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Mexicali Hash Brown Taco Casserole |
Meat and potatoes in one dish. A different angle on Shepherd’s Pie.
Shepherds Pie Goes South Of The Border
Shepherd’s pie has moved south to Mexico!
The base of this casserole is a creamy taco-flavored ground beef mixture. You can leave the taco seasoning out or use other spice blends if you’d like. My recipes are never carved in stone…make them your own.
Top all this off with a crunchy-cheesy-peppery layer of hash browns and you’ve got a complete dinner in a dish!
Watch The Video
The Recipe
Mexicali Hashbrown Taco Casserole
This hashbrown taco casserole is a meat and potatoes dinner baked in one dish. A Tex-Mex twist on Shepherd’s Pie.
Servings: 6
Calories: 393kcal
Ingredients
- 1 lb 90% lean ground beef
- 1/2 cup diced green bell pepper divided
- 1/2 cup diced red bell pepper divided
- 1/2 cup corn
- 1 pkg taco seasoning
- 10.5 oz condensed tomato soup
- 3 oz low fat cream cheese
- 1/2 cup chopped onion divided
- 2 cups Mexican-style shredded cheese divided
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp pepper
- 15 oz frozen hashbrown potatoes thawed
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease or spray a 2 or 2 1/2 quart oblong casserole dish.
- Brown ground beef, half of the bell peppers and onion in a heavy skillet over medium-high heat. Drain fat from pan, reduce heat.
- Add the undiluted tomato soup, corn and the cream cheese. Stir until well combined and no chunks of cream cheese are visible. Stir in taco seasoning and 1 cup of the shredded cheese. Turn mixture into prepared pan, spreading mixture evenly across the bottom.
- In a separate bowl, combine the defrosted hash browns, the remaining peppers, salt, pepper and remaining 1 cup shredded cheese.
- Top ground beef with potato mixture, pressing it down slightly.
- Bake at 350 degrees F for 30-35 minutes or until topping is browned and crispy on top.
Nutrition
Serving: 1serving | Calories: 393kcal | Carbohydrates: 31g | Protein: 28g | Fat: 18g | Saturated Fat: 9g | Cholesterol: 80mg | Sodium: 1469mg | Potassium: 889mg | Fiber: 4g | Sugar: 8g | Vitamin A: 1507IU | Vitamin C: 42mg | Calcium: 474mg | Iron: 3mg
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The Painter's Wife says
I found this recipe via Pinterest. It was fantastic! I omitted the corn (hubby doesn't like) and added a few additional spices to suit our tastes (onion powder, coriander, cumin and black pepper). I baked it for an hour to get the top nice and crunchy. It was delicious! My hubby was even talking about it the next morning. Thank you for a great recipe!
Judith Hanneman says
So glad you enjoyed this!! The corn is really only in there because I had a teenie weenie bit left in the freezer that I wanted to get rid of LOL!!!!
Bethany Susan says
Made this last night and it was delish! We ate ours alongside some spinach leaves, which made it taste like a taco in every bite!
Judith Hanneman says
Glad you enjoyed it Bethany!
Tripplexfile says
This dish is very delicious and very easy to make. The second time I made it I used ground turkey and added red pepper flakes (I like mine really spicy) and it turned out beautifully.
Judith Hanneman says
I'm so happy you liked it Tripplexfile! And I always love hearing how people take a recipe and change it up to make it something new and better! I love this idea too…and it's much less fat so it's healthier!
Jessica Ashby says
Just made this for dinner tonight! It was delicious 🙂
Judith Hanneman says
So glad to hear you enjoyed it Jessica!
samiamiam says
we just got cooler fall weather here in texas. will have this tomorrow
Judith Hanneman says
I'm glad my Texas friends are out of the heat wave! I'm sitting here in NY with my space heater LOL. Enjoy!
Crystal Bowling says
Loved this! It was a big hit with the family! Will definitely be making it again!!
Judith Hanneman says
I am so glad you all enjoyed this Crystal!
Robin says
Hi, just wondering if there is a substitute for the tomato soup, I can't have it gives me migraines. Thanks, Robin
Judith Hanneman says
If you're OK with salsa, I'd substitute that Robin.
Robin says
Thank you Judith!
Jesse Lahmann says
Can this be frozen and made baked later?
Judith Hanneman says
I've never done that Jesse but I imagine you could. Really nothing that can't handle freezing in it. If you do freeze it, let us know the results!
Tanisha Hammell says
Could other veggies be submitted. Orange, yellow pepper, tomatoes instead of soup?
Judith Hanneman says
Sure Tanisha. Maybe a can of diced tomatoes with green chilis would be good too. The condensed soup just gives it a thicker sauce. As long as you don't mind a thinner juice, whatever your family likes will do just fine.
Jessann Smith says
Can this be doubled in a 9×13 for a crowd?
Judith Hanneman says
Sure can Jessann! Even throw in some stuff you think would go nicely too!
Rusty *Sarah* Gootkin-Holmgren says
I just made this and it was delish. Thanks for sharing.
Judith Hanneman says
So glad you liked it Sarah! Happy New Year!
Nicole Reichner says
Are you able to use shredded baking potatoes instead of frozen hash browns?
Judith Hanneman says
Pretty sure you could Nicole.
Kelley says
I just put this in the oven. Can't wait to try it. The directions were rather confusing though. In the ingredients list it says the peppers and onions are divided. I didn't see where in the directions I was supposed to divide them so I just cooked them all with my ground beef.
Judith Hanneman says
LOL–That'll work Kelley. I'll re-read the recipe. Lots of times what's clear to me isn't to others and I'm always thankful when someone points stuff like this out and I can fix it up.
tknudtson74 says
My sister-in-law made this last night and I can't wait to try it myself. Thanks for sharing this with us!
Nikki O'Boyle says
I'm going to try this recipe tonight! I can't wait <3 thanks!
Brianna says
I found this on Pinterest, husband and I loved it! It was easy to whip up. I doubled it and put half in a baking dish to freeze it and bake when we need to have a quick dinner sometime. It would be super good with beans added! I sprinkled some seasoned salt on top, that added a nice zip of flavor. I also used salsa instead of tomato soup and cut the cream cheese in half and it was still delicious!! Will certainly make again.
Judith Hanneman says
This is one of those dishes you can add just about anything to like I did with my bits and bobs of veggies. So glad you liked it!!
Karen Simpson says
With the meat part of this casserole you can take soft shell tacos and fill with hot meat mixture, shredded cheese, chopped avocado or shredded lettuce, diced tomato and sour cream, and you have a delicious taco.
Judith Hanneman says
OMG that’s a great idea!!! Love it!
Janna says
Judith, this dish is an absolute DIAMOND when done. I do have to say that although I have RA and it takes me longer to prepare dinner, this was excruciating. 2 1/2 hrs incldes baking time. My grocery dtore didn’t have frozen hashbrowns so had to grate my own potatoes. This of course added lots of time to prep. Ground beef does not cook up in just 10 min. Realistically, prep time should read 25 to 30 min. I will definitely make this again. I made a lasagna pan amount and will freeze some. It will be dinner again tonight. Thank you for such a wonderful pallet pleasing recipe that can be twirked by the adventurist cook.
Judith Hanneman says
I love it when people take my recipes and add stuff to make it their own. I’m not an RA sufferer but I do have the standard variety in the hips so I understand a lot about how things can take longer. I wish we both could be as mobile as we were at 18. Trouble with the prep time is I had to take all my recipes and put them in a new app and it requires a prep time, so that is my best guess since I haven’t made this in quite some time. Same goes with other recipes I had to convert. They’re mostly “best guesses.”
Janna says
Thank you Judith for your response. That makes much more sense that it is a best guess. Sorry to hear you also suffer the standard asrthritis. All types are a horrible disease. God Bless
Janna recently posted…Pepperoni Pizza Pinwheels
Judith Hanneman says
Blessings back at you too <3
Damayra says
Excuse me for the silly questions. I’m new at recipe making. Questions: the tomato soup is it condensed? I only found condensed cooking tomato soup.
Do I need a total of 15oz or 30 oz of hash Browns?
Judith Hanneman says
Yep, that’s condensed tomato soup–btw, it’s not really a silly question!!! There’s so *many* varieties of canned soup now that you find ready-to-serve, microwavable, etc, in along with the old-fashioned canned condensed variety.
The hashbrowns come in a 30 oz bag, and you use half of that (15 oz), but that amount can be upped or downed, depending on your love of potatoes. I used 1/2 the bag and that was a nice combo for me. If you want, you can use the remaining 1/2 bag to make potato soup, etc. They come in handy!
nancy says
I’m using breakfast sausage instead of ground beef. Thank you for the recipe!!
Judith Hanneman says
That should be really good!!!
Sheila Martens says
I was craving hashbrown casserole, but wondered if I could find a recipe online that would combine it with ground beef, and this was a perfect idea! I doubled the recipe and added some seasoning salt to the hashbrown mixture. We enjoyed it served with a dollop of sour cream.
Judith Hanneman says
So glad you liked it!!
Dean says
Is the corn frozen or canned? If frozen, is it thawed?
Judith Hanneman says
I used frozen and didn’t thaw or cook. Canned is good too.