Easy Taco Casserole with Tortillas Recipe

Easy taco casserole with  tortillas and taco seasoned ground beef, gooey cheese, lettuce, tomatoes and tortillas. A taco in casserole form! A great taco bake that feeds a crowd!

A pan with taco seasoned ground beef topped with shredded cheeses and tortilla chips and jalapenos, beans and tomatoes

This taco casserole with tortillas is a fast and easier way to serve tacos to your family. Mmmhmm, yup only 10 minutes of prep time. Your family will love this recipe, especially the kiddos. It’s perfect for a busy weeknight. We’ve already added it to our menu for Taco Tuesday. 

WHY THIS TACO BAKE WORKS

  • This taco bake with tortillas is a quick way to serve and enjoy tacos. 
  • It can feed a lot of people and it’s faster than serving individual tacos (less dishes). 
  • It can be easily adapted to be low carb. 
  • If you have a large skillet then you can make it a one pan meal.
  • It’s made with healthy fresh vegetables, homemade taco seasoning and protein. 

HOW TO MAKE A TACO BAKE?

  • Simply saute the onions and green peppers (photo 1).
  • Secondly, brown the ground beef. then add the taco seasoning (photos 2-4).
  • Next, pour ground beef mixture into a 9×13 pan. Top with the shredded cheese and bake until the cheese has melted and gooey (photos 6-7).
  • Remove the pan from the oven and top with the tortilla chips. Add more shredded cheese on top. Pop it back into the oven until the cheese melts. Lastly, top the casserole with your favorite toppings. We love to us lettuce, tomatoes and/or salsa, olives or slice jalapeños. Serve the taco bake with sour cream (photos 7-9).

Step by step pics of taco casserole recipe

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HOW TO MAKE TACO CASSEROLE HEALTHIER?

To make the taco casserole healthier, you can sub the ground beef for ground turkey or chicken, use low fat cheese and sour cream. You can use black beans but just make sure you use the low carb kind (soy black beans) and lower in carb tortilla chips. *See notes

Store taco seasoning have weird ingredients and full of salt. If you want to try your hand at homemade taco seasoning then check out the recipe HEREBUT if you’re in a rush, by all means, use it. I cut corners when I don’t have time to cook so no biggie.

If you don’t have all of the ingredients, then use what you have. For instance, I used romaine lettuce because I didn’t have shredded lettuce. Normally, I would add corn but I didn’t have any. corn and black beans go well in this taco bake.

Next time, I’m going to use enchilada sauce next time. I bet it’s so good! OMG for fun but even more flavor, you can add Fritos! Check out this recipe, for example. My kids go nuts over it whenever I add Fritos. By all means, have fun making this taco bake your own.

HOW TO FREEZE TACO CASSEROLE

Don’t need it right away? Therefore, freeze it! Here’s how to do it. Pour the ground beef mixture into the baking dish. Cover it tightly with foil. I usually double up on the foil. Place it into your freezer. It will freeze for up to 3 months. 

Secondly, let it thaw out for 30 minutes on the counter. Keep that foil on! Bake then proceed with adding the shredding cheese in steps 2-3 of the recipe below.

TACO BAKE QUICK TIPS 

Will you have leftovers? If so, don’t top the casserole with lettuce just and the other toppings just yet. Store the portion that you want to save for later. Serve then top each serving with the garnishments.

Instead, wait until you’re ready to serve it. Then top each serving with the lettuce etc. Finally, store the leftovers in a container with a tight fitted lid in the fridge.So with the above instructions, you CAN make a delicious taco casserole. Omg! I wouldn’t mind eating this every day 😍  This is good eating!

taco casserole

Easy Taco Casserole with Tortillas Recipe

April Boller Wright
A delicious taco casserole that tastes just like a taco but in a casserole form. A great taco bake that can feed a crowd. 
5 from 15 votes
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 25 minutes
Total Time 35 minutes
Course Dinner
Cuisine American
Servings 6 people
Calories 712 kcal

Ingredients
  

  • 1 lb ground beef Use at least 80% fat ground beef
  • 1 packet taco seasoning follow package instructions or homemade **see notes
  • 1/2 - 1 cup black beans drained and rinsed. See Notes
  • 2 cups Mexican shredded cheese
  • 1 bag tortilla chips See Notes
  • 2 cups shredded lettuce add more if needed
  • 1/2 cup sour cream or more as needed
  • 1/8 cup jalapenos optional**add more if needed. Slice thin
  • 1 cup grape tomatoes or your choice of tomatoes.
  • 1/4 cup black olives
  • 1 cup red onions diced
  • 2 tsp garlic minced
  • 2/3 cup green peppers diced

Instructions
 

  • Preheat the oven to 350 F. In a large skillet over medium high heat, saute the onions and green peppers. Secondly, brown the ground beef. Add the garlic, then add the taco seasoning and water per the taco packet. You can also use my recipe for homemade taco blend then proceed to step two below. 
  • Next, pour the ground beef mixture into a 9x13 pan. Top with the shredded cheese and bake until the cheese has melted and gooey. Remove the pan from the oven and top with the tortilla chips. 
  • Sprinkle more shredded cheese on top. Pop it back into the oven until the cheese melts. Lastly, top the casserole with your favorite toppings. We love to us lettuce, tomatoes and/or salsa, olives or slice jalapeños. Serve with sour cream. Enjoy!

Notes

Tips to make This Taco Bake  

1.Taco seasoning:  You can use store taco packets or you can find my homemade recipe HERE.  After you make the taco seasoning follow step 1-3 in this recipe
 
 
2. Ground Beef: I used 80% ground beef because it has more flavor. Feel free to use a leaner ground beef if you like. 
 
 
3. Healthier Options: Sub the ground beef for ground turkey or chicken, use low fat cheese and sour cream.  Use the low carb kind of black beans (soy black beans) and lower in carb tortilla chips like Beanitos  You can also eliminate the tortilla chip for a low carb option.
 
 
4. Add-ins  Corn, chili beans, black canned beans, green chili, enchilada sauce. Refried beans can be used if you want to add layers. I suggest doubling this recipe if you wan to do layers.
 
 
5. Toppings: Salsa, shredded lettuce, salsa, olives, tomatoes, jalapenos, fritos or tortilla chips, kettle chips, shredded Mexican cheese, sour cream, cilantro, then sliced radishes,
 
 
6. To freeze for later, let the beef cook then pour into a baking dish. Let it cool completely then cover with plastic wrap. and foil. Freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in refrigerator until completely thawed then follow the recipe steps 2-3
 
 
7. Leftovers: If you plan on having leftovers, before you add the garnishments on top of the taco casserole, take whatever amount of meat you're going to store, place it in a container with a tight lid. Store in the fridge up to 3 days. Reheat the chilled meat mixture in the microwave or Preheat the oven to 275 degrees F until warmed through. 
 
 
*The enamelware pan I used in this recipe is from Amazon HERE
 
 
This recipe was published on Jan 11 2018. Post was updated Jan 28 2019. No change to the recipe.

Nutrition

Calories: 712kcalCarbohydrates: 54gProtein: 31gFat: 43gSaturated Fat: 16gCholesterol: 99mgSodium: 1106mgPotassium: 654mgFiber: 9gSugar: 5gVitamin A: 1223IUVitamin C: 24mgCalcium: 396mgIron: 4mg
Keyword mexican casserole, taco bake, taco casserole, taco casserole with tortillas
Like this? Leave a comment below!Let us know how it was!

Did you make this? If so, let us know in the comments!  Don’t forget to save it for LATER! If you love this ground beef recipe then check this check out my viral meatloaf recipe.

You may also like these other beef recipe: There’s also some low carb keto friendly recipes too!

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20 Comments

  1. If you use your homemade taco seasoning, how much water do you add? You don’t have a package to follow for the amount of water to use.

  2. Loved this! We made this for taco Tuesday because I was out of taco shells but I had chips. Added canned black beans, and a chopped tomato to the ground beef mix. Followed the homemade taco seasoning recipe.

    Definitely a winner, my husband said it was like a giant overloaded nacho! I can definitely see this going into the rotation 🙂 thank you!5 stars