This John Wayne Casserole is made with a spicy taco meat filling topped with a generous sprinkling of cheese baked over a flaky biscuit base. An easy casserole recipe with a cowboy kick!
Table of Contents
- Watch How to Make It
- Why You’ll Love This John Wayne Casserole Recipe
- What Is a John Wayne Casserole?
- How to Make a John Wayne Casserole
- Tips and Variation Ideas
- What to Serve With a John Wayne Casserole
- Storing and Reheating Leftovers
- Can I Freeze This Beef Casserole?
- More Easy Casserole Recipes to Try
- Get the Recipe
If you love casseroles, wait until you bake up this bubbly, cheesy, beefy combination that’s packed with Tex-Mex flavor. This mouthwatering casserole is made with layers of hearty filling baked over a flaky biscuit crust. It’s cheesy and perfect for family dinners and potlucks. Make it once and have leftovers for the week.
Watch How to Make It
Want to see how to make a John Wayne casserole step-by-step? Check out this video!
Why You’ll Love This John Wayne Casserole Recipe
- Easy. Simple ingredients and basic techniques are all you’ll need to make this filling beef dinner.
- Hearty. A slice of this John Wayne Casserole is a meal in and of itself! With the biscuit layer on the bottom, hearty taco meat filling, veggies and melty cheese, this recipe is the total package.
- Packed with flavor! This Southwest-style ground beef-and-biscuit casserole is made with taco beef, chilies, tomatoes, sour cream, and plenty of cheese. Every bite is bursting with flavor.
What Is a John Wayne Casserole?
A John Wayne casserole is a beef casserole made with “cowboy” flavors. John Wayne was an American actor from Hollywood’s Golden Age famous for his roles in Western movies. According to legend, he helped create this recipe in 1979, adding Tex-Mex flavors to this classic hamburger casserole.
How to Make a John Wayne Casserole
Are you ready to make a cozy, bubbling cowboy casserole? Here’s how easy it is to make:
- Make the taco beef filling. Begin by sautéing diced onion and bell pepper in a skillet with a bit of oil, until softened. Next, add the ground beef to the skillet. Use a spatula to break apart any large clumps while frying the meat until browned and cooked through. Afterward, stir in the taco seasoning with a bit of water, then simmer to thicken.
- Make the dough. Make a quick dough by combining Bisquick and water, then spread this into the bottom of a greased casserole dish.
- Assemble the casserole. Add the ground beef to the casserole dish, and spread it over the dough. Top this with a layer of tomato slices and green chilies or jalapenos.
- Top with cheese. Next, you’ll mix up a topping of sour cream, mayonnaise, and shredded mozzarella, then spread this over the tomato layer. Finally, sprinkle over additional shredded cheese.
- Bake. Pop your John Wayne casserole into the oven at 325ºF for 35 to 40 minutes, until the cheese is bubbling and the layers are hot throughout.
Tips and Variation Ideas
The beauty of casseroles is in how effortless they are to make! Have your John Wayne casserole come out exactly to your liking every time with these helpful tips and tricks:
- If you don’t have Bisquick, refrigerated or frozen canned biscuit dough will also work for the base layer.
- Adapt the heat levels. Use mild chilies or leave them out altogether if you’d prefer a milder casserole.
- Use different meat. You can make this casserole with any variation of ground meat: ground turkey, chicken, or pork.
- Add more veggies. In addition to bell peppers and onions, add more veggies like diced carrots, zucchini, broccoli, or spinach.
- Use different cheese. Any melty cheese will work in this recipe! You can even sub in a Mexican cheese blend if you’d like.
What to Serve With a John Wayne Casserole
This beef casserole checks all the boxes for a meal on its own! However, if you’d like to “cowboy up” a weeknight dinner with additional sides, a creamy, cheesy John Wayne casserole is a perfect pairing with cornbread or cornbread muffins:
Storing and Reheating Leftovers
Store any leftover casserole in the fridge airtight for up to 3-4 days. Reheat portions in the microwave for a minute or two, or in the oven at 350ºF until warmed through.
Can I Freeze This Beef Casserole?
Absolutely! This John Wayne casserole freezes wonderfully, which also makes it ideal for making ahead of time. The baked and cooled casserole can be wrapped tightly, and then frozen for up to 3 months.
Thaw the casserole in the fridge overnight, and then reheat it in the microwave or oven as usual (you’ll need to use the oven when reheating a full casserole).
More Easy Casserole Recipes to Try
- Million Dollar Chicken
- Pastitsio Pasta
- Dorito Casserole
- Million Dollar Spaghetti
- Cheeseburger Casserole
John Wayne Casserole
Ingredients
For the beef
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 onion, chopped
- 1 yellow or red bell pepper, chopped
- 2 lbs ground beef, I prefer lean beef
- ¾ cup water
- 1 oz taco seasoning
For the Biscuit Base
- 2 cups Bisquick mix
- 1 cup water
To Assemble
- 2 Roma tomatoes, sliced
- 1 can green chili peppers, 4 oz
- ½ cup mayonnaise
- ½ cup sour cream
- 1 cup shredded mozzarella
- 1 cup shredded cheddar
Instructions
- Prep your tools. Spray a 9×13 baking dish with oil. Preheat the oven to 325°F.
- Saute the veggies. Heat the oil in a large skillet, add chopped onion and chopped bell pepper and saute for about 5 minutes to soften.
- Add ground beef to the skillet. On medium-high heat cook the beef until the ground beef is fully cooked. Add 3/4 water and taco seasoning to the skillet, bring to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer until it thickens. This will take about 10 minutes.
- Make the biscuit layer. Combine Bisquick mix with water and make the dough. Spread the dough over the baking dish and press to the bottom.
- Spread the ground beef mixture over the dough layer. Add the layer of sliced tomatoes and green chili peppers.
- Make the sour cream layer. In a separate bowl mix mayonnaise with sour cream and a half mozzarella cheese. Spread that mixture over the tomato/chili layer.
- Top with cheese. Sprinkle with cheddar and remaining mozzarella cheese.
- Bake. Bake the casserole for 35-40 minutes in the preheated oven.
Nutrition
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Didn’t have any tomatoes so I spread rotel on it and the wifey loved it, and I will definitely make it again it’s bleeping great.
So glad you enjoyed it!
May 6, 2023 Very tasty!!! I also added mushrooms. The recipe was confusing as to how much water to put in the dough, and how much water to put in the Taco Seasoning, and cooking the ground beef maybe should have been cooked before adding it to the veggies. Too much grease and hard to drain off, so prep time for me (I don’t follow many recipes and am not a ‘knowledgeable’ cook) was close to two hours.
Anyway, it was very tasty!!
Thank you.
Thank you for giving the recipe a try and glad you liked it! I separated out the ingredients in the recipe card, I hope that helps. 🙂
Good food. Enjoyed with family over weekend. Thanks!
Wonderful! So happy you and your family enjoyed this recipe.
I substituted ground turkey meat .It turned out to be a delicious meal
So happy you enjoyed the recipe! Ground turkey meat is a great substitute. 🙂
Looks and tastes really yummy. I left out the chili peppers. Added a small amount of crushed red peppers as I cooked the meat. I also used half pork half beef as a sub for regular ground beef.
Thank you for trying the recipe and sharing your modifications! Half ground pork does sound tasty. Happy to hear you enjoyed the recipe!
Seems like a good meal I would enjoy trying.
John Wayne casserole sound delicious going to try it tonight thank you
Awesome 👍 Thank You