Thursday, January 14, 2010

Nacho Bake

My mother-in-law makes a fast Nacho Bake that I really enjoy. When my husband requested it a few days ago, I asked her for her recipe and made it last night. I used lean ground turkey instead of ground beef. (If you've never used lean ground turkey, I really would like to encourage you to try it. Where I buy meat, ground turkey is usually cheaper than ground beef, especially the very lean ground beef. Besides being very economical, lean ground turkey is lower in fat and calories than ground beef . It requires a bit more seasoning than ground beef, so it is perfect in dishes that are heavily seasoned, like chili or tacos. Anyway, I digress.) My mother-in-law seasons the meat with chili seasoning (in the packet, which you can find with the gravy mixes and taco seasonings) and taco sauce. It is very good this way. The chili powder adds a great depth to the meat. With the chili seasoning and the taco sauce, I think the dish has a more mid-west flavor, as opposed to a neo-mexican taco flavor, which I tend to gravitate towards. Next time I make this dish, I am going to replace the chili seasoning with taco seasoning, and the taco sauce with chunky salsa. I think it will be wonderful! Oh, and I'll use ground turkey again. I promise: if you don't tell your family that it's not ground beef, they will never know!

Nacho Bake
1 lb. ground turkey (or very lean ground beef)
1 packet chili (or taco) seasoning
12 ounces taco sauce (or chunky salsa)
1 12 ounce bag of nacho cheese flavored chips (I use Doritos, but using a store brand doesn't change the taste of the dish much)
8 ounces mexican cheese
Sour cream

Brown the ground meat (if using turkey, use a tablespoon of two of canola oil; this is not needed for fatty ground beef), drain if needed, add the entire packet of seasoning and the taco sauce. Allow the meat to simmer for a couple minutes so that the sauce is absorbed. Crunch up all your chips and put a little less than half in the bottom of a 13x9" baking dish. Spread half the meat evenly in a layer, top with half the cheese, and repeat the layers. I like to top the dish with a little bit of chips (instead of just cheese) and it comes out looking cute. Bake for 8 minutes at 350 degrees, or until cheese is melted. Top with sour cream and enjoy! I hope you try this!

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