Mexican Bean and Potato Bake
This Mexican bean and potato bake is a hearty, satisfying one pot dinner with plenty of fresh veg!
If you asked me what my ideal meal would be, it would be something hearty and cheesy, but still with plenty of fresh veggies. Basically – this Mexican bean and potato bake. It’s exactly the sort of thing I love.
Potato bake can be a balanced meal!
I absolutely love a good potato bake, but I generally think of it as a side dish, rather than a main course.
Think of something like potato dauphinoise – wonderfully delicious, but not exactly packed with nutrition. You definitely need to serve something else alongside it, preferably something protein-rich, to make a full meal (assuming someone else is watching… if you’re alone, I say go for it…).
This Mexican bean and potato bake, on the other hand, is unquestionably a meal in its own right. It’s got carbs, protein, and plenty of fresh veggies, all cooked up in one big pan – easy, fuss-free, and delicious!
Roasted potatoes
This bean and potato bake starts with one of my favourite things in the world – roast potatoes! A lot of potato bakes have layers of thinly sliced potatoes, but this version is much heartier, with big chunks of roasted potato instead.
Just roast the potatoes in a big dish until they’re starting to get crispy.
Plenty of vegetables
Next up, the veggies! You could add all sorts of vegetables at this stage – I went for peppers, mushrooms and courgette (zucchini!), plus a tin of tomatoes to make everything nice and saucy, and some of my favourite Mexican-inspired spices.
As we’ve established many times before, roasted vegetables are the best kind of vegetables, so pop them back in the oven to cook right down.
And don’t forget to add a tin of beans as well – I used kidney beans. The beans are what elevate a simple potato bake into a full, balanced meal!
Last but not least – the cheese!
And finally, what potato bake would be complete without plenty of gooey cheese? Once the veggies are all nice and roasted, just sprinkle some grated cheese on top, and pop the dish back in the oven until everything is hot and melty.
The end result is irresistible – just get a big spoon and dig right in!
How should I serve this Mexican bean and potato bake?
As I said, this bean and potato bake is designed to be a full meal in its own right – you don’t really need to serve anything at all alongside it.
But, a bit of variety is always nice, so if you want to serve something different on the side, go for it! Here are a few ideas:
- crusty bread or garlic bread
- a big green salad
- dollops of sour cream, guacamole or salsa (Mexican food is all about the toppings!)
- a few crunchy tortilla chips
- fresh veggies, e.g. avocado, cherry tomatoes, spring onions, etc.
I simply served some salad on the side, and it was an amazing meal – so hearty and comforting, but pretty healthy too!
One pot dinner
I’ve been on a bit of a roll with the one pot dinners lately – I think as I get more and more pregnant, my patience for cooking gets more and more thin. So anything that is quick and straightforward to prepare really calls my name.
Although there are a few stages to this recipe, it actually requires very little effort – the oven pretty much does all the hard work for you. Just dig out your favourite big casserole dish, and get roasting!
How would you serve your Mexican bean and potato bake?
Mexican Bean and Potato Bake
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Print Pin CommentIngredients
- 3 fairly large potatoes, cut into bitesize pieces
- 2 tbsp oil
- 1 bell pepper (I used red), cut into bitesize pieces
- ~ 8 medium mushrooms, quartered
- 1 medium courgette (zucchini), cut into bitesize pieces
- 400 g tin kidney beans, drained (240g, or ~ 1 1/4 cups, when drained)
- 400 g tin chopped tomatoes (~ 1 1/3 cups)
- 2 tsp smoked paprika
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp hot chilli powder
- Salt
- Black pepper
- 75 g cheddar cheese, grated (~ 3/4 cup when grated)
- Fresh coriander (cilantro), to serve (optional)
Instructions
- Toss the diced potatoes in a dash of oil, and spread them out in a large casserole dish or baking dish. Roast at 190°C (Gas Mark 5 / 375°F) for around 45 minutes, tossing halfway, or until mostly cooked and starting to crisp up.
- Add all of the vegetables to the dish, along with the kidney beans, tinned tomatoes, and spices. Season generously, and mix to combine. Return to the oven for a further 30 minutes, until the vegetables are soft and the tomatoes have formed a rich sauce.
- Top with the grated cheese, and bake for 15 more minutes, until the cheese has melted. Serve topped with fresh coriander if desired.
Video
Nutrition
Nutritional information is approximate, and will depend on your exact ingredients. Please calculate your own nutritional values if you require accuracy for health reasons.
Here’s another of my favourite Tex-Mex-inspired potato recipes – vegetarian chilli cheese fries!
An easy meal to pop in the oven after work, and the leftovers make a great breakfast with some over easy eggs. Breakfast for days!…and energy for hours! It’s also cheap, so what’s not to love?
Thanks Sophie! Glad you like it! :)
This is so good!! And so easy!!! I added more mushrooms and sone chopped onion. I also added garlic powder and cayenne to the spice blend. I only had pinto beans so I used those. My husband ( who is transitioning to vegetarian for health issues), loved it as a main course. My son (who is not vegetarian) loved it as a side dish. Great for leftovers too!!
Thanks Laura, glad you enjoyed it! :)
Love it! I now often make a huge batch Fri night and we have the leftovers warmed up with a friend egg for a weekend hearty breakfast. So good! I sometimes pre-roast the potatoes and chop all the veg so I can chuck it together with almost zero effort after being out. I’d say you can’t over-do the potatoes. I once thought I had – they were really dark. But it was best version yet! They stayed really crispy/chewy even with all the veg moisture.
Ooh good tip, thank you! So glad you’ve enjoyed this one!
Hi Becca,
Thanks for this excellent recipe! I made it tonight, after searching online for ‘vegetarian potato bake’ – it popped up on the first page.
It was pretty easy, very affordable and tasted so delicious. My kids loved it too.
Thanks heaps.
Thanks Pippa! :)
I had a bag of baby potatoes and my husband is veggie so was wondering what to make with it. I saw your recipe and went out and got the ingredients costing all of $25 Cdn. An hour or so later I had a delicious meal ready and my husband LOVED it and so did I. Many, many thanks! And the best thing is I have leftovers for at least two or three meals.
Thanks so much Fiona, glad you enjoyed it :)
This is delicious – hearty but healthy! We added a yellow squash, a red onion, and a little cayenne. It’s even good heated up so we ate it for lunch the two days afterwards! Thank you!
Sounds great, thanks Lindsay!
Loved it! Easy and delicious, and was able to replace some of the ingredients with others I had in the fridge and cupboard instead.
Thanks Bec! That’s great – I love that you were able to adapt the recipe to use up what you had :)
SO good and easy, enjoyed by the entire family, including our one-year old.
That’s great to hear, thanks Alex :)
Thank you for this recipe Becca- it’s amazing! I had it for dinner this evening and it was not only easy to cook but also tasted so good. One of my favourite meals!!!
Awesome, thank you for the lovely feedback! :)
Love this recipe Becca, and have recommended it to many people who love it too!
That’s really kind, thanks Paul!