polenta casserole

Southwest black beans polenta casserole is a gluten-free, vegetarian casserole made with black beans, polenta, peppers, cheese, and more. An easy, healthy, freezer friendly dinner recipe!

Southwest Baked Polenta Casserole

½ cups cooked polenta (see notes for cooking instructions)

butter olive oil

garlic (about 1 clove)

onion, finely diced *

salt

chili powder

(15 ounces) black beans, drained and rinsed (2- 2 ½ cups)

cumin

garlic powder

cayenne

black pepper

Optional Garnishes/Toppings– chopped cilantro, sliced avocado, sour cream, sliced jalapeños

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Coat a 9×13 pan with olive oil or nonstick cooking oil spray and set aside.

In a large pot, cook the polenta according to package instructions. When polenta is almost done cooking, stir in butter and 4 ounces of shredded cheese until creamy.

Next stir in the minced garlic, onion (see notes below), salt, and chili powder with the polenta. Mix thoroughly.

Transfer polenta mixture into the 9&#215;13 pan and spread until even, reaching each corner. If polenta is too runny or moist, parbake it at 350F for 15 minutes, then add the rest of your layers and bake again.

In a medium-sized bowl, stir together the black beans, cumin, garlic powder, cayenne, and black pepper. Evenly distribute the black beans on top of the polenta.

Layer the tomatoes and green chiles over the black beans. 

Finally, add the remaining shredded cheese evenly on top of the tomatoes and green chiles. Add more than 2 oz, if desired.

Bake for 30 minutes or until the edges start to brown.

Then cover with aluminum foil and bake for an additional 5 -10 minutes or until the center of the casserole is baked through and edges are golden brown.

If desired, broil until the edges and cheese are browned and crispy. Remove from the oven and let cool for 5 minutes before slicing.

Store leftovers in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.

Made this last night, it was easy and delicious.  I also added a little bit of diced sweet potato.

Polenta absolutely does not need eggs to be dense and not crumble. Easy to convert to vegan.

Loved this recipe! It's a perfect winter receipe. I added some faux chicken which was a nice addition. Delicious!

Loved this recipe! We prepped it on Sunday and ate it for lunch throughout the week.

This was so good and so filling! My husband called it his new favorite dish! The only changes I made was fresh tomatoes, a big can of the green chilies, and the beans were so close to my Chili's copycat black beans that I just did that instead. Avocado chunks on top are a must and we also did lime wedges. 
My friend happened to pop by so she got a serving for her lunch and her 16 year old also approved. 
So this one casserole has been 10 servings so far and there's still about 2 servings left! As a mom of 6 that's awesome!

Making this recipe right now! It’s currently in the oven. 

The picture looks delicious. The overall execution of the recipe was quiet frankly a mess. It took two people to try and decipher it and we still aren’t sure we did it correctly. If this recipe turns out as delicious as it looks, I’ll be writing this recipe down in a more coherent way for myself.

This recipe was amazingly delicious and simple to prepare especially using the polenta rounds. Since we have mostly been eating lots of vegetable dishes, soups and salads- this was so hearty and satisfying! Thanks!

This was delicious! Definitely something I'll add into my regular rotation.

I made a few minor changes that I think worked really well. I added some grated zucchini and carrot as its own layer (to try and boost the veggies). Next time I might also add some finely chopped capsicum. Ready-diced tomatoes with chili is not easy to come by in Australia, so I combined one tin of diced tomatoes with half a chopped fresh jalapeno and let it rest for a couple of hours. 

Thank you so much!

Oh my gosh I love polenta! I haven’t had it in so many years and I love that you added it to this casserole! Pinned

This has become a staple in my household. I prep the polenta base, cook it until set, then layer on the veggies. When I feel fancy, I sauté chopped onion, garlic, red peppers with chunks of butternut squash, then add seasoned black beans. Big hit with my husband and even the toddlers.

I mixed whole kernel corn into the polenta before baking the crust to add texture and juiciness. Mixed kidney beans with black beans which added colour and it still tastes great. Also would use fresh tomatoes next time as the canned ones are a bit too juicy and it soaks into the crust. Used fresh green chilis and chilli flakes as I didn't have powder. It was superb

This was great! Super tasty and a nice option for a side for a Mexican meal.

I was excited to make this but it was disappointing. I doubled the spice amounts because we like flavor but it was still bland. It was also dry and tasteless. Will not make again.

A layered Polenta casserole dish. You can also use grits instead of polenta in this dish.

Layered Polenta Casserole Recipe

Polenta

Water

Milk

Tablespoon Butter

Salt

Black Pepper Ground

Olives (whole

Tomato Sauce

Basil (optional)

Tablespoon All-purpose Flour

Parmesan

For the Polenta, cook the Polenta, water, milk, butter, salt, and pepper together. Keep on low heat and stir continuously for about 5 minutes.&nbsp;

Keep your attention towards the Polenta, cause it can burn on really quickly and cooks up super fast. Remove it from the heat once it starts to boil up.

Spread half amount of the polenta into a baking dish to create the first layer.

For the white sauce, heat up a saucepan with the butter.

Continue adding in the White flour. Keep on stirring with a whisk on slow heat.&nbsp;

Then pour in the milk. Stir well, season and keep on whisking the sauce till it gets thick&nbsp;by itself. Remove from the heat and keep aside.

Preheat your oven to 350 Celsius/ 180 Fahrenheit.

Mix the Tomato Sauce with the olives, basil, salt, and black pepper

Spread the mixed tomato sauce over the polenta layer

Then add the remaining polenta to form the layer over the tomato paste.

Then spread the white sauce over the polenta to create a creamy layer.

At last spread the Parmesan Cheese over the white sauce.

Bake the casserole dish for about 15 minutes at 350 Fahrenheit/180 Celsius.

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Southwest Baked Polenta Casserole

Southwest Baked Polenta Casserole

Layered Polenta Casserole Recipe

Top 3 polenta casserole recipes from across the web

The most viewed polenta casserole recipes by Recipe Cart users, saved from over 6,000 sites. Or, go to our Recipe Search Engineic_arrow_forward_48px

Top Tags

Southwest Baked Polenta Casserole

Southwest Baked Polenta Casserole

Layered Polenta Casserole Recipe

The most viewed polenta casserole recipes by Recipe Cart users, saved from over 6,000 sites. Or, go to our Recipe Search Engine