This flavorful taco casserole recipe is an easier deconstructed way of serving tacos. Top with your favorite toppings, like shredded lettuce, diced tomatoes, salsa, sour cream, etc. Adjust the seasonings to your preference; if you’re worried the flavor profile will be too strong, you can start with less than what’s called for and add more as desired.
Ingredients
- nonstick cooking spray:
- olive oil: 1 Tbsp
- ground chicken: 1 pound
- medium onion: 1 piece (diced)
- chili powder: 2 tsp
- cumin: 2 tsp
- garlic powder: 2 tsp
- salt: 0.5 tsp
- black beans: 1 can (15 ounce can, drained)
- whole kernel corn: 1 can (15 ounce can, drained)
- tomatoes and green Chilis (such as RO*TEL): 1 can (15 ounce can, diced)
- tomato sauce: 1 can (14 ounce can)
- flour tortillas: 7 piece (6 inch, or as needed)
- Mexican blend cheese: 2 cups (shredded)
Metric Conversion
Stages of cooking
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Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Spray a 9x13-inch casserole dish with nonstick spray.
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Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium to medium-high heat. Add ground chicken and onion; cook, stirring occasionally to break up the meat, until onion is mostly tender and meat is cooked through, about 5 minutes. Season with chili powder, cumin, garlic powder, and salt.
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Add black beans, corn, diced tomatoes and green chiles, and tomato sauce; stir until well combined. Bring mixture to a low simmer and cook for about 10 minutes. Taste mixture and adjust the seasonings as desired.
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Spoon a couple of good-sized scoops of meat mixture onto the bottom of the prepared casserole dish; spread into a thin layer. Place 3 or 4 tortillas over the sauce, breaking them in half as needed to make a fairly even layer without too much overlap. Spread the remaining meat mixture over the tortillas. Top with the remaining tortillas, again breaking into pieces as necessary to evenly cover the surface.
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Cover with shredded cheese. Spray a piece of foil with nonstick spray; place over the casserole dish, sprayed-side down. (This helps prevent "cheese loss" when you remove the foil.)
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Bake in the preheated oven until casserole is bubbly and cheese is nicely melted, about 30 minutes. Allow to cool for 10 to 15 minutes before cutting into wedges or scooping out to serve.
