Southwestern Black Bean Casserole (Dump and Bake)

by Caitlin Shoemaker

updated on

GFGluten FreeNFNut FreeOFOil FreeVVegan

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This dump-and-bake Southwestern Black Bean Casserole is full of veggies and flavor with minimal hands-on time in the kitchen! Quick, easy, and plant-based.

Hey, hi, hello. I’m at it again with another Dump-and-Bake Casserole!  

This time, we’re going south – for flavor, that is! This hearty Southwestern Black Bean Casserole is full of those classic Tex Mex flavors you love, with minimal hands-on time. Oh yeah, and maximum flavor.

white plate filled with southwestern black bean casserole, avocado, cilantro, and chipotle mayo on marble background

INGREDIENTS YOU’LL NEED:

ingredients for southwest black bean casserole arranged in white baking dish

Not only is this casserole quick & easy, but it’s also made from only 9 plant-based ingredients:

  • Black Beans: for fiber, plant-protein, and heartiness!
  • Uncooked Brown Rice: for complex carbs, and rice just goes with beans, right?
  • Vegetable Broth: to cook our rice (and add more flavor)
  • Salsa: for some Tex-Mex oooomph
  • Nutritional Yeast: for a subtle cheesy flavor, sans dairy
  • Peppers & Onions: for some veggies, and again – southwest flavor!

HOW TO MAKE SOUTHWESTERN BLACK BEAN CASSEROLE

southwest black bean casserole in baking dish before cookingblack bean casserole in baking dish after cooking

  1. Layer your uncooked ingredients in a casserole dish
  2. Heat the liquid, salsa, and spices on the stove,
  3. Pour into the casserole, cover, and bake for an hour

Bringing just the right amount of liquid to a boil before pouring it over the casserole allows for the rice to cook to soft and fluffy perfection. Now sad, soggy leftovers to see here! Speaking of leftovers, this recipe is great for meal prep – leftovers can be reheated in the microwave, oven, or in a non-stick skillet with a touch of oil or water.

southwestern black bean casserole topped with cilantro, avocado, and chipotle mayo

This Southwestern Black Bean Casserole is great as-is, but I also like to deck my casserole out with some freshly chopped cilantro, avocado, and my vegan chipotle mayo. But hey, you do you! It would also be great alongside some chips & guacamole, more homemade salsa, or maybe even some avocado fries.

If you’re looking for more dump-and-bake recipes, you’ll also love this Buffalo Cauliflower Chickpea Casserole and this Cheesy Broccoli Rice Casserole!

Finally, if you make this recipe and decide to share it on Facebook or Instagram, don’t forget to tag me @FromMyBowl + #FromMyBowl! I love seeing your delicious recreations 🙂

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Southwestern Black Bean Casserole

southwestern black bean casserole topped with cilantro and avocado in white baking dish on marble background
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★★★★★

4.9 from 42 reviews

This dump-and-bake Southwestern Black Bean Casserole is full of veggies and flavor with minimal hands-on time in the kitchen! Quick, easy, and plant-based.

  • Author: Caitlin Shoemaker
  • Prep Time: 10 Minutes
  • Cook Time: 60 Minutes
  • Total Time: 1 hour 10 minutes
  • Yield: Serves 4 to 6 1x
  • Category: Main
  • Method: Oven
  • Cuisine: American

Ingredients

Scale
  • 1 3/4 cups (415 ml) low-sodium vegetable broth (homemade or store-bought)
  • 1 cup (~ 250 g) chunky salsa
  • 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast 
  • 1 red bell pepper, diced
  • 1 green bell pepper, diced
  • 1/2 yellow onion, diced
  • 2 cans (510 g) canned black beans, drained and rinsed; about 2 3/4 cups
  • 1 cup (182 g) uncooked brown rice 
  • 1/2 bunch cilantro leaves, chopped
  • Optional toppings: Chipotle Mayo, avocado, fresh tomatoes

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 400F. Mix the vegetable broth, salsa, and nutritional yeast together in a medium pot and bring to a boil over high heat. 
  2. While the liquid is heating up, spread peppers and onion evenly across a 9×13″ pan or casserole dish. Sprinkle the black beans over the veggies, then add the uncooked rice on top.
  3. Remove the vegetable broth from the heat once it comes to a boil and pour evenly over the casserole dish. Cover the casserole with aluminum foil (or parchment paper, followed by aluminum foil) and bake in the middle rack of the oven for 60 minutes.
  4. Remove from the oven and top with fresh cilantro, avocado, and chipotle mayo (or serve as desired). Refrigerate leftovers in a sealed container for up to one week, or in the freezer for up to one month.

Notes

  • Substitutions: black beans can be swapped for another bean (pinto, garbanzo, etc). There are no substitutions for the brown rice – other grains require different cooking times and absorb different amounts of liquid

Keywords: southwestern casserole vegan, vegan black bean casserole, black bean casserole, bean and rice casserole, tex mex casserole

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About the Author

Hey there, I’m Caitlin! I make easy-to-follow, wholesome, and budget-friendly vegan recipes that are mostly gluten-free and refined sugar-free. I’m also an avid yogi, love the great outdoors, am chocolate-obsessed, and enjoy eating almond butter straight off of the spoon.

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Comments

  1. Just made this Caitlin, turned out fantastic! Thank you for this easy, healthy and delicious option.

    ★★★★★

    Reply

  3. I make some variation of this pretty often, with whatever I have on hand, and you can absolutely sub white rice! Just use about 1.25 cups liquid, and take the temp down to 350-375 F depending on how hot your oven runs. I use 375. Cook for 45 minutes instead of 60. I also love cutting this recipe in half, cause I only have myself to cook for…. Really great way to use up any leftover veg, too.

    ★★★★★

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  4. This recipe was awesome. I ate it with sliced avocado and a homemade cheesy walnut sauce. I also added some corn. Thanks for your great recipe creations!

    ★★★★★

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  5. I tried this and I loved it! But I wanted to know how would I make this in the instant pot?

    ★★★★★

    Reply

  6. WHOLEY BEAN CASSEROLE GUACAMOLEY. I am in awe. So freaking delicious. The combo of the chipotle mayo and cilantro was the cherry on top. I will definitely be making this again!!! Being a 22 year old in an apartment with little space and time, this was budget friendly, time friendly & space friendly!
    I used sushi brown rice, and was happy to find that the recipe was easily adjusted. I also ended up adding extra broth by accident since I didn’t want to do the math when using the Better than Bouillon veggie broth paste, so I just let it cook a little longer and stirred occasionally! 🙂 20/10 would recommend.

    ★★★★★

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  7. This is a yummy recipe and very easy to follow but not sure what I done wrong! I needed to add a little bit more liquid as my rice wasn’t cooked. Well some was and some wasn’t ???? so I added a bit more liquid and returned to the oven. After about 20 minutes and a little stir it was fine! Could be the chef, the oven or the rice ???? who knows?!?

    ★★★★

    Reply

    1. You made sure to pour the broth on top and then cover with foil right? If so then maybe it was just a case of not building up enough moisture/steam within the casserole dish!

      Reply

      1. Omg this was so awesome and soooo easy. I love a dimp and cook casserole!
        I topped it w a cashew/sour cream..diced tomatoes..green onions & sliced olives.
        I could eat this daily!!
        Thx,
        Linda

        ★★★★★

      2. So happy you enjoyed it so much! We really love the dump and bake casseroles as well!

  9. So good and so easy! This recipe would be perfect for quick meal prep. I ended up using frozen peppers since that is what I already had at home and it worked out perfectly. I topped mine with the Trader Joe’s Fiesta Dip and pico de gallo.

    ★★★★★

    Reply

    1. That should work out fine! Since it’ll be a little thicker because of the smaller dish you may just need to let it cook slightly longer. If the top seems like its getting a little too crispy too quickly you can put a piece of foil on top of the dish.

      Reply

  11. I wanted to give some reassurance that this absolutely works! Personally when I put in the liquid it all went to the bottom and my rice, which I added last, stayed on top mostly untouched, so I gently pushed the top layer down a bit just to make sure all rice seemed mostly in contact with liquid. This may be made easier by just adding the rice before the beans, but either way don’t fret if you have to mix things to make sure it’s all submerged. I used a can of diced tomatoes instead of salsa bc that’s what I had, I also added a can of corn, and I used my homemade yogurt for Chipotle “sour cream” in lieu of mayo and it was perfect!! I did “Veganuary” with my partner and we enjoyed it so much that we’ve decided to stay generally plant-based, and recipes like these make it so so easy. Can’t wait to try the next one!

    ★★★★★

    Reply

    1. Thanks so much for the detailed info! Also glad you guys are staying on to do some plant based recipes beyond veganuary!

      Reply

  12. Just made this casserole and it smelled delicious while it was in the oven- and the flavor was even better! Thank you for such a a quick, easy, tasty and nutritious breakfast that will definitely be going into my meal prep rotation!

    ★★★★★

    Reply

  14. Hi,
    Could you let me know where I can find other dump and bake recipes from you, if you have a special section for them or can provide a link please? This looked so great that I’d love to try others as well. 🙂
    Thanks

    Reply

  15. Hi this is a great recipe! I did see ur note but just wondering about the brown rice: can I substitute an equal amount of quinoa? I cook my quinoa the exact same way I do brown rice in a rice cooker so I was wondering if you think it would cook the same as the rice in this recipe if I like it like that? Also, can I add other vegetables into the mix like carrots, corns, and greens like kale/spinach? Thanks so much!

    Reply

    1. Quinoa cooks for a shorter period of time, so I’m not sure that would work. I havent tried it myself! You can definitely add extra vegetables though 🙂

      Reply

  16. This was so easy to make and it turned out absolutely delicious! Definitely going to be making this again soon. Thanks for the recipe 🙂

    ★★★★★

    Reply

  18. I love your dump and bake recipes! They are so easy for me to throw together for meal prep with my busy school schedule. Just made this the second I saw it and I am not disappointed!

    ★★★★★

    Reply

  19. your email came in just as i was about to decide what to make for lunch. and this seemed easy enough. i had all ingredients except for the chunky salsa so i used the tomatillo salsa i had. the taste is wonderful! every bite better than the last according to my partner. the ingredients can’t describe how good this is. for the chipotle mayo i used vegan mayo with chipotle in adobe sauce and lime, also worked perfect.

    ★★★★★

    Reply

    2. This is by far my now quarantine go-to! And so delcious!! I zhoozed it up with olives & vegan cheese — tonight gonna throw in a bag of corn just for fun 🙂 Thanks so much!!!

      ★★★★★

      Reply

      1. Just for fun! Love it, thanks for making it and having fun with it!