This easy Taco Casserole is the perfect dinner recipe for a hungry family! Made with simple ingredients, this is a skillet dinner everyone will love.
I am really excited to share this dinner with you guys! I think it is going to be a total winner in your house, and I can’t wait for you to try it.
Obviously I love every recipe that makes its way to your in box. If it’s not good, it doesn’t make the cut. But there are a couple reasons I really love this recipe.
This casserole recipe is easy, is a one pot recipe with minimal clean up, and is made with easy to find ingredients. This stovetop wonder is perfect comfort food.
This was beautiful, all your recipes are! Definitely making again ASAP!
Taco Casserole Ingredients
As I mentioned, this recipe has really simple ingredients. So much of this you can easily keep in your pantry. This is a great dinner to fall back on.
- Ground Beef: You can certainly use ground turkey or ground chicken as well.
- Taco Seasoning: I love using homemade taco seasoning in this recipe, but you certainly can use a 1 ounce seasoning packet bought from the grocery store.
- Salsa: My homemade blender salsa would be amazing in this recipe, but store-bought salsa will work as well.
- Beef Stock: This recipe was made with regular beef stock. You could use low sodium, to reduce the over all sodium in this recipe.
- Rice: I use long grain basmati rice in this recipe and found that it works perfectly.
- Canned Black Beans: Black beans are packed in liquid that contain a lot of sodium. You will want to make sure that you drain and rinse the beans before adding them.
- Frozen Corn: If you are making this in the summer months, you can also use fresh corn. Canned corn will also work.
- Cheese: Be sure to grate your own cheese for this recipe, as it will melt much better.
Tips and Variations
- Substitute with ground turkey. You can replace the ground beef with ground turkey as an easy swap. Just be sure to start with a little more olive oil at the start of the recipe.
- Control the spice level. The salsa that you use in this recipe will really impact the spice level. When I’m making this for my kids, I use a mild salsa. You can also control the spice by making your own taco seasoning and using more or less cayenne pepper in it.
- Rinse the rice. Whenever I’m cooking with rice, I give the rice a rinse until the water with runs clear. This helps the rice from sticking together while cooking.
Storing Leftovers
Store any left overs in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to three days. Heat leftovers covered in the microwave or in a casserole dish in the oven. As always, use your best discretion when it comes to leftovers.
What to Serve with Taco Casserole
I love to top this casserole with some sour cream, fresh cilantro, diced tomatoes, and sliced olives. But this is also great topped with my guacamole, pickled jalapeños, and some chips and salsa on the side.
If you make this taco casserole recipe or any of my other recipes, come back and tell me what you think!
Taco Casserole
Ingredients
- 2 teaspoons olive oil
- 1 pound ground beef
- 3 tablespoons taco seasoning (or a 1 ounce store bought packet)
- 2 cups salsa
- 3 cups beef stock
- 1 cup uncooked long grain rice
- 15 ounces black beans drained and rinsed
- 1 cup frozen corn
- 2 cups cheddar cheese
Instructions
- Add 2 teaspoons olive oil to a hot oven-proof skillet. Add in the ground beef and saute until browned.2 teaspoons olive oil, 1 pound ground beef
- Drain the fat from the pan. Stir in the taco seasoning, salsa, beef stock, and rice.3 tablespoons taco seasoning, 2 cups salsa, 3 cups beef stock, 1 cup uncooked long grain rice
- Bring to a boil, then reduce heat, and cover, stirring occasionally for 20 – 25 minutes or until the rice is cooked through.
- Stir in the black beans and the frozen corn. Top with cheddar cheese and put under the broiler in the oven until the cheese is melted, about 5 minutes.15 ounces black beans, 1 cup frozen corn, 2 cups cheddar cheese
Robert says
Can you correct when the rice gets added . Is added in step 2 then again in step 4 with the corn .
Thanks for catching that Robert! In step four where it said rice, it should have said black beans. It is corrected now.
Hamelin Joanne says
Can’t wait to make this 🤣❤❣
Sandy Jones says
so how does the corn get done if its only under the broiler to melt the cheese for 5 min??
Frozen corn is cooked through when it is frozen. So you are really just heating it up. The dish is so hot that this happens very quickly.
Shirley Schuurman says
Have corn tortillas to use. Maybe I could layer using them— & bake ?
Sounds like it would be delicious! Let me know how it goes!
Kate says
Thanks for sharing the recipe. Just a quick question as I think there may be a typo- do we add the rice in step 2 or step 4?
Thanks for catching that Kate! In step four where it said rice, it should have said black beans. It is corrected now.
Johnnetta Milberry says
Is this the quick cook rice?
No, this is not instant rice, this is long grain rice.
Sherree says
Can we use some type of pasta instead of rice, not a fan of rice
Hi Sherree! Yes, a pasta would likely work, but you might need to adjust the liquids. I would have to try it to say for sure. If you give it a go let me know how it works for you!
Susan Rozier says
I’m not a hugh rice fan, can I leave it out?
I haven’t tried it without rice, but if I were making it without rice, I would leave out the beef stock, and possibly add more beans or corn to fill it out more.
Jane Curran says
Wow, made this today and my husband loved it. He’s not a big casserole fan but the spice and then the corn, which gave it a contrast, impressed him. It was a success.
He said maybe he could make a burrito out of it. What do you think, would it need anything else or delete something? A lot left so covered in foil in fridge. Guess what’s cooking at our house tomorrow😉
I’m so happy you liked it Jane! Yeah, I think this would totally work inside of burritos. You could even pour salsa in the bottom of a baking dish, roll it into burritos, put them in the pan, more salsa and cheese on top, cover it up and bake it for 30 minutes or until the cheese is melty.
Sandra says
Made this tonight. It makes a lot for 2 seniors but we enjoyed it. Enough for 2 or 3 more meals. I may try it in Tacos . Next time I will cut back on the taco seasoning but that is just a personal choice.
Linda Weidenkeller says
Delicious 😋 It made a lot ! Since it’s only me, I gave half away. Next time I will cut the recipe down. Definitely a keeper. Thank you 🙏
So glad you liked it Linda!