This taco casserole with tortilla chips, ground beef and cheese is baked to perfection and an easy dinner the whole family will love. Top with your favorite toppings!
Taco Casserole with Tortilla Chips
My family loves this taco casserole with tortilla chips and gets so excited when it’s on the menu. Just like my tostada recipe we pile on all our favorite toppings like cilantro, tomatoes, guacamole and sour cream. Serve with Mexican rice, cilantro lime rice or keep it simple with extra chips and salsa.
This easy taco casserole is exploding with delicious Mexican flavors! It’s almost like a hearty version of my oven nachos or a deconstructed version of my easy ground beef tacos but ready in just 15 minutes! It really doesn’t get better than that.
Layers
This is a great pantry recipe. I usually always have a bag of tortilla chips and a can of corn and beans in my pantry. Then I’ll just pull out some ground beef from the freezer and cheese from the fridge. It’s made with 3 easy layers – check them out below.
- Tortilla chips: You’ll first put down a layer of tortilla chips in a greased 9×13″ pan. Doritos will also work too if you have those on hand.
- Cheese: Next comes the cheese. I absolutely love Tillamook shredded cheese…it really is the best! Just sprinkle it on top of the chips.
- Taco meat: After whipping up a quick and easy taco meat with beans and corn, you’ll add that on top of the chips in the pan. Then top the meat with some extra chips and cheese and bake at 375°F for 10 to 15 minutes, or until the cheese is nice and bubbly.
Modifications
- Feel free to lay down corn tortillas in place of tortilla chips. You can also use Doritos instead if preferred.
- Sometimes I bulk up my taco meat by adding cooked rice or more vegetables into the mixture. You could also add in some sour cream and salsa like in my taco pie recipe!
- I love using 80-90% lean ground beef so that the dish is flavorful but not super greasy. For a lighter option, ground turkey would also taste delicious.
- If you’d like to make the dish ahead of time or freeze for later, I’d recommend using corn tortillas instead of chips (similar to my Mexican lasagna recipe). The chips will get too mushy.
Favorite Toppings
We love to top our taco casserole with lots of yummy toppings! My personal favorites are diced tomatoes, onions, cilantro, sliced olives, sour cream and guacamole. Yum!
- cilantro
- diced tomatoes
- olives
- onions
- guacamole
- sour cream
- shredded lettuce
- extra crushed chips tortilla ships
More Mexican recipes that we love include this taco pasta recipe, green chicken enchilada casserole and crescent roll taco bake.
More Easy Mexican Dinner Ideas
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Taco Casserole
Ingredients
- 1 pound ground beef , 80-90% lean
- ½ cup finely chopped onion
- 2 Tablespoons taco seasoning , more to taste
- 1 cup salsa
- ¼ cup water , more as needed
- 1 cup canned black beans
- 1 cup canned corn
- 3-4 cups tortilla chips , or Doritos
- 1-2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
Optional toppings: sliced olives, diced tomatoes, shredded lettuce, sour cream
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375°F. Spray a 9×13" pan with non-stick spray. Line the bottom of the pan with tortilla chips. Sprinkle half the cheese over the chips.
- Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Add one pound ground beef and 1/2 xup onion and cook until browned, stirring occasionally breaking up any large pieces.
- Once browned, drain off any extra grease. Then add in 2 Tablespoons taco seasoning, 1 cup salsa, 1/4 cup water, 1 cup black beans and 1 cup corn. Bring to a light simmer. Add more water as desired.
- Layer meat mixture on top of the chips in the pan. Sprinkle with cheese and any extra tortilla chips. Bake for 10-15 minutes, or until the cheese is bubbly.
- Top with your favorite toppings.
Notes
- In place of tortilla chips, you can also lay down corn tortillas along the bottom.
- To bulk it up even more, feel free to add in cooked rice and more vegetables.
Nutrition
Nutrition provided is an estimate. It will vary based on specific ingredients used.
Did you make this recipe? Don’t forget to give it a star rating below!
Categorized as: 30 Minute Meals, 30 Minute Meals, Beef, Casseroles, Cinco De Mayo, Dinner, Mexican
Jamielyn Nye is the founder and recipe creator at I Heart Naptime. She is the author of the I Heart Naptime Cookbook and shares easy family-friendly recipes and desserts for every occasion.
We had a lot of leftover sides from a catered Chipotle work luncheon. I wasn’t sure how we were going to finish it all off until I got your newsletter featuring this!! I only needed to add homemade meat and a can of olives. It was so yummy! My preteen even commented how filling it was! Entire family win and is now in my recipe book! Will make with or without chipotle next time;) Thank you!
Thanks for your recipe I wouldn’t have thought to use corn but I did and family and I love all it. Good confront food..
So happy to hear it was a hit with your family! Thanks for your comment and review, Kathy :)
Can I use cabanzo beans
Yes you could :)
Great recipe! I used ground turkey instead of beef and filled soft tortillas after baking. Just awesome. Thanks for the recipe!!
I’m so glad it was a hit! Thanks for your comment, Wendy :)
I want to make this , should I drain beans & corn ? Thanks .
Yes, I typically drain the bean and corn before adding!
So easy and everyone loves it ,can’t go wrong when you need dinner fast yummy to our tummy
Looks great!! I just needed a copy of recipe. THANKS
Looks like something my family would go crazy for. Can’t wait to try it!
We love this recipe — SO perfect for hectic weeknights!!
A fun way to change up our taco Tuesday night! This was a hit with the whole family.
I love how this is one of those easy throw together recipes. It’s so delicious yet so simple, just a mix of everything in your pantry and fridge. I added jalapenos to this recipe and we adored it. So so easy!
Incredibly yummy & great when you crave Southwestern food. Easy with ingredients that I always have on hand. This is a keeper in my recipe file.
This looks incredibly delicious! Get in my belly! This looks so good.
This is my kind of meal! Definitely a crowd pleasing dish!
This is such a great recipe! It’s super easy & has so much flavor. My hubby can eat taco salad every week, so this is a nice option to change it up!
Love everything about this! Anything taco related is my fav!
Oh, yum! This looks like a great dinner. I love quick and easy! I will be trying it soon.