The plan tonight was to use up some of the homemade sausage in the freezer, the last glass jar of homemade salsa, a half round of my favorite queso that I had food sealed and in the fridge as well as some cheddar from the deep freezer that tastes great, but cheddar does get 'crumbly' after frozen. I added to that some refried beans, black olives and was able to empty the last of the homemade taco sauce.
I originally got this recipe when I was 14 years old and was babysitting for a woman who made it and had me bake it for her 3 kids while I was babysitting. I loved it so much I had her write down the recipe for my Mom. She then made it regularly as we all loved it - and I continued making it for my own family once I grew up and married and had kids.
It's a casserole and/or a dip for tortilla chips. You can also put it in a flour tortilla. Since I'm trying to use UP groceries and not BUY ANY... I don't have tortilla chips so we are having it as a casserole - which is my favorite way to eat it anyway!
Mexican Casserole or Dip
1 lb. ground beef browned with 1 small onion, chopped
1 can refried beans
1 c ground and browned sausage
4 c shredded cheddar cheese
1 small can green chilies, chopped
1 - 16 oz. container sour cream
1 jar salsa or taco sauce
*optional - black olives, green olives, sliced
*optional - 1 1/2 c guacamole or avocado dip
Spread the refried beans on the bottom of a sprayed casserole dish for a
meal or if you are using this recipe as a dip, spread it thinly on the
bottom of a larger pan of your choice - (pizza pan, 9X13, anything you
wish!) Brown the ground beef and/or sausage with the onion. Place half
into a greased casserole dish or if you are using for a dip, use all of
it over the refried beans in the larger pan. Sprinkle with half the
cheese. Add the chilies and/or jalapenos, the sour cream, the
salsa/sauce and the rest of the cheese in layers. Top with olives if
you love them!
Bake at 350 for 20 minutes for a thinner pan and bake 45 minutes if you
have a thick casserole dish. When the cheese is melted and it's hot all
the way through, remove and serve as a dip or let set for 5-8 minutes
to 'set up' when serving as a casserole. It may be more runny when hot
straight from the oven and it sets up (like lasagna does) when left to
stand and cool a bit. We can never wait and don't care - we dig right
in!
Here are photos of what I think might be the first (1st) time I posted the recipe on An American Housewife - these were from March of 2011. You can see what it looks like when it's not all mixed up and dished, ready to eat.
