With a bold, zesty taco meat mixture, black beans, loads of cheese, and of course, nacho cheese Doritos, this hearty casserole satisfies every time.
Table of Contents
❤️ Why you'll love it
- An easy casserole full of yummy Mexican flavors
- Even picky eaters can't resist cheesy, crunchy Doritos
- Comfort food that feeds the whole family—fast!
If your kids (or husband!) have ever begged for Dorito chips for dinner, this ground beef Dorito casserole is guaranteed to become their new favorite meal.
You gotta love family friendly dishes like this! Cowboy casserole is another favorite.
🧾 Ingredients
This is an overview of the ingredients. You'll find the full measurements and instructions in the green recipe card (printable) at the bottom of the page.
🔪 Instructions
This is an overview of the instructions. Full instructions are in the green recipe card at the bottom of the page.
- Spread lightly crushed chips in the prepared casserole dish.
- Spoon ground beef mixture and remaining ingredients evenly over the layer of Doritos.
- Sprinkle with cheddar cheese.
- Bake and dig in!
🥫 Storage
As all the best casseroles do, this easy Dorito casserole recipe stores and reheats just as easily as it comes together!
Dump any leftovers into an airtight container (or cover the dish with plastic wrap) and refrigerate for two to three days.
Heat it up in the microwave for a minute or two until it's hot—it may need a little bit more time if you're warming a larger portion.
After microwaving, the crunchy chips can sometimes soften a bit. My easy solution?
Serve the warmed leftovers with a few fresh Dorito chips—I like to crumble 'em up right over top!
You can freeze this if you absolutely have to but the texture isn't great afterwards.
📖 Ground beef Dorito casserole variations
- Try Dorito taco casserole with ground pork, ground turkey, ground chicken, or ground venison or other game meat.
- If you don't have black beans, you can swap them for Ranch Style beans, pinto beans or even a can of refried beans.
- Want it even creamier? Add 4 ounces of cubed cream cheese to the creamed corn and heat in the microwave until the cream cheese melts and you can mix the two together.
- Before browning the meat, saute some onions or chopped bell peppers to sneak more veggies into the meal.
- Forgot a pack of seasoning mix? Make homemade taco seasoning with chili powder, black pepper, salt, cumin, paprika, and oregano. Add garlic powder, onion powder, and/or cayenne for more flavor!
- Stir in your favorite green chiles or jalapenos for more spice!
- Queso, Pepper Jack, or Monterey Jack cheese also tastes great in Dorito taco casserole.
- In addition to the green onions, garnish with your favorite taco toppings like fresh cilantro, sour cream, lettuce, guac, or hot sauce.
💭 Things to know
Expert Tip: I prefer lean ground beef, but you can use any kind you like or have. Just remember to drain off the grease, especially when using a fattier blend.
- If you don't have a large skillet for browning the meat, any heavy-bottomed fry pan will do.
- Don't drain grease down your sink or it'll clog! Rather, pour it off into an aluminum foil-lined bowl and set aside. Once it cools and solidifies, you can wrap up the foil and discard it—nice and easy.
- Use a glass or ceramic baking dish, not a thin, metal baking pan.
- Crush the entire bag of Doritos quickly by hitting it a few times with a rolling pin!
- However, don't smash the Doritos into super small pieces—they're the best part of this tasty dinner, so you want to be able to find them in it!
- Hate grating cheese? Freshly shredded cheese is so much better than pre-shredded from the grocery store, so consider purchasing a cheese grater electric mixer attachment to make the process easier!
👩🍳 FAQs
Doritos tortilla chips are deliciously addictive and flavorful. They're a common snack, but the really big secret is that they make a great Mexican casserole, too. The nacho cheese flavor pairs so well with the other ingredients and the crisp texture in every bite is perfection!
Rotel tomatoes are actually a popular brand of diced tomatoes, so, sure! However, the Rotel tomatoes have different spices and diced chile peppers added that provide delicious flavor to the casserole, so look for Rotel tomatoes with chiles if you can.
The creamed corn adds a bit of a creamy element to the dish! You could swap it out for a can of regular corn (well-drained) but this ground beef Dorito casserole recipe is seriously tasty as written, so I'd recommend giving the creamed corn a try.
Taco seasoning mix generally is accompanied by a quarter cup of water or so. It helps the spice mix blend into a delicious sauce that evenly coats all of your meat. However, while simmering, most of the water will evaporate, so you don't have to worry about it making the casserole soggy.
📚 Favorite casserole recipes
- Swap the nacho cheese flavoring for everyone's favorite Cool Ranch Doritos in this Mexican Chicken Casserole. Tip: save even more time and use leftover rotisserie chicken!
- Easy Beef Enchilada Casserole layers (instead of rolls!) corn tortillas and zingy red enchilada sauce for a simple twist on the classic, hearty dish.
- Keep the chip fun going with Frito Chicken Casserole. It's packed with flavor from green chilies, and the cream of chicken soup keeps it extra decadent and rich—perfect for a busy, cold day!
- You know it's gotta be good when it's called John Wayne Casserole!
- When I need quick and easy I turn to this simple cheeseburger casserole skillet - think Hamburger Helper only better.
🍽️ Serve with...
📞 The last word
This delicious casserole is one of our favorite recipes for Taco Tuesday (or Taco Wednesday, or Taco Thursday, or...)
If you love this you've gotta try this super easy, kid-friendly creamy burrito casserole recipe!
If you click on the number of servings in the recipe card you can adjust the measurements up or down for the exact number of servings you need. Don't forget that you can click on "add to collection" to save it to your own, private recipe box!
If you love this recipe please give it 5 stars! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
📖 Recipe
Ground Beef Dorito Casserole
Print Pin Recipe SaveIngredients
- 1 ½ pounds 90/10 ground beef, or other lean ground meat
- 3 tablespoon taco seasoning mix
- ¼ cup water
- 15.5 oz Nacho Cheese Doritos, or your favorite kind
- 29 oz sweet cream style corn, 2 14.5 ounce cans
- 10.5 ounces RoTel tomatoes
- 15 oz black beans, drained and rinsed
- 1-½ cups Cheddar cheese, grate from a block
- ¼ cup green onions, sliced
Additional Topping Possibilities
- sour cream
- salsa
- sliced cherry tomatoes
- guacamole
- sliced avocado
- chopped cilantro
- black olives
- diced green peppers
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Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375°F.
- Spray a coat a 9 x 13 baking pan with non-stick cooking spray.
- Brown the lean ground beef in a heavy skillet and drain off any excess fat.
- Add the taco seasoning mix and ¼ cup of water.
- Simmer for 5-10 minutes, until thickened.
- Slightly crush the Nacho Cheese Doritos and add to the casserole dish.
- Cover the chips with the ground beef mixture.
- Add both cans of the sweet cream style corn, black beans, and Rotel tomatoes.
- Top with shredded cheese.en top off with shredded cheddar cheese.
- Cover with aluminum foil.
- Bake at 375°F for 25 minutes.
- Remove the aluminum foil and bake 5 to 10 minutes more, or until casserole is bubbly and cheese is melty.
- Remove from oven and let stand 5 minutes.
- Top with sliced green onions before serving.
Notes
- I prefer lean ground beef, but you can use any kind you like or have. Just remember to drain off the grease, especially when using a fattier blend.
- If you don't have a large skillet for browning the meat, any heavy-bottomed fry pan will do.
- Don't drain grease down your sink or it'll clog! Rather, pour it off into an aluminum foil-lined bowl and set aside. Once it cools and solidifies, you can wrap up the foil and discard it—nice and easy.
- Use a glass or ceramic baking dish, not a thin, metal baking pan.
- Crush the entire bag of Doritos quickly by hitting it a few times with a rolling pin!
- Don't smash the Doritos into super small pieces—they're the best part of this tasty dinner, so you want to be able to find them in it!
- Grate cheese from a block - it makes a huge difference.
Nutrition Facts
Nutrition information is estimated as a courtesy. If using for medical purposes, please verify information using your own nutritional calculator. Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
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We'll never share your email or send you spam. Pinkie swear.First published October 26, 2022. Last updated February 25, 2023 for structure and more helpful tips and information.
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