Everyone loves the flavors of a walking taco – but not everyone enjoys actually walking while eating! Gather around and enjoy this Walking Taco Casserole sitting at the table while still having the walking flair!
It’s one of many casserole recipes here, and dare I say, one of our favorite easy dinner ideas!
A really easy way to plan your weekly meals is by using theme nights. So make Tuesday for tacos, but not just pulled beef tacos every week. Switch it out to mean any sort of Mexican dish! Perhaps this taquito chicken casserole is on your wishlist too!
Can’t get enough of salty, crunchy chips? Frito Chili Pie is similar but includes beans. Switch out your proteins and give Frito Chicken Casserole a try as well.
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Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Pantry ingredients: Many people have most of these ingredients on hand and can add the produce to their weekly shopping.
- Make-ahead recipe: I love to “cook once, eat twice”! You can make two of these at once and put one in the oven and one in the freezer before baking.
- Easy to personalize: Everyone can add their favorite toppings to make their bowl their own. Spicy or mild, creamy or crunchy!
Ingredients Needed
I’ve highlighted a couple of ingredients below with some relevant notes. Aside from this, the ingredients needed are pretty basic.
- Beef – Use a lean ground beef or make sure and scoop out any extra grease before continuing with the recipe.
- Onion – I like a sweet onion here to blend with the other flavors, but you can also use white or yellow. I don’t like the pungency of red onion in this dish.
- Cream cheese – Just a half a brick here, and then you can use the rest in Chicken Grilled Cheese!
- Corn chips – Pick up regular Fritos here, not the big scoops, so they are easy to eat with a fork.
- Cheese – Mexican blend and Colby jack are a perfectly flavored melty mix but you can grab cheddar or whatever else is in your fridge.
- Corn – Southwest canned corn adds SO much flavor here! This is usually a mix of fire-roasted corn and diced peppers. Any sort of corn can be used here, canned or frozen.
- Taco seasoning – Make your own seasoning or pick up a packet, whichever you normally use in your tacos.
Substitutions
Sometimes substitutions are necessary because of ingredients that are unavailable or needed for dietary restrictions. Here are some suggestions that can help:
- Produce – not a fan of diced chiles? You can use a can of Rotel in place of the diced tomato and canned Chile. Swap out for a different variety or omit the onion.
- Meat – you can use ground chicken, turkey, or pork. I usually alter my seasoning a bit based on my meat, like using chicken taco seasoning.
- Chips – walking tacos also work well with Doritos or tortilla chips. We used Doritos in this Taco Salad recipe too!
Variations
- Cook Method – Rather than transferring to a baking dish, use an oven-safe skillet such as cast iron to brown the beef. Then you can go straight from stove to oven! If your skillet isn’t oven-safe, you can also just simmer on the stove, and add a lid to help the cheese melt. No need to turn on the oven on a hot day!
How to Make Walking Taco Casserole
If you want to make this ahead of time, do everything up until you put it in the oven and either refrigerate or freeze. You’ll just add a little bit to the baking time when you are ready since you are starting with a cold dish.
*Be sure to see the recipe card below for the full ingredients list & instructions!*
STEP 1. Dice the onions. Dice the onions and saute in just a bit of oil (Image 1).
STEP 2. Cook the beef. Add the beef and seasoning to the onions and cook through (Image 2). Add the corn, peppers, tomatoes, and cream cheese and stir until melted and combined (Image 3).
STEP 3. Dish it up. Pour everything from the skillet into a baking dish (Image 4).
Tip: Drain the corn and chiles well, and make sure your tomato isn’t too watery. This way your casserole won’t be too wet.
STEP 4. Melt it good. Add cheese to the top of the casserole (Image 5) and bake until melted and hot (Image 6).
STEP 5. Top and serve. Top with Fritos and all your favorites like peppers, sour cream, and lettuce (Images 7 & 8).
Recipe Pro Tips
- Drain liquids. If using canned corn, make sure and drain it along with the green chiles. You will also want to make sure your diced tomato isn’t too watery in the center, and maybe scoop that part out first. Otherwise your casserole will be watery.
- Chips last! I always add the Fritos to the top of the baked casserole. This way they stay nice and crunchy. You do have the option to top the casserole with them when you add cheese, but they will be much softer this way.
Recipe FAQs
A walking taco generally refers to a bag of corn chips stuffed with not only corn chips but also other taco ingredients such as seasoned ground beef, shredded lettuce, diced tomatoes, cheese, and taco-appropriate toppings. The idea is that you can walk around and eat them out of the bag with a spoon or fork without making a total mess. Kind of fun, right?
I often think of Frito pie as having beans. A yummy addition! Plus the pie is always…baked in a dish! Walking tacos will usually be made in the mini bags of chips as an on-the-go type of meal. So while they do have similar ingredients, they are cooked and enjoyed differently.
I encourage you to get creative with your toppings here. You can really add anything you like in your tacos. Spiced black or pinto beans come to mind as well as avocado, guacamole, roasted bell peppers, and Cotija cheese. The sky is the limit. Let me know what you come up with.
What to Serve with Walking Tacos Casserole
This walking taco casserole only uses a part of the can of corn, so feel free to heat up the rest on the side. And while I suggest serving lettuce as a topping, you could also serve this over a bed of greens to add more veggies.
If you’re looking for a heartier side dish, consider making these fun fried tacos to go along with the casserole.
Storage
- Refrigerator. Allow the casserole to cool to room temperature before wrapping it tightly in a double layer of plastic wrap. You could also transfer slices of casserole to an airtight container. In either case, you can store it in the fridge for up to 4 days.
- Freezer. Once it has cooled completely, wrap the casserole dish tightly in a double layer of plastic wrap or transfer slices to a freezer-safe airtight container. Store the casserole in the freezer for up to 3 months. Allow it to thaw completely before reheating.
- To reheat. Transfer the desired portion to a baking dish (if applicable), cover with aluminum foil, and bake at 325 degrees F for 10 minutes or until heated through. You could also microwave individual portions in the microwave in 30-second intervals until heated through.
- Note- if you plan to store some for another day instead of eating it all, make sure to add the Fritos after reheating! They get a bit soggy when stored with the casserole.
More Casserole Recipes You’ll Love
Did you make this? I’d be so grateful if you left a “star” rating below to let me know what you thought! Then, the next time you need a quick and easy recipe, come back to Fantabulosity to browse all of my easy recipes!
Recipe
Walking Taco Casserole
Ingredients
For the casserole
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 large sweet onion chopped
- 1 pound ground beef
- 1 packet taco seasoning
- 4 ounces cream cheese softened at room temperature
- 2 tablespoons water
- 4.5 ounces green chilis drained
- ½ tomato diced
- ½ cup southwest corn
- 1 cup shredded Colby and Monterey Jack cheese
- 1 cup shredded Mexican blend cheese
Toppings
- 4 cups Frito corn chips
- ½ cup sour cream
- 1 cup shredded lettuce
- ½ tomato diced
- 2 sliced jalapenos
Instructions
- Prep. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F and grease a 9X13-inch baking dish with cooking spray.
- Sauté the onions. Heat the olive oil over medium-high heat in a large, heavy bottomed pan. Add the onions and sauté until translucent.
- Brown the beef. Add the beef to the pan and sauté until browned and cooked through, breaking it up as you go, and then drain the grease from the pan. Stir in the taco seasoning and water. Mix until all meat is coated in seasoning.
- Complete the filling. Mix in the cream cheese, chilis, ½ of the diced tomato, and the corn over low heat. Combine the ingredients until all are melted and mixed well.
- Bake. Transfer the contents of the pan to the prepared baking dish and top with the Colby Jack and Mexican blend cheese. Bake uncovered for 15 minutes or until the cheese has melted and gotten nice and bubbly.
- Top. Top the casserole with Fritos, sour cream, shredded lettuce, diced tomato, and sliced jalapenos.
Notes
- I always put my Fritos on top so they stay crunchy. If you layer them under the cheese they will be soggy.
Nutrition
Nutritional information is based on third-party calculations and should be considered estimates. Actual nutritional content will vary with brands used, measuring methods, portion sizes and more.
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