Meat is a staple at our house and makes an almost daily appearance in some form, usually during our evening meal. In the early days, the meat of choice was beef, but time, tides, and cholesterol have necessitated leaner choices. A house favorite is one of my “go-to” dishes on busy weeknights, taco casserole. My sister-in-law learned to make this dish in her high school home economics class and repeated the lesson at home for the family. Over the years I have adapted the recipe based on what happens to be in the refrigerator and pantry, but the never changing stars of the dish are ground meat and tortilla chips.
Never say never…
Thanks to a diagnosis of gum tissue damage, hubby had to have oral surgery. After the pre-surgery checkup at the periodontist, he came home with a sheaf of papers that made me wonder if he was having surgery or buying a house. The documents contained information on pre-surgery preparation, surgery-day expectations, and post-surgery instructions. The post-surgery instructions were primarily food-related: nothing but liquids for the first three days, only “mushy” foods like mashed potatoes for seven days more. At day ten, soft foods, including flaky fish, could be introduced. For thirty days, nothing hard or crunchy, and nothing that could shred and get into surgical areas, including meat.
Say what?
I read the food restrictions again and then committed to finding a way for us to eat something besides soup and ice cream without starving to death. (Although, in retrospect, eating ice cream for dinner for thirty days would be quite the way to go.) I stocked up on vegetable and fruit juices, liquid meals, milk, pudding, and ice cream. We ate homemade mashed potatoes, mashed steamed cauliflower, potatoes mashed with steamed cauliflower, and baked fish. He followed the instructions so well that, at the three-week checkup, the periodontist approved adding meat back to his diet. The only continued restriction is anything crunchy or hard, including nuts, salad, and chips.
Did I mention that taco casserole includes chips?
I craved taco casserole. Needing something quick for lunch and having some ground turkey in the refrigerator needing to be used, I decided to try a chip-free version. The big question was whether I needed a substitute for the chips. I decided to use plain bread crumbs to give the dish a little substance. I added the bread crumbs before the cheese and felt pretty happy about life and lunch. As the casserole baked, I announced to my husband that we were having taco casserole “sans chips” for lunch. I was proud of my culinary genius. He had only one question.
“Why didn’t you just grind up the chips in the blender”?
So much for my culinary genius. Lunch, by the way, was pretty tasty, and we finished off the casserole before dinner. Still, hubby assured me that he could have chips as long as they were ground fine, and we soon went back to the “tried and true” recipe.
Taco Casserole
1 pound ground meat (beef, chicken, or turkey)
Taco seasoning* to taste
1 can diced tomatoes with chiles or 1-1/4 cup salsa
1 can chili beans, drained
2 cups shredded cheese or sliced American cheese
Crushed tortilla chips (ground up in the blender until hubby fully recovers)
*I make my own taco seasoning with one container each garlic salt, chili powder, and onion powder, shaken together well in a glass storage jar. When I have cumin on hand I add 1/4 cup or so to the mix as well.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Brown the ground meat in a skillet (drain if needed). Add taco seasoning to taste.
Spread beans over the meat.

Spread tomatoes over beans.
Sprinkle cheese on top (if using slices, lay side by side to cover top)
Sprinkle crushed chips on the top, covering well (that picture is missing since I didn‘t use chips today). I don’t measure the chips; I put them on top so they don’t get soggy.
Bake until the chips are toasty and the casserole is bubbly (about 20 minutes).
This is what the “no chips allowed“ version of the casserole looked like. Tasty… but definitely not as good as the original. =o)
