Taco Casserole

Hi, Kevin here. Today we're fixing a taco casserole and the first thing you will need is a pound of ground something. I'm using ground turkey, 85% lean. You could use ground beef or ground chicken. We will also need a small onion and I'm going to dice up this onion and then I will meet you over at the stove. All right, we're at the stove and I'm going to cook the turkey and the onion together. So I've just added a little olive oil to the skillet and then in goes the diced onion and the turkey, which again is one pound. And then I'm going to break up the turkey as it cooks. Also mix these onions in here and then we'll come back when all of this is done. All right, the turkey is all cooked and I did drain off the little bit of fat that had collected in the pan. So now we're going to add some taco seasoning. Two tablespoons and you can use more or less taco seasoning, whatever you like. And stir that in and then I'm going to add three quarters of a cup of water. Although I am tempted to add wine here, but I am going to use water. And then bring this to a boil and then lower the heat and let this simmer for about five minutes until all of the water has evaporated. We'll be back. All right, all the water has evaporated so I'm going to let this cool for a few minutes and then we can start to assemble the casserole. Okay, we can assemble the casserole. So what I have here is an 8 by 12 baking dish. I suppose a 9 by 13 casserole dish would do. And then we're going to add one 16 ounce can of refried beans which will come out of the can in the shape of the can and mash it down and then we're going to spread this out all along the bottom of the pan. And I wanted to mention that last Friday I had planned to make tacos for dinner and then I suddenly thought, I wonder if there's a taco casserole. And I went online and lo and behold there were tons of taco casseroles. So this particular casserole is based on one from a website called thecozycook.com and I will put a link to that recipe in the description box below. Anyway, I made the casserole and Mr. Fox and I thought it was pretty dang delicious. Okay, then we're going to add about a cup of sour cream. This is a two cup container so I'm just going to use half of it. What you want to do is just plop the sour cream here and there and then spread it out. And do I want to use a spatula? No, I want a fresh spatula. I'm not sure why, I just wanted a fresh spatula. Spread this all over the refried beans. And I love sour cream. Yeah, when I saw that the Cozy Cook's recipe included sour cream, I knew that recipe was for me. Okay, then we're going to add the turkey and onion mixture and I should tell you this smells terrific. Mostly because of that wonderful taco seasoning we added. Sprinkle that on. And again, you could use vegetarian crumbles if you don't eat meat. I think the crumbles are actually pretty good. Here we go. And then what would a taco casserole be without cheddar cheese? So I have two cups of finely shredded extra sharp cheddar cheese here. I'm going to sprinkle that on. And I hope I remembered to tell you to preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Probably I forgot. I'm getting old. Lots of cheese, please. All right, and then this goes into the oven just until the cheese melts. And that's going to take about 15 minutes. So we will be back. While we're waiting for the cheese to melt, let me thank you for subscribing to this YouTube channel. I went from 8,000 to 9,000 people in the past month. So thank you for that. Okay, I'll see you shortly. All right, the cheese has melted. So now we can have fun adding some toppings. And here you can add really anything you like. I'm going to add some diced tomato, which came from a 14.5 ounce can. Just scatter them about. I'm also going to add some salsa. This is salsa picante. Just little dabs here and there. Not too much. And let's see. Definitely want sliced black olives because I love them. Always have, always will. I'm using the olives from two 2.25 cans. Two 2.25 cans. Yeah, lots of olives. They also look pretty on this thing. And then, let's see. We need something crunchy. So I'm going to add some crushed, let me show you the bag. Tostitos with a hint of lime. And I just crushed them roughly in this plastic bag. In they go. Break up some of the bigger pieces. Add a few more. And finally, some sliced jalapeno. And I'm putting these on. Actually, I'm not going to put these on just yet. I'll put them on at the very end. This has to go back into the oven for just eight minutes. Then we'll add the jalapeno. While we're waiting for the casserole, little Binky wanted to say hello. This is the kitty, the teeny tiny kitty that we rescued from certain death back in August. And I'll put the link to that video up top. Anyway, she has grown like crazy and I will give you a full update in another video. Are we going to have taco casserole for dinner tonight? Yes, I think so. Okay, see you in a flash. All right, here's the finished casserole. I'm going to garnish it with these rings of jalapeno. The reason I'm putting this on last is because I want the jalapeno to be easy for Mr. Fox to pick out because he does not like jalapeno. Oh, this looks very pretty with this touch of green. All right, so now let's have a taste of this casserole. Here's the casserole. Here's my serving. And now for a little taste. Although I already know this thing is delicious because I've made it before. Bottoms up. Oh yeah. Oh, this is spectacular. It's even better than the one I made last week because I added the salsa and the jalapeno. So I hope you'll give this taco casserole a try. It's really a terrific thing to have, let's say, on a Friday evening. It's a perfect accompaniment for a margarita. Anyway, very easy to make, so please give it a try. And thanks so much for watching. I will see you next time with another delicious recipe. Bye for now.