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.
Kelli says
So easy to make except the refried beans which I just spooned on in evenly over the chips. Great use of the left over chips no one wants to eat because they are small. Used pepper jack cheese topping with lettuce tomato trd onion amd jalapeño and a dollop of sour cream. Oh I used rotello tomatoes with chilis for an extra kick to the meat.
Linda says
I made this dish using beef, left over from processing soup bones. I had almost a pound and a half of beef. Instead of diced tomatoes I used Ro*Tel tomatoes with green chilies. Next time I make this I plan to add an extra layer of cheese between the refried beans and beef. Otherwise this was a very good tasty.
Deborah Snow says
any thoughts on doing this ahead and leaving in the fridge? I’m worried that the tortilla chips will get soggy if it sits without being cooked? I’m making this for over 100 people and want to make it a day ahead. Thoughts?
Sara says
It’s possible that the tortilla chips could soften. You may just want to prepare all the components in advance (cook the ground beef, grate the cheese etc) then assemble at the last minute!
Courtney says
Really good, my 3yr old loved it, everyone loved it. Thanks
Sue says
What a delicious casserole! It was large enough for dinner and the next day lunch it was just as good!
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. 😊
Selena says
Put refried beans in a pastry bag with tip cut off
Terre Fletcher says
I spread the refried beans on the bottom of the pan then put a layer of broken up red taco shells then added the beef mixture on top. Baked for 15 min to get the beans good and hot then added the cheese and baked another 10 min til cheese was melted. Also added Ro*Tel tomatoes with green chilies to the taco beef. Turned out great!
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?
Donna Vickery says
You could make it in the pan you intend to hear it in without the chips. Freeze it. Prepare your dish with spray and chips and transfer the meat and bread mixture after it has thawed. When I do this I that’s it in the baking dish so it keeps it’s shape. Then remove it, prep the chips and slide it over into the pan. I have nearly 100% success rate. After it is frozen in the baking dish take it out, wrap in foil and put it in a ziploc bag. Then it goes back in the freezer! Anything I use a break crumb and butter base to I do this way. I will sometimes crush the crackers or measure out the crumbs, out then in a ziploc bag and tape them to the frozen part before returning to the freezer. I’ve never had a problem with sogginess. Put your directions you have left to do on a post it note and put it in the bag too or write it in sharpie on your foil. Oven temp, cooking time, chips on bottom etc. Saves time looking recipe up again.
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.
Selena says
Put warmed beans in a pastry bag with tip cut off
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
Dian says
Love this! I love to experiment so I added the following:
Used bite size corn chips but didn’t crush them up. As leftovers, they were soft but not soggy. Tasted like corn tortilla in enchiladas.
I beat smooth 8 oz of cream cheese, 1/2 cup sour cream and then stirred in a small can of green chili’s. Layered it over the beans with a thin layer of shredded Mexican cheese. Saved some for toppings.
I added red onion, garlic, frozen corn and sliced black olives to the taco meat.
I made up a box of Rice-a-Roni Spanish rice made with a can of diced tomatoes with green chili’s, black olives and frozen corn. Layered it on top of the meat but had so much I layered meat and rice twice. Topped the whole thing with more cheese and fresh cilantro. Used fire roasted cantina deli style salsa and left over cream cheese mixture as toppings. It turned out fabulous!! Took pictures of the whole process…sure wish I could add them here in the comments! It’s a yummy looking dish!