Mexican Lasagna Casserole (Slow Cooker or Oven)
Make this Mexican Lasagna Casserole in the Casserole CrockPot, a large oval slow cooker, or in a casserole dish in the oven. And if you use low-carb tortillas, this family friendly dinner idea will be low in net carbs!
PIN the Mexican Lasagna to try it later!
Mexican Lasagna is a casserole recipe that was inspired by the Casserole Crock Slow Cooker shaped like a casserole dish and My Favorite Low-Carb Tortillas. And slow cookers are making a comeback, but you can bake this layered Mexican casserole in the oven if the idea of using the slow cooker doesn’t appeal to you.
And Mexican Lasagna is a family-friendly dinner that everyone in the house is probably going to like, and no one will guess it’s made with low-carb tortillas. And if you’re lucky you might have leftovers to freeze or to enjoy for another meal. Hope you’ll try this Mexican Lasagna soon for a tasty dinner option!
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What ingredients do you need for this recipe?
(This is only a list of ingredients; please scroll down for complete printable recipe. Or if you use the JUMP TO RECIPE link at the top of the page, it will take you directly to the complete recipe.)
- Olive Oil (affiliate link)
- ground beef
- onion
- Kalyn’s Taco Seasoning (or your favorite purchased taco seasoning)
- Pace Picante Sauce (affiliate link) or your favorite low-sugar salsa
- Ro-Tel Tomatoes (affiliate link)
- Mission Carb Balance Whole Wheat Tortillas (affiliate link), or other low-carb tortilla of your choice
- cottage cheese
- canned diced green chiles (affiliate link)
- eggs
- grated Mexican Cheese Blend
What is Mexican Lasagna?
Mexican Lasagna is a casserole where tortillas take the place of lasagna noodles and the dish is seasoned with Mexican flavors! And what’s not to like about a tasty lasagna-inspired Mexican casserole with spicy ground beef, salsa, Ro-Tel tomatoes, low-carb tortillas, green chiles, cottage cheese, grated cheese, and just enough eggs to hold it together?
Is the Mexican Lasagna Casserole low in carbs?
If you use low-carb tortillas this casserole will have 9.3 net carbs per serving and 41.6 grams of protein!
What Slow Cooker Did I Use for Mexican Lasagna?
A layered Mexican dish like this worked perfectly in the Crock-Pot Casserole Crock Slow Cooker (affiliate link), and I’m definitely a fan of that slow cooker. But if you don’t have the slow cooker shaped like a casserole dish you can make this in a large oval slow cooker.
Can you cook the Mexican Lasagna in the oven?
p style=”text-align: justify;”>I’m adding an option to the recipe for baking this casserole in the oven, after a reader reported she tried it that way and it worked great.
How spicy are Ro-Tel Tomatoes?
If you’re making this Mexican Lasagna for kids, I would stick with the “mild” variety of Ro-Tel tomatoes, unless your kids really like spicy food. Notice that Ro-Tel comes in smaller cans than normal canned tomatoes; you can use a different brand but you’ll have to simmer a bit longer.
What Low-Carb Tortillas do I use for Mexican Lasagna?
I”m a fan of Mission Carb Balance Low-Carb Tortillas (affiliate link) and that’s what I used for this recipe. (I used the whole wheat variety but all the carb balance tortillas are low in carbs.
How to make Mexican Lasagna Casserole (Slow Cooker or Oven):
(This is only a summary of the steps for the recipe; please scroll down for complete printable recipe. Or if you use the JUMP TO RECIPE link at the top of the page, it will take you directly to the complete recipe.)
- Brown lean ground beef; then add chopped onions and cook a few minutes more.
- Add Kalyn’s Taco Seasoning, salsa, and Ro-Tel tomatoes and simmer until mixture is quite dry.
- While that cooks, mix cottage cheese, diced green chiles, eggs, and 1 cup of grated cheese.
- Cut the low-carb tortillas in half so you have a straight edge to go along the sides of the slow cooker.
- Spray slow cooker with non-stick spray and make a layer of tortillas; then layer half the spicy beef mixture, half the cottage cheese, and 1 cup of grated cheese.
- Make a second layer of tortillas, spicy beef, cottage cheese mixture, and cheese. If you look hard you’ll see the casserole crock is a bit fuller in the second photo!
- Cook on high about 2.5 hours, or until it’s bubbling and the cheese is nicely melted.
- If you’re using the Crock-Pot Casserole Crock Slow Cooker (affiliate link) you can brown the casserole a bit in a 400F/200C oven for about 15 minutes, but that step is optional.
- Serve hot, garnished with sliced green onions if desired.
- Scroll down to the complete recipe for instructions for baking Mexican Lasagna in the oven if you prefer that method.
What more ideas for low-carb tortillas?
Check out Recipes with Low-Carb Tortillas to see lots more ideas for tasty low-carb Mexican food!
Weekend Food Prep:
This recipe for Mexican Lasagna Casserole (Slow Cooker or Oven) has been added to a category called Weekend Food Prep to help you find recipes you can prep or cook on the weekend and eat during the week!
Mexican Lasagna Casserole (Slow Cooker or Oven)
Use low-carb tortillas to make this delicious Mexican Lasagna Casserole made with low-carb tortillas. And this can be cooked in a slow cooker or in a casserole dish in the oven!
Ingredients
- 1 T olive oil
- 2 lbs. lean ground beef
- 1 onion, chopped small
- 1 T Kalyn’s Taco Seasoning (or use your favorite purchased taco seasoning)
- 1 cup Pace Picante Sauce (see notes)
- 2 cans (10 oz. can) Ro-Tel Tomatoes and Green Chiles (see notes)
- 6 low-carb tortillas, cut in half (see notes)
- 2 cups cottage cheese
- 1 can (4 oz.) diced green chiles, drained
- 2 eggs
- 3 cups grated Mexican Cheese Blend (see notes)
Instructions
- Heat the oil in a large heavy frying pan, add the ground beef, breaking it apart with your fingers, and cook over medium-high heat until the beef is browned and cooked through. Break beef apart with a turner or old fashioned potato masher (affiliate link) as it cooks so it’s in small pieces.
- When the beef is done, push it over to the side, add a little more oil if needed, and cook the diced onion for a few minutes; then mix the onion with the beef.
- Add Kalyn’s Taco Seasoning, salsa, and Ro-Tel tomatoes and simmer over low heat until most of the liquid has evaporated and when you draw a turner across the bottom of the pan you don’t see any liquid.
- While beef mixture cooks, mix together the cottage cheese, drained green chiles, eggs, and 1 cup of the cheese.
- Cut the tortillas in half with kitchen shears and spray the slow cooker insert with non-stick spray.
- In the crockery casserole dish insert, make a layer of tortillas, using the cut side of the tortillas to go along the straight sides. Use the least amount of tortillas you can to cover the bottom.
- Make a layer of half the spicy meat mixture, half the cottage cheese mixture, and one cup of the grated cheese (or more). Then make a second layer each of the tortillas, meat mixture, cottage cheese mixture, and grated cheese.
- Cover the slow cooker and cook on HIGH for about 2 1/2 hours or until the casserole is bubbling and the cheese is nicely melted. (I carefully lift the lid on the Crock-Pot Casserole Crock Slow Cooker at least once during the cooking time and pour off any accumulated liquid.)
- If you’re using the Casserole Crock, you can brown the finished dish in a 400F/200C oven for about 15 minutes if desired, but that step is completely optional. (Crock-Pot doesn’t recommend putting the casserole crock under the broiler.)
Oven Directions:
- If you want to try this in the oven, a reader reported she baked it for 45 minutes and it turned out perfectly and was a hit with her husband.
- I’d use 375F/190C if you’re baking it in a casserole dish and spray the casserole dish with non-stick spray.!
- Follow all the instructions above for cooking the beef, simmering with tomatoes, mixing cottage cheese mixture, and layering it into a casserole dish.
Notes
I used Kalyn’s Taco Seasoning, Pace Picante Sauce Medium, Ro-Tel Tomatoes and Green Chiles, and Mission Carb-Balance Whole Wheat Low-Carb Tortillas for this Mexican Lasagna recipe. (affiliate links)
Use MILD Ro-Tel tomatoes if you're making this for kids.
I used Mexican Blend Cheese from Costco.
This will keep in the fridge for quite a few days and can be reheated in the microwave. I’m guessing it also freezes well, although I haven’t had any leftovers to freeze yet!
Recipe created by Kalyn and Kara and inspired by the Crock-Pot Casserole Crock Slow Cooker, and Mission Carb-Balance Low-Carb Tortillas.
Nutrition Information
Yield
10Serving Size
1Amount Per Serving Calories 593Total Fat 26.8gSaturated Fat 11.6gUnsaturated Fat 10.9gCholesterol 157mgSodium 823mgCarbohydrates 20.3gFiber 11gSugar 6gProtein 41.6g
Nutrition information is automatically calculated by the Recipe Plug-In I am using. I am not a nutritionist and cannot guarantee 100% accuracy, since many variables affect those calculations.
Low-Carb Diet Low-Glycemic Diet / South Beach Diet Suggestions:
If you use the low-carb tortillas I recommend or a similar product, this Mexican Lasagna recipe has 9.3 net carbs in a serving. (That’s based on 10 servings; some people might want a larger serving so adjust accordingly.) If made with whole-grain tortillas, lean beef, and low-fat cheese, this dish would be suitable for phase 2 of the original South Beach Diet.
Find More Recipes Like This One:
Use Casserole Recipes to find more recipes like this one. Use the Diet Type Index to find more recipes suitable for a specific eating plan. You might also like to follow Kalyn’s Kitchen on Pinterest, on Facebook, on Instagram, on TikTok, or on YouTube to see all the good recipes I’m sharing there.
Historical Notes for this Recipe:
The Mexican Lasagna Casserole was first posted in 2016. It was last updated with more information in 2025.
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29 Comments on “Mexican Lasagna Casserole (Slow Cooker or Oven)”
I made this in the oven with almond flour tortillas. The tortillas were very mushy:/ but the casserole is delicious and I will definitely make this again. Maybe leaving out the tortillas!?
I’m glad you like it! I haven’t tried this with almond flour tortillas; maybe try another type of tortilla?
I made this earlier this week in the casserole slow cooker. Instead of two pounds of beef, I used one beef and one chorizo sausage. It was excellent! All raved about it and still raving about the leftovers! Definitely going into the rotation for dinners… Thank you Kalyn!
So glad you enjoyed it, and I love that idea of using partly Chorizo!
Hi there, what size casserole dish would you recommend, I don’t have a slow cooker insert so we’ll have to do this in the oven. TIA
The inside measurement of the Casserole Crock-Pot is just slightly less than 9″ x13″ so anything close to that size should be good.
We made this tonight and it was delicious. I used shredded chicken instead of ground beef. I also did ricotta cheese instead of cottage cheese. We will definitely be making this again.
So glad you enjoyed it and were able to adapt it to your own preferences!
I think the measurements for cottage cheese & cheese are too small. Did not have enough to really cover on each layer. 3 cups if cottage cheese and 4 cups of shredded cheese would be better. JMO. 😀
You can definitely use more if you prefer. Sometimes people scold me for using “too much cheese” so maybe I am too cautious!
I made this for my family, we started low carb recently. I put in 6 tablespoons of taco seasoning, we like spice. I also made this in my slow cooker on low for 5 hours. Turned out great. Thank you, the leftovers won’t last long.
Oh good, so glad you guys enjoyed it!
Made this tonight it was great ! My family just started low carb and it was a big hit !
I also substituted black beans for meat and made a vegetarian one for myself . Both in the oven for 40 mins at 375
Glad you enjoyed it!
I just found this recipe. I know this sounds weird, but do you think I could make this as just a casserole with out the tortillas? It sounds amazing!
I wonder about the amount of liquid, since some is absorbed into the tortillas. But yes, I think the taste would be good without tortillas. If you’re eliminating tortillas because of the carbs, you might look in Casseroles where there are a few recipes that are similar with lower-carb ingredients like cauliflower rice or whole green chiles layered with spicy beef.
Great – I will look in the casseroles too!
Could you substitute the cottage cheese?
You could probably use ricotta if that’s what you’re thinking, but I haven’t tried it that way and I’m not sure how it will impact the wetness of the dish. (Getting too wet is the biggest issue with lasagna in the slow cooker.) If you’re cooking in the oven it probably won’t matter.
I made this as directed (using Impossible Beef) and baked in the oven. It was delicious, it might have even better in the crockpot. I might add more Taco seasoning next time. Served it with traditional taco toppings and avocado slices. Yum! Thank you!
if you want to store leftovers, put the entire crock pot in the fridge until cooled completely. Then portion out the servings. The fats will have solidified and the servings won’t fall apart when removing from the pot
Hi Kalyn, this sounds delish but my crockpot doesn't have an insert. Any ideas how it would turn it to put it straight in the crockpot? I'm guessing the biggest downside is going to be getting it out of the crockpot to store the leftovers! Not sure if the insert does something magical or if it changes the cooking time. thanks for all your great recipes and ideas!
Hi Marcia, glad you are enjoying the recipes. If you have a round, deep slow cooker, I'm not sure how that will work for this recipe. It's not that it's a separate part, but the crock is in the shape of a casserole for this model, so the layers are much thinner than they'll be in a smaller deeper slow cooker. And you're right, it will be hard to get it out. But let me know how it works if you try it, I am curious!
I want this to cook while I am at work, how long can I cook this in the crockpot on low?
I honestly have no idea how it would work to cook this all day on low, since I've never done it that way, but I kind of doubt that the flour tortillas will hold up to that long of a cooking time. But as I said, I really don't know. Maybe just try it; it will probably be edible, even if the tortillas get a bit mushy. Love to hear how it works if you do try it!
Thanks for posting that, Jody! I was wondering about using the oven instead of the slow cooker!
Yes, I am glad she confirmed that would work!
This was very good. My husband loved it. I baked it in my oven for 45 minutes instead of the slow cooker.
Thanks for sharing that Jody, sorry I missed this comment yesterday!