A cheesy and filling taco casserole cooked in one pot, meaning easy clean up for a meal full of veggies and flavor
Disclosure: This post was created in collaboration with Tomato Wellness Council. All thoughts and opinions are my own. These partnerships help make Living Well Kitchen a reality, and I appreciate your support of the products I love!
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School season means everyone is looking for easy dinner ideas. My idea of an easy dinner is cooking in one pot or one skillet.
Only one pot to wash? Yes, please!
Last week I cooked a breakfast casserole in a skillet, but today I have one for dinner.
And holy moly, it’s tasty and easy and budget friendly.
[clickToTweet tweet=”A cheesy, veggie-filled satisfying taco #casserole cooked in one pot for easy clean up” quote=”A cheesy, veggie-filled satisfying taco casserole cooked in one pot for easy clean up”]
Thanks to canned tomatoes, this meal requires very little prep work.
I love using canned tomatoes! Like I may or may not have an obsession with them. Why? Oh let me tell you why…
First, canned tomatoes are delicious! I don’t know about you, but fresh tomatoes have never been my favorite. Obviously, a good fresh tomato is, well, good or even more than good. But there are so many times that fresh tomatoes are subpar or sad.
With canned tomatoes, you get the tomatoes picked at their peak ripeness and canned to perfection. That means all their nutrients are stored in that little can for you to enjoy year round, which brings me to my second reason I love canned tomatoes so much…
They have no “season” because you can get canned tomatoes any day of the year, and you know they’re going to be flavorful.
Canned tomatoes are also very budget friendly and require very little prep work.
If you can open a can, you can enjoy canned tomatoes.
No washing. No chopping. Nothing but opening a can and enjoying the fact that you practically did no work to get that beautiful red color in your dish.
I want to say this is the last reason, but I’m sure I’ll come up with more. For the sake of keeping your attention, I’ll give you one more reason for my strong love…
Their nutrients.
Canned tomatoes offer the same benefits of fresh like antioxidants, vitamins, and minerals: Vitamin C, Vitamin K, biotin, and potassium to name a few. Plus, the heat used to can the tomatoes helps release the lycopene stored in these red beauties which is less bioavailable in their fresh counterparts.
Lycopene is a phytochemical that has been shown to help promote heart health and prevent certain cancers like prostate plus so much more.
Before I get to the recipe, something I want to address because it’s recently been in the news is regarding BPA in canned tomatoes.
In my opinion, the benefits of canned tomatoes far outweigh the possible negative side effects of consuming canned tomatoes that are canned in a BPA lined can.
You can easily find BPA-free canned tomatoes because over 95% of the retail tomatoes are already BPA free, or purchase them in glass jars, boxes or pouches.
P.S. This meal can be changed based on your dietary preferences…
Don’t eat beef? Use ground turkey.
Vegetarian? Use chopped mushrooms.
Don’t eat dairy? Skip the cheese or use dairy free cheese.
Don’t eat corn? Use flour tortillas.
Gluten free? You’re good… follow the recipe because it is gluten free (but make sure that your tortillas are gluten free).
And there you have it, all my reasons to love canned tomatoes plus a deeeeelicious one pot recipe perfect for a busy weeknight.
Just watch how easy it is…
One Pot Taco Casserole
Ingredients
- 1 pound ground beef
- 2 medium bell peppers diced
- 1 medium onion diced
- 1 tablespoon chili powder
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon oregano
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon ground coriander
- 15 ounce can diced tomatoes
- 8 ounce can tomato sauce
- 1 cup shredded cheese 4 ounces, divided
- 6 small corn tortillas chopped
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375*F.
- In an oven safe pot or skillet, add the ground beef, bell peppers, and onions over medium-high heat. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 10-15 minutes until the meat is done.
- Drain or pat the excess grease with paper towels.
- Add the chili powder, cumin, garlic powder, oregano, salt, cayenne pepper, and coriander to the beef and veggies. Stir well.
- Stir in the tomato sauce and diced tomatoes. Simmer over medium heat for 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Remove from heat, and top with half of the cheese. Top with chopped tortillas and top the tortillas with the remaining cheese.
- Transfer to the oven and bake until the cheese is bubbly, about 10 minutes. Let sit for 5-10 minutes before enjoying!
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This looks like a flavorful and satisfying weeknight meal 🙂 perfection!
Thanks, lady! xo