Easy Taco Bake
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Cheesy and creamy, this taco bake is healthy comfort food at its best! It’s a warm taco casserole with tortillas and lean ground beef that’s simple and satisfying.
If you’re looking for an easy dinner idea, this taco casserole recipe is for you. It’s made with simple, wholesome ingredients, and it’s full of protein—a whopping 35g per serving!
This recipe meets all our requirements for a healthier dinner option, and it’s so much easier to eat than traditional tacos! It may look like a lot of steps, but this recipe only takes about 15 minutes of prep time, and it can be on the table in about an hour. Plus, it makes excellent leftovers for busy weeknights.
Most of the ingredients are pantry and fridge staples, and it’s easy to substitute with what you have on hand. Despite being made with better for you ingredients, it is SO flavorful, and lower in sodium than most taco bakes!
Liz’s Tips for this Recipe:
- Double the amount of ground beef for more protein! You can also substitute ground turkey.
- Prep the ground beef mixture ahead of time to save time when making dinner.
- Go crazy with the toppings! The more toppings, the better! Add all your favorite taco toppings to this for a delicious meal!
Ingredients
Love tacos? Try our recipes for Taco Pasta, Taco Zucchini Boats, Taco Stuffed Peppers, Chicken Taco Rice, Taco Skillet, and Chicken Taco Soup.
Substitutions
Olive Oil: You can substitute avocado oil, butter, or ghee.
Onions: I used sweet onions in this taco bake casserole, but you can use white or red onions.
Ground Beef: We like 90/10 ground beef. Feel free to use leaner ground beef depending on what you like. Read this Butcherbox Review to see why we love them for our ground beef! I haven’t tried making this with ground turkey or ground chicken, but I think it would be great. If you’re using a higher fat beef, it can be helpful to drain the grease.
Seasonings: We recommend using homemade taco seasoning because it’s lower in sodium and has no preservatives. If you don’t have taco seasoning, it’s very easy to make with basic spices like chili powder and cumin.
Veggies/Other Add Ins: I haven’t tried making this with other vegetables added but I think it would be good with cooked black beans or pinto beans added in!
You can double the peppers and corn in this recipe. I usually like to serve it over salad greens to get in my veggies. Try it with our Taco Salad dressing.
Corn: You can use frozen corn or canned no salt added corn that has been rinsed/drained.
Tortillas: This recipe calls for flour tortillas but I think it would work fine with gluten free tortillas or even grain free/paleo tortillas. If you try it let me know! I think corn tortillas would get too mushy. These Brown Rice Tortillas look amazing!
Gluten Free: I haven’t tried this recipe with gluten free tortillas but I think it would work!
Shredded Cheese: You can use pre shredded cheese, but shredding the cheese from a block melts much better! You can substitute Colby Jack with Mozzarella, Cheddar Cheese, Monterey Jack Cheese, Pepper Jack, or any cheese you like.
Can you add sour cream to taco casserole? Yes, you definitely can add sour cream to a taco casserole! Add 1/2 a cup as a layer, or add it on top!
To make it lower salt: Use salt free taco seasoning and lower salt cheese.
To Make it Lower Carb: Skip the corn. You can try this with low carb tortillas but I’m not sure how it will turn out.
To Make it Lower Calorie: Use leaner ground beef 90/10 or 95/5 or ground turkey. You can also cut back on the cheese or use lower fat cheese.
To Make it Plant Based: Use plant based ground beef substitute and cheese. (I have not tried this but I think it will work!)
How To Make Taco Casserole with Flour Tortillas
This is just a summary of the steps involved in making the recipe. Scroll down to the recipe card for the full instructions, or click on the Jump to Recipe button.
Jump to Recipe
- Cook the beef taco mixture in a 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat.
- Cut and arrange half of the tortillas in the bottom of the baking dish. Spread half of the filling evenly over the tortillas.
- Add half of the shredded cheese over the ground beef mixture.
- Layer the taco casserole with remaining tortillas, taco mixture, and shredded cheese.
- Cover with foil or a lid and cook for 30 minutes at 350° until the casserole is warmed through and the cheese is melted. Remove the cover and cook for an additional 5 minutes so that the cheese gets nice and broiled.
Meal Prep Instructions
I don’t recommend completely assembling the casserole ahead of time because the tortillas can get a little soggy. However, you can fully bake it a few days before you want to serve it. Then all you have to do is reheat and eat!
A better option is to cook the onion/garlic/ground beef mixture, let it cool to room temp, then refrigerate it in a covered container. It will keep for up to 4 days, so you can finish assembling the taco casserole later in the week.
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Topping Ideas
The taco bake is just like any other beef tacos— load it up with your favorite toppings! Some of our favorites are:
- lettuce
- guacamole
- sour cream
- corn salsa, pineapple salsa, or pico de gallo
- chopped tomatoes
- black beans or refried beans
- chopped cilantro
- taco salad dressing
- black olives
- marinated veggies
- crushed or crumbled tortilla chips
Storage/Freezing
Refrigerating: The baked dinner will keep for up to 4 days in an airtight container in the refrigerator.
Freezing: I haven’t tried freezing the taco casserole with tortillas but I think they’ll become too soggy as they thaw, so I don’t recommend it.
Reheating: For the best results, reheat leftovers in a toaster oven or conventional oven at 350°F. To prevent the taco bake from drying out, I recommend covering the pan with foil before reheating.
You can also reheat it at 50% power in the microwave, but it affects the texture of the tortillas.
Other Healthy Comfort Food Dinners
Looking for other easy casserole recipes? Check out these 25 Healthy Casserole Recipes or these:
Easy Taco Bake
Ingredients
- ½ tablespoon olive oil
- ½ cup chopped onions
- 2 pounds ground beef 90/10
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon paprika
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- 2 tablespoons taco seasoning one packet
- ⅔ cup water
- 2 cups diced bell peppers orange, red or yellow
- 1 cup frozen corn defrosted
- 5 10 inch flour tortillas cut in half, divided
- 2 cups shredded Colby Jack cheese divided
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Spray an oven-safe 9×13 casserole dish with olive oil. Set aside.
- In a 12-inch sauté pan, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add onion and cook for 5-6 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the onion is translucent.
- Add ground beef, garlic powder, paprika, and pepper. Cook over medium heat for 10 minutes while mixing and crumbling the beef into small pieces as it browns.
- Once the meat is cooked, add the water and the taco seasoning. Mix well and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to a simmer and let it cook for 4 to 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Add the diced peppers and corn to the cooked ground beef. Mix well and remove from heat.
- Place cut tortillas (5 halves) in the bottom of the 9×13 dish, spread evenly in 1 layer. (See photo)
- Add half of the ground beef/veggie mixture on top of the tortillas. Sprinkle with 1 cup of shredded cheese.
- Layer the other 5 tortilla pieces on top. Add the remaining ground beef/veggie mixture, and sprinkle remaining cheese on top.
- Cover with foil or a lid and cook for 30 minutes at 350 ℉ until the casserole is warmed through and the cheese is melted.
- Uncover and cook for an additional 5 minutes, until the cheese is light golden brown.
- Serve and Enjoy!
Video
Notes
Nutrition Facts
Important Note: This is not an authentic Mexican recipe. My goal is always to share recipes that are a bit healthier and made with affordable, accessible ingredients so everyone can enjoy them regardless of their food allergies or dietary restrictions.
This recipe was delicious and so easy. My significant other is a very picky eater. He’s the one who found the recipe and we loved it! I added a can of Rotel tomatoes – can’t go wrong!!
I’m definitely trying this , but without the tortillas. Put it on cauliflower rice add lettuce,tomato and ff Greek yogurt. Yum Ty
Delicious
My family loves this recipe so much! So easy to put together and quick! Kids ask for it almost every week. As with many of your recipes, this one’s in the weekly rotation.
Super easy to make and absolutely delicious! This will be on repeat in our household!
So glad you liked it!
I made this last night and it was delicious. I love that there’s so many veggies in it. Also, I love how quick and easy it is to make. My hubby and 17 month old daughter really enjoyed it as well. We added lettuce, tomatoes and Greek yogurt on top and it was perfect!
Yay! that makes me so happy to hear!
I made this casserole last night and it was delicious! I used fresh corn because I had some leftover. It was super filling. I like that it had a large amount of vegetables as well as protein. It will be on our regular rotation.
Mine came out dry. Not very good at all.
I’ll eat alittle more but toss most of it.
Did you make any substitutions? I’m not sure how this could’ve come out dry with the veggies/cheese/fat in the meat
This was quick to assemble and delicious. I easily halved the recipe for a smaller serving and used homemade taco seasoning and dairy free cheese with no problems. Definitely will make this one again!
This recipe has quickly become a family favorite. Very simple and extremely tasty. Glad to add it in to our rotation!
I made this for dinner tonight with one modification. I used taco flavored Jennie-O ground turkey and no taco seasoning, as sometimes the spices are too strong for a family member. It was delicious! Thank you!
This has been a huge hit in my house. I love how easy and versatile it is. I always add extra veggies to it and have experimented with Cabbage, Kale, Zucchini, hot peppers, tomatoes, black beans etc. Everything has been fabulous. I add extra seasoning due to the extra veggie content and we’ve been stuck on adding a little more cheese than the recipe calls for. I’ve topped it with sour cream, salsa and lettuce. I’ve made it with ground beef, canned ground beef and home grown ground pork. All have been amazing. I want to try canned chicken next and It shreds nicely. I think it’ll be amazing as well.
This looks really good, however I would use ground turkey, and I wish the directions were a little more specific, how much meat, how much taco seasoning, etc.
If you click the “jump to recipe” button at the top of the page, it will take you to the full recipe with amounts and directions or you can just scroll.
My family enjoyed this taco casserole. I used corn tortillas and they worked perfectly. I used more cheese than the recipe called for and topped with salsa and sour cream. I am looking forward to having the leftovers!
Tried this for the first time last night! Loved it! It makes a lot, so we have a meal for another night and I don’t have to cook again! I paired this with a side salad for extra veggies. I will most certainly make this again!
This was tasty and very easy to make! I left out the corn (used extra pepper) and make it with frozen chopped onion. The tortillas on the bottom layer got crispy and were delicious. I’ll make this again
Definitely adding this casserole into my regular dinner rotation! It’s really delicious! I did add black beans and sour cream on top. La Tortillas Factory makes a tortilla that is a mixture of corn and whole wheat. Those held up beautifully in this recipe and gave it a great flavor!
Can you use cooked chicken instead if ground beef?
I havent tried it but I’m sure it would work!
Me and hubby are big burrito lovers so when I saw this recipe I instantly thought Burrito Casserole! So good I swapped beef
Mince for Turkey and was just as good! Thanks for this recipe I’ll be making again and again. So easy and quick!
This was fast, easy and delicious! My husband devoured it and we are looking forward to the leftovers. Every recipe I have ever tried from you did not disappoint. Thank you for all the great content.
I made this for dinner last night, it was so delicious! My husband loved it as well . I am gluten free so I used Siete almond flour tortillas vs flour tortillas.
I just made this recipe and it’s delicious. I substituted green and yellow peppers with serano and jalapeños peppers. Made it really spicy if you like that then make it spicy .I added more of the vegetables than recipe called for. Added 4 cups of cheese instead of 2. All around awesome.
I love everything about this recipe–super easy, super cheesy, delicious, and very filling! I made it for dinner last night, and have PLENTY for leftovers for the week, even splitting it with my boyfriend 😀
Excited to continue making this and adding it to the recipe rotation!