Mexican Meat Dish

Mexican Meat Dish

This is a standard Nina favorite. She made this regularly for parties and events. When you get finished fixing it up, it is really the early version of a taco salad bar. 

Yield: 4-6 servings

Time: 2 hours – can be made ahead and baked before serving

9x12 pan

250 degrees

Meat Mixture Ingredients:

1 lb lean ground beef or vegetarian equivalent

1 tsp salt

1 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp brown sugar

1 tsp garlic powder

1/2 cup chopped green pepper (fresh or frozen

Sauce Mixture Ingredients: 

8 oz tomato sauce

8 oz water

1 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp garlic powder

Casserole Layer Ingredients:

1 bag Fritos, crushed

1 cup onions, chopped

Condiments:

shredded Cheddar cheese (8 oz bag)

shredded lettuce (4-6 cups)

salsa (12 oz. Jar, mild or hot, to your taste)

Instructions:

Brown meat with next five ingredients. Mix tomato sauce with next 3 ingredients. Crush Fritos. Chop onions. In a 9x12 baking dish layer Fritos, meat, onions, sauce. Repeat ending with Fritos. Bake at 250 for 1 hour.

Serve with cheese lettuce and salsa as toppings. An excellent side-dish for this casserole is pineapple rings(trust me here).

This casserole can be assembled ahead and frozen or refrigerated until ready to bake. It can also be easily doubled. These qualities make it a perfect dish for entertaining!

Crowd Pleaser:

Multiply the amounts by 5 and assemble the casserole in a disposable counter pan. This will serve about 30 people. Be sure to double the baking time.