Easy taco bake recipe request

[texxie]

DH would love some mexican food for dinner. something different than taco salad. I'm not stepping foot in the store today so enchiladas are out, I don't have the sauce lol.

here is what i have..

ground beef
cheese
diced tomatoes (plain)
rotel
corn tortillas
refried beans

any suggestions? TIA

[Cynthiabutterfly]

I make a Mexican-style 'lasagna' with whatever leftover Tex-mex ingredients, and stale tortillas work great.

Just brown your meat, if you have any taco seasoning then add that. If not, add either paprika or cumin (or both). Then layer the rotel, meat, cheese, tortillas in a casserole dish.

I'll add any other veggies or sauce I have together - corn, black olives, green onion, canned peppers, jarred salsa or taco sauce, fresh onion or bell pepper, etc etc.

Bake at a moderate oven 325-350 until cheese melts.

This is great for using those tortillas that are a little dry or the pieces left at the bottom of the bag.

Can't remember where I saw this idea, but it's great for putting leftover bits to good use.

[texxie]

does the taco seasoning plus the rotel ever prove too spicy for kids? I'll be using 1lb of ground beef, is one can of rotel enough or should i use more? TIA!

[chitownmelli]

Here is one from allrecipes that we like. I use whatever tortillas I have on hand instead of the tortilla chips, and kind of layer it like a lasagna. Yummy

Ingredients

1 1/2 pounds lean ground beef
1 (14.5 ounce) can diced tomatoes with green chile peppers, drained
1/2 cup water
1 cup sour cream
1 (1.25 ounce) package taco seasoning mix
8 ounces shredded Colby-Monterey Jack cheese
1 (18 ounce) package corn tortilla chips
Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
In a medium skillet over medium heat, brown the ground beef and drain fat. Add the diced tomatoes with green chile peppers, water, sour cream and taco seasoning mix. Let simmer for 5 to 10 minutes.
In the bottom of a 9x13 inch baking dish, place a layer of tortilla chips. Cover with a layer of the meat mixture then a layer of cheese. Repeat this process until the last layer is cheese.
Bake in the preheated oven for 20 minutes, or until the cheese is bubbly.

[texxie]

do you think 1lb of ground beef would work if i added a can of refried beans?

[chitownmelli]

I think a pound would work just fine :)

[aimeebee]

I use a lot of different things to stretch the meat in our Mexican dishes...like chili beans, refried beans, Spanish rice, rotel and queso. Any one or even several combined should work fine!

[texxie]

should i leave out the beans and have them as a side?

[chitownmelli]

Well, if I were eating it, I would want the beans on the side :D And one of my favorite meat stretchers for mexican dishes is rice mixed in with the meat - just did it the other day in fact lol!

[texxie]

thx so much! off to the kitchen...reps!