Taco Bubble Up Casserole – Slender Kitchen

This Taco Bubble Up Casserole combines so many delicious things in one easy to make dish. Flaky biscuits, seasoned ground beef, cheese, and all your favorite taco toppings bake together to create a cheesy, fluffy casserole you won’t believe you can eat guilt free.

If you are new here, this may be the first time you are hearing about bubble up casseroles and I couldn’t be more excited to tell you about them. A bubble up is a combination of biscuit dough, sauce, cheese, and toppings that bakes together to make something magical. The biscuits get fluffy, the toppings and sauce and cheese create these gooey layers between the biscuits. I am getting hungry just thinking about it. They are so good and a family favorite. 

For this version, I decided to create a Taco Bubble Up inspired by traditional ground beef tacos. To make things simple, I cooked some ground beef in a store-bought taco seasoning mix. You can also make homemade taco seasoning, which will have less sodium and be free of preservatives that are sometimes in packaged options. Then I added bell peppers, red onion, and my favorite salsa. You can get creative here and add in any veggies you like. Zucchini or summer squash would be delicious and you could use tomatoes if you opt for a salsa that doesn’t have a lot of tomatoes. To finish things off you just need salsa and cheese. Because what is a taco without some salsa and cheese.

When baking a bubble up, one concern is that the biscuit dough in the center doesn’t fully bake and can end up soggy. The key to avoiding this is making sure you use a large enough baking dish that the casserole doesn’t get too thick. It may be tempting to cram everything into a smaller dish but it makes it more difficult for everything to cook correctly. This can happen if you overdo it on toppings as well. Try not to add too many things, as tempting as it may be. You can always serve topping options on the side. 

Speaking of serving it, I usually set up a bunch of options for toppings so everyone can make their own taco bubble up bites. The typical cast of characters is lettuce, tomatoes, jalapenos, sour cream or yogurt, extra salsa, cilantro, and avocado. Usually, I serve this with some zero point black beans or corn on the cob.

For a vegetarian version, you can replace the meat with black beans tossed with the taco seasoning. Vegetarian crumbles will work too.

Side Dish Ideas for Taco Bubble Up Casserole