Dorito Casserole is a cheesy, tangy ground-beef dinner for a weeknight when you want something you can scoop straight from the baking dish. You get seasoned beef, salsa, beans and vegetables between layers of nacho cheese chips. The cheese melts over the filling, while the covered top layer turns softer than a crunchy snack chip.
How to make Dorito Casserole: Cook the seasoned beef, layer it with the chips, filling and cheese, then bake covered at 350°F for 10 to 15 minutes. Check the center with a food thermometer before you serve it.
Why You’ll Love It
- A short oven finish: Once you have cooked the beef and built the layers, the covered bake takes 10 to 15 minutes.
- Plenty in each scoop: You get creamy beef filling, beans, peppers, olives, melted cheese and pieces of nacho cheese chips.
- Familiar ingredients: Mild salsa and mild taco seasoning keep the filling straightforward if you are feeding people who prefer gentler heat.
- Easy to share: The casserole serves 6, and you can spoon it directly from the baking dish.
Ingredient Notes
Nacho cheese Doritos give the casserole its distinctive seasoning as well as its chip layers. Buy the nacho cheese flavor for this ingredient list. I like leaving visible pieces when I break up the chips; they hold up better against the filling.
Ground beef, yellow onion and taco seasoning cook together in the skillet before they go into the dish. Use mild taco seasoning with the mild salsa if you want the flavor to stay close to what is written here. You will check the beef with a thermometer during this skillet step, rather than judging it by color alone.
Salsa and sour cream join the cooked beef over low heat. The salsa brings the tang, and the sour cream makes the filling creamy enough to spoon over the bottom chips. I keep the heat low at this stage, as directed, instead of treating it like another browning step.
Black beans, black olives and bell pepper make a separate layer above the beef and some of the cheese. Keep them ready beside the baking dish before you begin layering; it is easier to see where each ingredient has gone while the dish is still open. The cilantro goes into the beef mixture and appears again in the layers, so keep some of your chopped bunch back for that point.
Mexican cheese blend goes into the middle and above the vegetables. You do not need to measure out a precise share for each layer; just make sure you still have cheese for the top of the filling before you add the final chips. I prefer setting the cheese beside the dish before I start so I can see what remains.
Ingredients
- 1 bag nacho cheese Doritos, crushed
- 1/4 cup yellow onion, chopped
- 1 pound ground beef
- 1 cup mild salsa
- 1 packet mild taco seasoning
- 1 cup sour cream
- 1 bunch fresh cilantro, chopped
- 1 can black beans
- 1 can black olives
- 1 cup bell pepper, chopped
- 2 cups Mexican cheese blend, shredded
- Coconut oil cooking spray, for the baking dish
How to Make Dorito Casserole
1. Heat the oven. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Coat a baking dish with coconut oil cooking spray, then put a layer of the crushed Doritos across the bottom. Keep the rest of the chips nearby for the top layer.
2. Cook the beef. Put the ground beef, chopped onion and taco seasoning in a skillet over medium heat. Cook until the beef is browned, 7 to 9 minutes, then check it with a food thermometer: ground beef must reach 160°F. I use the thermometer here because a browned surface does not tell you the temperature inside the beef.
3. Finish the meat mixture. Add the salsa and sour cream to the cooked beef and simmer over low heat for 3 to 4 minutes. Stir in some of the chopped cilantro, leaving some for the layers. The mixture should now be creamy and easy to spoon across the chips.
4. Layer the casserole. Spoon the meat mixture over the bottom chips, followed by some of the shredded cheese. Add the black beans, black olives, bell pepper and remaining cilantro, then add more cheese and a top layer of Doritos. Spread each ingredient across the dish as you go so you do not end up with beans on one side and beef on the other.
5. Bake. Cover the dish with foil and bake at 350°F for 10 to 15 minutes. Before serving, check the center with a food thermometer; a casserole must reach 165°F. Continue baking if it has not reached that temperature, even if the cheese has melted.
How to Keep the Chip Texture
Think about what you want from the chips before you break open the bag. Pieces around 1/2 inch give the bottom and middle of the casserole more presence; finely crushed chips are more likely to turn mushy against the moist filling. I aim for pieces you can still recognize when you scatter them, rather than a bowl of orange crumbs.
The covered bake is important to understand, too. Foil over the top chips softens them, so expect a tender, cheesy topping here—not a guaranteed crisp crust. Underneath, you will have creamy beef and beans with pockets of chip texture. For a crunchier top, see Variations.
Tips for Success
Why is all the filling in the middle?
If a scoop from the edge is mostly chips while the center holds the beef and vegetables, the layers were piled rather than spread. When you assemble the dish, carry the meat mixture toward the edges and scatter the beans, olives and pepper over the full surface. You want each scoop to pass through the filling as well as the chips.
Variations
- Add the top chips near the end: For a crunchier topping, bake the beef filling first and add chunky Doritos toward the end of baking. Check the center for 165°F as usual.
Storage & Reheating
USDA FSIS says to refrigerate leftovers within 2 hours in shallow, covered containers and use refrigerated leftovers within 3 to 4 days, or freeze them for 3 to 4 months; the chips soften after freezing. Reheat leftovers to 165°F and check with a thermometer.
What to Serve With It
If you are planning another taco-night dinner, try tamale casserole. For more ground-beef meals on another night, there is stuffed pepper casserole, Big Mac casserole or hobo casserole. When you want a hands-off option instead, look at slow cooker Amish ground beef noodle casserole, or Ritz cracker chicken casserole for a cracker-topped bake.
Frequently Asked Questions
What goes in Dorito casserole?
For this ground-beef dish, you are building chip layers around beef cooked with onion and taco seasoning, a salsa-and-sour-cream filling, black beans, black olives, bell pepper, cilantro and shredded cheese. The nacho cheese chips supply seasoning throughout the casserole, not just on top.
Can Dorito casserole be made ahead?
You can assemble a ground-beef Dorito casserole up to 6 hours ahead and refrigerate it. A cold assembled dish may need longer in the oven, so use the center-temperature check in the steps rather than assuming the usual bake will be enough.
Can I use chicken instead of ground beef?
Yes, but use cooked shredded chicken and build a chicken filling with condensed cream of chicken soup and sour cream. The beef directions here start with raw ground beef, onion and taco seasoning in a skillet, so they are not instructions for cooking a chicken filling.
Final Notes
Set the cheese and vegetables beside your baking dish before you start layering so you can distribute them across the casserole. If you have a question or make it for dinner, tell me how it turned out in the comments.
Dorito Casserole
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Ingredients
- 1 bag nacho cheese Doritos crushed
- 1/4 cup yellow onion chopped
- 1 pound ground beef
- 1 cup mild salsa
- 1 packet mild taco seasoning
- 1 cup sour cream
- 1 bunch fresh cilantro chopped
- 1 can black beans
- 1 can black olives
- 1 cup bell pepper chopped
- 2 cups Mexican cheese blend shredded
- coconut oil cooking spray for the baking dish
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Coat a baking dish with coconut oil cooking spray and put a layer of crushed Doritos in the bottom.
- In a skillet over medium heat, cook the ground beef with the onion and taco seasoning until browned, 7 to 9 minutes. Check that the ground beef reaches 160°F with a food thermometer.
- Add the salsa and sour cream to the cooked beef and simmer over low heat for 3 to 4 minutes. Stir in some of the cilantro, reserving some for layering.
- Over the bottom chips, layer the meat mixture and some of the cheese. Add the black beans, black olives, bell pepper and remaining cilantro. Add another layer of cheese and a top layer of Doritos.
- Cover with foil and bake at 350°F for 10 to 15 minutes. Before serving, check the center with a food thermometer; a casserole must reach 165°F. Continue baking if it has not reached that temperature.
