This taco casserole is layers of plantains, ground beef, seasonings all topped with plenty of flavorful guacamole. Add your favorite taco fixings such as lettuce, tomato and jalapeño for a hearty and family friendly meal! Paleo + Whole30 too!
My family loves a hot tasty casserole, they’re always requesting Loaded Cauliflower Casserole, Plantain Enchilada Casserole and this festive taco casserole. You can never go wrong with the flavors of tacos!
Casseroles are my JAM. I love to do taco night for dinner, but sometimes when I’m in a hurry, I just layer all the ingredients in a dish and bake them together, which is how this taco casserole came to be. This recipe has all of the components of tacos in the form of a delicious casserole. You can even add your favorite taco fixings on top to take this dish to the next level!
How Do You Make Taco Casserole?
Start this taco casserole by preheating the oven to 350ºF and then get the plantains cooking in a large skillet. My husband had the idea of adding plantains to the bottom of the casserole to form a crust, and it was the most genius idea ever! Once these have cooked on both sides and the edges are golden brown, transfer them to a plate lined with paper towels.
Now, add the diced onion and bell pepper to the pan that you just cooked the plantains in. Sauté until soft, approximately 4-5 minutes. Add the ground beef to the pan and sauté until cooked through. Drain any extra fat remaining in the pan, then add the garlic and sauté for 30 seconds. Next, add the chili powder, cumin, paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, cayenne pepper, sea salt, and black pepper to the pan and stir until combined. Turn off the heat on the stovetop and stir in the salsa. Add the whisked eggs to the pan and stir until the mixture is well combined.
Time for layering this casserole! Place the plantains in a single layer in the bottom of a 9×9” dish. Pour the taco mixture on top of the plantains and spread to make an even top. Bake for 45-60 minutes, or until the casserole has set.
Remove the casserole from the oven and let cool for 5 minutes. Spread the guacamole on top of the casserole and enjoy with other favorite taco toppings!
Tips For Taco Casserole
- I typically use 90% lean ground beef, it has plenty of flavor but is not overly greasy. Feel free to use any preferred ground meat – turkey, chicken or bison.
- I recommend using the plantains for the crust, however, if you don’t have any on-hand, you can use cooked and sliced sweet potatoes instead.
- This taco casserole dish can easily be doubled for a crowd and makes for great leftovers.
- Add your favorite taco toppings when serving. I topped this casserole with my dairy-free sour cream, which took it to the next level!
This casserole is such a fun and easy way to do taco night. I find myself making it on a regular basis because we can’t get enough of it! Add a fresh side salad and you’ll have a dinner that will earn you rave reviews.
More Great Mexican Food Recipes
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Happy cooking! I hope you enjoy this super easy and delicious buffalo chicken dip recipe! If you give this recipe a try, be sure to comment below and let me know how it turned out for you. Also, I would love to see your creations on Instagram. Be sure to tag me @livinglovingpaleo!
Enjoy this Layered Taco Casserole!
Layered Taco Casserole
Equipment
- Oven
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons coconut oil or ghee
- 2 yellow plantains
- 1/2 medium yellow onion, diced
- 1 large green bell pepper, diced
- 2 pounds ground beef
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 3 tablespoons chili powder
- 2 tablespoons cumin
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1 1/2 teaspoons sea salt
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- 2 cups salsa (Use any salsa you like, I just linked to the one that I used)
- 3 eggs, whisked
- 2 cups guacamole
Optional Toppings:
- Chopped tomatoes
- Cilantro
- Dairy-free sour cream
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
- Peel the plantains by making a shallow cut in the skin, lengthwise and peel the skin away from the fruit. Cut the plantain in half, and then cut each half into thirds, lengthwise.
- Melt the coconut oil in a large pan over medium heat. Place the plantains in a single layer in the heated pan. Cook until the edges of the plantains begin to turn golden brown. Flip and cook the other side until golden brown. Place on a plate lined with paper towels.
- Add the diced onion and bell pepper to the pan that you just cooked the plantains in. Sauté until soft, approximately 4-5 minutes. Add the ground beef to the pan and sauté until cooked through. Drain any extra fat remaining in the pan. Add the garlic and sauté for 30 seconds. Add the chili powder, cumin, paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, cayenne pepper, sea salt, and black pepper to the pan and stir until combined. Turn off the heat on your stove and add the salsa to the pan and stir the mixture well. Add the whisked eggs to the pan and stir until the mixture is well combined.
- Place the plantains in a single layer in a 9x9" dish. Pour the taco mixture on top of the plantains and spread to make an even top. Bake for 45-60 minutes, or until the casserole has set.
- Remove the casserole from the oven and let cool for 5 minutes. Spread the guacamole on top of the casserole and enjoy!!
Notes
PIN IT FOR LATER – Layered Taco Casserole:
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More casseroles please!!!! Love your recipes so much!
Done and done! 😉
Amazing is there a sub for the egg if you don’t do eggs?
Hmmm, you may be able to replace the egg with a gelatin “egg”, as described in this post – http://thecuriouscoconut.com/blog/how-to-use-gelatin-as-a-gut-friendly-egg-replacer
I would just heat the mixture of beef until it’s simmering, including the salsa and then mix in the gelatin “eggs”. I would also let the casserole cool for at least 20-30 minutes, as gelatins sets the more it cools. I haven’t tried this myself so I can’t say for sure if it will work. If you happen to try it, I’d love to hear how it goes!
Even if you just leave out the eggs all together, it may not set to where you can slice it, but it would still be really delicious! 😉
I got it in the over now! So excited! Where do the 4 garlic cloves go? Hopefully in with the beef because that’s where I put them lol.
Oops, thanks for catching that! Good guess, the garlic does go with the beef – I just updated the recipe 😉 I hope you loved the casserole!
I made this, although the flavor of the meat was SO delish after adding the salsa that I decided to skip the eggs. While a little crumby sans eggs, the flavor is great! I topped it with guacamole, grass fed sour cream and cilantro. It’s awesome and such a great thing to reheat on weeknights. Thanks for sharing this one with us!
So glad you liked it, Jaime! 🙂
Hi, I want to make this for a crowd and was wondering how many servings would you estimate your recipe makes? Thanks
Hi Jennifer! This recipe uses an 9×9″ casserole dish, so depending on how hungry your crowd is, I’d say this would feed 6-7 people. I often double the recipe and use a 9×13″ dish to feed a larger crowd, or just to have plenty of leftovers 🙂
Do you think I could assemble this a few hours ahead of time?
Absolutely!
thanks for the recipe! i made this tonight (whole30) and even the picky, non-whole30 hubby liked it! tasty and very filling.
the plantains adds sweetness (mine were still yellow) so, next time i may add jalapeno, or use greener plantains…do you have any thoughts on these ideas? i havent cooke with plantains a great deal. thanks!
Hi Jennifer! So glad you liked it! From what you mentioned I think you’d really like using greener plantains (You wouldn’t want them super hard – green with maybe just a little yellow coming in on the skin) and maybe a spicier salsa? Hope that helps! 🙂
Just made this and eating leftovers now. This is excellent! My 2 year old even likes it! It will be a regular in my rotation, even when not doing a whole30. Easy recipe and leftovers heat up perfectly. Thank you for sharing! ?
So happy you liked it, Amy! 🙂
Do you think this would work with sweet potatoes instead of plantains?
Absolutely! I would cook them beforehand, and just know that it’ll make more of a sweet & soft vs savory crust 🙂
Cook them the same way as the plantains or bake them until soft? We don’t have plantains where I live and I really want to try this!!
Do you mean using sweet potatoes? I slice them thinly and cook them the same way 🙂
I made this last night, and it was so good. I couldn’t find plantains, so I used plantain chips. Super hearty and the spices were just right. Thanks for a great recipe!
Plantain chips sound amazing! Great idea!
So good! How many servings?
Approximately 6-9 servings, depending on how hungry everyone is 🙂
Excellent recipe- leaving the cayan out allows for the kids to eat it too. Excellent recipe!
So glad you liked it, Tim!
I made this today for the first time. It is SO good!!! I’m on Day 4 of my first Whole30. This recipe is definitely a keeper! I’m so glad I found you on Instagram! 😊
Woohoo!! So glad you found me too!
Do you put in the oven as is or do you cover with tin foil to prevent from drying out?…. this is the second time we have made it, but I can’t remember what we did last time? Love the recipe!
Hey Peggy, I put it in the oven as is!
I made this for dinner this evening, and it was delicious! I’ll definitely be making it again.
I’m so glad you liked it, Liz!
This layered taco casserole looks so delicious! Love that it’s also whole30 – thank you!
Thank you, Tina! I hope you love it, if you try it! ❤️
Thank you so much for such an awesome recipe! I’ve been meaning to review this for well over a year…love love love this dish! It’s a go to of mine not only for Whole30, but also throughout the year as an easy meal that tastes delicious! Absolutely love the plantains and every component works perfectly together. I think I’ve made it over 30 times by now, and it never disappoints. It’s one of my favorite things to make for my Paleo-skeptic dinner guests, and everyone always has rave reviews!
Thanks so much Katie! So happy to hear 🙂 Love this recipe!