Taco Lasagna
Taco Lasagna is a cheesy, layered casserole that combines everything you love about tacos into one comforting, oven-baked dish. With seasoned ground beef, refried beans, salsa, tortillas, and loads of melted cheese.
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This Taco Lasagna was inspired by traditional lasagna recipes like my Meat Lovers Lasagna, but this time with Mexican flavors. These types of meals are so simple to make, assemble, and are usually something the whole family devours. Regular lasagna is always a hit and when you want another change in flavor, you must try this layered Chicken Alfredo Lasagna.
Why should I make this Mexican Lasagna?
Even those picky eaters in the family will love knowing the familiar flavors of the seasoned taco meat, salsa, beans, and cheese in between tortillas.
Like many lasagna-style recipes, this Mexican casserole is great for making ahead to help on those busy nights. Plus, this easy This simple casserole is the ultimate comfort food that is perfect for those busy weeknights.
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Let's Gather The Ingredients
- Ground beef: A lean ground beef is recommended.
- Green bell pepper: other bell peppers can be used
- Onion: White or yellow onion.
- Packet of taco seasoning: You can use Homemade Taco Seasoning
- Black beans: Pinto beans can also be used.
- Cilantro: Fresh chopped cilantro.
- Salsa: Use a thick salsa and flavor.
- Tortillas: Taco-sized tortillas or cut large ones to fit.
- Refried beans: Add a little water to them if they are dry.
- Cheese: shredded Colby Jack cheese
How To Make Taco Lasagna
- Step 1: Add ground beef, green pepper, and onion to a large skillet and cook until beef is browned. Drain off excess grease. Add taco seasoning and water. Then let the meat simmer.
- Step 2: Add salsa, black beans, and cilantro to the meat and mix before removing from the heat.
- Step 3: Cut tortillas in half as necessary and line the bottom of a casserole dish.
- Step 4: Use some of the refried beans and smooth it over the tortillas.
- Step 5: Add a layer of meat mixture, smoothing it out from one end to the other.
- Step 6: Add a thin layer of shredded cheese.
- Step 7: Repeat process again with tortillas, beans, meat mixture, and cheese.
- Step 8: Then repeat again, ending with the remaining cheese on top of the tortillas. Cover the taco casserole with foil before baking. Remove foil during the last bit of baking to melt and brown the cheese before adding any of your favorite toppings.
Recipe Tips
- Be sure to use a thick salsa for this easy recipe. A chunky salsa prevents the lasagna from becoming soggy if you were to use a thin, watery salsa.
- If you find that your refried beans are difficult to spread, you can warm them up to help. Or if you think they’re too thick or dry, you could add some water to help make them spread more easily.
- Try to let the casserole sit for 5-10 minutes before slicing and serving. This helps make it easier to cut.
Recipe Faq's
You can assemble it up to 24 hours in advance. Cover and refrigerate until ready to bake. If baking straight from the fridge, you may want to add a few extra minutes of cooking time. Otherwise, be sure to pull it out and let it sit at room temperature for a few minutes before baking.
Wrap this family favorite tightly with plastic wrap
, then aluminum foil, and freeze before or after baking. Thaw overnight in the fridge before reheating.
Taco-sized tortillas work best, but if you only have the larger ones, just cut them to fit.
I like to let guests use their own toppings when serving. Sour cream, diced tomatoes, pico de Gallo, olives, jalapeños, avocado, and shredded lettuce would all be great toppings to serve.
More Taco Recipes
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Taco Lasagna
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 ½ pounds lean ground beef
- 1 cup green bell pepper diced
- 1 cup onion diced
- ¼ cup taco seasoning
- 2/3 cup water
- 1 (15 ounce) can black beans drained and rinsed
- 1/8 cup chopped cilantro
- 1 1/2 cups thick salsa
- 9 Taco size tortillas
- 1 (14.5 ounce) can refried beans
- 3 cups Shredded Colby jack cheese
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Spray a 9x13 baking dish with non stick cooking spray
- Heat a large skillet on medium high heat and add the ground beef, green peppers and onion and cook until browned. Drain any extra fat.
- Add in the taco seasoning and water and let simmer 1-2 minutes on low.
- Add in the salsa, black beans and cilantro and mix until combined. Remove from the heat.
- Place two tortillas into the bottom of the baking dish, cut one tortilla in half to fill up the extra space and fully cover the bottom of the dish.
- Add 1/3 of the refried beans on top of the tortillas. (See notes)
- Add 1/3 of the taco meat mixture on top of the refried beans followed by a thin layer of shredded cheese.
- Add two more tortillas on top followed by the refried beans, meat mixture and cheese.
- Repeat one more time and end with two tortillas on top and the remaining shredded cheese.
- Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 30 minutes or until hot and bubbly. Remove the foil the last 5 minutes to brown up the cheese a bit.
- Add your favorite toppings like tomatoes, olives, jalapenos, avocados or sour cream and serve!
