Taco Casserole

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.

How to Make Taco Casserole

1. Cook the ground beef in a large skillet. When it is browned, drain the grease from the skillet.
2. Cook the rice. Add in rice, taco seasoning, salsa, and beef stock to the beef. Stir to combine, bring to a boil, reduce the heat, cover and cook for 20 to 25 minutes.
3. Finish off the casserole. When the rice is tender, stir in black beans and frozen corn. Then top it off with cheddar cheese and put it under the broiler until the cheese is melted.

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.

Substitute with Ground Turkey

If your family likes the taste of ground turkey more than ground beef, you can definitely use that in place of the ground beef. If you use use lean ground turkey, you will need more olive oil to start with.

Spice Level

How spicy this taco rice casserole is really depends on what salsa you use. My kids can’t tolerate much spice, so for them I make this with my mild blender salsa.

If you love heat, make it with a hot salsa.

Additionally, you can control the heat level by making your own taco seasoning. I have a whole post about my taco seasoning recipe, and it goes over spice in there.

I love that recipe because it is customizable and you can make a big batch to keep on hand.

Make Ahead

I know how much you love casseroles that you can make ahead, and that totally works with this one.

To make ahead:

1. Follow the instructions up to the point of putting on the cheese.
2. Allow the casserole to cool and then cover with aluminum foil.
3. Put the skillet in the refrigerator for up to 24 hours.
4. Before baking, add the cheese.
5. Bake for 30 minutes at 350 degrees.

Please note that depending on the type of salsa you use, you may need to add more before baking. Putting it in the oven for that length of time can dry it out if your salsa is light on the liquid and heavy on the chunks.

You can also make this ahead and freeze. After making it on the stove top, transfer to a baking dish. Wrap very well and store in the freezer for up to three months.

When ready to bake, top with cheese and bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes.

Please note that transferring a ceramic or glass baking dish right from the freezer to the hot oven can result in it breaking. I suggest using an aluminum baking dish.

Storing Leftovers

Store any left overs in an airtight container in the refrigerator. Eat or discard within three days.

Skillet Dinners You will Love

I love that this is a one pot dinner, and I have other stove top dinners I know you will love:

• My Black Bean Tacos are done in less than 20 minutes and are a great pantry dinner!
• This One Pot Creamy Shrimp Pasta is a hit by everyone who makes it.
• My middle kiddo LOVES this Beef and Broccoli!

If you make this taco casserole recipe or any of my other recipes, come back and tell me what you think!