 1 cup mushroom medley evenly across the refried beans.
4. Place 4 corn tortillas (torn in half, if needed) over the mushroom medley in an even layer.  
5. Pour 1 cup of enchilada sauce over the corn tortilla layer.
6. Spread remaining bell pepper medley over the enchilada sauce.

1. Place 4 corn tortillas (torn in half, if needed) over the pepper-zucchini to create an even layer.  
2. Spread remaining refried beans over the corn tortilla layer.
3. Spread remaining mushroom medley evenly across the refried beans.
4. Place 4 corn tortillas (torn in half, if needed) over the mushrooms to create an even layer.  
5. Spread remaining cheez sauce on top.

1. Bake in the oven for 40-45 minutes, until heated through.
2. Serve with any of your favorite taco fixings – guacamole, salsa, sour cream, avocado, cilantro, black olives, etc.

Notes

* I used miniature bell peppers because that’s what I had on hand for the photos.  But you can use any colored bell peppers, including poblanos.

**  I used about half a 28 ounce can of crushed tomatoes.  But you can use a 14 ounce can even though it’s not quite 2 cups.  Just split it in half.