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My Zesty Taco Lasagna Recipe – How to Make it in 18 Simple Steps

By: Author April Freeman

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A slice of taco lasagna with melted cheese on top and layers of meat.

It is hard to imagine a life in the United States without Mexican food and things like Taco Tuesday, but the popularity of Mexican food is a relatively new concept in the American diet. Of course, what we consider Mexican food (tortillas, beans, tomatoes, and specialty spices) has been available on the North American continent since the time of the Aztecs.

But for most of the United States’ history, Mexican food was confined to the Southwestern regions of the States, like Texas, Arizona, and California. While mainstream Americans who were well-traveled knew of Mexican food or Tex-Mex cuisine, most of Eastern and Midwestern America was less familiar with this style of food. While one could find recipes for Mexican foods, like tortillas, one could not purchase them premade until the mid-twentieth century.

A slice of taco lasagna with melted cheese on top and layers of meat.
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My Zesty Taco Lasagna Recipe

April Freeman
With the favorite flavors of Mexican food, the nutrition of ground beef, veggies, cheese, and refried beans, this Taco Lasagna will be a hit with the whole family. You can whip it up in no time on a busy weekday evening, or if you know that you’ll have a busy day in advance, you can create it on the weekend, stash it in the refrigerator, and pop it in the oven when you get home. By the time everyone has done their homework, dinner will be ready to eat!
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Video Version

Prep Time 25 mins
Baking Time 30 mins
Total Time 55 mins
Cuisine Mexican
Servings 6 People

Equipment

  • 9 inch Square Pan
  • Large skillet
  • Sharp knife

Ingredients
  

  • 1 package White Flour Tortillas any size
  • 1 pound Ground Beef
  • 8 ounces Shredded Cheese
  • 1 cup Sour Cream
  • 16 ounces Refried Beans from a can
  • 1 teaspoon Chili Powder
  • 1 teaspoon Cumin
  • 1 teaspoon Salt
  • 1 cup Thawed Frozen Corn or Drained Canned Corn
  • 1 can Chopped Chili Green Peppers from a small can
  • 1 can Diced Tomatoes well-drained

Instructions
 

  • Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
  • Spray a nine-inch square pan with cooking spray.
  • In a large skillet, brown the ground beef, chopping it with a spatula until no more pink remains.
  • Drain the fat from the meat.
  • Stir in the can of refried beans, the corn, the cumin, the chili powder, and the salt into the ground beef, mixing it well.
  • At the bottom of the prepared pan, spread 2 tablespoons of sour cream and ¼ cup of the tomatoes.
    Sour cream and tomatoes prepared at the bottom of the pan.
  • Slice the flour tortillas into 3 or 4-inch strips with a sharp knife.
    The tortillas are sliced into even strips.
  • Create a layer of tortilla strips over the top of the sour cream/tomato mixture.
    A layer of tortillas are placed on the pan.
  • Spread half of the ground beef mixture over the top of the tortilla strips.
  • Top with one-third of the cheese, one half of the remaining sour cream, half of the remaining tomatoes, and half of the green chilies.
  • Add another layer of tortilla strips over the top of the first layer.
  • Add the remaining ground beef-vegetable mixture spreading to cover the layer.
  • Top with the rest of the tomatoes, the rest of the sour cream, one-third of the cheese, and the remaining green chili peppers.
  • Cover this layer with more tortilla strips and top the whole thing with the rest of the shredded cheese.
  • If you are planning on baking the Taco Lasagna right away, place it in the oven and bake it for about half an hour.
  • Remove the pan from the oven when the cheese is lightly browned and the filling is bubbling.
  • Let it cool for about fifteen minutes before you slice it into squares and serve it.
  • If you want to cook the lasagna another day, cover the baking pan with aluminum foil and store it in the refrigerator for up to three days before you bake the dish according to the above baking instructions.

Notes

From 1942 to 1964, Mexican immigrants could come to the United States as a part of the Bracero Program, which was a program designed to get Mexican immigrants to the US for work. When Mexican workers spread throughout the United States, they craved some of the foods of their homelands and shared recipes with the people they met.
In the 1960s, Taco Bell opened in Southern California. Not long afterward, this popular fast food restaurant spread all over the U.S., and eventually, other Mexican restaurants followed suit. The food manufacturing industry began creating more ready-made items like tortillas, nachos, salsas, and refried beans, and soon everyone began enjoying the tastes and textures of Mexican food.
While lasagna is a traditional Italian menu item, this recipe uses white flour tortillas to create a layered meal that includes many of the classic Mexican food items. Ground beef, tomatoes, peppers, and cheese all come together in delicious layers in a filling, tasty, and nutritious twist on lasagna.
Keyword Main Course, Recipe, Taco Lasagna

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