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Dorito Casserole Recipe

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Dorito Casserole is made with cheesy layers of crushed nacho cheese Doritos, black beans, corn, and ground beef seasoned with RO-TEL and homemade taco seasoning.

Dorito Casserole With Ground Beef

This Dorito casserole kind of reminds me of the flavor and texture of hard shell tacos, except I can eat it with a fork, and I can quickly make it for my entire family.

It’s kind of the best of both worlds when you’re in a time crunch and just need to get dinner on the table fast.

When I have a little extra time, I absolutely love serving it with this super easy Jiffy Cornbread with Creamed Corn.

If you have the spices on hand, I highly recommend making the the taco seasoning! It’s a perfect blend of flavors. I know it takes a couple of extra minutes to measure it out, but the added flavor is SO worth it.

The corn gives this dish a lovely sweet crunch, and the black beans add a nice savory flavor. The cheesy crunch from the Doritos is really the best part though.

It has just the right amount of heat from the RO-TEL and the sour cream cools it off a bit. The combination of the two flavors makes it a kid friendly meal that your family will love (even the picky eaters).

It all combines together to make the perfect unbeatable taco bowl.

Here’s some feedback from my family: “YUMMM!! This is seriously the tastiest casserole, it can be taco Tuesday every night with this recipe.”

If you love the flavor in this dish, be sure to check out our super popular and incredibly easy Mexican Spaghetti recipe.

Can I Use Chicken Instead?

Definitely! This can be made with shredded chicken, leftover rotisserie chicken, ground chicken, or ground turkey.

A serving of Dorito casserole on a plate.

Ingredients

Start by making some homemade taco seasoning with chili powder, garlic powder, dried oregano, onion powder, paprika, black pepper, salt, ground cumin, and crushed red pepper flakes.

You can swap this blend for a packet of store bought taco seasoning if you’d like, but the homemade blend is worth the extra couple of minutes because it really is SO much more flavorful.

In addition to the seasoning blend you’ll need:

  • Nacho Cheese Doritos: For crunch and flavor.
  • Sharp Cheddar Cheese: For flavor and to melt everything together.
  • Corn, Onion, and Black Beans: These bulk it up affordably, while also adding extra flavor and texture.
  • Lean Ground Beef: This is the base of the meal and main source of protein.
  • RO-TEL and Sour Cream: These combine to make the creamy tomato sauce that has a Tex-Mex twist from the green chilies.
The labeled ingredients for Dorito casserole.

How To Make Dorito Casserole

Start by sautéing the ground beef for a few minutes, then add the onions and sauté until the ground beef is completely browned and the onions are translucent. Sprinkle in the homemade taco seasoning. (See the recipe card below for the full printable instructions.)

Browning ground beef with onions and taco seasoning.

Mix the beef with the taco seasoning, then add in the drained and rinsed beans, the drained corn, the sour cream, and the undrained RO-TEL.

Mixing sour cream, corn, black beans, and RO-TEL into browned ground beef.

Stir until everything is totally mixed. This is the filling layer for the casserole.

The ground beef mixture after stirring everything together.

Grease a casserole dish with cooking spray oil. Layer about 1/3 of the semi-crushed Doritos, and top that with half of the ground beef mixture.

Layering nacho cheese Doritos and the ground beef mixture.

Sprinkle half of the cheese over the ground beef mixture. Repeat this layering process to make a second layer, but don’t add the final layer of Doritos until the casserole is out of the oven. Bake uncovered in the preheated oven until the cheese is melted and bubbling.

Layering ground beef, shredded cheese, and Doritos.

Carefully remove the casserole from the oven and top it with the final layer of Doritos, then garnish it with your favorite optional toppings. See the recipe card below for the full written instructions, including ingredient amounts, cooking times, and helpful tips, etc.

A Dorito casserole before topping it with garnishes.

Optional Adaptations

If you don’t have RO-TEL, try swapping that for some red enchilada sauce.

To make a vegetarian version, omit the ground beef and replace it with pressed then crumbled extra firm tofu.

If you want a more decadent and creamy casserole, you can swap the sour cream for cream cheese. Just cube up room temperature cream cheese, and stir it with the beef continuously until it has fully melted.

To make it extra cheesy, you could melt in 4 ounces of Velveeta to the ground beef mixture.

If you love ranch flavor (I mean, who doesn’t?) you could use Cool Ranch Doritos for the top layer.

To really bulk this casserole up so that it serves more people, try adding more beans to the hamburger meat and then topping it with a layer of tater tots.

Feel free to really add a lot of fresh toppings. Between the tomatoes, shredded lettuce, cilantro, and green onions, it’s a great way to get your family to eat extra vegetables without serving a salad.

If you’re not a huge fan of sharp cheddar cheese, feel free to swap that for Monterey Jack or Pepper Jack cheese.

A Dorito casserole on a turquoise napkin.

What To Serve With Taco Bake

These are some of my favorite side dishes to serve with this Mexican-inspired ground beef casserole:

A serving of Dorito casserole with dollops of sour cream and salsa.

Keep In Touch

I’d love to hear what you thought of this recipe in the comments or on Instagram! @KeyToMyLime #KeyToMyLime

Click here to pin this recipe for later!

A Pinterest pin image of Dorito casserole with title text at the top.

Casserole Recipes

If you like this recipe, be sure to check out our entire casserole recipes category! Some reader favorites are:

Yield: 8 servings

BEST Dorito Casserole Recipe

The best Dorito casserole recipe.

Dorito Casserole is made with cheesy layers of crushed nacho cheese Doritos, black beans, corn, and ground beef seasoned with RO-TEL and homemade taco seasoning.

Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Total Time 40 minutes

Ingredients

Taco Seasoning:*

  • 1 Tablespoon chili powder**
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
  • 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
  • 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
  • 1/2 teaspoon paprika
  • 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon onion powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
  • 1/4 teaspoon dried oregano

Casserole:

  • 1 pound lean ground beef
  • 1 medium yellow onion (diced, 1 cup)
  • 1/4 cup water
  • 1 (15 ounce) can black beans (drained and rinsed)
  • 1 (15 ounce) can whole kernel corn (drained)
  • 1 (10 ounce) can RO-TEL Original
  • 1 cup sour cream
  • 4 cups lightly crushed Doritos Nacho Cheese flavored tortilla chips
  • 2 cups freshly grated sharp cheddar cheese***

Toppings:

  • 2 green onions (sliced)
  • 1 cup cherry tomatoes (quartered)
  • Fresh cilantro (chopped)
  • 1/3 cup sour cream
  • 1/3 cup salsa

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 350 F (190 C). Lightly grease a 13 x 9 casserole dish.
  2. In a small bowl, mix the taco seasoning ingredients together.
  3. Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Once hot, add the ground beef and cook for about 4 minutes. Drain off the excess fat from the beef, then return the pan back to the heat. Add the onion and cook for another 4 - 5 minutes (or until the beef is completely browned and the onions are translucent).
  4. Add in the homemade taco seasoning and the water. Stir and then simmer for 2 - 3 minutes.  Add in the rinsed black beans, corn, RO-TEL, and sour cream. Mix to combine.
  5. Lightly crush the Doritos into bite size pieces. You don't want them to be small crumb sized pieces, but you don’t want them too big either. Spread 1 1/3 cups of the broken Doritos on the bottom of the greased casserole dish, add half the ground beef mixture on top of the chips, then sprinkle half the shredded cheese evenly over the meat. Repeat this step again to make the second layer.
  6. Bake in the oven until the cheese is melted and bubbling (about 15 minutes).
  7. While the casserole is in the oven, prep your topping ingredients.
  8. Remove from the oven, spread the remaining Doritos over the top, and garnish with sour cream, cilantro, green onions, salsa, and tomatoes

Notes

*You can swap the homemade taco seasoning blend for 1 packet of store bought taco seasoning if you want to keep it easier, but the flavor is better with the homemade blend.

**This chili powder is a blend sold in the US and Canada that’s much more mild than the chili powder sold in other parts of the world (where it’s just pure ground chilis).

***It’s important to use freshly grated cheese because it melts much better than the pre-shredded kinds. The cheese in bags of pre-shredded cheese is coated in an anti-caking agent that stops the shreds from sticking together, but it also stops the cheese from melting smoothly.

Nutrition Information:

Serving Size:

1/8

Amount Per Serving: Calories: 515Total Fat: 30.3gCarbohydrates: 33.7gFiber: 6.8gSugar: 5.8gProtein: 28.6g

Nutrition information isn’t always accurate.

DID YOU MAKE THIS RECIPE?

Tag @KeyToMyLime on Instagram so we can see your delicious meal!

This oven baked Dorito Casserole is such a tasty delight! It’s got all the flavor of hard shell tacos, but all the mess stays on your plate.

The best Dorito casserole recipe.

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