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This 30-minute taco casserole is loaded with juicy beef, melty cheese, and your favorite taco toppings. It’s easy to make, healthy, and absolutely delicious.
If this is your first time visiting, you should know I have a slight obsession with any type of Mexican Inspired Recipe. And this taco casserole is no exception. Easy to assemble, customizable and will disappear in no time! That is my definition of a winning dinner.
I love Mexican food. And I love fast and easy meals. So this taco casserole recipe has quickly become one of my favorite dishes to make. It’s packed with all your favorite taco ingredients, like tender ground beef, shredded cheese, beans, and salsa. If you like Mexican food, then you’ll love this recipe.
Unlike most taco recipes, you don’t have to deal with tortillas or assembling the tacos with this taco bake. With this recipe, all you have to do is throw the ingredients together in a dish, bake them, and devour them. It’s quick, easy, straightforward, and loaded with flavor.
Why You’ll Love This Easy Taco Casserole
I make this Mexican recipe all the time. Here’s why I know you’ll love it as much as I do.
- So easy. This is seriously one of the easiest dinner recipes that I know. It only takes 30 minutes to make, and about half of that time is spent in the oven. All you have to do is cook the meat and the onions, add all the ingredients together, and then bake the casserole. It’s that simple!
- Customizable. Taco casserole is a straightforward recipe that mostly uses ingredients that are probably already in your fridge or pantry. But you can easily add to the recipe. If there are ingredients that you love in your tacos, you can add them to this casserole to customize it to your liking.
- Mess-free. I love dinners that don’t leave my kitchen a mess. All you need for this recipe is one skillet and one baking dish. You won’t end up with a sink full of dirty pots and pans.
- Kid-friendly. This is a great recipe for kids and adults alike. I think it’s a perfect dinner for grown-ups too, but I’ve never met a kid that didn’t love taco casserole!
Ingredients Needed
Be sure to scroll to the bottom of the post for the FULL PRINTABLE recipe card.
Here’s everything you’ll need to make this ground beef taco bake.
- Ground beef – For best results, use lean ground beef.
- Onion – Yellow onions are best for this recipe, but white or red onions work, too.
- Taco seasoning
- Black beans – You’ll need to drain and rinse the beans.
- Corn – You can use frozen, canned, or fresh corn.
- Salsa
- Tortilla chips
- Shredded cheddar cheese – Pre-shredded cheese works fine for this recipe.
How to Make a Taco Casserole
Making this taco casserole dish is super simple. Here’s how to do it.
- Prep. Preheat your oven to 400F.
- Cook the beef. Cook the onions and ground beef in a skillet over medium-high heat until the onions are soft and the meat is cooked through. This should take 5-6 minutes. Drain any excess grease from the pan.
- Season. Add the taco seasoning and stir until the meat is thoroughly coated.
- Add the rest of the seasonings. Put the corn, beans, and salsa in the skillet, and stir to combine.
- Put in a baking dish. Pour the mixture into a 9×9-inch pan, or a 2-quart baking dish.
- Add the chips and cheese. Put the tortilla chips on top of the mixture, then top with the shredded cheese.
- Bake. Place the beefy taco casserole in the oven until the cheese is melted and the casserole is bubbling. This should take 10-15 minutes.
- Garnish. Add your favorite toppings to the casserole and serve.
Tips, Tricks, and Variations
Here are a few ways to ensure that you’re making the best taco casserole, as well as some variations that you can try.
- Really brown the meat. It’s important to not just cook the ground beef until it’s cooked through, but until it’s browned. Browning beef is how you maximize the flavor of the meat. If you don’t brown the meat, this taco casserole will be much less flavorful.
- Make your own seasoning. Taco seasoning is easy to find in the store, but it’s a lot more delicious if you just make it yourself. Here’s my taco seasoning recipe if you want to give it a try.
- Increase the heat. Unlike some Mexican foods, this recipe isn’t very spicy. If you want to dial up the heat, then you can add diced jalapeños (fresh or pickled), or canned green chiles to the casserole.
- Use different beans. I like to use black beans when I make this recipe, but you can use pretty much any kind of beans that you’d like. Pinto beans and refried beans are both delicious with taco casserole.
- Change the meat. Ground beef is my go-to protein for a taco bake. But if you prefer a different kind of taco meat, ground turkey or even ground chicken work great!
What to Serve With This Easy Taco Bake
I usually serve this casserole with some Mexican sides, such as chips with Restaurant Style Salsa and Grilled Pineapple Salsa, or Mexican Rice. But I think the best thing to serve with any kind of Mexican food is margaritas. Here are a few of my favorites.
- Beer Margarita
- Pineapple Margarita
- Pomegranate Margarita
- Best Frozen Strawberry Margarita
- Skinny Margarita
How to Store Leftovers
This dish will last in the fridge for up to 3 days, as long as you store it in an airtight container. However, the chips will start to get soggy pretty quickly, so I recommend eating the casserole on the first day.
Can You Freeze This Recipe?
You can, but I don’t recommend it. The texture of the cheese and chips won’t be very good after freezing and thawing.
More Easy Mexican Recipes
If you love Mexican food as much as I do, then you’ve got to try some more of my favorite easy recipes. Here are a few that I really like.
Taco Casserole
Ingredients
- 1 pound lean ground beef
- 1/2 onion, finely chopped
- 1 packet, 2 tablespoons taco seasoning
- 1 15- ounce can black beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 cup corn kernels
- 1 cup salsa
- 1 cup crushed tortilla chips
- 1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400F.
- Brown the ground beef and onion in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Cook until the onions are soft and the beef is browned and cooked all the way through, about 5-6 minutes. Drain the excess fat.1 pound lean ground beef, 1/2 onion
- Add the taco seasoning and stir until the meat is well coated.1 packet
- Add the black beans, corn kernels, and salsa, and combine until the ingredients are evenly distributed.1 15- ounce can black beans, 1 cup corn kernels, 1 cup salsa
- Pour the mixture into a 2-quart baking dish or a 9-inch pan. Top with tortilla chips and cheese.1 cup crushed tortilla chips, 1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
- Bake until the cheese is melted and everything is hot and bubbly, about 10-15 minutes.
- Remove the casserole from the oven and top it with your favorite taco toppings.
Notes
- Leftovers can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for 3 days, but are best eaten on the first day.
- You can substitute the black beans with the beans of your choice.
- Add fresh or pickled jalapeños, or canned green chiles for extra heat.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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My family would love this!! It looks and sounds incredibly delicious!
This looks amazing!! I am so excited to try it!
Delicious and packed full of flavors! I will definitely make it again!
Haven’t cooked yet but wtf with the step that says “still until….” What?!? I mean, it sounds good but what am I supposed to for this? Doesn’t anyone proofread before publishing anymore?
Really, you haven’t made it yet, and instead of asking a nice question you leave a semi-rude 3 star review. It was a typo, they happen when it is a REAL person behind a website, and not a bot or fake AI. Pretty sure it was fairly obvious it should have said stir, based on the instructions. It has been corrected. And yes, I do proofread, but I am one person with a website with thousands of recipes (that I test, tweak, and then photograph) as well as all the social media channels etc. I make mistakes.
Wow, Sunny are you”ok” hon…or are you always unessessarily and incredibly rude???
The average10 year old could have figured out that the ACCIDENTAL typo of “still until” was very obviously was meant to say “stir until”
This is an easy and delicious, family pleasing recipe that you should probably make now that you know that you should STIR when directed…then come back with a 5☆☆☆☆☆ review, and a humble apology to Erin S…just saying!?!?
To Erin S…Thank you, I enjoy your recipes (accidental typos and all) and have made many of them
This is easy and delicious!!! We like to spoon it into taco shells (and/or) soft flour tortillas and top with shredded lettuce, diced tomatoes, sliced black olives, sliced green onions, shredded Cheddar cheese, hot or mild taco sauce, and sour cream…with a side of tortilla chips and salsa to munch on…sooooo good 😉
Thank you, Erin S 🙂
After making this twice I wanted to share how much our family enjoyed it. As an appetizer, side, or a main dish, it is a hit! Using fresh salsa is preferred by our family as well. Thank you for sharing!