The words “stovetop casserole” is like music to our ears. You just know it’s ultra-comforting food that’s perfect for keeping you warm and satisfied, and our delicious Creamy Tex-Mex Stovetop Casserole delivers! This rich and flavorful one-pot wonder is bursting with wholesome goodness. Packed with tons of nutritious ingredients like sweet corn, protein-packed black beans and hearty rice makes it a fabulous dish the whole family will love. Whole Food Plant Based, Vegan, plant based, oil free, refined sugar free, no highly processed ingredients, and gluten free.
Ameera here!
If you love Tex-Mex dishes, raise your hand! *Mom raises both hands and Dad nonchalantly raises his hand while still reading the newspaper as I ask this question.* He never missed a beat, eyes perfectly glued to the newspaper, must be the sports section, perhaps an article about his beloved NY Giants. LOL
Michael then asks “What’s a casserole?” Some things never change! Too funny!
When Mom and I were putting the final finishes on Kitchen Test #4, we were dancing a little jig because we absolutely love this dish. It is so creamy, spicy, and delicious. At first, we made this dish an oven casserole, but after the second kitchen test, we decided that placing it in the oven only prolonged our wait time to eat it. Making it a perfectly delicious “stovetop” casserole then became a priority. LOL
Charlie Brownie
We had just finished eating our delicious wins of the final kitchen test when “Charlie Brownie” facetimed us. Charlie Brownie is my 2-year old niece, Charlotte. She’s quite the “corker” (corker = comic) as mom would say.
There are a few toddlers at Charlotte’s daycare that cannot say “Charlotte” so they call her “Charlie,” well Charlie became Charlie Brownie and now Charlotte is obsessed with being Charlie Brownie. I think she means Charlie Brown, but who knows for sure with Charlotte. For only being two years old, her personality certainly fills an entire room, she is so precocious and has a massive vocabulary, and she speaks in complete sentences and nearly perfect grammar. I love talking to her; she never ceases to amaze me! Plus, she is a riot!
Mimicking Fun
One time, Mom was joking around over facetime with Charlotte by mirroring her facial expressions and animations and Charlotte says “Quit mimicking me Nonni!” It was quite hilarious for someone so young to even know what the word “mimic” meant. She was so stern about it. Then of course, she doubled up all her animations just to see if Nonni would do the same thing – hands moving in all directions, etc. LOL You know Mom, of course, had to do exactly that, no holds bar there! It was quite comical. Mom is a corker too! LOL
Southwestern Connoisseurs
Any ways, I say all of that as I just know Katie (Charlotte’s mom – my sister-in-law) would love this dish. Katie and Mom are quite the Tex-Mex – Southwestern connoisseurs. They both LOVE the Mexican cuisine. Mom is always interested in trying to develop as many Southwestern/Mexican recipes as she can possibly get away with. I am the voice of reason, and I try to restrain her a tiny bit or our whole blog would be a salute to all things Southwestern/Tex-Mex. I’ll let Mom tell you more.
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Hi! Robin here.
This dish is so tasty. As Monkey indicated, I am all about the Southwestern cuisine. I could probably eat it every day and never get tired of it. I loved placing a small amount of the corn in my mini-chop to break some of it up, then adding it to the dish. It just added some awesome extra creaminess and texture. You really don’t have to take the time to do this for this small amount of corn, but it was really a nice touch in my opinion.
Also, don’t forget the corn tortillas, total game changer with those lovelies added on!
Give this recipe a try! Leave us a review or post it on Instagram if you make it. We would love to hear from you!
Products Used:
- 8-quart ceramic/enamel lined Dutch oven or similar large stock pot
- High Speed blender
- Mini-chop or food processor (optional)
Creamy Tex-Mex Stovetop Casserole
Prep
Cook
Total
Yield 6 Servings
The words "stovetop casserole" is like music to our ears. You just know it's ultra-comforting food that's perfect for keeping you warm and satisfied, and our delicious Creamy Tex-Mex Stovetop Casserole delivers! This rich and flavorful one-pot wonder is bursting with wholesome goodness. Packed with tons of nutritious ingredients like sweet corn, protein-packed black beans and hearty rice makes it a fabulous dish the whole family will love. Whole Food Plant Based, Vegan, plant based, oil free, refined sugar free, no highly processed ingredients, and gluten free.
Ingredients
- ¼ cup raw cashews
- ½ cup small diced yellow onion
- 2 Tablespoon minced garlic (about 8 to 10 cloves)
- 2 medium jalapeno peppers, fine dice
- 2 cups bell peppers (assorted red, orange, yellow), small dice
- ½ green bell pepper, small dice
- 2 Tablespoons flour (gluten free or regular flour if gluten free is not a dietary restriction)
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 2 teaspoon chili powder
- ¼ teaspoon chipotle powder (+/- for heat)
- ¼ teaspoon cumin (+/- for earthiness)
- ¼ teaspoon coriander (+/- for zestiness)
- 2 Tablespoons dried onion flakes
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 2 ½ cups unsweetened, plain plant milk, divided
- 2 cups frozen corn, thawed to room temperature, divided
- 1 – 15 oz. can black beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 – 14 oz. can fire roasted tomatoes
- 2 cups cooked/steamed brown rice
- 2 teaspoons sea salt (+/- to taste) *
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
Optional Toppings:
- Corn tortillas, cut into thin strips or torn into pieces, and baked to crispy
- Sliced avocados
- Diced tomatoes
- Jalapeno slices
- Fresh cilantro
- Fresh lime
Instructions
- Place the cashews in a bowl and cover with boiling water. Set aside for 30 minutes.
- In the meantime, in a large ceramic/enamel lined Dutch oven/pot or similarly large stockpot, add the diced onion, bell peppers, and jalapeno peppers. Sauté over medium-high heat for 5 to 7 minutes until the veggies are tender. (If needed to prevent sticking, add a splash of vegetable broth or water).
- Add the minced garlic and sauté for one minute.
- Sprinkle the flour over the veggies and sauté for one minute.
- Sprinkle the dried seasonings (smoked paprika, chili powder, chipotle powder, cumin, coriander, onion powder, garlic powder, dried onion flakes, sea salt and pepper) over the veggies and sauté for one minute to release their fragrance.
- Whisk in 1 ½ cups of the plant milk continue to whisk to remove any lumps. Heat the mixture to a boil, then immediately lower to a simmer.
- Drain and discard the water from the cashews, then place them into a high-speed blender with 1 cup of plant milk, blend on high for one minute, then add to the pot. Stir to combine.
- Place 1/4 cup of the thawed frozen corn in a mini-chop or food processor and pulse a few times to break up the corn to add an extra element of creaminess to the dish. Add to the pot. (This step is optional, you do not have to process the corn).
- Add the remaining corn, black beans, fire roasted tomatoes, and cooked rice to the pot. Stir well to combine. Cook for 5 minutes to incorporate the flavors. Taste test at this time, and ramp up by adding any additional seasonings to achieve the desired flavor.
- Top with your favorite toppings
Notes
*Sea Salt: Please adjust the sea salt based upon your family’s preferences and/or based upon dietary needs.
*Serving: 6
*Storage: Refrigerate and use within 5 days
Courses Dinner
Cuisine Tex-Mex
This post contains affiliate links, and we may receive a very small commission if you purchase through those links at no additional cost to you. Thank you for supporting Monkey and Me Kitchen Adventures! For more information, see our disclosures here.
This was really good. Even my husband that says “vegan never tastes good” liked it! I think this would make an excellent potluck meal.
Hi there Kim 🙂
Yaayyy! So glad to hear you and your husband really enjoyed this dish! Yes, couldn’t agree more, it would totally make a fabulous potluck. Thank you so much for taking the time to write, we truly appreciate your kind feedback!
-Ameera and Robin 🙂
Absolutely delicious! I threw the corn in the blender with the milk and cashews to save washing up and worked a treat, the dish really is so creamy! Couldn’t find fire-roasted tomatoes here in the UK so used normal chopped toms, imagine it is even tastier with the fire-roasted! Thank you for the recipe, will definitely be added to our favourites list
Hi there Amy 🙂
Yaaayyy! So thrilled to hear that you enjoyed this dish! Thank you so much for taking the time to write and for such wonderful feedback!
-Ameera and Robin 🙂