This quick and easy nacho cheese Doritos casserole is a family favorite dinner that combines hearty ground beef with crunchy Doritos and more! It's incredibly easy to make, layered with gooey deliciousness, and never fails to please!
This simple ground beef casserole can easily be modified to your family's preferences! Like the way that I have excluded black beans from this version, as my daughter simply won't eat them (if she sees them...I've been known to puree my black beans and add them to the taco meat).
This layered casserole is a fast comfort food meal that is a tasty, crunchy staple weeknight dinner. Add your favorite taco toppings, serve on a nice bed of lettuce, or serve with Mexican rice and refried black beans.
Don't you love it when you make a meal everyone enjoys?! I do!
Thankfully, my youngest is past the worst of the picky eater phase(s). In her younger years, though, kid-approved casserole recipes like this nacho cheese flavored Doritos casserole were a lifesaver!!
Now that my kids are older, they like a much wider variety of flavors. So, I have included some of my family's favorite variations and stir-ins for my Doritos bake below and in the recipe card notes!
🥘 Ingredients
- 1 ½ pounds Ground Beef - Go for lean ground beef 85% ideally, but 80/20 ground chuck also works well.
- 3 tablespoons Taco Seasoning Mix - Use my tasty recipe or your favorite store bought brand.
- 15.5 ounce bag Nacho Cheese Doritos - The traditional base of this easy casserole, however, you can swap out plain tortilla chips or other Doritos brand flavors if desired.
- 2 14.5 ounce cans Sweet Cream Style Corn - Or use regular corn.
- 14.5 ounce can Fire Roasted Tomatoes - Or Diced tomatoes.
- 15 ounce can Black Beans
- 1 cup shredded Cheddar Cheese - Or a blend of Mexican cheeses.
- Tomatoes, Olives, and/or Green Onions - (optional)
*Be sure to see the free printable recipe card below for ingredients, exact amounts & instructions with tips!*
🔪 Step-By-Step Instructions
This is a great casserole to let your young cooks make on their own, or with some parent supervision! Grab a casserole dish and let the kids build their ideal Doritos casserole!
- Prep. Preheat your oven to 375ºF (190ºC). Then coat a 1.5-2 quart casserole dish or a 9x13 baking pan with non-stick cooking spray.
- Cook the seasoned ground beef. Brown the 1 ½ pounds lean ground beef and drain off any excess fat. Next, add the 3 tablespoons taco seasoning mix and ¼ cup of water. Allow the ground beef to cook at a low simmer for 5-10 minutes, until thickened.
- Start layering ingredients. Add the crushed 15.5 ounce bag of Doritos as the base layer in the casserole dish (I usually crush them a bit in the bag). Then cover the crushed chips with the seasoned, cooked lean ground beef mixture.
- Add your favorite filling ingredients. Add both 14.5 ounce cans of the sweet cream style corn and optional 15 ounce can black beans and/or 14.5 ounce can fire roasted tomatoes, then top off with 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese or Mexican cheese blend. Add optional diced tomato chunks, sliced olives, or sliced green onions on top of the cheese (if desired).
- Bake until bubbly. Cover with your casserole dish lid, or aluminum foil, and bake at 375ºF (190ºC) for about 30-35 minutes, or until bubbling. You can remove the lid or aluminum foil for the last 10-15 minutes of the cooking time to make the cheese topping crispier, if desired.
- Serve. Remove from the oven and serve immediately.
Garnish your taco casserole with my salsa, pico de gallo, sour cream, guacamole...more tortilla chips, and all of your favorite taco toppings! Enjoy!
📖 Variations
- Swap the seasoned ground beef mixture out for shredded chicken (seasoned with the taco seasoning mix) to make this layered Doritos casserole a chicken Doritos casserole!!
- Use a ½ tablespoon of cooking oil and saute some fresh onion, garlic, tomatoes, diced chiles, and/or jalapeno before browning the ground beef. Or brown the ground beef with the taco seasoning and add some of my favorite salsa verde!
- Stir in a ½ cup of sour cream to make the ground beef mixture (or chicken) a creamy base for your Doritos casserole!
- I've seen other versions where the browned and seasoned ground beef is mixed with not only sour cream, but a can of cream of mushroom condensed soup.
This recipe, as I have shared it here, is my personal preference. This is how it was made by my family when I was growing up.
However, as with all recipes, make the modifications that you feel will taste best and make the recipe your own!
📋 Recipe
Doritos Casserole
Ingredients
- 1 ½ lbs lean ground beef
- 3 tablespoon taco seasoning mix (see recipe)
- ¼ cup water
- 15.5 oz Nacho Cheese Doritos
- 29 oz sweet cream style corn (2 14.5 ounce cans)
- 14.5 oz fire roasted tomatoes (optional)
- 15 oz black beans (drained and rinsed, optional)
- 1 cup cheddar cheese (grated or shredded)
- tomatoes, olives and/or green onions (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 375°F (190°C) and coat a 1.5 – 2 qt casserole dish or a 9 x 13 baking pan with non-stick cooking spray.
- Brown the lean ground beef and drain off any excess fat, then add the taco seasoning mix and ¼ cup of water. Allow the ground beef to cook at a low simmer for 5-10 minutes, until thickened.1 ½ lbs lean ground beef, 3 tablespoon taco seasoning mix, ¼ cup water
- Add the Nacho Cheese Doritos as the base layer in the casserole dish ( I usually crush them a bit in the bag ). Then cover the crushed chips with the seasoned, cooked lean ground beef mixture.15.5 oz Nacho Cheese Doritos
- Add both cans of the sweet cream style corn and optional black beans and/or fire roasted tomatoes, then top off with shredded cheddar cheese. Add optional diced tomato chunks, sliced olives, or sliced green onions on top of the cheese ( if desired ).29 oz sweet cream style corn, 14.5 oz fire roasted tomatoes, 15 oz black beans, 1 cup cheddar cheese, tomatoes, olives and/or green onions
- Cover with your casserole dish lid, or aluminum foil, and bake at 375°F (190°C) for 30-35 minutes, or until bubbling. You can remove the lid or aluminum foil for the last 10-15 minutes to make the cheese topping crisper if desired.
- Remove from the oven and serve immediately.
Notes
- Swap the seasoned ground beef mixture out for shredded chicken (seasoned with the taco seasoning mix) to make a chicken doritos casserole!!
- Use a ½ tablespoon of cooking oil and saute some fresh onion, garlic, tomatoes, diced chiles, and/or jalapeno before browning the ground beef. Or brown the ground beef with the taco seasoning and add some of my favorite salsa verde!
- Stir in a ½ cup of sour cream to make the ground beef mixture ( or chicken ) a creamy base for your dorito casserole!
- For an extra creamy beef mixture, add ½ cup sour cream plus 1 can cream of mushroom condensed soup.
Nutrition
Angela is an at home chef that developed a passion for all things cooking and baking at a young age in her Grandma's kitchen. After many years in the food service industry, she now enjoys sharing all of her family favorite recipes and creating tasty dinner and amazing dessert recipes here at Bake It With Love!
Mary says
How does this recipe freeze? Have you ever tried?
Angela @ BakeItWithLove.com says
I would not opt to freeze this casserole because of the tortilla chip base. The resulting chips would be too soggy. However, if you wanted to freeze the majority of the casserole then add the chips as a topping that would be an option. Thanks for asking!