Comforting Mexican Lasagna with Noodles

Green chiles, chorizo bolognese sauce, creamy layers of pasta and three different cheeses make this Mexican Lasagna with noodles the ultimate comfort food and your next potluck’s best friend. {First posted November 12, 2019. Last updated January 17, 2022}

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You know what I discovered yesterday? I have NEVER made lasagna for my children.

I thought surely, sometime in the last eleven years I would’ve made it at least once, but they both assured me as we were sitting down to plates of this beautiful Mexican lasagna last night that they had only eaten lasagna once in their entire lives and that was on an overseas flight two summers ago—for shame.

Therefore, I am forever grateful that my friends at Rio Luna Organics asked me to create something crowd pleasing and special using their green chiles for tailgating season because this Mexican Lasagna Recipe gave me major mom points.

Unlock the power of peppers indeed!

4 Reasons To Make This Mexican Lasagna with Noodles for Your Next Game Day Get Together

Need convincing? I’ve got at least four reasons to make this cheesy Mexican lasagna for your friends and family this weekend:

1. Green chiles and Mexican chorizo make the world’s BEST bolognese sauce.
2. You can totally make this ahead of time by assembling the layers and then baking when you are ready to serve. If you want to make it way ahead it freezes beautifully too!
3. Lasagna sounds really time-consuming and difficult but by using no boil noodles and a 20-minute bolognese sauce, it really doesn’t take that long at all.
4. This recipe feeds a crowd and is easy to transport, making it the perfect potluck dish!

Pro-Tips for Cooking Mexican Chorizo

If you’ve never made any recipes with chorizo before, you may be surprised by how different it is from other sausages.

• Mexican chorizo is a raw, ground sausage. Very different from Spanish chorizo which is a cured sausage, more like salami.
• It doesn’t “brown” so much as cook down into a crumbly, thick, almost sauce-like consistency.
• Mexican chorizo has a lot of fat (which makes it so delicious). If you want to pour off some of the fat before adding the other sauce ingredients you can, but I like to leave it in for the flavor.
• There is beef chorizo and pork chorizo. I like to use a combination of both in this recipe, but you can use all beef or all pork if you prefer.
• Get extra bonus points for making your own homemade chorizo!
• Lastly, if you are watching your saturated fat, substitute black beans.

How To Make Mexican Lasagna with Noodles

There are lots of different ways to make a lasagna with Mexican flavors. Some recipes call for cooked beef flavored with taco seasonings, some use refried beans or even enchilada sauce. I think this is a perfect mash-up of Italian style lasagna with more subtle Mexican touches.

1. The first step is to make the meat sauce. Cook the vegetables until tender then add the chorizo. Keep cooking until the meat mixture is no longer pink. Add diced tomatoes and other seasonings and let cook about 30 minutes.
2. Make the cheese mixture.
3. Cover the bottom of a casserole dish with the sauce. Top with a layer of lasagna noodles. Spread with a third of the cheese mixture and a third of the mozzarella slices (or about 1/2 cups shredded Oaxaca cheese.
4. Repeat layers in the baking pan finishing with the remaining mozzarella slices and Cotija cheese.
5. Bake until the cheese is melted and the sauce is bubbly.

Favorite Mexican Cheeses for Lasagna

The best part of lasagna is the cheese, amiright?! Here’s what I used to give this one Mexican flair:

• Requesón is a soft, milky cheese. Substitute whole-milk ricotta if you can’t find it.
• Cotija cheese has a sharp, tangy flavor and crumbles beautifully. It is widely available in most grocery stores.
• I used fresh mozzarella for it’s melty quality but you could also use Oaxaca cheese if you’d like.

Is it Spicy?

Compared to many other Mexican dinner ideas, this lasagna is fairly mild. As proof, my kids gobbled it up with no complaints—they’re mildly sensitive to heat.

Keep in mind the chorizo you use will pack some heat as well. You can always cook a little of the chorizo in a separate pan to find out how spicy it is before adding the entire amount to a dish.

Love this recipe? Here’s One (or Two) More You’ve Got To Try

Vegetarian Black Bean Enchilada Casserole

This recipe for Black Bean Enchilada Casserole has eight layers of tortillas, black beans, roasted vegetables, and cheese making it the most delicious ever! Bake in the oven, on a deep casserole dish until the cheese is melted and bubbly. in under 30 minutes! A healthy, plant-based dinner, perfect for Sunday family dinner.

Weeknight Cheesy Enchiladas

Or try this more Tex-Mex style cheesy enchiladas from my new cookbook, Plant Powered Mexican out now!

More Mexican Comfort Food Recipes To Try!

• Authentic Chile Relleno Recipe
• Cheddar Bacon Jalapeño Poppers
• Slow Cooker Caldo de Pollo
• Smoky Chipotle Guacamole
• Vegan Pozole Recipe
• Spicy Vegan Enchilada Recipe
• Authentic Tres Leches Cake

Homemade Mexican Lasagna— Totally Doable, Right?

After making this recipe my thoughts about lasagna being fussy and a lot of work have totally changed. Hopefully, I’ve convinced you along the way! I’ll be making this one again for sure. Let me know if you make it too by snapping a photo and sharing it with me or drop me a comment below. Tag @holajalapeno or #holajalapeno on Instagram. ¡Buen Provecho!

In support of this small business, ¡Hola! Jalapeño earns revenue in a few different ways. Several sponsored posts are published each month, like this one which was sponsored by Rio Luna Organics. I also earn an affiliate commission on the sales of products I link to— there are a few of those links in this post. I only feature items I genuinely love and personally use on a regular basis. This commission is an arrangement between the retailer and ¡Hola! Jalapeño (readers never pay more for products). This income allows me to run the site. Thank you for reading!