Cheesy Nacho Casserole Recipe

You’ll love this easy Cheesy Nacho Casserole! It’s loaded with ground turkey, beans, tortilla chips, and plenty of cheese for a family friendly dinner recipe!

Now look. I don’t mean to criticize the recipe author. I believe everyone should make their food the way they like it, and I love for people to share their recipes with the world! I just don’t really like Miracle Whip anyway, and combining it with the word nachos is not what I expected.

So there I was, left with a hunger for a nacho casserole (minus mayonnaise), so I decided to create my own! My version uses ground turkey, but you can use beef or chicken or whatever you like. Since I was leaving out the salad dressing, it still needed something to hold it together. I used a mixture of cream cheese and sour cream to give a rich, creamy base. I realized as I made this dish that it’s an awful lot like my Creamy Taco Dip recipe, except it’s dinner. I love any excuse to eat dip for dinner! If you do too, I also suggest you take a gander at this Hearty Hot Spinach Dip.

I have to break it to you that you’ll be happiest if you gobble up this entire casserole when it’s hot and fresh. I love recipes that make good leftovers, but this isn’t really one of them. Don’t get me wrong. You can for sure eat the leftovers. In fact, I’m having it for lunch right now! It’s just not as good as when the chips are freshly baked, and the cheese is hot and melty. Once it cools (and is reheated), there’s a lot lost in the texture department. It still tastes good though :) I hope you enjoy the recipe!

Cheesy Nacho Casserole

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You’ll love this easy Cheesy Nacho Casserole! It’s loaded with ground turkey, beans, tortilla chips, and plenty of cheese for a family friendly dinner recipe!

• Total Time: 35 minutes
• Yield: 4 1x

Ingredients

Scale 1x2x3x

• 16 ounces ground turkey (or beef or chicken if you prefer)
• 3 tablespoons taco seasoning mix (or one packet)
• 4 ounces cream cheese (reduced fat is fine)
• 1/2 cup red salsa
• 1/2 cup sour cream (reduced fat is fine)
• 15 ounces canned pinto beans drained
• 3 cups crushed tortilla chips (approximate measure)
• 3 cups shredded Mexican blend cheese
• shredded cabbage (optional)
• diced tomatoes (optional)
• additional sour cream (optional)

 

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Spray an 8″ square baking dish with cooking spray, and set aside.
2. Spray a large skillet with cooking spray, and heat over medium-high heat. Add ground meat and taco seasoning. Stir and crumble meat until it is cooked through.
3. Reduce heat to medium. Stir cream cheese into hot meat until it melts. (Break it up with your spoon or spatula to speed up this process.) Stir in sour cream and salsa, and continue cooking until mixture is heated through.
4. Spread half the cooked meat mixture in the bottom of the prepared pan. Pour the entire can of beans over the meat. Spread half the crushed chips over the beans and about a cup of cheese over the chips.
5. Repeat the meat, then chips, then cheese layers a second time. (You should have a handful of cheese left.) Cover the dish with foil, and bake for 20 minutes.
6. Carefully remove casserole from the oven. Remove foil, and sprinkle the remaining cup of cheese over the top. Return the casserole to the oven, and cook another 3-5 minutes until the top layer of cheese is melted.
7. Serve right away topped with cabbage, tomatoes, sour cream, or your desired toppings. Have fun!

• Author: Andi
• Prep Time: 15
• Cook Time: 20

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