With my mom being from Texas, migrating to Mississippi after she was married, my family grew up on Tex-Mex and Mexican inspired dishes.  It is my mom's favorite type of foods and it will always make her happy to cook her something that is Mexican or Spanish.

I remember when I was still a newly wed and did not know how to cook well nor have the patience, Old  El Paso came out with a box meal called "Soft Taco Bake".  I tried it and it was a hit with my family. It is a layered soft taco dish, basically.

This recipe is my take on it, I have tweaked it a bit and I do not use the box, but everything I use makes this super easy to prepare for your family.

You will need:

2.5 pounds of ground beef

2 packets of taco seasoning (or prepare your own)

1 can of Fire Roasted Tomatoes

1 large can of refried beans

2 jars of Queso Dip

8 flour tortillas

2 8 inch cake pans

cooking spray

For the Pico De Gallo:

1 fresh whole jalapeno

1/4 sweet onion

half lime

1 tsp salt

2 tsp italian seasoning 

1/2 diced tomato

Cook your ground beef as you normally would, stirring as it browns to create small crumbles. Drain grease and add in one packet of taco seasoning, cooking until seasoning is blended.  Add the beef to a large bowl, then add can of fire roasted tomatoes, and the second seasoning packet. Mix well. 

In cake pan, spray with non stick cooking spray and then begin layering with flour tortilla.  Spoon a nice heap of refried beans into the center, spreading outwards until evenly covering the tortilla.

Add your beef mixture.

Now  pour and spread a nice amount of the queso dip. Add another flour tortilla and continue upward for one more layering of each.

Top the last tortilla with shredded cheese and bake in the oven for 30 minutes at 350 degrees.

Remove from oven and allow to cool. This is like lasagna...the more it sets, the easier and less messy it is to serve.

Pico de gallo is really easy.  Chop all of the ingredients and in a bowl, mix with the juice of a fresh lime, salt, italian seasoning.

See, easy. 

I topped my taco lasagna with sour cream, fresh pico de gallo and served with a simple salad. It was so good!