Creamy Tacos Casserole is a family tradition at least three generations old. Originally called simply “Cream Tacos,” I revised the name to give a better description of this yummy comfort food that we’ve adapted over the years.
Creamy Tacos Casserole is a great dish to bring over to a friend who just had a baby or a neighbor who is sick. We have also made it in quantity for family reunions and for company. It’s a crowd-pleaser and always has people asking for the recipe.
You might even have all the ingredients already on hand.
Creamy Tacos Casserole is very flexible and adaptable. I use either a 9 x 13 pan or an 11 x 15 glass dish. When I use a 9 x 13 pan, I use 2 or 3 cans of cream soup (any combination of cream of mushroom and cream of chicken), with a larger glass pan, I use 3-4 cans of cream soup. For each can of cream soup used, I use half a can of milk. I use the soup can I just emptied to measure the milk. The can of green chiles pictured is 4oz. I use only half of the can, then freeze the other half in a plastic bag for next time.
At the end of the tutorial, I will share some ways I make this meal even more frugal.
CREAMY TACOS CASSEROLE
- 24-30 corn tortillas
- 1-2 cans cream of mushroom soup (depending on how saucy you want it)
- 1-2 cans cream of chicken soup (depending on how saucy you want it)
- milk- 1/2 soup can per can of cream coup used.
- 1 can corn
- 1/2 can chopped green chiles (about 2 oz)
- 1/2 lb shredded cheese
- 1 lb ground beef, optional (I use my stretched ground beef that is precooked and frozen)
- 1 medium onion, optional (not necessary if it’s in your frozen, cooked ground beef)
Start by browning your ground beef with chopped onion. Drain off any grease. I usually brown my hamburger in bulk and freeze it, usually stretching it at the same time, which makes this recipe super speedy.
In a medium sauce pan, mix the cans of cream soup, the can of corn (drained first), green chiles and milk. Add the drained, browned ground beef to the sauce. Heat until sauce begins to boil, then remove from heat.
Heat tortillas (about 6 at a time) in the microwave either in the bag or wrapped in a dishtowel until they are piping hot (too hot to hold comfortably). I usually do 6 tortillas for one minute.
Line the bottom of your pan with piping hot tortillas. The pan I’m using in the pictures is 11 x 15, so the tortillas fit just right. For a 9 x 13 pan, you’ll just use 5 tortillas and you’ll have to tear some of them so they fit right. We always used a 9 x 13 pan when I was growing up.
Put another 6 tortillas in the microwave so they’re ready when you need them.
Cover the tortillas with a thin layer of sauce, making sure the entire pan bottom and all tortillas are covered. Sprinkle with cheese.
Repeat by adding and another layer of hot tortillas, sauce and cheese. Repeat until you have used all your sauce and tortillas. I usually do about 4 tortilla layers. End with cheese on top.
Cook in the oven at 350 degrees for 20-30 minutes or until cheese is melted. Allow to cool for 10 minutes or so before serving. We love having Creamy Tacos Casserole with green beans and a green salad. It makes great leftovers too!
To make this dish even more budget friendly, here are a few frugal tips:
- Use cheese only on every other layer. My mom would often do this to save on cheese. The cheese on the top is the most important.
- Use stretched ground beef. When I brown ground beef in bulk I bulk it up by about 50% by using pureed veggies. I have a tutorial on it here.
- Omit the ground beef altogether. If I am in a hurry and don’t have frozen, precooked ground beef, then I make this as a meatless dish.
- I bet some of you make your own cream soups! I haven’t done this yet, but I’m sure I will soon, since cream soups are one of the few not-from-scratch ingredients we use.
- Corn tortillas stay good forever in the fridge (or at least a really long time), so go ahead and buy the bigger package if it makes them cheaper.
- 24-30 corn tortillas
- 1-2 cans cream of mushroom soup (depending on how saucy you want it)
- 1-2 cans cream of chicken soup (depending on how saucy you want it)
- milk- ½ soup can per can of cream coup used.
- 1 can corn
- ½ can chopped green chiles (about 2 oz)
- ½ lb shredded cheese
- 1 lb ground beef, optional (I use my stretched ground beef that is precooked and frozen)
- 1 medium onion, optional (not necessary if it’s in your frozen, cooked ground beef)
- Brown ground beef with chopped onion. Drain off any grease.
- In a medium sauce pan, mix the cans of cream soup, the can of corn (drained first), green chiles and milk. Add the drained, browned ground beef to the sauce. Heat until sauce begins to boil, then remove from heat.
- Heat tortillas (about 6 at a time) in the microwave either in the bag or wrapped in a dishtowel until they are piping hot (too hot to hold comfortably). I usually do 6 tortillas for one minute.
- Line the bottom of your pan with piping hot tortillas. For an 11 x 15 pan, 6 tortillas fit just right. For a 9 x 13 pan, you’ll just use 5 tortillas and you’ll have to tear some of them so they fit right.
- Put another 6 tortillas in the microwave so they’re ready when you need them.
- Cover the tortillas with a thin layer of sauce, making sure the entire pan bottom and all tortillas are covered. Sprinkle with cheese.
- Repeat by adding and another layer of hot tortillas, sauce and cheese. Repeat until you have used all your sauce and tortillas. I usually do about 4 tortilla layers. End with cheese on top.
- Cook in the oven at 350 degrees for 20-30 minutes or until cheese is melted. Allow to cool for 10 minutes or so before serving.
- We love having Creamy Tacos Casserole with green beans and a green salad. It makes great leftovers too!
It was created by, and exists for, TV and TV alone.
How many does this feed?
Thank you for sharing your recipe! Made this tonight and it was sooo good!!! I used flour tortillas, kidney beans instead of corn and the whole 4 oz can of green chilies! YUMO! Perfection!
Here is a recipe for cream of ….soup and sauce mix. I had many boxes of dry milk when my baby was on the WIC program and needed to find a way to use it. I stumbled across this. Just a tip since this recipe called for cream soup.
http://www.onegoodthingbyjillee.com/2012/03/soup-or-sauce-sos-mix.html
I made something similar to this a couple of nights ago. Instead of layering the corn tortillas, I tore them into pieces. I sauteed onions then added shredded chicken to the onions, then used the soups and I mixed in 2 cans of tomatoes and chiles (although next time I will puree one can because my husband is not a fan of tomatoes). Mixed it all together along with some cheese put it all into the 9×13 and then topped off with the rest of the cheese. I let it bake for 30 minutes and it was done. I had a rotisserie chicken that I used up for this. I needed to get something done very quickly and this dished worked. I will try this next time with hamburger meat and I love the idea of how you stretch the meat – I haven’t bought any in a while because it has become so expensive but this would help make it go a little farther. I have some shredded zucchini in the freezer to make bread but I’m glad I can use it this way too – and the husband will never know!
Sounds good Teresa! I’ve used chicken or turkey the last couple times I’ve made Creamy Tacos, since it’s so much cheaper than ground beef. We all still loved it!
This recipe for “Creamy Tacos Casserole” looks scrumptious!! Is this recipe print friendly? Thank you for posting it!! I want it now!!! Nancy Phoenix
Thanks for reminding me. I sat down and made it printable just now!! And now I know what we’re having for dinner!
can u freeze for a quick meal for later like if i made 2 at 1 time like 1 for dinner and one in a tin dish to freeze for later?
Yep Tina! Freezing is fine. The texture is a little different, as the tortillas absorb more of the sauce, but it’s still yummy!
Hi Stephanie. I found your recipe on Pinterest and I’d love to copy it and use it. I can’t see any way to do a print version and I don’t really want to print out the whole, double-spaced version with photos. Am I missing something?
Thanks,
Donna
Hi Donna! You aren’t missing anything. This was one of the first recipes I ever posted, but I need to go back and make it printer friendly. Thanks for reminding me. I need to do that for all my recipes!
I did it Donna!! It’s printable now! 🙂
I spiced it up a little, used a whole can of green chiles and added some salsa on each layer before the cheese. Served with sour cream and additional salsa. Very tasty!! Thanks for posting 🙂
That sounds yummy SallyJoJo! Thanks for sharing your adaptation!
Do you use taco seasoning in this? The meat in the bag looks like it, but I don’t see it in the ingredients or directions. I’m looking forward to trying this! Thanks for the idea!
Hi Bridgette! I don’t use any taco seasoning. The meat has a little orange-y coloring because I use veggies (carrots, onions, and celery to stretch my ground beef. I brown it along with the veggies in bulk, then freeze it in the portion sizes that I use. I have a tutorial on stretching ground beef with veggies, but you can use plain ground beef (or with some onions and garlic) too.
Made this tonight and it is SO good! Thanks, Stephanie!
Hooray! I’m glad you liked it. We actually had Creamy Tacos tonight too! 🙂
Great idea using carrots to stretch ground beef. I usually use mushrooms and will now add veggies as well. Have you ever tried adding black beans to the sauce. That should bulk it up and add more health benefits.
I haven’t tried black beans in it, but that sounds good! We love black beans and it would fit in with the style just fine. Thanks for the suggestion Kathleen!
Hi there! Just saw this in Pinterest and I was thinking, after I finished reading… I really like the flour tortillas. Can you use those instead of the corn ones?
Sure! We’ve done it with flour tortillas too. It’s different, but still good. Just for the record, if you don’t like corn tortillas normally, you may actually like them in creamy tacos. Having them baked up casserole-style with lots of creamy goodness changes them into something better than they are one their own 🙂
Hi Stephanie. This looks really good. What cooked pureed veggies do you use to stretch your ground meat? I’m thinking maybe I could just add some shredded carrots and zucchini to the meat after it’s browned. Also, I make homemade cream of chicken & celery soup that would work really well for this, especially if I use shredded cooked chicken or ground turkey. Thanks for the great recipe. Love your pics too by the way.
Hi Nathalie! I usually use carrots and onions in my ground beef, but zucchini should work well too! I wrote a tutorial on stretching ground beef. I add the meat in with the meat and cook it all down together. Next time I do it I will try zucchini though, because we always have loads of it from the garden!
This looks amazing! I can’t wait to try it!
It’s a crowd pleaser around here for sure!
Great timing! Not only are we in the process of searching for new recipes, I’ve got a friend who’s due to give birth anytime! Double bonus. 🙂 Thanks, Stephanie!
Perfect! I’m always on the hunt for new recipes too 🙂
This looks yummy. I’ve pinned it to use later! Seasoned shredded chicken would be good in this too, I bet!
Question: Do the corn tortillas disintegrate once cooked or do they hold their shape?
It is! I think shredded chicken would work well too!
The tortillas don’t completely disintegrate, but they are soft and easy to cut into serving size pieces. We just cut it into squares and serve like you would lasagna.
Made this tonight and it was a big hit! We all love Mexican or Tex-Mex and this hit the spot! Thanks for sharing the recipe.
I’m glad you liked it Amanda! We’re planning on having creamy tacos tomorrow night! 😉