Spicy Beef Taco Bake

Our family loves Mexican food any way you can get it and this taco bake recipe was no different. It’s quick and easy to put together with ingredients we always have on hand.

My question on this recipe was, “Would it be good reheated or would the chips be soggy?” The answer is, yes, it is good reheated and the chips were not soggy. I always use 93% ground beef when I make casseroles because there is no grease to drain.

I also liked the way you cook the spices for a bit before adding other ingredients. It brings out the flavors so much more. We’ll make this recipe again and again.

This taco bake casserole recipe was a family favorite. I made this for my family, and they demanded more! They loved the taste and texture of this recipe. This is so good and adaptable, you could serve it as an appetizer dip for a football game or a large gathering.

I believe this recipe is worth the work and ingredients that were involved. It was not as spicy as I expected but those I shared the recipe with thought the spice level was nice and balanced. I put out the remainder of the tortilla chips for my family to use as utensils. Again, they suggested that this dish may be more suitable as a large party appetizer rather than the main dish. My family said that this dish would be a family favorite moving forward.

The lean ground beef worked great. In the future, I may substitute turkey, which has the same texture with that same lean quality of the beef. There were 3 to 4 tablespoons of fat that I did drain off prior to putting it into the baking dish. I really enjoyed the Ro-Tel ingredient. It had that semi-homemade component and saved some dicing in the end.

For the chip topping, I used approximately 24 chips for the top. I served the remainder as a utensil for picking up some of the dish from the plate. We really enjoyed the aromatics that the spices brought to the kitchen when cooking the spices with the onion. Once I finished the dish, I set up a nice bar of pico de gallo, onions, sour cream, chips, cheese, and cilantro for folks to add their own spin to the baked dish.

I also served with the remaining tortilla chips, which brought up the appetizer suggestion. Again, I loved this dish and will definitely be serving this again as both a main dish and an appetizer for future events.

I had some trepidation about this beef taco bake because it’s much more of a burrito than a taco, but what’s in a name? I found it just as easy as making tacos but tacos made ahead of time. The recipe is very good and easy to understand and uses ingredients that are readily available.

I used a 12-pack of taco shells as directed but didn’t measure. It was a sufficient amount. You can use tortilla chips also the end result is a layer of crunchy goodness. As the recipe suggests, use the 93% beef I only drained off 1/4 cup with pressing on it with the back of a spoon. The timing is accurate give or take a couple of minutes so keep an eye on it as every range can vary.

This recipe may sound like a lot of trouble but it’s very simple and it will keep in the fridge for several days if necessary so you can make it in advance. Leftovers keep well, but you need to reheat the dish in the oven as the chips may lose the crunch.

I found this taco bake casserole to be very flavorful and would make it often. As a base and some creativity, it is a start to a home-cooked night out. This recipe invites creativity so experiment a bit.

This was a delicious casserole with traditional taco flavors. It doesn’t replace your favorite taco recipe but if you’re looking for a make-ahead casserole this is a great choice.

I’d never make this instead of tacos. The whole point of tacos—for my family, at least—is that everyone gets to build the taco as they please. Plus, tacos are pretty kid-friendly but refried beans are not a favorite for my kids. Tacos come together fairly quickly. This casserole doesn’t. It’s still a convenient recipe, though, because it’s make-ahead. It’s a different recipe for different needs.

Since the recipe indicated that you could let the casserole sit for up to 24 hours, I took that to mean that I didn’t HAVE to let it sit that long. I let it sit for 6 hours because my family was eager to try it for dinner. The flavors had developed plenty by then and we loved the taste. I covered the whole casserole with tortilla chips, not taco shells. Taco shells are a bit thicker and harder than chips and I thought the chips would taste better.

This spicy beef taco bake was fantastic. Everyone in the house raved about it, and there is definitely something to be said for having a dinner in the fridge you can just pop in the oven! I’d definitely make it again, and although the description seems long, it really didn’t take any extra time to put together than regular tacos, and I loved that it was all ready to bake whenever and then there were no dishes after dinner!

Supposedly, this serves 6 but probably not more. We were two adults and two kids and there were a couple of small servings left. I used 2 cups of crushed tortilla chips.

My only issue was the dish size—I found that when I started to spread the refried bean mixture into the 9-by-13-inch baking dish, it seemed like the layer was really thin. In the end, I move it to a smaller 2.8L oval dish (approximately 8-by-10-inch baking dish) where the layers seemed to be thicker.

I worried that when spread so thinly they’d either burn or disappear into each other. In the end, this worked well, and after baking, the bean layer was bubbling away (with a little peeking up on the sides), and everything was hot all the way through but nothing burned (or stuck to the pan!).

This beef taco bake recipe works and can easily take the place of making regular tacos. It’s really easy to do the whole thing in the oven and eating it (as an adult) is a whole lot neater. Probably kids would find eating an individual taco more fun.

The one change I would make would be to use a bit more cheese. The cheese pretty much disappears into the casserole. To remedy this, I would add more cheese throughout the layers and/or have some extra cheese on hand as a topping. I served sour cream, avocado, chopped tomatoes, some extra cilantro, and shredded lettuce as additional toppings.