Vegetarian Mexican Lasagna for Game Day!

The Big Game Day is right around the corner and I know folks are already prepping for the watch parties. Most parties have the food basics - hot wings, dips, chips but when I was a pescatarian I frequently had a difficult time because there were few choices available to me. Although I have added poultry to my diet, I still want to keep vegetarians and pescatarians in mind when I bring my contribution for the Game Day party. Of course I visited pinterest to find a recipe that fit the bill. I found many interesting things but ended up extremely happy with a Mexican lasagna. It is both vegetarian and a healthy choice coming in at only 265 calories a serving!

The Mexican lasagna was really easy to make and I picked up all of my items at Walmart. Mexican lasagna is different from regular lasagna for a number of reasons but primarily because instead of using pasta noodles, corn tortillas are used.

I am a big fan of Mexican food and am an elitist when it comes to my tortillas, in my opinion, corn is the only way to go! I found Mission Corn tortillas for $1.68. I only used 4 so I am freezing the rest for use in future recipes. For protein I used refried beans and a plant based protein - Beyond Beef beefy crumbles ($3.98). 

If you eat meat, you can of course use ground beef, turkey or chicken. Another difference is that I used Great Value 1% milk fat cottage cheese and Great Value cheddar cheese for a topping. I also used a favorite that I always have in my pantry - Rotel diced tomatoes with green chilies($2.11).

I am completely pleased with the outcome of my Mexican lasagna. It was simple to assemble, it took less than 15 minutes! I baked for 45 minutes and it was done. I can’t wait to share my creation next Sunday and I am definitely adding this recipe to my dinner rotation. I will be cutting up my lasagna and freezing squares for future dinners. Low calorie, low fat and delicious? Perfect for the Big Game and any day!

Vegetarian Healthier Mexican Lasagna

1 1/2 cup 1% cottage cheese

1 tablespoon chili powder

1 cup meat substitute crumbles

1/2 cup frozen corn

1/2 can Rotel diced tomatoes and green chilies

2/3 cup tomato sauce

4 corn tortillas cut into fourths

1 can refried beans

2/3 cup salsa

1/4 cup cheddar cheese

Method

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Coat 9 inch casserole dish with cooking spray

Mix cottage cheese, crumbles, corn and tomatoes in bowl. Add chilli powder and mix.

Pour pasta sauce in bottom of dish. Place 8 tortilla pieces on top of sauce. Heat refried beans and spread on top of tortillas. Layer remaining tortillas. Spread cottage cheese mixture on top of tortillas. Cover with aluminum foil, bake for 30 minutes. Remove from oven, top with salsa and cheddar cheese. Cook for an additional 15 minutes. Enjoy!