Taco Casserole, Burrito Bake

I am combining two recipes in this post. They are very similar to make. Think of it as, if you like hard shell tacos, do the casserole. If you like soft shells, try the bake. As for the amounts of ingredients, use as much or as little as you want/need.

First off I am going to tell you how I make my basic taco meat. I use it this way for both recipes. Brown your ground beef with onions. Drain grease. Add about half a can of refried beans. In my opinion they mix in better if you put them in first. Then add one can of diced green chilies and a 16 ounce jar of salsa. This is where you can decide your heat level, by the strength of your salsa. Stir until everything is well blended. (Sometimes I will add a small amount of diced black olives.) The following picture is of the meat with refried beans, green chilies, and salsas mixed in. I cook my meat and onions in my Pampered Chef Micro-Cooker. Then drain grease before adding other ingredients.

For the Taco Casserole you will need your taco meat, tortilla chips, (sometimes I use Fritos), and your cheese, (whatever type you like on your tacos, I use a mild cheddar/mozzarella blend that I grate and season myself.) Crush your chips into a 9 x 13 pan. Gently layer about one third of your meat over the chips.

Layer on about one third of your cheese.
Then chips, meat, cheese, chips, meat, and ending with cheese. You may need two bags of cheese, depending on how cheesy you want it. Since your meat is cooked you could serve like this. However, I cook for about 12 to 15 minutes at 400 degrees, until cheese is melted.

For the Burrito bake you will need your taco meat, tortilla shells (burrito sized), and your cheese. This can be done on a baking sheet or pizza pan. Lay a shell on your pan, spread about one third of your meat on the shell. Layer on about one third of your cheese. Layer shell, meat, cheese, shell, rest of meat, rest of cheese. Bake for about 12 to 15 minutes at 400 degrees until cheese is melted. Cut into wedges and serve.

**Generally I will do three layers, but it is your dinner, do as many layers as you wish.

**I serve both with shredded lettuce, sour cream, sliced grape tomatoes, (or any style tomato you like). Basically anything you would put on a taco salad.

**The original Burrito Bake recipe call for smearing the beans on each shell as you stack. If you do it this way omit the beans from your meat recipe.

**I use my Pampered Chef Deep Dish Baker to make mine. If you have a small family could do it in a 8x8 or 9x9 pan.

**I cook my meat in my Pampered Chef Micro-Cooker.