Shells N Cheese Taco Casserole Recipes

TACO BAKE CASSEROLE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Spray a 9x13-inch baking pan with cooking spray.
• Cook ground beef and onions in a skillet over medium heat until beef is browned, 7 to 10 minutes; drain grease. Stir in water and taco seasoning; cook, stirring often, until thickened, about 2 minutes. Add refried beans, salsa, olives, and green chiles. Cook and stir over low heat until ingredients are warmed through, 3 to 4 minutes.
• Place half of the taco shells in the bottom of the baking dish. Pour in half of the ground beef mixture; sprinkle with half of the Cheddar cheese. Repeat with remaining taco shells, ground beef mixture, and Cheddar cheese.
• Bake in the preheated oven until cheese is melted and bubbly, 20 to 25 minutes.

TACO SHELLS AND CHEESE

Steps:

• Bring a pot of salted water to a boil. Add the pasta and cook according to the package directions. Drain and set aside.
• Heat the olive oil and 2 tablespoons of the butter in a pan over medium-high heat. Add the ground beef and cook, crumbling it with a wooden spoon, until browned, 5 to 8 minutes. Stir in the chili powder, cumin, onion powder, garlic powder and paprika. Stir in the diced tomatoes and chiles, hot water, 1 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper and bring to a simmer. Cook until the sauce thickens, 2 to 3 minutes, then remove to a bowl (it will still be a little juicy).
• In the same pan over medium heat, add the remaining 2 tablespoons butter and the milk and cook until hot and bubbling. Add the processed cheese and cook, stirring, until melted. Do the same with the Cheddar jack. Pour in the cooked pasta, add the taco meat and stir to combine. Taste and adjust the seasoning, thinning with a splash of milk if needed. Stir in the cilantro.
• Top each serving with some sour cream and salsa if desired.

"RAID THE PANTRY" SHELLS-N-CHEESE TACO CASSEROLE

Steps:

• 1. In deep frying pan, cook beef (lightly seasoned with salt, pepper, garlic powder, chili powder and cumin), and onion til done. Drain grease. Stir in taco seasoning, picante sauce, water and stewed tomatoes. Break up tomatoes. Simmer at least 10 minutes til water has evaporated and sauce is thickened. Meanwhile, in saucepan; make shells and cheese according to package directions, using lowest time alotted for cooking of shells. Fold shells and cheese mixture into beef mixture. Pour into greased casserole dish. I used a 1 ½ quart glass baking dish just slightly smaller than my 13x9 one. Top evenly with shredded cheese. Sprinkle cheese with paprika. Sprinkle lightly with oregano using about a 1/2 teaspoon. Bake in 350º oven, uncovered for 20 minutes, or til hot . Serve topped with any or all "Toppings of Choice".
• 2. Serve with a nice salad if desired!

FANTASTIC TACO CASSEROLE!

Steps:

• Set oven to 350 degrees.
• Cook beef, onion, bell pepper, chili flakes and garlic until beef is no longer pink; drain then season with seasoning salt and black pepper (or cayenne pepper).
• Stir in water, taco sauce, green chiles, half of the olives and taco seasoning mix (you can use 2 packages of seasoning mix if desired for this).
• Cook over low heat for about 6-8 minutes.
• Layer HALF of broken shells on bottom of greased 13x9 baking pan; cover with HALF of meat sauce, then sprinkle with 2 cups (or to taste) cheddar cheese.
• Repeat with remaining broken taco shells, meat sauce and then top with remaining cheese (to prevent the cheese from getting hard, you can sprinkle on the last 10 minutes before the end of baking time and return to oven until melted).
• Bake for 20 minutes or until bubbly, and cheese is melted.
• After baking, sprinkle with remaining olives, tomatoes and green onions.
• **NOTE** I sometimes drizzle bottled salsa sauce (mild or spicy) on top of the ground beef and then on top before baking.

EASY TACO CASSEROLE

Steps:

• Cook pasta according to package directions.
• Brown ground beef until no longer pink.
• Add taco seasoning and water to beef per package instructions.
• In large glass bowl, add pasta, melted Velveeta, and beef mixture.
• Stir until well blended.
• This can be put in a casserole dish and heated if desired.

TACO CASSEROLE

Steps:

• Brown the beef in a pan with the onions. Drain fat and then using the taco seasoning from the taco kit, (or just a taco seasoning mix you like) prepare the hamburger according to those instructions, but then add the corn and black beans (drained) into the hamburger mix.
• Once browned and the taco meat is ready, take the soft taco shells and "butter" them with the refried beans. If you are doing this right, you won't use the whole can, this is for flavor, not to create a heavy dish.
• Cut the taco shells in half so they will go into a 6X9 glass baking dish. Put the flat sides of the cut soft shells against the sides of the dish, overlapping the round sides in the middle with the bean sides UP.
• Once the first layer of soft taco shells is on the bottom of your dish, put a thin layer of the hamburger meat over this layer.
• Take the hard shells and break them in half. Put them over the meat in the dish until fully covered.
• Put another layer of meat over the hard shells.
• Put another layer of the "buttered" soft shells over the meat.
• Put the remaining hamburger mix over the soft shells.
• Cover the hamburger with the cheese.
• Take the enchilada sauce and pour just a small amount around the edges of the entire dish. Don't pour this over the cheese; it is only for the edges. Let it seep into the dish, but don't smother it.
• Put in the oven at 400 degrees for 20 minutes.
• While cooking, dice jalapenos into small pieces. I suggest seeding and taking the white ridges out first, but this is your choice.
• When the dish is done, put it aside for about 5 to 10 minutes before serving.
• Cut into squares and serve, garnish with sour cream, salsa, jalapeno peppers, red peppers and black olives to taste.
• Variants:.
• Add more cheese between layers. This will make the dish much heavier, but if you like cheese, you will probably try this on your own anyway!
• Use spicy taco mix and spicy refried beans if folks will like it.
• I have also tried this with a corn meal pie crust instead of tacos, this is quite delicious, but you don't layer it, it is more like a meat pie.