This is a recap of a YouTube natural casserole video with the Creator cooking beside her grandson Nicholas. It's a great recipe for turning classic natural flavors into a family-friendly casserole using pantry ingredients.

Dishes like these are great for cooking alongside one of your children or grandchildren. They're a great way to bond but also teach them about cooking and the basics of cooking. Some purists might prefer a big pot of nachos, but I make this as a casserole; it's slightly elevated and makes it a bit easier to serve. It's a great way of taking something that's usually a snack and turning it into a new meal.

Key Takeaways

Getting All Your Items Ready

You start by prepping your ingredients with our mixture of 1.5 pounds of ground beef and about 0.25 pounds of ground chicken. Cook it together and break it into small pieces. You then remove the excess fat.

The great thing about this is if you don't have chicken, you can just use beef, or even ground turkey will work. When you are cooking with little helpers, these are the dish types that you want to go for so that we won't end up with chaos in the kitchen.

When our recipe calls for using two meats, I tend to pick the one that I like the most, and when using ground meats, it tends to be ground beef. Sometimes I wait to plan ahead if I know I'm going to be busy doing other things, but most of the time I wing it.

Try to remember to drain the fat from the meat. If you don't, the whole thing can turn greasy. If you have ever forgotten to do so, you will know exactly what I mean.

Picking Your Protein

Essential Cheese Selections

Pantry Staples and Canned Favorites

Canned Goods	Details
Cream of mushroom soup	1 can
Mexican-style corn	1 can
Rotel diced tomatoes with green chili	1-2 cans (start with one)
Pinto beans	1 can
Dark red kidney beans	1 can
Sliced black olives	1 can (for garnish)

Fresh Finishing Touches

Finding the Right Chip Base

Getting Ready for Something Amazing

Browning and Draining the Ground Meat

Now you can continue turning this into something delicious, mixing the drained meat with some Mexican-style corn, a can of beans, and spices- whatever you have in your pantry. Canned beans and corn are pantry staples; I always make sure I have them. When mixing, add ingredients one at a time and mix gently rather than dumping it all in at once.

I always think of a good cook as having a bit of finesse in their cooking. This table dish is common in my house. I like to make a ground beef pasta bake using these same principles as this recipe. If you have fresh corn, you can use it, but to be honest, the canned version is just as good.

Combining All the Tasty Ingredients

Finding the Perfect Consistency

Creating Your Casserole Layers

Starting with the Base Layer

Now you can start creating yours using tortilla chips to create the base. Make sure you get everything right into the corners, use a nice layer of Mexican cheese, and then repeat with some Pepper Jack slices on top. Try to make sure you create layers that are nice and thin, as you want to create more than just one layer.

If you don't have Pepper Jack, use your favorite cheddar. I don't usually have Pepper Jack around, but I always have cheddar. Keep a close eye on how many chips you use; you want a good ratio of chips to cheese.

Adding Your Cheese Blend

Layering the Meat and Bean Mix

Building Your Second Round

Cheesy Delights and Family Memories

Bringing Little Ones Into the Kitchen

When making a recipe like this, you can create all sorts of good moments and memories in the kitchen. In this recipe, Nicholas helps place the pepper Jack slices after washing his hands. Little tasks like these are great for your kids, and you can let them taste as you prepare the dish to get them involved. It is a great opportunity to coach your kids a little.

I always go for the basic tasks to give to any little person. My grandparents first taught me how to make cookies, which is something I always remember.

Finding Your Perfect Cheese Amount

Cheese guidelines:

Sampling as You Build

Getting Your Casserole Golden and Bubbly

Getting the Oven Ready

To get your casserole nice and golden and bubbling, make sure you preheat it. A good time to do this is when you start browning the meat, so that your oven is ready. Once you have the dish, look for the cheese to be bubbling and melting; this is usually your sign that it's ready.

Many people forget to preheat the oven, and it's an important step if you want good results. The more you do this, the better you'll get at reading the visual cues that tell you that your dish is ready; usually, bubbling and golden, crunchy tops are what you're looking for. Once you've done it a few times, you will no longer need a timer.

Knowing When It’s Done

Creating That Perfect Cheese Layer

Cheese Type	Purpose	When to Add
Mexican blend	Base flavor	First layer
Pepper jack	Mild heat and creaminess	Middle layer
Velveeta shreds	Ultimate meltiness	Final layer

Finishing Touches and Serving Your Casserole

Adding Beautiful Toppings

Do finish this off when serving your casserole. Think of things like black olives or chopped spring onions. I like to use cilantro, but not everybody likes it. It's amazing how many people don't like cilantro; I can never understand why. It's such an amazing-tasting herb.

You can even use a diced tomato as a topping, or keep some of the spring onions back from the chopping and save the cilantro to cut prep time.

You can serve this individually or as a whole dish, which is good for family meals. When it comes to using herbs, I tend to use parsley, which I mean we use for color. It just gives a dish a nice lift with a little bit of flavor, so I generally just use whatever I have. If I don't have parsley, I usually have chives, which are another favorite of mine for topping a dish.

Family-Friendly Ways to Serve

Serving suggestions:

The Perfect Sour Cream Finish

Finishing Touches and Flavor Memories

Initial Tastes and Happy Moments

Once the dish is ready, you'll remember the first bite: the chips will be crunchy, not soggy. Sour cream is used here as the final garnish, which is good to help balance the heat, it's a key ingredient when making Mexican inspired food. We definitely need that sour cream to complete the dish.

Just remember when this comes out of the oven it will be bubbling hot, so don't taste it straight away. Give it 10 minutes to relax and come down to room temperature. When making dishes like this, I like to be careful with how I use any sauces and use them mindfully, as you want to try to keep the chips crunchy, not soggy.

Saving Food and Storage Ideas

Reheating tips:

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