Dorito Taco Casserole #CincodeMayoRecipe

Liz from Books N Cooks invited the Festive Foodies Group to share a recipe for Cinco de Mayo today! I stumbled across this recipe on the Country Cook's blog a little while ago and made a point to go out and buy a bottle of Catalina dressing and bag of Doritos just so we could give it a try! We love Mexican flavored dishes in this house, and it just seemed like a fun variation on nachos or a taco salad - it's kind of a hybrid between the two.

You can easily mix and match your topping ingredients, or even flip it and do a salad base and scoop the chip mixture on top. It's deliciously creamy, and full of tasty bites of texture and flavor. You can omit the cream of chicken mixture if you'd like - it just helps the meat mixture hold together. It adds a fair amount of "richness" which makes this meal a little heavier. I might try it next time without that and see what we think - and how much messier it is to eat without!

Cinco de Mayo Recipes

• Aperol Grapefruit Margarita by Books n’ Cooks
• Authentic Enchiladas Verdes by Corn, Beans, Pigs & Kids
• Blue Raspberry Margarita by Our Crafty Cocktails
• Cantaloupe Agua Fresca by Palatable Pastime
• Chile-Roasted Dutch Yellow Potatoes by Shockingly Delicious
• Dorito Taco Casserole by Making Miracles
• Easy Cheesy Beef Enchiladas With Verde Sauce by Our Crafty Mom
• Enchiladas with Red Chili Sauce by Hezzi-D's Books and Cooks
• Pozole Rojo with Chicken by Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Slow Cooker Carnitas (Mexican Pulled Pork) by The Spiffy Cookie
• Taco Crepes by A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Walking Taco Salad by Simply Inspired Meals

Dorito Taco Casserole from The Country Cook

Ingredients
1 lb ground beef
1 medium onion, diced
1 packet taco seasoning
2/3 cup water
1 (10.75 oz) can cream of chicken soup
1 can pinto, rinsed and drained
1 1/2 - 2 cups shredded Monterrey-cheddar mix (or preferred cheese / blend), divided use
1 (10 oz) bag Doritos, crushed
1 medium tomato, diced
1 head romaine lettuce, shredded
1 (16 oz) bottle Catalina dressing
additional toppings: sour cream, avocado, salsa, sliced olives, etc.

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9x13 casserole dish with nonstick cooking spray and set aside.
2. Cook the ground beef and onion in a large non-stick skillet over medium to medium high heat until cooked through and onions are tender, about 10 minutes.
3. Add in the taco seasoning and water. Stir to combine and allow to simmer for a minute until the sauce thickens. Stir in the cream of chicken soup and the pinto beans. Turn off heat.
4. Sprinkle the crushed Dorito chips evenly along the prepared casserole dish. 
5. Spread the meat mixture over the chips and sprinkle with about 1 - 1/2 cups of the shredded cheese, reserving remainder for topping after baking.
6. Bake for 15 - 20 minutes, until bubbly and cheese has melted.
7. Drizzle with desired amount of Catalina dressing (we only used about 1/4 of the bottle).
8. Scoop servings onto plates, and add additional toppings as desired - a dollop of sour cream, scoop of salsa, tomatoes, lettuce, avocado, etc.