The BEST Cowboy Casserole Recipe (Takes Just 10 Minutes To Prep)

This cowboy casserole recipe combines savory ground beef with an assortment of Tex-Mex fillings, a rich, creamy sauce, and crispy tater tots. The result is a delicious, decadent, and super-satisfying dish that the whole family is sure to love! And best of all, this easy casserole recipe takes just 10 minutes to prepare! 

The Best Cowboy Casserole

If you love Tex-Mex flavors - and the ease of making casseroles - then you're going to fall head over heels for this cowboy casserole recipe. I mean, it has perfectly cooked ground beef, spicy bits of chorizo, juicy kernels of corn, crispy tater tots, and tons of melty, yummy cheese.

How good does that sound?!

The best part about this tater tot cowboy casserole though - besides how delicious it is - is how easy it is to make. All you have to do is cook the ground beef in a skillet, add the rest of your ingredients, transfer everything to a baking dish, and bake 'em together. Yup, it's that easy!

By the way, since this cowboy casserole recipe is basically entirely cooked in the oven - and it's pretty passive cooking - you'll have plenty of time to whip up some sides to go with it. If you're looking for what to serve with cowboy casserole, I love pairing it with my sweet potato cornbread, these honey glazed carrots, and/or these sauteed green beans.

Ingredients

Another thing I love about this cowboy casserole recipe is that the ingredient list is super simple. In fact, I can almost guarantee that you'll have almost everything you'll need to make it on hand already!

Anyway, here's what you'll need to make it: 

• ½ lb. ground beef
• 1 cup can corn, drained, rinsed
• 1 cup mild cheddar cheese, shredded (plus extra for topping)
• ⅔ cup condensed cream of mushroom soup
• ¼ cup milk
• 3 tablespoon sour cream
• 1 teaspoon onion powder
• Salt and pepper, to taste
• ½ cup chorizo sausage, chopped (or cooked and crumbled bacon)
• 28 oz. tater tots

Simple stuff, right?!

By the way, you can use a lot of these same ingredients to make this cowboy cornbread casserole recipe as well. It has the same delicious flavors as this recipe but with a little cornbread twist.

Oh, and if you have extra tater tots, you can use 'em up by making this tater tot breakfast casserole!

Ingredient Substitutions And Modifications

Now, I usually just make this cowboy casserole recipe with the exact ingredients listed above since I think it tastes best that way. With that said though, there's definitely room to customize this recipe to make it uniquely yours each time!

Swap The Ground Beef

This recipe calls for ground beef, but really any kind of ground meat will work. You can use either ground chicken, ground turkey, or even ground pork, and it'll turn out great!

By the way, if you want to make this vegetarian - or just ramp up the protein and fiber even more - then you can add a can of pinto beans.

Experiment With Add-Ins

I think this recipe is loaded with flavor as is, but if you want to play around with some add-Ins, then I suggest adding a little chili powder, diced tomatoes, pinto beans, and/or frozen veggies. My wife actually love, love, loves it when I add the pintos beans to it.

Use Different Cheese

When it comes to cheese, I prefer the flavor of cheddar cheese, but you can really use any kind that you want! You can even combine a couple of different cheeses. One of my favorite combos of shredded cheese to use for this cowboy casserole is a mix of cheddar and Colby jack cheese.

Sometimes when I want to add a little more spice to it, I'll even use pepper jack.

How To Make Cowboy Casserole

Now it's time to get down to business and make this cowboy casserole!

The recipe should take you just 10 minutes to prep, and then the oven does all of the heavy lifting after that. Honestly, It's really a breeze to put together. Even if you don't consider yourself a pro in the kitchen, you'll have no trouble making this casserole.

Anyway, with that said, let's stop wasting time and get cooking!

Step 1: Cook The Beef

First things first, you'll want to preheat your oven to 375°F. Then, you can take out a large skillet, put it over medium heat, and add a little oil to it.

Once the skillet is hot, you can add the ground beef to it and cook it for a few minutes, breaking it apart as it cooks. You'll want to cook the beef until it has browned on all sides.

Then, after you've got the beef looking good, you can add the corn, shredded cheddar cheese, condensed cream of mushroom soup, milk, sour cream, onion powder, and chorizo or bacon to the skillet. Now give everything a good stir, give it a taste test, and adjust the seasonings as necessary.

Step 2: Assemble The Casserole

Ok, now that the casserole filling is all mixed together, you can transfer the mixture to the prepared baking dish. Then, add the tater tots on top and sprinkle the remaining shredded cheese over the top of them.

Step 3: Bake The Casserole

Now that the casserole is assembled, you can put it in the oven and bake it for 40 minutes. Then, after that amount of time, you can pull it out, add more cheddar cheese on top of it, and let it bake for another 5 minutes or until the cheese is nice and bubbly and the tater tots are golden brown.

Finally, serve your cowboy casserole warm and enjoy!

How To Store Cowboy Casserole

This recipe for tater tot cowboy casserole makes 6 servings, so it should be perfect for a large family dinner. In fact, if you're lucky, you might even end up with some leftovers!

Speaking of leftovers, to store any leftover casserole, simply cover the baking dish with a lid - or transfer the cooled casserole to an airtight container - and store it in the fridge. Stored either of these ways, the leftovers will last for up to 4 days.

Alternatively, if you want to store your leftovers for even longer, you can freeze 'em. Just transfer them to an airtight container - or freezer safe bag - and the cowboy casserole will last for up to 3 months in the freezer.

How To Reheat Cowboy Casserole

Whenever you're ready to enjoy your leftover tater tot cowboy casserole, it'll definitely taste best reheated.

So, the best way to reheat the leftovers is to put 'em back in a prepared baking dish and heat them at 350°F for about 10 minutes - or until the cheese is melty again and the casserole is fully warmed through.

Alternatively, if you're only planning on reheating a single serving, the microwave will work great for that. Just heat the casserole in 30-second increments until it reaches your desired temperature.

Wrapping It Up

Well, that's how to make a cowboy casserole with tater tots!

I know I'm a bit biased, but I really think this is one of the best Tex-Mex casserole recipes out there. From the rich and creamy sauce to the perfectly seasoned ground beef to the super crispy tater tots and melty cheese, it's just so, so good.

Honestly, I'm getting hungry just thinking about it!

Anyway, I hope you enjoy this cowboy casserole recipe as much as I/we do.

As always, if you give it a try, then be sure to leave a comment and let us know how it went!

More Easy Casserole Recipes

If you're in the mood for even more easy casserole recipes - like this cowboy casserole - then we have a ton on the blog for you to try next!

Here are some reader favorites:

• Pork chop casserole
• Big mac casserole
• Chile relleno casserole
• John Wayne casserole
• Cheeseburger tater tot casserole
• Chicken mushroom casserole
• Hamburger potato casserole

Oh, and as always, make sure to check us out on Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok! We post new recipes on them every day.