I have many different recipes that are cheap to make, good to eat, and feeds a crowd. This is one of those recipes.

I’m sure there is a way to make this all from scratch but I just don’t seem to have the energy these days. I’ve been going through a shift for the past year and for whatever reason, I just don’t have the energy to make this healthier (if you do, please post it the comments!).

So this recipe is an easy meal for those of us who are busy or just plain tired! I hope you enjoy! I’ll be posting my Chicken Noodle recipe later, which also falls in this category of “too busy and too tired to make a healthier version”!

Mexican Lasagna

Ingredients:

• 13×9 baking dish
• 8-10 Tortillas
• 2 TBS butter
• 1 C long grain rice (I used parboiled)
• 3 oz tomato paste
• 2 C water/Chicken broth
• 2 tsp chicken bouillon (omit if using chicken broth)
• dash of cumin and ground pepper
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 lb ground beef or 2 lb shredded chicken
• 2 cups shredded cheese
• 28 oz Enchilada sauce (red for beef, green for chicken)
• 15 oz can of refried beans
• 15 oz can of corn (optional for beef but highly recommend for chicken)
• Taco Seasoning (optional)

Directions:

Start by making the mexican rice – add butter to a skillet or pan and melt. Add rice to brown. Then add the water/chicken broth. Add the tomato paste, bouillon, cumin, ground pepper, and bay leaf. Mix well. Bring to a boil then turn turn heat down to simmer, cover with a lid and allow to cook until all liquid is absorbed (about 20 min).

Brown the ground beef and drain. Place browned meat back in the skillet, turn to low and add refried beans. Mix well and allow the mixture to heat enough that it is spreadable. Next add a small amount of the enchilada sauce (just enough to make it runny). Mix well. If using chicken, place shredded chicken in the skillet, add a bit of taco seasoning, add refried beans. Heat the mixture enough that is it spreadable and then add a small amount of the green enchilada sauce (enough to make it runny). Add the corn. Mix well.

Next, add some enchilada sauce to the bottom of the 13×9 baking dish. Just enough to cover the botton so the tortillas don’t stick. Begin layering. Tortilla, meat mixture, rice mixture, shredded cheese . Repeat the layers until you have used all the ingredients (reserve some cheese for this next step). Take the remaining enchilada sauce and pour over the layered lasagna, follow with the reserved shredded cheese, cover with foil, and bake at 350 for about 30-45 minutes. Let me know if you tried this in the comments!