Using easy-to-find store bought ingredients and needing very little prep, this tasty Mexican Ground Beef Casserole is a winner!
Here’s a recipe that’s simple, delicious, and made with only 6 ingredients, including ground beef (of course), store bought salsa, beans, cheese, and crushed tortilla chips. And you won’t believe how flavorful it is. In fact, it tastes a lot like beef enchiladas—but sooo much easier to make! Scroll on to find out more info about making this delicious beef casserole, or click here to jump straight down to the recipe.
About The Meat
My recipe below uses ground beef, and I tend to reach for 85% lean. But you could absolutely use whatever kind you like. You could even use ground pork, chicken, or turkey—or a combination.
To cook the beef—or whatever meat you choose—I use a slightly unusual method that gets a nice brown crust on it, which means extra flavor. It’s really easy and described in the recipe, but you can read more about it in my post on how to cook ground beef.
(And if you like ground beef casseroles, you might also like this cheesy Ground Beef Casserole with noodles and this Ground Beef and Rice Skillet.)
About The Add-ins
Whatever kind of salsa you like, dump it in. Whatever kind of tortilla chips you have, crush them up. And the same goes for the beans—I used pintos for the recipe you see in the photo, but this is also good with black beans, kidney beans, and even white beans or garbanzos, although garbanzos will lack a little of the Mexican vibe. So use whichever you like.
Also for the Mexican vibe, I like to use a Mexican shredded cheese blend to top my casserole. But really any shredded cheese will work—Cheddar, jack, even mozzarella. You could also use crumbled cheese instead of shredded. Crumbled queso fresco, for example, would be great.
(Here’s another one with a similar vibe, my Southwest Chicken Skillet.)
Add Toppings If You Like
Although the casserole doesn’t need it, you can add and enhance if you want to. My photo shows it topped with tomatoes, scallions, and more crushed tortilla chips. But chopped cilantro, sour cream, diced avocado, and sliced olives would also be great. You can even offer a selection of toppings and let diners customize their individual plates.
No matter how you configure it, I know you’ll love it. This one is easy and really tasty—a definite dinner winner.
Enjoy!
Christine
Podcast Episode: Making Mexican Ground Beef Casserole
Listen to me explain briefly about how to make this casserole, along with some other great tips, by clicking the play button below:
Listen to more Recipe of the Day episodes here.
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Mexican Ground Beef Casserole Recipe
- Prep Time: 8 minutes
- Cook Time: 55 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour 3 minutes
- Yield: 4–6 servings 1x
- Category: Entrée
- Method: Baked
- Cuisine: Mexican
DESCRIPTION
Using easy-to-find store bought ingredients and needing very little prep, this tasty Mexican dinner is a winner! And while it’s absolutely delicious as-is, you also enhance it with your favorite toppings, including tomatoes, scallions, chips, cilantro, sour cream, avocado, and olives!
Ingredients
- 1 Tbsp. olive oil
- 1 1/4 lb. ground beef (see note)
- 2 cups salsa
- 1 16–oz. can beans, drained
- 4 cups tortilla chips, crushed
- 1 1/2 cups shredded Mexican cheese blend (see note)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Coat a 9×13-inch pan or 2-quart baking dish with nonstick spray and set aside.
- Meanwhile, in a very large skillet, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the beef and, using a spatula, press the beef into an even, flat layer in the pan. Let cook untouched for 4 minutes.
- Stir the beef, breaking it up, and continue cooking until the meat is cooked through, about 3 minutes.
- Stir in the salsa and bring to a simmer. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the liquid has reduced by half, about 5 minutes.
- Add the beans and cook until heated through, about 3 minutes. Remove from the heat.
- Spread the tortilla chips out in the prepared pan or baking dish. Top with the beef mixture and then with the cheese.
- Bake until cheese is melted and tortillas are softened, about 10-15 minutes.
Notes
Note: For the beef, I like to use 85% lean, but whatever you like will work for this recipe. You can even use ground pork, chicken, or turkey. And for the cheese, I like a Mexican cheese blend, but really any kind of shredded cheese will work.
My whole house loves this recipe. I make it with ground turkey and I use rotel instead of salsa. Then we top it with sour cream, guacamole and tomatoes so it’s kind of like nachos for dinner.
That sounds amazing, Mel! Thanks for sharing.