Vegan Southwestern Casserole with Soy Curls, Sweet Corn and Hash Browns

With frozen sweet corn, Southern-style hash browns, mild green chiles, and soy curls, I’m happy to report this vegan Southwestern chicken casserole recipe delivers. I mean, who doesn’t love a good one dish meal? They’re usually the very definition of “ugly food” (visually unattractive, but oh so comforting), and easy to make. And if the flavor is done well, they’re a fast, family favorite.

A few things…

• ・This is easy to assemble, but it does take an hour to bake.

• ・Soy curls work best for this casserole, because they have one ingredient, soy beans. The gravy was made with this in mind, and brings a good amount of flavor. Other vegan alternatives may make the dish seem overly salty.

• ・The vegan cheese is optional. It adds something to the flavor, but it isn’t absolutely essential.

I hope you enjoy this vegan Southwestern chicken casserole recipe, as much as we have 💚 If you do, discover more UVK recipes, like Coconut Corn Soup with Soy Curls, Vegan Street Corn Skillet with Soy Curls, Vegan Soy Curls Chicken and Rice Soup, Tempeh Turnip Hash, Vegan Green Bean Casserole or Southwestern Sweet Corn Chowder.

Vegan Southwestern Casserole with Soy Curls, Sweet Corn and Hash Browns

3 cups soy curls

3 Tbsp vegan butter

2 cups diced sweet onion

4 garlic cloves, peeled and chopped

15.5 ounce can of great northern beans (OR ~1¼ cups), drained and rinsed

½ tsp onion powder

½ tsp garlic powder

3 cups fake chicken broth (I used 3 cups water + 1½ cubes of Edward & Sons No Chick’n Bouillon)

½ tsp cornstarch

2 cups frozen sweet corn

2 cups frozen Southern-style hash browns

4 ounce can of mild green chiles, drained

1 Roma tomato, seeds removed and diced

1½ tsp ground cumin

1 tsp ground coriander

Shredded vegan cheese, to top – optional (I used ⅓ cup Follow Your Heart Vegan Mozzarella Shreds)

Chopped cilantro, to top

1. First, let’s start with prepping the soy curls for the vegan chicken casserole. In a large mixing bowl, add 3 cups dehydrated soy curls. Fill the bowl with water until the soy curls are submerged. Set aside for 10 minutes. Then, drain the water off, and squeeze the curls to get out any excess water. Set aside.

2. Preheat the oven to 400ºF. Grease a 9″ X 13″ baking pan. Set aside.

3. In a medium skillet, add the vegan butter, onions, and a dash of salt. Sauté over medium-high heat for 5 minutes or until the onions are soft. Then, add the garlic, and stir around everything for another minute.

4. Next, we’ll make the gravy part of the vegan chicken casserole. To a blender, add ½ the onion-garlic mixture. Then, add the great northern beans, onion powder, garlic powder, fake chicken broth and cornstarch. Blend until completely smooth.

5. In the large mixing bowl with the soy curls, add the other ½ of the onion-garlic mixture, frozen sweet corn, frozen Southern-style hash browns, green chiles, diced tomato, ground cumin and ground coriander.

6. Dump the contents of the blender into the large mixing bowl. Mix everything together.

7. Spread the contents of the mixing bowl evenly across the bottom of the greased 9″ X 13″ baking pan. Top the vegan Southwestern chicken casserole with shredded plant based cheese, if using.

8. Bake uncovered at 400ºF for 55-60 minutes. Remove from the oven, and top with chopped cilantro. Serve.