This taco casserole is layers of tortilla chips, refried beans and beef, all topped with plenty of cheese and baked to perfection. Add your favorite taco fixings such as lettuce, tomato and olives for a hearty and family friendly meal!
My family loves a hot cheesy casserole, they’re always requesting beef noodle casserole, chicken and rice casserole and this festive taco casserole. You can never go wrong with tacos!
I love to do taco night for dinner, but sometimes when I’m in a hurry, I just layer all the ingredients in a dish and bake them together, which is how this taco casserole came to be. This recipe has all of the components of tacos in the form of a cheesy casserole. You can even add your favorite taco fixings on top to take this dish to the next level!
How do you make taco casserole?
This recipe starts with ground beef, which is cooked in a skillet with onions, tomatoes and taco seasoning. A layer of crushed tortilla chips goes into the bottom of a casserole dish, and is topped with refried beans. The next step is to add your layer of beef, and plenty of shredded cheese. Bake your casserole until it’s bubbling and the cheese is melted, then add some fresh toppings and serve.
Tips for taco casserole
- I typically use 90% lean ground beef, it has plenty of flavor but is not overly greasy.
- I recommend grating your own cheese instead of using the pre-shredded variety. The bagged grated cheese is often coated with anti caking agents and does not melt as well as freshly shredded cheese.
- This dish can easily be doubled for a crowd and makes for great leftovers.
- To crush your tortilla chips, place them in a resealable bag and use a rolling pin or meat mallet. You want your chips to be coarsely crushed, about 1/4 inch sized pieces.
Taco casserole variations
There are so many different ways to customize this casserole to your tastes.
- Protein: Use cooked diced chicken or ground turkey instead of beef.
- Cheese: Try pepper jack instead of cheddar for a bit of a spicy kick.
- Chips: Instead of regular tortilla chips, try a flavored chip such as nacho cheese chips, or you can use a layer of flour or corn tortillas on the bottom.
- Beans: Use black or pinto beans instead of refried beans.
- Vegetables: You can add extra vegetables to your beef mixture such as bell peppers or corn.
- Toppings: You can top your casserole with sour cream, avocado, more crushed chips, pickled jalapenos, green onions or cilantro.
This casserole is such a fun and easy way to do taco night. I find myself making it on a regular basis because my kids can’t get enough of it! Add some steamed vegetables on the side and you’ll have a dinner that will earn you rave reviews.
More great Mexican food recipes
Taco Casserole
Ingredients
- 2 teaspoons olive oil
- 1 pound ground beef I use 90% lean
- 1/2 cup onion finely diced
- 1 packet taco seasoning
- 14.5 ounce can diced tomatoes do not drain
- 1 1/4 cups tortilla chips crushed
- 16 ounce can refried beans
- 1 1/4 cups cheddar cheese shredded
- Toppings such as shredded lettuce, diced tomato and sliced olives
- cooking spray
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Coat a 9 inch square pan or 2 quart baking dish with cooking spray.
- Heat the olive oil in a large pan over medium high heat. Add the ground beef and cook for 5-6 minutes, breaking up the meat with a spatula.
- Add the onion and cook for an additional 3-4 minutes or until onion is translucent.
- Stir in the taco seasoning and diced tomatoes. Simmer for 3-4 minutes.
- Place a layer of tortilla chips in the bottom of the prepared pan. Spread a layer of refried beans over the top.
- Pour the beef mixture over the beans and top with the cheese.
- Bake for 15-20 minutes or until cheese is melted.
- Add toppings if desired, then serve.
Kristy says
Great recipe. My entire family devoured it. I will say spreading the beans on the chips wasn’t easy but you could omit and serve them on the side. That’s what I’ll probably do next time. I did take your tip and added corn on top of to the beef mixture to bulk it up a bit. Thank you for sharing. 😊
L. Madrid says
So good! I used a can of whole pinto beans instead of refried. So much easier to spread. I used taco shells instead of chips because I had lots of them from previous meals. I substituted Sweet Earth Awesome Grounds and couldn’t taste a difference. This is a great recipe and easy to adapt with what you have on hand.
Chelle says
I added a large can of chopped green chilies, A can of drained corn and sautéed red and green peppers and onions to the meat mixture.. Seasoned beef with a lime chili powder mixture plus about 3 teaspoons of cumin and a cup of salsa verde. Warmed the beans in microwave before spreading to make it easier. My pan is very deep so I used a pound and a half of beef. Added extra layer of cheese between refried beans and the meat. I like using block cheese that I grate myself. It does melt better! Serving homemade guacamole and sour cream on the side.
Kelly says
Did you use the tortilla chips on the bottom? I’m iffy about that….might skip…..
Flo says
My family asks for this all the time and I love the ease of preparation!
Debra says
A favorite family recipe now! I use whatever left over meat I have. Works well with ground turkey, shredded chicken and even diced steak!
Angela says
Would love to try theae they look yummy!!
Greg says
I doubled it and layered it
M Lori says
Where do the remaining chips get added. Recipe doesn’t say.
Sara says
There’s just one layer of chips!
Charles says
Going to try this recipe and hopefully the chips won’t get soggy like some people said they did
Lisa Riffice says
Made this for dinner tonight and it was a hit! I didnt have canned tomato’s so I switched the canned tomato’s for chunky salsa. I mixed pepper jack and cheddar chhese (freshly graded) Yummy! Im suprised at how the corn chips stay crispy too. I didnt use any toppings. The family doesnt like spice so I just added the Olives, jalapenos and lettuce to my plate. Totally recommend this!!!
Audra says
Sounds delicious. I think I will make it tonight.
Joseph Lockhart says
It was very good
Zak says
Can this recipe freeze?
Sara says
I wouldn’t recommend it as the chips would get soggy.
Diane Neufeld says
Can I use a slow cooker?
Anne says
Made this last night and my family loved it! I made it with crushed tomatoes instead of diced, simply because I had some leftover from another recipe. I also added some garlic to the meat (we love garlic at my house) a couple sprinkles of cheese between the beans and meat (we love cheese, too). Next time I make it, I’m going to pour the bag of chips out onto a baking sheet so I can get the broken ones at the bottom of the bag to use for the crust and keep the whole chips for dipping in salsa.
Jess says
It’s hard to spread the beans on chips, hahaha, I kind of struggled there. I love this recipe, though, so easy!
Anne says
Warm them up a little bit first, that soften them and make them easier to spread.
Anne says
I posted my first reply before I actually made this. Even with the beans warmed up it was kind of difficult to spread them. I wonder if you could get the beans out of the can in one piece, then cut it in slices from the end and just arrange the slices on the chips? The other thought I had was to mix the beans into the meat, but that might cause the chips underneath to get soggy.
Arick says
Add a little water or a small can of green chilies. Whip them and heat them. You can add water as needed to get an easy to spread consistency.
Jay says
Thanks amazing recipe