This Taco Casserole Recipe is loaded with all of your Mexican favorites and topped with Doritos, Fritos, or Tortilla Chips! It’s easy to assemble days ahead of time and bake later for an easy dinner!
Be sure to try my Taco Stuffed Shells and my Salsa Chicken recipes next!
I’ve been on a casserole kick lately, especially ones that you can make ahead of time. It’s amazing how much easier your life becomes when you do a little meal prep ahead of time.
The fact that you can assemble this Taco Casserole up to 2 days ahead of time is really handy. And the ingredients are really easy to customize!
How to Make it
Note: This is an overview. See recipe card below this post for ingredient quantities and full instructions.
- Let the sour cream come to room temperature while you prepare the meat. This will prevent it from curdling when baked as it won’t be going from cold to hot right away.
- Cook/crumble the ground beef and onions in a pan over medium-high heat.
- Drain excess grease, add water and taco seasoning. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer for 5 minutes, then remove from heat.
- Spread the refried beans in an even layer over a 9 x 13″ casserole dish. Top with sour cream.
- Add the seasoned ground beef and onions on top.
- Top with cheese. Bake uncovered at 350°F for 15 minutes, until the cheese is hot and melted.
- Add the black olives and crunchy toppings. Bake uncovered for 8 minutes.
- Garnish with green onions, diced tomatoes, and/or shredded lettuce if desired and serve!
Make-Ahead Method
This Taco Casserole can be made up to 2 days ahead.
- To do so, cook the ground beef and onions and layer all of the ingredients in a casserole dish.
- Let it cool and cover it. Refrigerate for up to 2 days.
- Let it sit out and come to room temperature for 35 minutes prior to baking. This will prevent the sour cream from curdling.
- Bake, covered, in a 350° oven for 25 minutes.
- Uncover, and bake for 5 more minutes to fully melt the cheese.
- Add black olives along with the crunchy toppings. Bake for 8 additional minutes.
- Add the shredded lettuce, diced tomatoes, and green onions prior to serving.
Crock Pot Taco Casserole
- This recipe is easy to assemble within a Crock Pot and heat right away or up to 2 days later.
- You’ll still need to brown the ground beef first, then layer the ingredients per the recipe instructions.
- Save the crunchy toppings and shredded lettuce/tomatoes/green onions until you’re just ready to serve.
Heating right away: High 2-3 hours or Low 4-5 hours
Heating from a cold state: Let it sit out for 35 minutes prior to heating to prevent the sour cream from curdling. Heat on high 4-5 hours or Low 6-7 hours
This Crock pot allows you to sear/brown meat right on the stove top. It also switches to warm once the cooking time is up.
Note that Crock Pots vary in terms on how quickly they heat up and how hot they get.
Taco Casserole for a Crowd or Potluck
- These aluminum foil pans make it easy to prepare this recipe for a crowd and the pans can be disposed of afterwards.
- This recipe serves 6 people. Click the number of servings to reveal a slider. Move the slider right to increase the number of servings if you’re making this for a larger crowd.
Storing Leftovers
- Leftovers should be refrigerated in an airtight container and are best if used within 3-4 days.
- Reheat in a microwave or a 350°oven until heated through.
Pro Tip: Leftovers make a great dip or filling for burritos!
Freezing
- Taco casserole makes a good freezer food and can be stored for up to 3 months, although I recommend that you leave out the sour cream and serve it on the side with this casserole if you plan on freezing.
- Leave out the crunchy toppings and shredded lettuce when you freeze as well.
- Let it defrost overnight and bake as instructed, or bake it frozen and add 1 hour of baking time.
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Taco Casserole
Ingredients
- 1 lb. ground beef, I use 80% lean
- 1 small yellow onion, diced
- 1 oz. taco seasoning, equivalent to 2 Tablespoons
- 16 oz. refried beans
- ¾ cup sour cream, *see notes
- 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
- ¼ cup black olives, sliced
- ¾ cup crunchy toppings such as tortilla chips, Doritos, and/or Fritos
To garnish:
- Green onions, (optional)
- 1/3 cup lettuce, shredded
- 1/3 cup tomatoes, diced
Instructions
- Let the sour cream come to room temperature while you prepare the meat. This will prevent it from curdling when baked as it won't be going from cold to hot right away.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Add the ground beef and diced onions to a large pan and cook and crumble over medium heat until the meat is cooked through.
- Drain excess grease.
- Add ¾ cup water and taco seasoning. Bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat. Let it cool for 8-10 minutes.
- Spread the refried beans in an even layer in a lightly greased 9 x 13-inch casserole dish.
- Spread the sour cream over the refried beans, followed by the slightly cooled beef, then the cheese.
- If you’re preparing this head of time, let it cool and cover and refrigerate until ready to bake.
Baking:
- If baking right away: Bake, uncovered, for 15 minutes, or until the cheese is hot and melted.
- If baking after the casserole has been refrigerated: Bake, covered, for 25 minutes. Remove the cover and bake for an additional 5 minutes.
Add the toppings:
- Top the casserole with black olives and crunchy toppings. (Add additional cheese if you like as well.)
- Bake uncovered for 8 minutes.
- Garnish with green onions, diced tomatoes, and/or shredded lettuce and serve!
Notes
*A combination of Cheddar and Monterey Jack cheese works well too!
Crock Pot Taco Casserole
- This recipe is easy to assemble within a Crock Pot and heat right away or up to 2 days later.
- You'll still need to brown the ground beef first, then layer the ingredients per the recipe instructions.
- Save the crunchy toppings and shredded lettuce/green onions until you're just ready to serve.
Heating right away: High 2-3 hours or Low 4-5 hours Heating from a cold state: Let it sit out for 35 minutes prior to heating to prevent the sour cream from curdling. Heat on high 4-5 hours or Low 6-7 hoursThis Crock pot allows you to sear/brown meat right on the stove top. It also switches to warm once the cooking time is up.
Nutrition
Can you use fat free greek yogurt instead of sour cream?
Hi Amanda, no, that will make it curdle. The fat content is needed in order to prevent curdling.
My 14 year old daughter made this and it was very good, but she didn’t read/follow the tips regarding the sour cream. It curdled. I told her to leave the sour cream off next time and just add a dollop or 2 on top at the very end. Also, next time we’ll make it with homemade beans (I like Peruvian beans!). Other than that, great recipe. She was proud of it and had fun making it! Thank you!
Hi Gloria! I’m so happy to hear that you enjoyed this recipe, and adding the sour cream at the end is a great idea! 🙂 Thank you so much for sharing what you thought of the recipe! Peruvian beans sound so good with this too!
What can I substitute the beef with to make this vegetarian friendly?
I can’t recommend anything as I’ve never tried a vegetarian ground beef substitute, I would so some independent research for the best option.
Can I just leave it out or would that affect the overall dish?
I think that would be okay, it would be more of a dip than a dinner!
I make this with Morningstar Farms Veggie Crumbles to make it vegetarian. My whole family loves it!
I’m so happy you’re able to make this vegetarian Christina! Thanks for the great suggestion with the veggie crumbles!😃
Do we lightly grease the 9×13 casserole dish before putting the refried beans, sour cream and meat mixture in pan or not???
Sure, it can’t hurt, although I am pretty sure I’ve made it without doing that 🙂
Not sure what I did wrong but I used full fat sour cream and it still curdled.
Hi Kris! I’m so sorry to hear that, I have never had that issue! I’ve updated the instructions to include an additional measure to prevent this- letting the sour cream come down to room temperature prior to baking it should do the trick!
5 stars for another delicious dish! We all loved it and it’s all gone!! Very easy to make and versatile too! I love how easy your recipes and pictures are easy to follow!
Awesome Kesha! I’m so glad to hear that the pictures help, I always like to try to make it as clear and easy as possible so I’m glad it’s working!! -Stephanie
Easy recipe to follow and I followed it exactly. I used regular sour cream and it still curdled and separated. I would definitely recommend adding the sour cream last as a topping rather than in the middle of the dish.
WHEN DO WE ADD THE RICE IF USING SAFFRON RICE FULLY COOKED? AFTER? AND TOP THE CASSEROLE ON TOP>
Hi Maureen! You could add it right on top if you’d like, once the casserole comes out of the oven, or you could serve it on the side! Another option would be to add it as a layer, maybe right before the ground beef!
This looks so delicious. I would love to make it in advance by 2 weeks.
For freezing… Bake first, then freeze, correct?
Then can you reheat it in the oven from frozen?
How does the sour cream fare?
Hi Joelle! You could layer it all together and bake it without baking it, although I would leave out the sour cream and serve that on the side instead just to be safe. I just updated the freezing instructions to make that more clear! When you bake it, let it thaw completely in the fridge and bake as instructed, or add one hour of baking time if baking from frozen. Enjoy!! 🙂
This turned out great. I made a few changes. But was so great
Great to hear Paul!😃 It’s a great way to put a new spin on Taco Tuesday!