Country Crock Casseroles - Mexican Beef and Corn Casserole and Giveaway

Taco Casserole 

UPDATE 9/19/13 - WINNER! The winner of this wonderful giveaway is luvscows! 

Runners-Up are:

AnnaZed
MaryJ
Whitney
Harmony
SusanC

 Congratulations and thank you everyone for entering! 

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Are you ready for our second Country Crock Casserole and Giveaway? Here it is!

This time the casserole is Mexican Beef and Corn Casserole. I took this basic but yummy recipe and turned it into one of our family favorites, Taco Casserole. I spiced up the beef and added in layers of tortilla chips and a crunchy tortilla chip crumble to top it off. The kids really love this one!

Here is the original recipe from Country Crock:

Mexican Beef and Corn Casserole

Ingredients:

1 lb. lean ground beef
1/3 cup chopped fresh cilantro (optional)
1 can (15.5 oz.) reduced sodium black beans, drained
1 can (11 oz.) Mexicorn, drained
2 Tbsp. Country Crock Spread
1/2 cup salsa
2/3 cup fat free sour cream
1/4 cup shredded low fat cheddar cheese

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400°. Cook ground beef in 12-inch nonstick skillet over medium-high heat, stirring frequently, until beef is done, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in cilantro.
2. Combine black beans, corn and Country Crock Spread in an 8-inch baking dish. Top with beef mixture, spread with salsa and sour cream and sprinkle with cheese.
3. bake 20 minutes or until heated through and cheese is melted.


And here is my version (photo above):

Taco Casserole

Ingredients:

1 - 1/2 pounds ground beef
2 cloves garlic - minced
2 teaspoons Kosher salt
1 Tablespoon ground cumin
1 cup prepared salsa
1 can corn
1 can black beans
3/4 cup shredded Mexican 4 cheese blend - divided
Half of one 11 ounce bag tortilla chips - divided
2 Tablespoons Country Crock Spread
1 cup sour cream

1 cup fresh cilantro - finely chopped (about 2 Tablespoons once chopped)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400°. Crush 10 tortilla chips finely (about 1 cup) and set aside.
2. Brown ground beef in a skillet over medium-high heat - drain if needed.
3. Stir in garlic, salt, cumin, salsa, corn and black beans.
4. Layer starting with tortilla chips in a 9x13 baking pan. Top chips with beef mixture and add 1/2 cup cheese. Add another layer of chips and beef.
5. Combine crushed chips with Country Crock Spread until well combined. Crumble over top of casserole and top with last 1/4 cup of cheese.
6. Bake for 20 minutes or until the casserole begins to brown on top.
7. Combine sour cream and cilantro and mix well. Spread on top of casserole and serve.


What would you do with this casserole? Make it as-is or change it up to suit your own family's tastes? Either way it fits in with easy weeknight back-to-school dinners that we mothers so covet. Give it a try today and come back to let me know what you think!

Now, here's the giveaway! Please read and reread instructions for entering. I had a winner last time that missed out because there was no clear way to get in touch. I want everyone to have an equal chance to win!

One (1) grand prize winner will receive:

o    KitchenAid Gourmet Short Turner

o    Boxed Cheese Grater

o    Oven mitt

o    Country Crock VIP Coupon (good for one free tub)

o    Recipe card- Mexican Beef & Corn Casserole

Here's what that looks like:

Five (5) runner up winners will receive:

o    Country Crock VIP Coupon (good for one free tub)

*Share on any social network including Facebook, Pinterest and Twitter using the hashtag #CountryCrockCasserole and come back to share the link here. PLEASE remember to leave a way to contact you in the event you are a winner! This event ends September 18th and 11:59 PM EST.

*Disclosure: I received product, a product coupon and stipend for extra ingredients from Country Crock for free.