Are you sick of your taco topping spilling out when you take a bite, or worse, BEFORE you can take a bite?! Then this casserole is just the thing to satisfy your weekly taco cravings, with significantly less mess.

Anyone ever watch Semi-Homemade with Sandra Lee? Aside from the over the top table decor and matchy match appliances and utensils she has for every theme/season/event that could ever come up, it’s a really great show! Taking some store-bought, pre-made items and turning them into a new dish is genius, because honestly, who has time these days to make a gourmet sit down dinner from scratch every damn night?! Not me!

You know I love me some tacos, no matter what day of the week it is, and this just seemed like a face-palm duh, why not turn my frozen aisle go-to into a Mexican rollatini style casserole? Literally every part of this is pre-made, although for those who have this thing called “time” on your hands, feel free to make from scratch, and it comes together quickly and easily for a cheesy goodness dinnertime win that no one will be able to say anything but “gracias” to.

INGREDIENTS

• 8 Jose Ole taquitos (I prefer the chicken in the corn tortillas)
• 1 11oz can of Mexicorn, drained well
• 1 4oz can of diced green chilies
• 1 cup chunky salsa
• 1 can refried beans
• 1/2 cup of red taco sauce
• 1.5 cups of shredded cheese
• Tabasco, Sliced Jalapeno’s, Scallions, Sour cream and Guacamole and whatever else you can think of for garnish and toppings

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Pre-heat oven to 350
2. Scoop out refried beans from the can into the bottom of your baking dish and mix with red taco sauce. Spread evenly.
3. Line up your taquitos on top of the refried beans; push them in to fit a single layer.
4. Mix your Mexicorn and green chilies in a bowl then top the taquitos with the mixture.
5. Pour the salsa onto your dish as evenly as possible.
6. Top with 1 cup of shredded cheese
7. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until all cheese has melted and is nice and bubbly.
8. Remove from oven and serve immediately.
9. Dress up your serving with any of the usual taco toppings…there’s no wrong answer to this part!

You can make this recipe smaller or larger depending on your crowd….imagine doing a big tray of these for game day?? For sides, I usually serve this with Knorr Spanish Rice and Goya plantains which both are quick and easy to make while the taquitos are baking.

**Note: if you prefer your taquitos to have a bit of crunch, you will want to fry them prior to putting them into the casserole. This will of course, add more time an effort on your part, and for me, it wasn’t happening.