J's Tortilla Casserole

J made himself a tortilla casserole (cause we, for some reason, have an abundance of tortilla chips in the house).  It is based off of this recipe but he used ground beef.  Sorry there is no photo.  


Here is what he did:


Tortilla Casserole (makes about 6 servings)
1 lb. ground beef
1 tbsp. olive oil
1 small onion, minced
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 tbsp. minced chipotle peppers in adobo sauce (he likes spicy!), or whatever hot pepper(s) you have
s & p, to taste
1 1/2 cups chicken broth (he actually used my BTB no chicken base + water because that is all we had)
5 cups tortilla chips, broken and smashed up into pieces
1 can fire roasted tomatoes, not drained
1 cup shredded cheese


Preheat oven to 425.

Sauté ground beef in a skillet until cooked through.  Remove from heat and set aside

Add the oil, onion, garlic, chipotle, salt and pepper to the skillet and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. 

Add broth and scrape off any browned bits, and bring to a simmer.

Stir in half the tortilla chips and cook over medium low heat about 10 minutes.

Add the ground beef, tomatoes and ½ cup of the cheese to the skillet.  Stir in the other ½ of the tortilla chips until they are incorporated and moistened.

Transfer to an oiled or non-stick oven safe casserole dish. Sprinkle the remaining cheese on top and bake until the cheese is melted and browning, about 10 min.  Remove from oven and let sit 5 minutes before you dive in.

Some notes:

*The ground beef came from our local farmers as well as the onion.


*J said he wished he would have thought to put mushrooms in this too.

*If you like green or red pepper you could probably add that in with the other chopped veggies as well.  Black olives too, although I'd add them in with the tomatoes.

*Vegetarians/Vegans could make this same recipe using black or pinto beans (or a combination of both) in place of the beef and use non-dairy cheese of choice.

*This is a great way to use the bottom of those tortilla chip bags where all the broken pieces live.