The best, delicious and easy taco casserole recipe with tender ground beef, refried beans, taco flavors, cheese, and a layer of corn tortilla chips! This versatile dish is perfect for weeknights and offers the convenience of a one-dish meal.
Did you know that Americans consume over 4.5 billion tacos each year? Imagine if all that love for tacos was combined with the comfort and convenience of a casserole. I’m talking about this easy Taco Casserole recipe. It’s a dish that perfectly merges our taco obsession with the simplicity of a one-dish meal, ideal for busy weeknights or feeding a hungry crowd. I’m excited to take you through the ingredients, assembly instructions, intriguing variations, and tips for serving this versatile and easy-to-make dish.
What You’ll Need to Make Taco Casserole
Ingredients:
The beauty of the Taco Casserole lies in its flexible ingredient list. Our basic version includes ground beef, taco seasoning, refried beans, salsa, corn tortillas, cheddar cheese, and garnishes like lettuce, tomatoes, and olives. But the best part? It’s customizable! If you’re a vegetarian, replace the ground beef with black beans, lentils, or a meat substitute. Opt for low-sodium taco seasoning or dairy-free cheese for those with dietary restrictions.
Kitchen Tools:
To make this taco casserole recipe with tortillas, you will need a 9×13 baking dish, skillet, mixing bowls, measuring cup and cooking spray.
How to Make Easy Taco Casserole
This mouthwatering taco casserole recipe combines all the familiar flavors of tacos into a hearty, comforting casserole that will have your taste buds begging for more. With a simple step by step guide, you’ll have a flavorful dinner on the table in no time!
Preheat oven to 375°F and prepare a 9×13-inch baking dish.
Dice onion and pepper, then sauté in oil until tender.
Brown and drain ground beef, and simmer with taco seasoning and water.
Layer baking dish with corn tortilla chips.
Heat refried beans, stir in cheese, salsa, onion, and pepper.
Spread refried beans over the corn tortilla chips.
Add ground beef layer. Then, top with cheese, green onions, and black olives.
Bake until cheese browns (about 20 minutes).
Add tomatoes, rest briefly, garnish, and serve.
One pro-tip: let the casserole rest for about ten minutes before serving. This ensures it holds together well when you cut into it.
Substitutions and Variations
Taco casserole is versatile and can be easily customized. Here are some quick ideas:
- Protein: Swap ground beef with ground turkey, chicken, or plant-based meats.
- Cheese: Use cheddar, Monterey Jack, pepper jack, or vegan cheese.
- Tortillas: Replace chips with soft corn or flour tortillas; ensure they’re gluten-free if needed.
- Beans: Use pinto, black beans, chickpeas, or homemade refried beans.
- Veggies: Add zucchini, corn, spinach, mushrooms, or spicy peppers.
- Salsa: Try salsa verde, roasted tomato, or fruit salsas like mango.
- Seasonings: Make your own taco seasoning blend for custom flavors.
- Toppings: Include diced avocado, fresh jalapeños, shredded lettuce, guacamole, or hot sauce.
Customize your taco casserole to suit your taste and dietary preferences. Enjoy experimenting!
How to Serve and What to Serve with Taco Casserole
Serve this delicious casserole with guacamole, sour cream, and tortilla chips. Leftovers can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for 2-3 days and are great reheated in the oven or microwave.
In conclusion, the Easy Taco Casserole is a versatile dish that can be tailored to your taste preferences and dietary needs. It’s perfect for those busy weeknights when you need a hearty meal that’s simple to make yet packed with flavor.
I’d love to hear from you. Leave a comment about your experience or any variations you tried. Share this post on social media for a chance to be featured.
Ready to master this Taco Casserole? Grab your ingredients and spatula, and let’s do this!
MORE DELICIOUS CASSEROLE DISHES TO TRY!
- Easy Chicken Divan Casserole
- Tuna Noodle Casserole
- Pumpkin Ground Beef Casserole
- Easy Loaded Mashed Potato Casserole
- Sweet Potato Casserole with Butter Pecan Crumble Topping
I hope you like this recipe for easy taco casserole with tortillas – be sure to give it a review below!
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Easy Taco Casserole
- Prep Time: 18 minutes + 2 mins Cool Time
- Cook Time: 25 minutes
- Total Time: 45 minutes
- Yield: 6-8 servings 1x
Description
The best and easy taco casserole recipe with tender ground beef, refried beans, taco flavors, cheese, and a layer of corn tortilla chips! This versatile dish is perfect for weeknights and offers the convenience of a one-dish meal.
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon Avocado Oil or Coconut Oil
- 1 medium diced yellow or white Onion
- 1 red Bell Pepper (diced)
- 2 pounds Ground Beef
- 2 (1 oz) packets Taco Seasoning
- 1 1/2 cups Water
- 4 cups Corn Tortilla Chips (coarsely crushed)
- 2 (15 ounce) cans refried beans (pinto and black beans work well)
- 3 cups shredded Mexican blend Cheese, divided (or favorite variety)
- 2 cups red Salsa (mild, or favorite)
- 4 Green Onions (chopped)
- 1 (3.8 oz) can sliced Black Olives
- 2 medium Tomatoes (diced)
- 1/2 cup Sour Cream or Greek Yogurt to garnish
- 1/4 cup chopped Cilantro to garnish
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Spray 9×13-inch baking dish with non-stick spray, or use a 10-inch iron skillet.
- Dice Onion and Pepper. Heat Oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Cook Onion and Pepper until tender, about 8 minutes. Remove from the skillet and set aside.
- Brown Ground Beef in skillet over medium high heat, and drain.
- Add Taco Seasoning and Water to Ground Beek, and bring to light boil, and simmer for 5 minutes. Set aside.
- Arrange pieces of Corn Tortilla Chips on bottom of baking dish.
- Cook Refried Beans in frying pan over medium heat for about 2 minutes. Add remaining 1 cup Cheese, 1 cup Salsa, Onion and Pepper. Stir until combined.
- Evenly spoon bean mixture over Corn Tortilla Chips layer in dish
- Spoon cooked Ground Beef over top of bean layer.
- Sprinkle remaining 1 cup of Cheese over top of Ground Beef layer.
- Sprinkle chopped Green Onions and sliced Black Olives over Cheese layer.
- Bake in oven until the cheese is melted and lightly browned, around 20 minutes.
- Remove from oven, and sprinkle chopped Tomatoes on top.
- Allow to rest a couple of minutes before serving.
- Garnish with Sour Cream, Salsa, Cilantro and chopped Green Onions. Enjoy!
Keywords: taco casserole, taco casserole recipes, texmex, tacos, casserole, casseroles
A former school teacher, Jocelyn Brown created Hip Mama’s Place in 2007. Her motto for this blog is: get inspired, create and share! Jocelyn loves sharing about food and recipes, crafts, DIY projects and her random travels with her family. She also loves all things social media, but her latest obsession is Instagram.
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This recipe is sooooo good! I followed the instructions exactly and added a bit of pickled jalepenos for some kick! Can’t wait to make this again!
★★★★★
I wish my son would eat casseroles. I know some many great ones but he isn’t a fan. I’d love to try this one day.
I’m ditching my taco recipes for this easy taco casserole, and serving it over salad! I always have been thinking lately whenever I make tacos that I should serve it over salad because I make a large batch and end up eating leftovers during the week. Thus, I end up eating the taco with a fork when it gets reheated, because the taco shell doesn’t hold up. I think this recipe solves all my challenges, plus it’s much more delicious than mine!
★★★★★
I would love to give this a try. I don’t usually do tacos where I am from but this makes me think I should maybe give it a go.
As a taco lover, I’m thrilled to discover this taco casserole recipe! The thought of enjoying all the flavors of tacos in a comforting casserole is making my mouth water. Plus, the fact that it’s easy to prepare and requires minimal cleanup is a huge bonus.
★★★★★
This is so yummy, and love how you walk us through steps with pictures as well. Since we have the ingredients, would love to try this. Thank you for sharing!
★★★★★
This looks like something that would be perfect for dinner. I’ll add it to my recipe book.
What an interesting concept for tacos! I have to give it a try with my family this week!
A taco casserole sounds like a great idea! The perfect dish for Taco Tuesday!
I have already pinned this as my kids will absolutely love this dish! It is making me hungry honestly!
This looks great. I needed to jazz up my taco casserole. Can’t wait to try this version!
★★★★★
I’m going shopping tomorrow, and I’m going to make sure I get everything I need to make this. It looks AH-mazing!
★★★★★
This is the absolute perfect dinner for Taco Tuesday! You get all the classic flavor without nearly as much work. Love it!
★★★★★
This looks super tasty! We make a lot of similar dishes, like layered taco dips and taco salads. I would love to try your recipe and make something new.
This recipe is sure to become a favorite for my kids. They adore anything taco-related, so I’m confident they’ll love this dish. Can you believe I’m not a fan of tacos? It’s true! LOL
★★★★★
this sounds so good, I know that my boys will love it, So I must give this recipe a try. Thanks for sharing the recipe with us.
Both Tacos and Casserole dishes are one of my favorites so this recipe is definitely a must try. Looks quite delicious as well.
★★★★★
I find all your recipes very appetizing and easy to try. Thank you, I’ll save and recook them one by one.
★★★★★
Thanks for sharing such a delicious and versatile dish. I love how customizable it is, perfect for catering to everyone’s tastes. Can’t wait to try it out and maybe even experiment with some of the variations you mentioned.
Wow! This looks delicious. Very timely since I have friends coming over this weekend and this is just perfect. I just need to get McCormicks Taco Mix.
Thank you for sharing the recipe.
Never thought to make tacos as a casserole but this looks like fun, gonna try it for next taco tuesday!!
★★★★★
Yes please. This would be a perfect dinner. We love tacos here.
This looks so amazing. I could really go for this right now. I’ll be saving this to make later. Yum!