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If you’re looking for an easy weeknight dinner everyone will love, I’ve got you covered!
This taco bake casserole has layers of seasoned beef, refried beans, and gooey cheese packed with bold Tex-Mex flavors.
Best of all, this dish uses ingredients you likely have on hand already!
This is a Fave Taco Bake Because…
- You can prep up to a day ahead and bake when ready!
- It’s easy to make and a great way to feed a crowd.
- Family-friendly with flavor in every bite.
- It’s budget-friendly; add extra veggies or tortilla chips to stretch it further.
What You’ll Need for This Taco Bake Recipe
- Beef: This recipe uses lean ground beef, chicken, or turkey.
- Vegetables: I combine my favorite southwest-inspired veggies like corn and bell peppers. Any finely chopped vegetable can be added.
- Refried Beans: Canned refried beans add great texture and satisfy hungry bellies longer. Adding a little sour cream adds tang and creaminess.
- Salsa: Salsa makes this dish saucy and adds flavor. Use hot, medium, or mild, based on your preference.
- Cheese: A Mexican cheese blend includes cheddar, Monterey jack, and Asadero or mozzarella cheeses, depending on brand and location. Mix and match any cheeses you like, including cotija, pepper jack, or Colby.
- Chips: Use any brand of plain tortilla chips or even Fritos corn chips. Don’t worry if some are broken; they’ll be perfect in every bite! In a pinch, broken taco or tostada shells can be used instead.
How to Make a Taco Bake
This taco bake casserole has minimal prep with maximum flavor!
- Cook beef. Mix in seasonings and veggies (recipe below).
- Combine refried beans and sour cream.
- Layer chips, meat, beans, and cheese, with a final topping of cheese.
- Oven bake until bubbling hot.
Add desired toppings.
Taco Bake Toppings
- Veggies: shredded lettuce, diced tomatoes, jalapenos
- Sauces: sour cream, salsa, guacamole, salsa verde
- Other: shredded cheddar cheese, sliced black olives, cilantro
Storing Taco Bake
- Keep leftover taco bake covered in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Reheat in the microwave or on the stovetop and serve with fresh tortilla chips and cheese.
- Freeze portions in zippered bags for up to 3 months and thaw overnight in the fridge. Reheat as noted above, adding fresh chips and cheese.
More Tasty Casseroles to Try
Did your family love this Taco Bake? Be sure to leave a comment and rating below!
Taco Bake
Layers of spicy ground beef, tortilla chips, refried beans, and cheese are baked together for hearty flavor in every bite!
Ingredients
- 1 pound lean ground beef
- 1 medium onion diced
- 1 green bell pepper diced
- 1½ cups frozen corn kernels
- ½ cup water
- 1 ounce taco seasoning 1 packet, or 2 tablespoons homemade taco seasoning
- 1½ cups salsa
- 16 ounces refried beans 1 can
- ½ cup sour cream
- 12 ounces tortilla chips slightly crushed
- 3 cups shredded Mexican cheese blend
- toppings as desired * see notes
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375°F. Grease a deep 9×13-inch baking dish.
- Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the beef and onion, cooking while breaking up with a spoon until no pink remains. Drain any fat.
- Add the bell pepper, corn, ½ cup water, and taco seasoning. Stir and let simmer until the water mostly has evaporated, about 4 minutes. Stir in the salsa and remove from the heat.
- In a medium bowl, combine refried beans and sour cream.
- Place half of the tortilla chips in the bottom of the dish. Spoon half of the beans in tablespoons over the tortilla chips. Top with half of the meat mixture and 1 cup of cheese. Repeat the layers with the remaining tortilla chips, bean mixture, meat mixture, and the remaining 2 cups of cheese.
- Bake the casserole uncovered for 20 to 25 minutes or until bubbly and browned.
- Add toppings and serve.
Notes
Add any toppings as desired. We love lettuce, tomatoes, green onion, and additional sour cream.
Refrigerate up to 4 days.
Freeze for up to three months. Thaw in the refrigerator before reheating in the microwave or oven.
Nutrition Information
Calories: 623 | Carbohydrates: 51g | Protein: 27g | Fat: 35g | Saturated Fat: 14g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 6g | Monounsaturated Fat: 11g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 89mg | Sodium: 1439mg | Potassium: 547mg | Fiber: 8g | Sugar: 6g | Vitamin A: 1116IU | Vitamin C: 18mg | Calcium: 385mg | Iron: 3mg
Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.
Course Beef, Casserole, Dinner, Entree, Lunch, Main Course
Cuisine American, Mexican© SpendWithPennies.com. Content and photographs are copyright protected. Sharing of this recipe is both encouraged and appreciated. Copying and/or pasting full recipes to any social media is strictly prohibited. Please view my photo use policy here.
My momma made a Mexican casserole like this for years, so I decided to try your version. Substitutions: 12oz pkg of Mellisa’s Soy Taco seasoned plant based protein-this has plenty of spice and seasonings so I omitted the taco seasoning. Used flour tortillas instead of chips, and plain Greek yogurt instead of sour cream. Since the “meat” portion was only 12oz and not a pound, I just eyeballed the rest of the ingredients. Used a round Corning ware dish, spread small amt of meat on bottom, then layer tortilla slathered with refried beans, meat mix, cheese, repeat until out of meat! The plant based meat is mushy which makes this good for people with chewing issues. For texture/crunch I added fresh tomatoes and lettuce as pictured! So good!
Carla, thank you for sharing. The use of flour tortillas instead of chips sounds delicious. I am glad you enjoyed it.
Wow I love this recipe!
I did make changes: left out the corn and the tortilla chips. Cut the recipe in half because there are only two of us here. Made it in three ramekins instead of the bigger pan. Serve it with the tortilla chips on the side plus extra salsa and sour cream. We LOVE this.
Pam, I am so glad it was a hit!
Made this recipe but left the chips out and cut all of the ingredients to 1/4 of the amount as we only have the two of us here.
I added 1/2 of a large jalapeno, minced to the beef mixture along with the rest of the ingredients.
I layered the dip in ramekins, baked it for 20 mins. Then served it for a fun dinner in front of the TV along with chips. We both enjoyed it very much and I will be making it again.
Delicious!! This is a keeper! Thank you for the yummy recipe
So glad you enjoyed it, Sara!
looks so good I need to try that
It’s delicious! Enjoy!
Loved this! Easy, quick, looks great, and it’s so yummy! Has the vibe of a taco lasagna, which is very cool. I was a little skeptical of adding the lettuce, tomato, etc. on top (it’s a casserole, after all) but it turns out perfectly! Makes a ton, so would be good for a big family or guests. It’s just my husband and me, so I froze enough for another two meals. Highly recommend!
I’m so glad your family loved it Melinda!! Perfect for freezing for another day!
The flavour in this recipe is scrumptious, however the chips get soggy and turn to mush. I think the next time I make this I will omit the chips in the dish and serve them on the side.
They do soften kind as a corn tortilla would but I do love the idea of serving them on the side for extra crunch! Thanks for sharing.
This was a big hit with everyone. I have our son and his family of five who were displaced during Helene. This was their first home-cooked meal since evacuating and they loved it. I doubled the recipe and have enough for another meal. It was easy to make and delicious.
So happy to hear that, Linda! I am glad they were able to make it safely to stay with you ❤️