Gluten Free Tex Mex Chicken Lasagna

Gluten Free Tex Mex Lasagna

This easy gluten free Tex Mex chicken lasagna is a great dish to make when you have leftover chicken or rice in the fridge.  I love dishes like this.  Whenever you can combine leftovers with pantry ingredients to make a hearty meal that even the kids will love, it’s a good night in the kitchen. 

I knew how well Rudi’s tortillas could work in fajitas after the tasty surf and turf variety I had made but I still wondered if they could withstand a more structurally demanding dish like this.  Alright, now this is starting to sound more like an architecture project than a recipe.  Just look at the picture.  The tortillas did an outstanding job.  And the new fiesta flavor added another layer of flavor to the dish but I’m sure the regular variety would work well too.  Here's a link to Rudi's Gluten Free Bakery. 

Tex Mex Chicken Lasagna

Prep time:  15 min

Cook time:  55 min

Ingredients

• 8 gluten free tortillas ( 4 of them sliced in half)
• 3 cups cooked diced chicken
• 1 can red kidney beans, rinsed and drained
• 2 cups cooked rice
• 2 cups marinara sauce
• 2 cups salsa
• 1 cup water
• 1 tbsp  taco seasoning
• 8 oz reduced fat cheddar, grated
• 1 can of pitted black olives, sliced
• chopped scallions and sour cream for garnish

Video Tutorial

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F (or 175 °C) and spray an 8 x12 inch casserole dish with nonstick spray.
2. In a medium saucepan over a medium heat, stir together the marinara sauce, salsa, water, and taco seasoning and heat until it just comes to a boil then remove it from the heat and set it aside.
3. In a large bowl stir together the chicken, beans, rice, and 1 cup of the sauce and set it aside.
4. Place 1 cup of the sauce mixture into the bottom of the baking dish.
5. Place one tortilla in the center and two halves along the sides of the baking dish with the cut sides facing the edge of the pan.  If you want you can trim off the overlapping parts with a scissors and fill in the missing spots.
6. Layer on 1/3 of the chicken, bean and rice mixture then top with 3/4 cup sauce, ¼ of the grated cheddar, and 1/3 of the chopped olives.
7. Repeat step 5 and 6 two more times and a tortilla layer topped with the remaining cup of sauce.  Reserve the final ¼ of the cheddar cheese until after the first baking.
8. Cover the dish with foil and bake it for 40 minutes then remove the foil, top with the reserved cheddar and bake it uncovered for 15 minutes more minutes.  Garnish with chopped scallions and sour cream and serve.

Notes:  If you’re following a gluten free diet, be sure to check the ingredients list of the salsa, marinara sauce, and taco seasoning to ensure that they don’t contain gluten.  And if you’re not following a gluten free diet, use regular tortillas in the recipe.