This post is sponsored by TOSTITOS®, all opinions are my own.
Beef Enchilada Casserole
Everything you love about beef enchiladas, in a casserole form! You get layers of meat, beans, cheese, TOSTITOS® Cantina Thin and Crispy Tortilla chips and a fantastic homemade enchilada sauce!
This meal is simple, easy to make, and full of flavor. The perfect weeknight meal!
This recipe has my heart because it is:
- So easy to make: You really only need to brown ground beef and everything else can be semi-homemade if you want.
- It is so dang delicious: Layers of beans, meat, cheese, tortilla chips, all doused in enchilada sauce and more cheese. What is not to love?
- Secret Ingredient: One of my favorite parts of this recipe is that I skip the tortillas, and use tortilla chips instead. It is my secret ingredient. And it makes it so quick, and delicious!
What You Need to Make Enchilada Casserole
This recipe has all the main ingredients of traditional enchiladas, but is simpler and easier to make, and you get to enjoy everything you love about enchiladas in casserole form.
- TOSTITOS® Cantina Thin and Crispy Tortilla chips: The perfect tortilla chips for this recipe!
- Enchilada Sauce: Pick your favorite, or make homemade enchilada sauce.
- Refried Beans: feel free to swap these out for black beans if you prefer.
- Onion: This is optional, but I love the added flavor.
- Ground Beef: Brown it with some salt and pepper, garlic powder, and chili powder.
- Cheese: Use a fiesta or Mexican cheese blend, or pick your favorite cheddar blend.
- Garnish: I like to keep it simple with just green onion, but you can add olives, tomatoes, sour cream, avocado, etc.
How to Make Enchilada Casserole
- Prep Ingredients
The first thing is to prep the ingredients. Brown your ground beef, heat up your beans, shred your cheese, make (or open) your enchilada sauce, and dice your onion.
- Layer One
Start by taking your 2 quart baking dish or 9 x 13 casserole dish, and adding a layer of enchilada sauce.
- Add TOSTITOS® Cantina Thin and Crispy Chips
In a traditional enchilada casserole you would layer tortillas, but for this recipe, you are going to use a bag of TOSTITOS®, and just shake about 1/3 of the bag into your dish for the bottom layer.
- Add beans
Make sure your beans are warm so they are easy to spread, then add them on top of the TOSTITOS®.
- Add Ground Beef
Add your seasoned, browned, ground beef!
- Add onions
This is optional, or you can also caramelize, or cook the onions first, I like the texture, so I add them raw.
- Add cheese and enchilada sauce
Finish the first layer with cheese, and enchilada sauce.
- Repeat all the layers.
Now you do it all again, only this time, you use more enchilada sauce, and more cheese at the end.
- Bake, then Garnish
You are going to bake it for 30 minutes covered with foil, then remove the foil and continue to bake for an additional 10 minutes.
- Serve and Enjoy!
Now you scoop it out, serve it up, and enjoy the layers of meat, beans, cheese, and tortilla. And don’t forget you can dress it up with all of your favorite enchilada toppings.
Tips and Tricks
Making this recipe is Eazy Peazy, but follow these tips and tricks to get perfect results every time.
- Use TOSTITOS®!: TOSTITOS® are THE chip brand to use when making this meal, they are delicious, simple, and the perfect addition to your recipe!
- Make it Yours: Keep it simple. I have provided you with tons of info on subbing, adding, and subtracting. The holidays are busy, and life is busy, so use canned enchilada sauce if you want, buy pre-shredded cheese, sub black beans for refried if that is what you have on hand. This recipe is versatile, delicious, and easy. So don’t worry about it being perfect, instead get it on the table and enjoy the connection and meaningful conversations that can happen over this comfort food meal!
- Don’t go to the Edge: Leave some of the chips uncovered on the edges. So this casserole is absolutely delicious, the chips kind of melt into the other layers to give you this totally satisfying and delicious layered meal. But I love leaving the edges without the beans, and not as much sauce, so that each slice has a little bit of the crunch from the TOSTITOS® Cantina Thin and Crispy Tortilla chips. So good!
- Garnish: Top your favorite way. Add all the things you normally like on enchiladas, like avocado, sour cream, diced tomatoes, and green onions.
Make Ahead and Storage
How to make this recipe ahead of time:
- Prep everything.
- Assemble.
- Cover.
- Refrigerate for up to 2 days (Note: chips will not stay crispy, but will still be delicious)
- Remove from the fridge 20 minutes before cooking, bake according to directions.
Storage:
Refrigerate: Leftovers can be stored in a sealed or tightly covered container in the refrigerator for 3-4 days.
Freeze: You can freeze this casserole after cooking, simply place in a freezer safe container, and reheat in the microwave or oven when ready to enjoy.
Reheat: While you can use the microwave, this is best reheated in the oven, air fryer, or toaster oven.
To reheat in the oven: Cover the casserole with foil and reheat at 350°F for approximately 30 minutes or until heated through.
To reheat in the air fryer: Place piece in basket, and turn on to 400 degrees. Heat for 5-6 minutes.
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Enchilada Casserole
Ingredients
- 9 ounces TOSTITOS® Cantina Thin and Crispy Tortilla chips (1 bag)
- 1 pound ground beef
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 yellow onion diced
- 30 ounces refried beans
- 3 cups red enchilada sauce
- 2 1/2 cups Fiesta Blend Cheese shredded
Garnish
- Green onion, tomatoes, avocado, sour cream
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Prep ingredients: In a large skillet over medium-high heat, combine ground beef, salt, pepper, chili powder, and garlic. Stir together, and cook until beef is browned. Warm refried beans up. Make or open enchilada sauce. Dice onion, shred cheese.
Assemble
- In a 2 quart or 9 x 13 casserole dish, spread 1/2 cup of enchilada sauce in the bottom.
- Open bag of TOSTITOS® Cantina Thin and Crispy Tortilla Chips, and spread 1/2 the bag out across the bottom of the baking dish
- Top with 1/2 the bean mixture, 1/2 the ground beef, 1/2 the onion, 1/2 the remaining enchilada sauce, and 1/2 the cheese.
- Repeat to form a second layer.
Bake
- Cover with foil, and place in preheated oven for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, remove foil and bake an additional 10 minutes until cheese is bubbly.
- Remove from oven and let sit for 5 minutes, then garnish, cut into squares and serve.
Nutrition
Our recipe card software calculates these nutrition facts based on averages for the above ingredients, different brands, and quality of produce/meats may have different nutritional information, always calculate your own based on the specific products you use in order to achieve accurate macros for this recipe.
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