It seems that over the last week that the weather has turned more towards fall even though it’s still summer until the 22nd. And with fall comes cozy Sundays watching football. And with Sunday football comes yummy food. And that yummy food category just got a new additon. This casserole is as easy to make as it is tasty. I found the original recipe on BettyCrocker.com and lightened it up a ton by using fat-free refried beans, super-lean ground beef, reduced fat cheese and fat-free sour cream. Even better-I had all of the ingredients I needed in my pantry already.
Taco Casserole Bake
Ingredients:
- 1lb lean ground beef
- 1 16oz can fat free Refried Beans (Old El Paso)
- 8 ozs medium spicy salsa (I used Fairway brand)
- 1 8oz can tomato sauce
- 1 Taco Seasoning Packet or homemade taco seasoning
- 2&1/2 cups smashed tortilla chips
- 1 red bell pepper, chopped small
- 4 scallions, chopped
- 2 vine-ripened tomatoes, chopped, seeds and cores removed
- 1 cup freshly-grated reduced fat cheddar cheese
- fat free sour cream, salsa, shredded lettuce, olives, other toppings of choice
Instructions:
- Pre-heat oven to 350.
- In a large skillet brown the beef over medium-high heat and drain. Stir in the beans, salsa, tomato sauce and taco seasoning. Reduce heat to medium and cook for a few minutes, stirring constantly, to combine.
- On the bottom of a 2 quart baking dish place 2 cups of the smashed toritlla chips then pread the beef mixure evenly over the chips then sprinkle the pepper, onion, 1 cup of the chopped tomato and the cheese.
- Bake uncovered 25-30 minutes until bubbling and cheese has melted.
- Serve with the remaining tomatoes and chips on the side topped with anything else you’d like.
Note: this also reheats beautifully for left overs.
Sparks from the Kitchen 