Taco Bake

So, it's winter and the local grocery stores have ground beef on sale. For the last 2-3 weeks! Move on, we all have enough hamburger! *sigh*

Me being cheap, have had to get creative with the menu because you can only eat so much meatloaf, tacos, and hamburgers. I had a bag of tortilla chips left from the last time we had tacos and I made pico. I certainly had the ground beef. And I always have taco seasoning, sour cream, cheese and onions...hmmm...

I made it without the refried beans because, genius me, I didn't think about them until the casserole was in the oven. If you don't like refried beans, you can use a can of drained black beans or red beans or pinto beans. Or you can just leave the beans out altogether, but they would bulk it up a bit.

Now, as usual, I made enough for an army, but food doesn't last long here. I used a huge 10x14" baking dish. We have leftovers, but not as many as you might think! And they'll be gone by the weekend. If you don't have a houseful of big eaters like I do, you can easily halve the recipe. I don't recommend freezing this because of the tortilla chips, but if you used torn corn tortillas instead, in the one you freeze, it should work...it just won't have the crunch 

If you like it hotter, add some peppers, milder, use canned diced tomatoes rather than the Rotel.

Taco Bake

2 lbs ground beef (80-85% lean)

1 chopped onion

2 cans Rotel, undrained

1 C. sour cream

1 small can sliced black olives, drained

1 packet taco seasoning

1 15 oz can refried beans

3 C. shredded cheddar cheese

1 large bag tortilla chips

Heat oven to 350°.

Cook meat and onions till onions are soft and meat is no longer pink. Drain and return to skillet.

Stir in Rotel, sour cream, taco seasoning, olives, and beans. Simmer over medium heat 10 minutes.

Coarsely crush half the chips into the bottom of a 10x14" baking dish. Spoon half the meat mixture over the chips. Sprinkle half the cheese over the meat. Repeat layers, making sure the cheese is the last layer added.

Bake 20-25 minutes, until cheese is melted and everything is heated through.