Creamy Bean Dip Casserole

As you may recall in my "I am not selfish" post, I mentioned an increased interest in cooking.

Truly. I now know how June Cleaver did it. Her kids weren't home all day!

Also, she didn't have blogging and social media to suck up time.

Anyhoo....today is a first on this blog as I am sharing a recipe. Ooh. Aah. Gasp!

So my friend Jessica introduced me to her super yummy creamy bean dip not long after meeting her 9 years ago. It has been the hit at parties she, me and other friends have thrown over the years. It is refried beans covered with a mixture of cream cheese, sour cream and taco seasoning, which is then topped with shredded cheese and baked in the oven until warm and bubbly. Eat just like with any dip, with chips. SO GOOD.

I love Mexican food so much I could probably eat it every other day and not get sick of it, and wanted to make a meal out of this dip. So I came up with the following recipe. Yes, it has many ingredients that could be unhealthy, but I chose options that would make it a little healthier.

Creamy Bean Dip Casserole

1 pound hamburger
1 can no fat refried beans
1 1/2 cups light sour cream
8 oz. reduced fat cream cheese
1 cup salsa
1 1/2-2 cups frozen corn
Taco seasoning
Shredded fiesta blend cheese
Tortillas of choice

Brown hamburger in a skillet. In a saucepan warm refried beans, sour cream, cream cheese and taco seasoning to taste. Add salsa and corn to hamburger.

Spray a casserole dish with cooking spray. cover bottom with a single layer of tortillas. Begin layering ingredients: spread bean mixture, hamburger mixture, sprinkle some cheese, top with a layer of tortillas, repeat 3-4 times as amounts allow. End with a little of the bean mixture and generous amount of shredded cheese. Cover with foil and bake at 350 for 25 minutes. Remove foil and bake 5 more minutes.

Remove from oven and let stand 5 minutes. Cut and serve garnished with toppings such as sour cream, avocado, olives, tomato, salsa and/or lettuce.

My family loved it. My son was underwhelmed, but he often is with casseroles. He still ate some, though.

I think there are many variations that could be done with this. Such as chicken instead of hamburger, or no meat. Could add black beans, peppers, onion or even rice. I used flour tortillas, but of course you could use corn, or even make it crunchy with tostada shells. Could probably through the two mixtures and some cheese into a a baking dish and top with cornbread batter and bake. Yum!

Let me know if you make it and....Enjoy!