Looking for a dish with squash that’s anything but boring? This Tex Mex Squash Casserole is your new go-to! Picture fresh squash and spicy Rotel tomatoes in a homemade sauce, that’s poured over crispy tortilla chips and then smothered in melty cheese. Pop it in the oven until it’s bubbly and golden, and you’ve got a Mexican inspired casserole.
A 30 Minute Squash Casserole
If you think you’ve done everything possible with your summer squash, and your family is sick of it, I have just the solution for you. Don’t roll your eyes thinking this is just another blah squash casserole, it’s not even a little boring. This squash casserole recipe is spicy, and bursting with flavor and somehow the tortilla chips stay crunchy.
Hearty enough for meatless Mondays or served as a flavorful side dish, you’ll want to try this spiced up squash casserole.
If you want to serve this as a side dish, it’s great with oven roasted shrimp or try it with Tequila grilled chicken if you’re looking for a protein to round out this dish.
You’ve Got To Try This Tex-Mex casserole
- This dinner cooks in just 30 minutes!
- Everything Tex-Mex tastes better
- Another great recipe with fresh zucchini or summer squash
- A great meatless Monday dinner
While recipe testing this recipe, I was planning on serving it as a side with shrimp one night, but it was so good, I put the shrimp back in the fridge and we enjoyed it all by itself. With all the flavors you could even trick your squash haters into eating this.
With a little crunch from tortilla chips and spice from the seasoning, you get both texture and flavor that’s hard to achieve with summer squash all by itself.
Some of the Ingredients for a Southwestern Dish
For a full list of the ingredients and the amounts, see the Recipe Card below.
- Yellow squash and zucchini – no need to peel them, just wash and slice! When developing this recipe, used whatever squash was in my fridge, and it was great with all of one kind or a mix of both.
- Jalapeño – slice the jalapeño in half and use a spoon to scoop out the seeds before dicing it, if you just want it medium spicy, (that’s me) use half a jalapeño.
- Ro-Tel tomatoes – canned tomatoes with diced green chiles have a perfect amount of kick to add to a dish when diced tomatoes are needed
- Green chiles – extra green chilies add lots of flavor.
- Cilantro – if cilantro doesn’t taste like soap to you, chop up a good amount, stems and leaves included.
- Cheeses – A combination of cheeses adds more flavor and a little kick, I found the perfect combination was with Pepper Jack and Cheddar.
- Tortilla chips – add them to a ziploc bag and crunch them into small pieces.
How to make Tex-Mex casserole with squash
Step 1
Cook the squash, onion and jalapeño until they’re soft and then add some garlic. Stir in some flour to thicken it and then gradually add broth and tomatoes.
Once it has thickened, add some half and half, sour cream and cilantro.
Step 2
Add crushed tortilla chips to the bottom of a casserole dish and top with the squash mixture.
Add lots of cheese to the top and bake. The cheesy will be nice and gooey.
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Tex Mex Summer Squash Casserole with a Kick!
Ingredients
- 4 cups yellow and zucchini squash thinly sliced
- 1 medium onion diced
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- ½ jalapeno seeded and diced
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1 can Ro-Tel tomatoes drained
- ¼ cup green chiles diced
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1 cup chicken broth
- 2 tablespoons flour
- ½ cup half-and-half
- ½ cup sour cream
- ½ cup cilantro chopped
- 1 cup pepper jack cheese shredded
- 1 cup cheddar cheese shredded
- 2 cups tortilla chips crushed
- salt/pepper
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350º. Spray a casserole dish with cooking spray.
- Heat butter in a large skillet on medium heat. Add squash, onion and jalapeño and sauté until onions are translucent and the squash is soft, about 10 minutes.
- Add garlic, and seasonings and cook for 1 minutes. Stir in flour and cook until a light-brown paste forms, about 1 minute. Gradually add broth, tomatoes and chilies and stir until the mixture thickens, about 2 minutes. Add the half-and-half, sour cream and cilantro and remove from heat.
- Add the crushed tortilla chips to the bottom of the casserole dish and top with the squash mixture. Add cheese to top and cook for 30 minutes or until the top is brown and bubbling.
Barbara’s Tips + Notes
- You can adjust how spicy it is by adding the seeds of the jalapeno if you want it spicy, or leaving it out altogether for a milder version.
- This is best served the same day. The juice from the squash mixture will make the tortilla chips mushy if it sits overnight, still delicious but the texture isn’t quite the same.
- You can substitute any of your favorite cheeses for the pepper jack and cheddar.
Nutrition
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Kristina says
Hi, you missed the Green chiles in the description of when to add them.
Barbara Curry says
Thanks I added it in, they are added with the tomatoes.