Taco Casserole - a good way to combine your tacos with some Doritos

Pinterest is full of Taco Casseroles.  I used this one from Bombshell Bling as inspiration, but changed it to be the way that I make tacos...

Taco Casserole

• 1 can of beans or refried beans
• 1 pound (or so) of ground beef
• some onion
• some bell pepper
• Taco seasoning
• CHEESE!
• Salsa

Set the oven to 350 degrees.  Brown up your ground beef, onion, and bell pepper, or whatever you put into your taco meat when you make tacos.  I bet that it doesn't get made with peppers at my sister's house....  Heck, make it with shredded chicken if you want!  The joy of cooking is knowing you can change it to make it your own, right?  Add in the taco seasoning (I use a packet - I've not yet taken the time to mix my own), and whatever water you might need with that seasoning.

Spray your casserole dish and put the beans in the bottom.  Put your finished taco meat on top of the beans.  Then add your cheese.  I live in the land o' cheese, so I covered the top well with a mixture of pepper jack, cheddar, colby, & swiss.  It's a mix from a local dairy farm that I've never tried before but thought it would be a good time to try it.  The put some salsa on the top.  We have a huge thing of Pace Mild Chunky Salsa and I just kind of put a healthy amount on top.

Pop that in the oven for 30 minutes.

You should probably let the casserole sit for 5 minutes or so before digging in.  We had a lot of "juice" in the bottom of ours that would have probably been absorbed if I had waited.

Make a plate/bowl of Doritos (or chips of your choice, or use a tortilla, whatever!), and add your casserole on top.  If you don't want it to be finger food, crunch up the chips ahead of time and use some silverware.  I like a nice build-up of Dorito cheese on my fingers, myself. 

 

Jeff & Rhyanne added sour cream, and you can add any other toppings you want, like shredded lettuce, tomato, olives, etc.

I really really liked it. There was just enough tang to it, and I'm thinking that's because I used seasoned black beans. It was just enough different from tacos that I didn't feel like it's the same old meal, but it pretty much has all the same ingredients.

How do you re-do your go-to recipes?