Butternut Squash & Black Bean Enchilada Casserole
It’s enchiladas, only easier! This delicious dish from Twin Cities food blogger greens & chocolate is a wonderful way to enjoy
butternut squash, in season now.
If you’ve been to any farmers market around the Twin Cities lately then you know that winter squash season is officially here. Butternut, acorn, carnival, spaghetti, kabocha and hubbard squashes – they’re all in season! It’s my favorite food season of the year, for sure.
If you’re a winter squash fan like myself, then you know that the key to embracing the season is having a really good knife and a set of arm muscles to cut them in half and an even better vegetable peeler to peel off the skin.
Unfortunately, my absolute favorite all-star vegetable peeler broke this summer in a sweet potato incident. Since the one I had was a gift, I had no idea how to replace it, so I bought the cutest one I could find on my next Target run.
Turns out, just because a vegetable peeler is cute, doesn’t mean it works. So, after some quick texts to a couple of my friends who cook, I found out the recommended peeler is the OXO brand. A quick Amazon Prime purchase later, I was set to peel all the squash I desired.
Which leads us to this Butternut Squash & Black Bean Enchilada Casserole. Butternut Squash definitely tops my list of squash because it’s versatile and SO delicious! I love it pureed in soups, cubed in stews and now diced up in this enchilada casserole.
What is an enchilada casserole, you might be wondering? It’s basically all of the deliciousness of enchiladas, without the hassle of having to roll up each enchilada. You just layer everything instead. As in, a layer of tortillas, a layer of filling, a layer of enchilada sauce, and a layer of cheese. Then repeat. It’s so easy and so good!
The filling for this particular enchilada casserole is butternut squash, black beans and some spices. The majority of the prep work is in the cutting and cooking of the squash; after that plus the layering, you let the oven do the work and bake it until it’s hot and bubbling.
Top it with some chopped green onions and dinner is served!
Butternut Squash & Black Bean Enchilada Casserole
6 servings
Preparation time: 20 minutes
Cook time: 60 minutes
Ingredients
2-3 tablespoons olive oil
1 small butternut squash, peeled, seeds removed, diced into small chunks
1 teaspoon cumin
2 teaspoons chili powder
1 teaspoon garlic powder
½ teaspoon salt
1 (15-ounce) can black beans, drained and rinsed
12 corn tortillas
20 ounces red enchilada sauce
2 ½ cups shredded cheddar cheese
Green onions, diced for topping
Directions
- In a large skillet, heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil over medium heat.
- Add squash and cook until squash is soft and cooked through, about 25-30 minutes. Add an extra tablespoon of olive oil if you feel like it is needed so all of the squash is coated in oil.
- Add cumin, chili powder, garlic powder, salt and black beans; stir well to combine with squash.
- Heat oven to 375 F.
- In the bottom of a 9×13 baking dish, spread about ½ cup of your enchilada sauce on the bottom.
- Top with 6 corn tortillas. You’ll want them to overlap a little to cover the entire bottom.
- Spread about half of your butternut squash and black bean mixture over the tortillas, then about ¾ cup of enchilada sauce and 1 cup of cheddar cheese.
- Repeat with remaining tortillas, butternut squash/black bean mixture, enchilada sauce and cheese.
- Top with foil and bake for 25 minutes. Remove foil and bake 10 more minutes.
- Let cool for a couple of minutes, then cut and serve topped with green onions. Enjoy!
