This baked enchilada pasta is an easy and delicious twist on traditional enchiladas. It’s vegetarian and gluten free, and hands on time is only 20 minutes~perfect for a busy weeknight dinner!
So… What are you celebrating today? Are you donning a sombrero, a serape, and searching for your last shaker of salt? Are you cheering the ponies on to victory? Or, are you chowing down on a big bowl of delicious pasta??? Me? I’m doing all three 🙂
Happy Cinco de Mayo, Kentucky Derby, and #Pastalove! In honor of this months pasta love fest, and Cinco de Mayo, I created a baked enchilada pasta dish that’s partly based off of this recipe for enchiladas negras I whipped up last weekend for a party at our house.
And, for the Kentucky Derby part, Ian, the kids and I, will be heading down to our neighbor’s house for a big ol’ party. I think there’s even a dessert for me, because my neighbor friend stopped by this morning to ask me if I had a gluten-free pie crust and some gluten-free flour she could use to make me a “surprise” pie.
I’m not sure exactly what it is, but I know it has chocolate in it 🙂 Don’t I have the nicest neighbor??? 
Back to this yummy, super easy, baked enchilada pasta…
We’re big pasta eaters in our house, usually eating it at least once a week, but it’s easy to get in a pasta rut, and I usually end up making the same thing. Pasta with marinara sauce and grass fed ground beef…Pasta with homemade pesto sauce… This Easy Gluten Free Pasta Salad with Tomatoes, Basil, and Fresh Ricotta.. And, once in a blue moon, I’ll even whip up some homemade gluten free pasta…
It’s all really yummy, and I never get any complaints on pasta night, but isn’t it nice to try something different for a change?
I hope you love this easy baked enchilada pasta as much as my family and I do!
Easy Baked Enchilada Pasta
Ingredients
- 12 ounces dried regular or gluten-free pasta
- 16 ounces red enchilada sauce
- 15 ounce can of black beans rinsed and drained
- 1 sweet onion finely chopped
- 6 ounce can of black olives chopped
- 2 cups frozen corn
- 1 1/2 cups cottage cheese
- 8 ounces shredded cheddar or other cheese
- cilantro for garnish
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees, and cook pasta in a large pot according to directions.
- While pasta is cooking, combine enchilada sauce and black beans in a blender or food processor and combine until pureed. Set aside.
- Chop onion and olives, and grate cheese.
- When pasta is cooked, pour it in to a colander to drain well. Then add in onions, olives, frozen corn, enchilada/bean sauce, and cottage cheese. Mix well, and pour in to a 13 x 9 inch pan. Top with grated cheese, and bake for 25 minutes, or until pasta is cooked through, and cheese is melted and bubbly.
- Remove from oven and let cool for 5 minutes, then serve with cilantro garnish on the side.
Nutrition
Spicy RD Recipe and Nutrition Notes:
- I used Ancient Harvest Quinoa Corn pasta which is my “go-to” gluten free pasta on most nights. It is relatively inexpensive compared to some other gluten-free pasta, and has a nice taste and texture. You just need to get over the yellow color. Other gluten-free pastas I like are Jovial foods brown rice pasta, DeBoles rice lasagna, and for a special meal, RP’s fresh pasta noodles.
- For the enchilada sauce, I used Frontera red chile enchilada sauce which has a nice flavor, with just a little hint of spice.
- Pureeing the black beans in to the enchilada sauce is a great way to add extra nutrients and fiber in to the dish. We are bean eaters at our house, but “non-bean” eaters might enjoy this too!
- I used Cabot 50 % Reduced Fat Cheddar to cut back on the calories, while still adding great flavor.
And, if your in the mood for a little libation, a nice sipping tequila with lime, {or a mint julep} makes for a fun celebration too. Cheers! 
May is #pastalove month! Please join in on the #pastalove fun by linking up any pasta recipe from the month of May 2012. Don’t forget to link back to this post, so that your readers know to come stop by the #pastalove event! The twitter hashtag is #pastalove :). And, please head on over to my lovely co-hosts to check out all their yummy pasta creations: Astig Vegan, Badger Girl Learns to Cook, Big Fat Baker, Bon a croquer, Cake Duchess, Elephant Eats, Hobby and More, Mis Pensamientos, No One Likes Crumbley Cookies, Oh Cake, Rico sin Azucar, Simply Reem, Soni’s Food for Thought, Teaspoon of Spice, That Skinny Chick Can Bake!!!, The Whimpy Vegetarian, Vegetarian Mamma, You Made That?, Vegan Yack Attack
Are you/did you celebrate Cinco de Mayo or The Kentucky Derby? What is your favorite “go-to” pasta dish? Take your pick: Tequila, Kentucky Bourbon, or a tall glass of water???
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CHEERS!
Hi There! I’m EA, an integrative registered dietitian nutritionist in sunny San Diego. I create easy, DELICIOUS gluten free recipes & low FODMAP recipes for a wide variety of diets: anti-inflammatory, low carb, Mediterranean, paleo, vegan, vegetarian, & more. My nutrition specialties include wellness nutrition, digestive health (celiac disease, IBS, IBD, SIBO), autoimmune disease, & healthy aging. Learn more about my nutrition philosophy and my nutrition coaching services, or get in touch~I’d love to connect with you!
60 comments
[…] Baked Enchilada Pasta {Gluten Free, Vegetarian} […]
I love the flavors in enchiladas, but can’t stand the texture of cottage cheese (or ricotta). Do you think I could sub something? A light cream cheese or more cheddar?
Hi Lisa! Thanks so much for your comment, and, yes, you could absolutely omit the cottage cheese and add more cheddar, or I think monterrey jack would be a great choice too. I’d love to hear how it turns out 🙂
Great enchilada! Love your photos! Thanks for sharing the pasta love!
What a great and original recipe you posted here! Love it!!
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Found your site through Recipe Redux and thought I’d stop by to check it out. I subscribed to your feed and can’t wait to see what your next post will be!
I was cheering on the ponies for sure! 🙂 I picked Alpha to win and Bodemeister to come in second. I’m a sucker for big bay horses with symmetrical stars and Bodemeister reminded me of Bode Miller who grew up skiing where I did in NH. I know, I know…very legitimate horse-picking strategies I have. Obviously I was wrong about Alpha, but Bodemeister did come in 2nd, so maybe my tactics aren’t so bad! Happy Belated Mother’s Day. Hope the kiddos made your day special!
OOOh, so glad I found you through Kellie at Food to Glow. Your blog is gorgeous & the photos make the food look like I can reach in and touch it. My son is DF & GF so this is a great find. 🙂
Happy Mother’s Day! 🙂
The pasta bake sounds wonderful.
Have a great day!
This is a dish I would devour! I love your addition of the cottage cheese, that sounds really wonderful:-) I love that you celebrated all three occasions, sounds like a perfect weekend to me! Sending love and hugs, Terra
I like pasta and enchiladas but never thought of mixing the two, looks delish! I also love love love those sunflowers 🙂
hi sweetie! Took me a while to get to the bottom of all the lovely comments 😀 Great spicy (RD) post – mmm (make mine tofu though). I just wanted you to know that I nominated you for Versatile Blogger award. Have a visit to my blog (which is not gf today. Sorry) and see what it’s all about. I love your blog and I wanted to let you and others know.
fun pasta recipe with Mexican flavors and wow your hubby knows how to propose
What a creative dish! I love anything Mexican AND pasta, so enchilada pasta is perfection. Looks delicious!
This is such a great meal. I adore pasta. I find when I work out more my body just craves it. I love that you celebrated everything. Made me smile.
Thanks so much for your sweet comment on the post about my dad. I was touched and wanted to let you know it meant so much to me. xx
I’ve got to try this quinoa corn pasta. What a fun pasta idea. I get in the same way too during the week. Your pasta ideas are almost identical to mine every week…lol. I do try to make more veggie pasta dishes when I find something wonderful at our local market. This is something we would all love and is perfect for #pastalove month:)
Thanks Lora! Yes, it’s so easy to get in a pasta rut 🙂 Great reminder to add fresh, local veggies to any pasta dish. Roasted veggies can be especially yummy too!
#pastalove!! Do you have any suggestions of what I could use in place of cottage cheese? I need to make it dairy free for my little guy? This sounds so yummy! 🙂
Cindy
Hi Cindy-I would just omit the cottage cheese, and try using your favorite vegan cheese on top to melt such as Daiya brand. Let me know how it works out 🙂
I love the fusion going on! with all those beans, flavors and deliciousness! #pastalove to u!
Also, Please do drop by fundraiser on my blog, if you have a minute, to bid, or share. I am trying to raise funds through auction of items donated by fellow bloggers for an amazing organization in India. Thanks a bunch! http://hobbyandmore.blogspot.com/p/fundraiser-for-vspca.html
Hi Richa-Thanks so much for the #pastalove! Just went to check on your fundraise, and put a bid on your yummy macaroons 🙂
also what kind of GF pasta brand do you use?
PS~The corn quinoa pasta I use is Ancient Harvest.
this looks delicious!! i love enchiladas :D. you are right, what a great way to change things up…. 🙂 hope you had a wonderful cinco de mayo weekend.
Thanks Junia~it was a fun weekend, and the gluten-free pie my friend made me turned out to be delicious!
this sounds delicious! i’ll definitely have to try a version of this soon!
Thanks Amy! Hope you try it soon 🙂
Loving all the flavors in this delicious goodness…
all that cheeses, sauce, beans…Yum…
I bet this taste divine!!
Thanks so much Reem! I love your simple #pastalove dish too~pesto made with sun dried tomatoes…yum!
Yum, love it and gluten free is perfect too. I’m always looking for ways to incorporate gluten free since my mom is and when I visit her or she visits me I like her to feel like she is not being deprived :). Sending you some #pastalove, I love the sunflowers just beautiful.
Thanks for the #pastalove Suzanne, and glad you like the sunflowers! I love how cheerful the are 🙂 Hope you can make this for you mom some time!
If love love love enchiladas! So having an enchilada in pasta form is such a fantastic idea!! Definitely want to make this! 🙂
Thanks Kristen! I love enchiladas too~hope you give this a try!
You got that right, no complaints on pasta night. Go to pastas I do pesto/peas OR I have butternut squash pasta sauce and Raos that we use in a pinch. My boys play hockey late 2 nights so there’s always pasta making at odd times. This recipe looks great. I have one who isn’t fond of melted cheese (can you imagine?) do you think recipe would still work?
Oo…yes, peas…love peas with pasta!! What is Raos? I’ll have to look that one up! Hmm…odd son that doesn’t care for melted cheese, but you can easily do without 🙂 Just make sure to sauté the onions first if you aren’t baking the pasta, otherwise the flavor might be a little to strong.
Oh, this sounds fantastic! We have pasta at least twice a month and I do tend to get into a rut with it, doing the same things (usually marinara sauce with roasted veggies) again and again. This would be a great way to do something different that’s still fairly easy!
Thanks Kiersten, and so glad you stopped by to say Hi!
Such a nice jolly recipe! My only predicament here is the red enchilada sauce; not sure if I can get such a beast in Scotland. We have a Mexican deli so I will have a venture out and see because this looks like something we would all love here at ‘casa foodtoglow’. If I can’t get it do you have a recipe or know of a good one? We like it spicy! And the whizzed black bean trick is a good one to bump up the fibre too. Btw, the home page of wordpress features a blog with hibiscus margaritas that looks really good. Although yet another ‘iffy’ ingredient for us northern latitude folk… And thanks for the kind big up on your FB page. Still not on it myself, on but I saw the mention on your sidebar.
Hi Kellie~Confession time…..I have never made homemade enchilada sauce before, so I don’t have a good recipe to recommend to you, but I’m sure you could find a good one googling, or maybe someone reading this will share a favorite recipe with you 🙂 Love the idea of a hibiscus margarita~definitely going to look that one up. And, always happy to give a shout out to your healthy and delicious recipes!
Baked Enchilada pasta sounds so innovative, and those photographs look fantastic.
Thanks so much Richgail! Love your spicy and sweet Filipino pasta too 🙂 Happy to celebrate #pastalove with you!
Love this lighter baked pasta dish – Ancient Harvest Quinoa Corn Pasta is also one of our favorites.
Thanks Jeanette! We go through a lot of Ancient Harvest Pasta at our house 🙂 Would love it if you enter a #pastalove dish in to the bloghop~You have so many healthy and delicious recipes on your blog!
What lovely photos!!! And your recipe sounds just delicious. Sending you lots of pastalove this month.
Thank you so much Susan! Happy to celebrate #pastalove with you this month, and your Swiss Chard and Lemon Ricotta pasta is at the top of my list to make!
Great recipe! I love enchilada pasta! Sending you some #pastalove!
Thanks Jessica! I can’t wait to make your delicious lemony pasta dish with ramps and arugala~delicious! Sending #pastalove back at you 🙂
Look at this! You are a culinary genius! I love the combination of pasta and Mexican…2 favs wrapped into one! Cheers to you!
Thanks Teri 🙂 Somehow I couldn’t figure out how to fit the “Kentucky Derby” angle in to my pasta dish. Add a little bourbon???
What a fantastic recipe! Thank you! I might make this instead of the other pasta recipe I Was planning for tomorrow’s dinner…. I tried the Cabot 75% reduced fat yellow cheddar the other day and it was amazing, by the way. How do they do it?!
Enjoy your weekend 🙂
Thanks Gina! I really like the 50 % reduced fat Cabot, because there are no fillers or additives, and unlike many lower fat cheeses, it melts really well, and tastes {to me} like fulll fat cheddar. Never bad to cut back on some cheese calories 🙂 I’d love to know if you make the enchilada back and hear how it turns out for you!
Oh, this looks AMAZING! This would be a hit at our dinner table…loving all the flavors/ingredients! Excellent #PastaLove post!
Thanks so much Liz! I’m loving your “sweet” past idea~Your Nutella and Biscoff Ravioli sound amazing! Just wish there was a gluten-free version of Biscoff 🙂
Really good this one! (lots of) cheese, tomato, spicy sauce… yum!!!!
Sending you some #pastalove!
Thank you Helena! I love your canelone~Mouth watering photos and the recipe sounds delicious too!
Oooh this sounds so good – I too get in pasta ruts as we definitely eat it at least once a week. Good to hear about your favorite gluten-free brands too. Thanks for addition a new recipe to my weekly rotation! Very much like your tequila/lime photo too 🙂
Thanks Deanna-glad to know I’m not the only one who gets in a pasta rut 🙂 Your gnocchi with mushrooms and greens looks divine-can’t wait to try it!
Ha ha,great minds do think alike :)What a coincidence, even I thought of a mexican pasta bake!!!!And using Fusilli :)Great vegetarian version,since I opted for the Non-vegetarian!!Sending you loads of #Pastalove my friend 🙂
Too funny Soni, that we both made a Mexican Pasta dish. We must both be genius’, right? :-). Love your version with the spicy sausage- yum!