Easy Turkey Taco Casserole

You know I love ANYTHING AND EVERYTHING TACO related!! I have literally never met a taco I didn’t love. See three of my favorite taco recipes here:

• Quick and Easy Creamy Tacos
• Crockpot Buffalo Chicken Tacos with Celery Slaw
• Spicy Ground Pork Tacos with Cilantro Slaw

Soooo, take amazing, traditional taco ingredients and throw them into casserole form?!! Why not?! My Asian mama (!!!!) was actually the first person to introduce me to this casserole when I was about 7 years old and I’ve been a fan of this easy recipe ever since!

Need another Tex Mex family fave?? You have to try my Easy Chicken Enchiladas with Sour Cream Sauce!

• All the amazing flavors of tacos all blended into one yummy dish!
• Can be made up to 2 days in advance and baked for an easy weeknight meal!
• Lots of delicious options for toppings!!! Everyone’s happy!
• Great recipe for kids and a fun take on taco night!

You’ll need the following ingredients to make this easy turkey taco casserole:

Taco Sauce: I like using bottled taco sauce for this recipe. My favorite is this Ortega Taco Sauce, but any brand will work!

Toppings: For this casserole, I used Fritos, black olives, tomatoes and green onions. But sky’s the limit when it comes to taco toppings! Use your faves–there is a list of great taco toppings in the recipe card below!

Here are some quick visual instructions. Remember that full instructions with exact ingredients will be in the recipe card below!

Step 1: Brown taco meat (turkey) in a large skillet. Add taco seasoning and taco sauce.

Step 2: Heat oven to 375°F. In a 9 x 13 inch casserole dish (or similar) layer HALF of the corn tortillas.

Step 3: Spread HALF the beans over the tortillas.

Step 4: Spread HALF of the turkey mixture meat over the beans.

Step 5: Next, sprinkle on HALF of the cheese. Then, repeat all layers: tortillas, beans, meat, cheese. Bake at 375°F for 30-40 minutes until bubbly. Then top with desired toppings!

• Adding 1/4 to 1/2 can of water to the refried beans and heating them through before layering them into the casserole makes the beans really easy to spread.
• This casserole can be made up to 2 days in advance and baked when you’re ready! Just allow 10-15 minutes of extra baking time if you are baking it straight from the fridge.

Storage: Leftovers can be stored in the fridge for up to 4 days. You can either cover the casserole dish tightly with 2 layers of foil and store OR transfer the extra casserole to an airtight container ( these are my favorite containers for storing leftovers!)

Reheating: You can reheat the casserole in the oven at 350°F for 15 minutes or so until warmed through OR just place a piece in the microwave, loosely covered for about a minute.

Freezing: This casserole freezes beautifully. You can assemble it in foil containers like these. Then cover tightly and freeze for up to 2 months. Just wait until you are ready to bake it to add the top cheese layer and any toppings.

Additions

• The magic of this recipe is in the toppings! I HIGHLY HIGHLY recommend NOT skipping the “crunch” factor and adding tortilla chips, Fritos or Doritos to the top. Just sayin’. See the recipe card for a list of the toppings!

Substitutions

• Meat: This recipe absolutely works without the meat if you want to make it veggie! I would just add an extra layer of cheese! You can also substitute the turkey with ground beef or ground chicken.
• Beans: If you aren’t a fan of refried beans, you can use black beans, whole pinto beans or omit all together and replace with more cheese.
• Tortillas: Flour tortillas are also fine to use. Just keep in mind, they don’t hold up quite as well as leftovers and can get a bit soggy.

When you add all of your favorite taco toppings (my faves: Fritos, tomatoes, black olives and green onions!) you don’t need much else! Chips and fresh pico de gallo are always great to have alongside, but this casserole is really a one stop shop!

• EASY CHICKEN ENCHILADAS WITH SOUR CREAM SAUCE
• CROCKPOT BUFFALO CHICKEN TACOS WITH CELERY SLAW
• DORITO TACO SALAD WITH CATALINA DRESSING

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