Nothing hits the spot quite like a casserole! Comforting, satisfying, and perfect for feeding a crowd, this vegan casserole doesn’t skimp on flavor thanks to spicy green chiles and a creamy cashew jalapeño sauce. And the star of the show? Shredded tofu. If you haven’t met her yet, we’re pretty sure you’re going to be BFFs.
This casserole is also surprisingly quick and easy and requires just 9 ingredients, friends. Let us show you how it’s done!
If you’re thinking a vegan casserole couldn’t possibly have all the creamy, hearty comfort of the classic dish, think again! Shredded tofu is the satisfying, protein-packed ingredient that hides away between layers of flavor.
And where do those flavors come from, you ask? Sautéed bell pepper and onion provide a naturally sweet base while green chiles add spiciness, chili powder brings the smokiness, and sea salt enhances it all. That sweet-spicy-smoky trio is hard to beat!
But don’t be fooled…it gets even better! Our Cashew Jalapeño Sauce creates the creamy, cheesy comfort of a classic casserole, and tortillas add the satisfying element (team carbs!).
With the components ready, it’s time to layer: sauce, tortillas, filling, and repeat!
A final layer of cashew jalapeño sauce seals in all the deliciousness (and when baked, resembles melted cheese 🙌). Cue the ooo’s and ahhh’s!
We hope you LOVE this vegan casserole! It’s:
Creamy
Comforting
Satisfying
Subtly spicy
Quick + easy
& SO delicious!
This casserole is a hearty meal on its own, but it would also pair well with our Green Cauliflower Rice (20 Minutes!), Instant Pot Black Beans (Perfect Every Time!), or Black Bean Quinoa Salad with Orange Lime Dressing.
More Hearty Vegan Mains
- Easy Vegan Stuffed Shells
- Cornbread & Black Bean Enchilada Bake
- 1-Pot Yellow Chickpea Cauliflower Curry
- Quinoa-Stuffed Sweet Potatoes
If you try this recipe, let us know! Leave a comment, rate it, and don’t forget to tag a photo @minimalistbaker on Instagram. Cheers, friends!
Creamy Vegan Green Chile Casserole
Ingredients
- 1 (16-oz.) package super firm tofu, drained and grated (or sub two 15-oz. cans black beans, drained and rinsed)
- 2 Tbsp olive or avocado oil
- 1/2 medium yellow onion, finely chopped (1/2 onion yields ~1 ½ cups or 160 g)
- 1 small red bell pepper, finely chopped (1 pepper yields ~1 cup or 150 g)
- 1 (4-oz.) can diced green chiles (hot or medium), drained (or sub 1/4 cup fresh roasted hatch chiles, finely chopped)
- 1 tsp sea salt
- 1 Tbsp chili powder blend (or store-bought)
- 6 (6-inch) corn tortillas, cut in half to make 12 half-moons
- 2 batches Creamy Cashew Jalapeño Sauce (or a similar store-bought product, such as Credo, thinned with water)
FOR SERVING optional
- Fresh cilantro, chopped
- Quick pickled onions
- Hot sauce
Instructions
- Start by soaking the cashews for the Creamy Cashew Jalapeño Sauce (as recipe is written, ~1 ½ cups or 210 g cashews — adjust as needed if altering batch size) in boiling water, and set aside. Then, if you haven’t already shredded your tofu, do so using the largest side of a box grater. Set aside. Finally, preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (196 C).
- Heat the oil in a large rimmed skillet over medium-high heat. Once hot, add the onion, bell pepper, and green chiles and cook for 3-5 minutes, until translucent, fragrant, and beginning to soften. Add the shredded tofu along with the salt and chili powder and toss until evenly combined. Taste and adjust, adding more chili powder for smokiness, green chiles for spice, or more salt to taste. Remove from heat and set aside.
- Prepare the Creamy Cashew Jalapeño Sauce next. Then it’s assembly time!
- Lightly oil an 8×8-inch glass or ceramic baking dish, then add 1/4 cup (60 ml) of the sauce to the bottom of the dish and spread evenly. Place 4 corn tortilla halves on top of the sauce, then put half of the filling mixture on top of the tortillas and spread evenly. Top the filling with 3/4 cup (180 ml) sauce and 4 more tortilla halves, then repeat: the rest of the filling, 3/4 cup (180 ml) sauce, and the remaining 4 tortilla halves. Pour the remaining sauce over the top, then cover with foil.
- Bake for 20 minutes, until the casserole is warmed through and the sauce has thickened. Let cool for 5-10 minutes, then serve! It's delicious topped with cilantro, hot sauce, and pickled onions (all optional). Leftovers keep in a sealed container in the refrigerator for up to 2-3 days or in the freezer for up to 1 month.
Sarah says
The whole family enjoyed this. And my pickiest eater declared that she would happily eat vegan if everything tasted this good. We ate it with guacamole and tortilla chips. And the crunch of the tortilla chips was a nice contrast to the texture of the dish.
We’re so glad you and your family enjoyed it, Sarah! Thanks so much fo the lovely review! xo
Amalia says
I had high hopes for this recipe, but it flopped. I followed it exactly, even made the chili powder blend. It turned out kinda bland and mushy. Served it with cilantro and hot sauce, but didn’t improve it much. I managed to eat my portion, but my partner barely had a few bites. It was sad, because I usually like the recipes on this site.
So sorry you didn’t enjoy this one, Amalia!
MS says
Delicious! I assumed it would be, so I preemptively doubled it, making it in a 9 x 12 casserole, using black beans and tofu. The sauce is also fantastic, I doubled the nutritional yeast and added cilantro and a bit of chipotle powder (I accidentally tossed the seeds from one of the jalapeños and I missed the heat). I served with guacamole and pickled red onions and we have been eating it for days with salad as an easy holiday week lunch so we don’t have too cook too much. It reheats beautifully, a half hour in the toaster oven. Thanks for this winner.
Amazing! We’re so glad you enjoy the recipe. Thank you for sharing your experience and helpful tips! xo
Rachael says
I made this recently and it was sooo delicious! Highly recommended
and absolutely loved the cashew jalapeño sauce. I’m planning to make another batch to freeze…would you recommend freezing before baking or after? How long should you reheat it in the oven once frozen? Thanks for the great recipe!
We’re so glad you enjoyed it, Rachael! We’d recommend freezing after baking, but either should work. Defrost in the refrigerator 1 day ahead, then bake (covered with foil) until warmed through – probably 15-20 minutes. For quicker defrosting/reheating, you could freeze in individual servings. Hope that helps!
Dani says
We have made this twice now and can’t get enough! Added some cumin and garlic powder to the filling, as well as some extra black beans this time around (We recommend! Though it was delicious without the modifications as well) It is the perfect warm and cozy comfort meal—Thanks for all you do!! :)
Amazing! We’re so glad you’ve been enjoying the recipe, Dani. Thank you for your kind words and lovely review! xo
Christine says
Made it, loved it! Used fresh Hatch chilies, and did serve with salsa verde on the side…will be making tjis one again and again! Thanks!
Yay! Thank you for the lovely review, Christine! xo
Jeanette Giles says
I made this last night and had two issues with it. First it was not hot after 20 minutes. Maybe just a difference in ovens it needed 30 minutes. Then the sauce layer was just a bit too thick. I think next time I would use the sauce between the layers but then top it with a green enchilada sauce. My husband and I both agreed it needed more moisture. Other than that it was pretty tasty and I will be eating the leftovers tonight with some Trader Joe’s green salsa on the top.
Thank you for sharing your experience, Jeannette. Sorry to hear it didn’t turn out quite right!
Lynne says
Made a double batch in a 9×12 pan for dinner tonight, and it was a hit! Shredding tofu is BRILLIANT! Who knew?!? Since I doubled the recipe I used one pkg of tofu and one can of black beans. Also added a can of corn for a little more texture. Served with salsa for a little piquantness. Will def make again.
We’re so glad it was a hit, Lynne! Thanks so much for sharing! xo
Linda Mikhail says
Would flour tortilla works as well as corn? My family doesn’t like corn tortillas.
Thank you
Hi Linda, we think so, but haven’t tested it! It might work better to roll them like classic enchiladas. Let us know if you try it!
Claire Jordan says
By 4 batches of jalapeno sauce do you mean your recipe x 4 in amount? as in use 3 cups of cashews to make enough for this recipe? Thanks!
Hi Claire, yep, you’ve got it! It sounds like you adjusted the number of servings on the casserole to 12 instead of 6. In that case, you’d make 4 batches of the jalapeño sauce, which would be 3 cups cashews.
Jolly says
SO GOOD! I didn’t have a jalapeño for the cashew cream sauce, but I subbed in 1/4 tsp of dried chipotle powder and it was perfect. I was also too lazy to get the grater out and just crumbled the tofu by hand. It was great with all tofu but I want to try a 50/50 mix with black beans next time. I topped it with guacamole and fresh cilantro…Deliciousness!
Amazing! Thank you for sharing, Jolly! xo
Jodie says
I was super excited to make this as after seeing the Dr seems 2 of us have high cholesterol. We eat healthy but may consume too much meat… so thought I could throw in a few vegan recipes. I have followed your recipes for a while and this one was 5 stars! I thought the cashew sauce was going to be too runny but it was perfect! I should have made 2 batches ( I saw that in the directions after I made mine, haha). And I have a confession… after looking at all of the corn tortilla options and checking my Yuka app ( there were no options at my Kroger that didn’t score poor), I decided to buy my own flour and make my own tortillas. Well that may have been a bit ambitious but they tasted delicious. The end product tasted delicious and he didn’t even know there was tofu in it!! #winning
Amazing! We’re so glad you both enjoyed it. Thank you for sharing, Jodie! xo
Katie Green says
Thank you for this recipe! We have been searching for a great vegan enchilada casserole bake and have been let down. This is a winner! I absolutely love the shredded tofu. The dish reminds me of my mom’s Omni chicken enchiladas 😋. The recipe is great as is, but next time we are going to add a can of green chilies to the cheese sauce to make it even more like Mom’s. The pickled red onions are excellent with this dish. I wouldn’t skip those!
Yay! We’re so glad you enjoyed it and love that it was similar to your mom’s! Thank you sharing, Katie! xo
Jennifer says
I made this exactly as written and it turned out delicious and super easy. The jalapeño cream sauce was amazing – I would recommend making a little bit more though! Thanks for the great recipe!
We’re so glad you enjoyed it, Jennifer! Thank you for sharing! xoxo
Burford says
How do you come up with 25.7g of fat per serving? Is that a typo?
Hmm, good question! We can’t find any errors in our inputs in the nutrition software. The majority comes from avocado oil + cashews. Each serving has ~1 tsp oil + 1/4 cup cashews, which would be 18.8 g. There’s also some in the tofu and small amounts in the tortillas, chili powder, other ingredients in the cashew sauce, but those will vary from brand to brand.
Em says
This is a delicious base recipe. I used black beans and for me, 2 cans was too much. Next time I’ll likely add mushrooms or more peppers and 1 can of beans.
Glad you enjoyed it as a base! Thank you for sharing!
Saaaaaaaammmmmmmmmmm says
Though it’s 100 F here, I made this tonight! I was a little shy of 1 1/2 cups of cashews for the cream, so I used some of the 16 oz tofu instead – worked well! Additionally, I added black beans to the mixture to replace the lost tofu.
I was nervous it wouldn’t have much flavor, but the jalapeño cashew cream really ties it together and everything was delicious. I served it with guacamole, cilantro, pickled onions and a light drizzle of hot sauce.
Amazing! Love your creativity to work with what you had! Thank you for sharing! xo
Allison says
This was super delicious and very easy as I used the pepita & hatch chile variety of bitchin’ sauce instead of the cashew cream. I also added a diced zucchini to the veggie mixture. It came together super quickly and tasted great! Will definitely be making this again, great for a weeknight dinner.
Amazing! We’re so glad you enjoyed it, Allison. Thank you for the lovely review and for sharing your modifications! xo
Sara McCloskey says
Hi, looks great! Am making it today :)
Your recipe asks for – can of diced green chillis – is this jalapeño? Or other?
I’m in Europe so just want to make sure I’m getting the right type- or decent substitute…
Thanks
Sara
Hi Sara, they’re Hatch chiles, which are different from jalapeños, but we think roasted jalapeños could work!
Greta Anderson says
This was super tasty!! I am impressed.
I added some fresh summer veggies to the mix, carrots, corn, fresh hatch chilis, and poblano. Didn’t add the chili powder for fear of being too spicy. Thank you for the recipe!
Also, the layering instructions were hard to follow, wasn’t sure what should be on top.
We’re so glad you enjoyed it, Greta! Love your add-ins. We’ll revisit those instructions and see if we can improve clarity!
Em says
If using black beans, do they get mixed with the spices and added whole in the mixture layer, or smashed some?
Hi Em, Drain and rinse them and add them whole at the same time as the spices. Enjoy!
Rachael says
The instructions are a little confusing: the way they’re written, it seems we should have three halves (3/2) of filling but that doesn’t really make sense. Is there perhaps a typo? Looking forward to making this once I’m sure how to!
Hi Rachael, we’re not sure what you’re referring to by “three halves (3/2) of filling”. There should only be two layers of filling. It should go: 1/4 cup sauce, 4 tortilla halves, half of the filling, 3/4 cup sauce, 4 tortilla halves, half of the filling, 3/4 cup sauce, 4 tortilla halves, remaining sauce. Does that clear up the confusion?