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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.
INGREDIENTS YOU’LL NEED:
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
- Layer your uncooked ingredients in a casserole dish
- Heat the liquid, salsa, and spices on the stove,
- 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.
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 🙂
PrintSouthwestern Black Bean Casserole
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.
- 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
- 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
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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
I made this last night in the Instant Pot. I reduced the broth to 1 cup. All other measurements were the same. I sautéed the peppers and onions in the instant pot before adding the remaining ingredients. You could definitely skip that step if you wanted a true “dump” recipe. I cooked it for 21 minutes on high pressure and waited 20 minutes before releasing remaining steam. Perfect. I served it with Caitlin’s chipotle mayo recipe. Tasty!!
★★★★★
Thank you for the review, Lue!
Hi! This looks amazing. I have a question though- can I make it completely and then freeze it? Thanks!
Yes, definitely!
So yummy! Made this for dinner last night and it was delicious!! Topped with cilantro, tomatoes, creamy chipotle sauce and avocado! Will be adding this to my favorites for sure!
★★★★★
Thank you so much, Cheryl! Glad you loved it!
I would like to add TVP or meatless crumbles to this to up the protein but I’m wondering if I’ll need to add extra liquid? I don’t want extra ingredients to eat up the water that’s meant to cook the rice, but I would definitely like to add this element for added nutritional value. I’d love to hear your thoughts!
Wow! I cook very often… I know my way around a recipe… This was a 10/10..I followed the recipe to a T besides sprinkling some salt and Taco seasoning on top before baking.. Served it with some steamed flour tortillas and fresh chopped onion, tomato, lettuce and sourcream… Everyone got seconds! Thank you!
★★★★★
This means a lot. Thank you so much, Erin! 😊
Turned out perfectly! I’ve been trying a new dump-and-bake of yours every week!
★★★★★
Nice, Thank you for trying our recipes. 🙂
Very good! Healthy, easy to make. What’s not to love!
★★★★★
Thank you, Lois! ♥
I’m new to plant based eating and I keep making this recipe weekly… I add garden grown jalapeños…so yummy!
★★★★★
Thank you, Holly! I’m glad to be part of your plant-based eating journey!
You think a instant pot would work?
It could in theory, but I don’t think the liquid ratio would be the same. If you want to try it out and experiment, let me know how it goes!
Denise–I used the Instant Pot last night. Reduce the broth to 1 cup. I cooked it 21 minutes on high pressure and waited 20 minutes to release remaining steam.
Delicious! Great flavors and very easy to make. I used one can of black beans and one can of pinto beans. Next time I’ll try the zucchini and corn recommendations. I’m definitely adding this recipe to my regular rotation.
★★★★★
I love to hear that, thanks Sara!
Hi! I’m excited to try this recipe! I’m protein deficient and trying to boost it up – do you possibly have the grams of protein per serving? I couldn’t find the nutrition facts (sorry if I missed them somewhere! 🥴)
Thank you!
I don’t include nutrition facts on the blog, but there are lots of free websites where you can calculate it yourself!
Home run, Caitlin! My family loves this recipe! The second time I wanted to make it I didn’t have peppers, so I used zucchini instead. I also added frozen corn like I saw others did in the comments, but I added it to the broth and salsa mix so it wouldn’t change the temp of the assembled dish or the cooking time. Worked out great!
Thanks for another amazing recipe! My 6 year old and I love watching your videos and trying out new recipes. You’re part of our homeschooling curriculum. ????
Love ya sister!
★★★★★
Wanted to let you know that I halved the ingredients and used a smaller pan. It worked perfectly! Thank you for a wonderful recipe.
★★★★★
Hi Caitlin,
This recipe was wonderful! So easy, quick and delish. I used one can of black beans and one can of pinto beans. We don’t care for cilantro, so I left it out. Individually we added gauc, kitehill sour cream, and tortilla chips. A complete dinner, thank you!!
★★★★★
delicious! for anyone out there worried about substitutions, I always cook this with little variations. I usually do Spanish rice as I love the flavor, and I reduce the cook time down to 45 minutes uncovered. I don’t use a casserole dish so I’m not sure how the dimensions also change the cook time. one thing I’ve done to make sure that the rice cooks through all the way is to place the rice layer towards the bottom underneath the beans. I also use pinto beans instead, and add more peppers. Overall, making changes seems to work out fine as long as you watch it and compensate when things don’t work perfectly!
★★★★★
I was going to make mexican lasagna, which I love, but it does have a bit more prep than I was feeling tonight. I stumbled on your recipe and made it even easier by using a frozen pepper and onion mixture. I also added frozen corn. Because of the cold ingredients, I did find it necessary to cook about 15 minutes longer to get the rice to fully absorb the liquid. So impressed with how easy and tasty. Thank you.
★★★★★
Yay! I’m glad this was a good substitute and that you enjoyed it!
This recipe is amazing! It’s one of my go-to recipes now! Sometimes, I add a can of corn and some zucchini to it as well. I have adapted it to other cuisines as well. I now use this recipe to make cajun red beans and rice and I’ve done an Indian one with chickpeas as well. It’s saved my weeknight dinners! This is just as easy and a lot healthier than takeout!
Those sound awesome! What a fun way to adapt the base recipe!
Could you describe how you adjust it to make cajun red beans and rice? Wouldn’t mind knowing about the Indian one with chickpeas either…
Hi Amelia! For the red beans and rice, I do the peppers and onions with the rice and change the beans to kidney beans. Then I use a cup of diced tomatoes instead of salsa and add cajun seasoning. Super easy! For the Indian recipe, I use only onions, no peppers. You can also add some garlic or put garlic powder in the spice mix. Then I sub chickpeas for the black beans. With the broth, I use diced tomatoes or sometimes I use Rotel if I’m feeling spicy! lol Then I use a mix of spices: 1 TBSP amchur powder (which you can get on Amazon or in an Indian grocery), 1 tsp coriander, 1 tsp cumin, 1 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp cardamom, 1/4-1/2 tsp cayenne pepper. I add that to the broth mixture that is poured over the rice and beans. It turned out really well. I’m thinking of trying a Tuscan white bean mix with this recipe and using cannellini beans and kale and put tomatoes and Italian seasoning in the broth mix. We’ll see how that turns out! : )
What can I sub for nutritional yeast?
There isn’t really a substitution for nutritional yeast, for this recipe you could omit it if you don’t have it!
This recipe is easy to follow and a a good cheap meal. I think I would add salt if I made it again.
★★★★
Thank you!
Do you think I could sub broccoli and cauliflower for the peppers? My kids aren’t the fondest of them! Many thanks for your time and help
I think you definitely could! It’ll change the dynamics of the recipe a bit but probably worth it if your kids like broccoli and cauliflower!
I love this recipe! I normally toss a zucchini in it as well. My whole family will eat it without anyone fussing!!
★★★★★
That’s great! Zucchini is a great addition!