Easy Dinner tutorial: Taco Casserole and Bean Dip

One of the biggest hits in my house is my mom’s Taco Casserole. I honestly can’t remember a time when my mom didn’t make this meal. It’s super simple and pretty darn quick. And the recipe for Breazy’s Badass Bean Dip will follow!

Step One:

Brown up a your hamburger meat and add taco seasoning. Let it simmer until most of the liquid is evaporated.

Mix up one or two cans (or one big can) of refried beans. (This recipe can be made with reduced fat ingredients. Like your ground beef could be ground turkey, and the beans could be vegetarian). In your beans, add a bit of salsa and stir it up.

In a casserole dish, put about half of your bean mix in the bottom.

Add your taco meat. Put about half over the beans.

Crush your chips and cover the meat.

Add a layer of cheese.

Cover with beans.

And meat.

Bake.

Add a final layer of chips and cheese and put back in the oven until melted and bubbly.

And VOILA! The end result is a super yummy, cheesy casserole. It is soooo good… Here’s the recipe.

1-2 lbs ground beef (turkey can be substituted)

1 pkg Old El Paso taco seasoning

1-2 cans refried beans

1/4 c. salsa

2 c. shredded cheese

1 bag taco chips

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Cook, drain and rinse ground beef. Prepare taco meat as package suggests.

Mix together refries and salsa.

In 2 quart casserole dish, layer 1/2 beans mixture, 1/2 meat, crushed taco chips and shredded cheese. The order goes like this:

Beans

Meat

Chips

Cheese

Beans

Meat

Put in oven and cook for 25 minutes.

When 25 minutes is over, take out of oven, crush another layer of chips and cover in cheese. Put back in and cook about 10 minutes until cheese is melted and bubbly.

Now… Onto my bean dip. I’ve been making this bean dip since before my son was born thanks to my best friends Jamie and Jess. It’s been our go-to party/holiday/anytime dip and it’s a crowd pleaser.

This is all you need. And a pie plate. Preheat your oven to 375.

Throw your cream cheese in a pie plate.

But you’ll want to flatten and spread it out. It’d be kinda nasty if you just left it in one big clump.

Spread on the bean dip. You can use hot bean dip, but I can’t handle spicy stuff too well.

Cover with shredded cheese. How much you use is up to you. I love cheese, so I use a TON.

Bake for about 20 minutes until cheese is melted and bubbly.

Serve on a plate with your favorite corn chips or fritos and enjoy!!!