Beef Taco Casserole Portioned for Two
This meal is designed for a weeknight of maybe chilling out and having a cocktail.
Made with items you should have in your pantry already, It goes great with a margarita….see my classic margarita recipe by clicking HERE
When cooking for two, try to find recipes that only use half-pound portions.
Divide your one pound packages.
This recipe is ideal for using half of that pound.
Recipe for Beef Taco Casserole for TWO
Beef Taco Casserole
Just a note: I never by pre-shredded cheeses. They are loaded with the "anti-caking" chemicals and some have nitrates (a KNOWN carcinogen). Instead, I buy the whole blocks of REAL cheese and grate it up myself.
Servings 3 servings
Ingredients
- 2 teaspoons canola oil
- 1 cup traditional refried beans
- 10 oz. can Rotel – reserve ¼ cup juice
- 1 ½ Tablespoons cilantro
- ¼ teaspoon hot sauce
- 4 ounces Colby Jack cheese shredded
- ½ onion chopped
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 2 cloves fresh garlic minced
- 8 oz. Of 90% lean ground beef
- ½ teaspoon cider vinegar
- ¼ teaspoon packed brown sugar
- 2 teaspoon chili powder
- ¼ teaspoon ground cumin
- ¼ teaspoon ground coriander
- Tortilla chips
Instructions
- Adjust oven rack to middle position in your oven and heat to 475º.
- In a small bowl, mix the refried beans, one-half of the drained Ro-tel, 1 1/2 Tablespoons cilantro, and hot sauce together.
- Pour mixture into an 8 1/2" by 5 1/2" baking dish, smoothing out to cover the bottom of the dish.
- Sprinkle 3/4 cup cheese over the bean mixture.
- Heat oil in 10-inch non-stick skillet over medium heat until shimmering.
- Add onion and 1/4 teaspoon of salt and saute until onion is softened and just about to brown, about 5 minutes.
- Stir in the garlic, chili powder, cumin, and coriander and cook till fragrant, about 30 seconds.
- Stir in the beef and cook, breaking up the meat to expose all the surface. Cook till no longer pink., 4-5 minutes.
- Stir in remaining Ro-tel, reserved tomato juice, vinegar, and brown sugar.
- Bring to a simmer and cook until mixture has thickened and nearly dry.
My mixture never evaporated away the liquid, so I just drained it before proceeding.
- Spread the beef mixture in a baking dish.
- Layer the remaining refried beans on top of the beef.
- Sprinkle with 1/4 to 1/2 cup of cheese, or however much you desire.
You can scatter tortilla chips over the top, but we prefer to each our like a dip, so I did not add the chips.
- Bake approximately 8 - 10 minutes, until filling is bubbling and the top is spotty brown.
- Make sure to let casserole sit and cool for 10 minutes, which will allow it to thicken.
- Garnish with chopped cilantro.
Notes
Chop up some lettuce to sprinkle on top of the casserole to provide a little more depth to the dish. Although this recipe is geared for two people, we had enough for three portions...
Recipe courtesy of America’s Test Kitchen
One Comment
JoAnn
This actually will fill 3-4 people.