Julie Clark
Posted: Updated:
Taco Lasagna
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A new way to serve up tacos…layered taco lasagna. This easy Mexican casserole is full of beef, beans, tomatoes and flour tortillas.
I have one child (he’ll remain nameless 🙂 ) who strongly dislikes homemade lasagna. In fact, he doesn’t care for any Italian casseroles. Some days I’m not sure how he’s my son.
It’s not lasagna in general, because he devours this taco lasagna with flour tortillas. Dinners with all that Mexican flavor generally bring smiles around the table, and this cheesy taco lasagna recipe with Rotel tomatoes is no different!
How to Make Taco Lasagna
- Prepare. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Spray a 9×13-inch baking dish with nonstick cooking spray.
- Cook. In a large skillet, cook the beef, pepper and onion over medium heat until meat is no longer pink. Drain off any fat.
- Simmer. Add water and taco seasoning packets. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and then simmer, uncovered, for 2 minutes. Stir in black beans and tomatoes (with juice). Simmer, uncovered, for 10 minutes.
- Layer. Place 2 tortillas in the bottom of a greased 13×9-in. baking dish. Break a third tortilla and piece it together in any holes to make as much of a complete layer of tortillas as possible. Spread with half of the refried beans and half of the beef mixture. Sprinkle with 1 cup cheese. Repeat layers (3 tortillas, remaining beans, remaining beef, 1 cup of cheese). Top with remaining tortillas and 2 cups cheese.
- Simmer. Cover with foil and bake at 350° for 25-30 minutes or until heated through and cheese is melted.
Can I make taco lasagna in advance?
Yes! This is a great make ahead meal. Make it up to 2 days in advance, then cover and refrigerate before baking. Remove it from the refrigerator 1 hour before baking. Then bake as the recipe says.
Can you freeze taco lasagna?
You can freeze taco lasagna before you bake it. Wrap it in plastic wrap, then again in aluminum foil. Freeze for up to 2 months. When you are ready to bake it, remove it from the fridge and allow it to thaw in the refrigerator overnight. Remove it from the refrigerator one hour before baking as the recipe suggests.
Taco Lasagna
Your family will love this easy Mexican casserole. Taco Lasagna has all of your favorite taco ingredients and is ready in under an hour.
Servings 15
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 40 minutes
Total Time 1 hour
Ingredients
- 2 pounds lean ground beef
- 1 poblano pepper (seeded and diced)
- 1/2 cup chopped onion
- 1 cup water
- 2 envelope taco seasoning
- 15 ounces black beans rinsed and drained (1 can)
- 29 ounces Mexican diced tomatoes undrained (2 cans, 14.5 ounces each) (Rotel Mexican)
- 9 flour tortillas (8 inches)
- 16 ounces refried beans (1 can)
- 4 cups shredded Mexican cheese blend or cheddar cheese
- salt and black pepper to taste
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Spray a 9×13 baking pan with cooking spray.
- In a large skillet, cook the beef, pepper and onion over medium-high heat until meat is no longer pink. Drain off any fat.
- Add water and taco seasoning packets. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and then simmer the sauce, uncovered, for 2 minutes.
- Stir in black beans and tomatoes (with juice). Simmer, uncovered, for 10 minutes.
- Place 2 tortillas in the bottom of a greased 13×9-in. baking dish. Break a third tortilla and piece it together in any holes to make as much of a complete layer of tortillas as possible.
- Spread with half of the refried beans and half of the beef mixture.
- Sprinkle with 1 cup cheese.
- Repeat layers (3 tortillas, remaining beans, remaining beef, 1 cup of cheese).
- Top with remaining tortillas and 2 cups cheese.
- Cover with foil and bake at 350° for 25-30 minutes or until heated through and cheese is melted.
- Serve with fresh cilantro, sour cream, sliced avocado and fresh pico de gallo.
Video
Notes
The calories shown are based on the casserole being cut into 15 pieces, with 1 serving being 1 slice of lasagna. Since different brands of ingredients have different nutritional information, the calories shown are just an estimate. **We are not dietitians and recommend you seek a nutritionist for exact nutritional information.**
Nutrition
Calories: 386kcal | Carbohydrates: 23g | Protein: 23g | Fat: 22g | Saturated Fat: 10g | Cholesterol: 71mg | Sodium: 564mg | Potassium: 442mg | Fiber: 5g | Sugar: 4g | Vitamin A: 328IU | Vitamin C: 12mg | Calcium: 263mg | Iron: 3mg
Variations and Substitutions
Can I use corn tortillas instead of flour tortillas?
Yes! You can use either corn tortillas or flour tortillas in this recipe. You can even use lasagna noodles if you don’t have tortillas.
Can I use salsa instead of Mexican tomatoes?
Yes, we’ve used our favorite spicy (or mild) salsa in this recipe in place of the Rotel tomatoes.
I don’t like refried beans. Do I have to add them?
You can leave them out if you’d like, but I don’t care for them either and I don’t mind them in this recipe. The creaminess of the refried beans does give help hold the lasagna together, but it will work without.
Can I use chicken instead of beef?
You can use any type of ground meat you’d like: beef, pork, ground chicken or ground turkey. You could even use chorizo sausage. If you have pre-cooked shredded chicken, you can use that also.
I don’t have taco seasoning. Can I make my own?
Yes. We have a recipe for homemade taco seasoning that is DELICIOUS. Make up a big batch so you always have some on hand.
Favorite Mexican Side Dishes
Here are a few fun side dish recipes that you might like adding to this meal:
Other Mexican Main Dishes
If you love taco lasagna, you may also love these other taco dinners:
Loved this with a few tweaks. I used rice instead of refried beans (since I don’t care for them). Left out the poblano pepper and used the whole onion. I also recommend spraying the foil so that it doesn’t stick to the top layer of cheese.
I’ve been making a version of this since the 1980s, but I use black beans , instead of refried beans. And since I was a mouse in a former life, I add more cheese!! I love this dish!! Sometimes, I even add spinach!!
Awesome casserole. Loved it. One suggestion, cut all your Tortillas in half and place the straight edge on the straight edge of your casserole dish so that the rounds come together in the middle. Placed that way, there are no open spaces. Just saying
Omg!!! This taste sooooo gooood😋😋😋I added corn,used salsa instead of Mexican tomatoes and corn tortillas instead of flour tortillas. I will definitely be making this again. Thanks for sharing this recipe😋😋😋
This was a great recipe. One of my sons is not a fan of refried beans, and I am not a fan of black beans but we both agreed that in this recipe it is necessary and good! The only thing I did was I did not include all of the liquid from my cans, it looked like it was too much to evaporate during the cooking. The sour cream on top is a must too. I shared this recipe with my nieces as an easy family friendly week night meal. And I love that you can change the serving… Read more »
I tried this … turned out great. We used street taco tortilla shells, the smaller size fit the pan nicely.
Will definitely make again.
Thanks for the great recipe.
This was fantastic! My picky eater even loved it!
This was the best! We halved it which was easy to do. Hubby love it and he dislikes black beans.
Can I make assemble refrigerate and bake tomorrow?
This recipe was really good. It was easy to make and my family enjoyed it.
1 jar Mild salsa 1 -8 oz jar taco sauce then added Black beans 1 cup frozen corn. I also used a yellow pepper instead of the green, and l did not use the refried beans, It was plenty thick enough. Ialso used 18 fajita shells.
Any thoughts on using corn tortillas?
y’all making me hungry I think I’m gonna bake me a sausage egg and cheese onion bun toasted
I made this for my family last night for dinner. They loved it and the left overs are just as yummy 😋
Winner winner taco dinner!