Make the best comfort meal with this Easy Mexican Casserole, it can be made gluten-free too!
One of my husband’s favorite meals is this Easy Mexican Casserole that his mom made growing up, I learned to make it pretty quick but really I’ll be honest and say at the beginning of our marriage…he did all the cooking.
So really, he learned to make it then later on he taught me how to make it too.
It’s full of easy pantry style ingredients, but you can always mix it up and use your own homemade versions too.
What do you need for Easy Mexican Casserole:
- Ground Beef
- Cream of Mushroom Soup
- Green Chilies
- Pace Picante Sauce
- Tomato Sauce
- Quick Cooking Rice
- Shredded Cheddar Cheese
- Fritos or Corn Chips
Tips for Making Easy Mexican Casserole:
There are a few options for this recipe, first, you can either used canned cream of mushroom soup, they even have gluten-free canned cream soups at the store as well.
If you prefer though you can make it yourself too, this Gluten-Free Cream of Mushroom Soup or Cream of Chicken too. I prefer this Homemade Cream of Mushroom Soup.
If you are using the homemade version, you will want about 2 1/2 cups of cream of mushroom soup for this recipe.
Another quick tip is that this is going to be in the oven for 30 minutes, you can add the cheese in the beginning or you can top it about 5 minutes before it’s done so the cheese does not overcook. I prefer to top it about 5 minutes before it’s fully cooked.
How do you make this Easy Mexican Casserole gluten-free?
If you plan to make this gluten-free, the only switch you will need is the cream soup, this can either be made homemade with gluten-free ingredients or you can purchase the gluten-free canned version at your local store.
If you enjoy this, you’ll love this Mexican Rice Casserole.
Now, are you ready for this tasty meal, let’s make this Easy Mexican Casserole!
Easy Mexican Casserole
Ingredients
- 1 lb of Ground Beef
- 2 10.5 oz Cans Gluten-Free or Regular Cream of Mushroom Soup or 2 1/2 Cups Homemade
- 4.5 oz Can of Green Chilies
- 16 oz Jar of Pace Picante Sauce or Salsa
- 8 oz Can of Tomato Sauce
- 1 Cup of Uncooked White Rice Quick Cooking Rice
- 2 Cups of Shredded Cheddar Cheese
- 1 Bag of Fritos
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350*.
- In a skillet brown the meat until well done.
- Once done, add in the cream of mushroom soup, chilies, Picante sauce, tomato sauce, and rice.
- Let this simmer until it’s nice and bubbly on medium heat.
- Spray a 9 x 13 baking dish with non-stick cooking spray, add the entire meat mixture to the dish.
- Top with crushed Fritos (about 2 Cups) on top.
- Add the shredded cheese evenly on top or wait and add this in the last 5 minutes of cook time. (Your preference)
- Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.
- Carefully remove and serve.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
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Comments & Reviews
Thank you for this post. I’m going to get the ingredients today and make it for dinner tomorrow for my husband and teenage son. They’ll love it and I love the fact it makes a nice big pan. Nice big pan recipes are great when feeding a hungry husband and starving teen. lol
ps-Congrats on the upcoming arrival of your baby girl. Praying for you and your sweet family. 🙂
Thank you! That’s too funny…probably why my mother-in-law made this all the time for my husband. She had 2 boys and a husband to feed. lol
Just a quick update…I did make this on Friday and my husband and son LOVED it. Gobbled the leftovers up on Saturday for lunch, too. Thanks again, Kristy, for the recipe. I use your site often for ideas, this one just hit home with us! 🙂
Yay! So glad they loved it! It’s one of our favorite comfort meals!
Oh yum. I love these kinds of recipes and I think this will make an appearance on the menu soon.
This sounds sooo good! What would you recommend as a good replacement for the cream of mushroom soup? (Just another can of cream of chicken, or perhaps cheddar cheese soup?) I am allergic to mushrooms…if you have any suggestions for modifications, I’d be happy to hear! Either way, I will be trying this soon – I am sure there are lots of substitutions I can experiment with. 🙂
Yes, I would do cream of chicken or another cream soup. You just need the equivalent to 2 cans.
Awesome, thank you! I just stumbled upon your blog via Pinterest, and I’m loving all your easy recipes. 🙂
Do you think that this would work with regular rice or will it only be cooked with the minute rice? or maybe partially cooked rice? I just bought 25 lbs of rice so I am looking for recipes to use it all 🙂 I can’t justify going out and getting minute rice.
Plus it looks like there is tons of liquid in the recipe and it doesn’t look to be a creamy or liquidy on the plate. We like recipes like that so I hope to add it to the list to make soon!!!
Yes, I think it would work. I would probably cook the rice first then add it to the ingredients after they are done with the bubbling boil step. The reason minute rice works so well is that when you add the ingredients to the skillet they do not take long to reach the boil.
Thanks! I will try it soon 🙂 I had a skillet recipe that called for Minute Rice and I used all my boxes up. I guess I will keep my eyes out for some more great coupons to get some!!
Kristy,
What a great recipe that kids are bound to love! This would be great to make ahead of time and then pop in the oven on a busy weeknight!
Mary
On Behalf of Chinet
I made this last night for dinner and the whole family LOVED it! This will be a regular in our house now and will be in the freezer when I have my baby in January. Thanks for the awesome recipe! I think I might add a can of pinto or black beans next time, but it really doesn’t need it.
Made it tonight and it was a hit! With 2 picky eaters its very rare that 1 dish makes everyone happy!!! Thanks so much!
Wow, this looks uhh-MAYzing!!!!!!! I love meatloaf. I’m not like that “meatloaf, beetloaf – I hate meatloaf” kid on a Christmas Story, lol. It’s really my fave. But, now this mexican twist sounds like a great one! The crunch of those Fritos would be terrific! Put a little sour cream on the side….Mmmmmm. Thanks for sharing!
tastes great, even when omitting tomato sauce