Easy Baked Beef and Bean Tostadas
Baked tostadas topped with seasoned ground beef, refried beans, cheese, tomatoes, and lettuce. They’re super simple to make and one of my favorite nostalgic comfort foods.
Today, I pay homage to my childhood with these super simple and wildly inauthentic beef and bean tostadas. If you’re like me and spent a chunk of your childhood living in the middle of the U.S. during the 1980s, these beef and bean tostadas may resonate with you, too.
They’ve got old school taco meat with refried beans, cheese, lettuce, and tomatoes. I like to bake them so you get a toasty hot tostada shell and lots of melty cheese. They’re a fun dinner if you’re craving a nostalgic taco night.
Ingredients
- Ground beef: I like lean beef or you can use ground turkey.
- Taco seasoning: Straight from the yellow packet, friends.
- Tostada shells: Yes, you can buy corn tortillas and fry them, but why not, for nostalgia’s sake, use the packaged tostada shells? So much easier. I like Guerrero brand tostadas.
- Refried beans: Refried pinto beans or black beans – your choice.
- Shredded cheddar cheese
- Diced tomatoes, shredded lettuce and chopped cilantro
How to Make Them
☑️ Make the Seasoned Beef
Brown the beef and drain off the fat. Add the taco seasoning, water, and stir. Bring the mixture to a simmer and cook it for a few minutes or until the liquid has reduced.
☑️ Warm the Beans
The beans will be hard to spread on the tostadas if it’s not warmed up. So, pop them in a microwave-safe bowl and warm them for a minute or so. Or, warm them in a pan on the stove.
☑️ Assemble the Tostadas
Top each tostada with the refried beans, taco meat, and cheese. Place them on a sheet pan lined with parchment paper.
☑️ Bake
Bake the tostadas for about 10 minutes at 375°F or until toasty hot.
☑️ Add the Toppings
Top each tostada with lettuce and tomatoes and other toppings you like. Salsa, sour cream, guacamole, diced avocado… you get the idea.
More Recipes with Ground Beef
Beef and Bean Tostadas
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Total Time: 35 minutes
- Yield: 10 tostadas 1x
- Category: Dinner
- Method: Stove
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 pound 97% lean ground beef
- 1 (1-oz) packet of taco seasoning mix
- 2/3 cups water
- 10 tostada shells
- 10 ounces refried beans, warmed
- 8 ounces shredded cheddar cheese
- Toppings: Salsa, shredded lettuce, diced tomatoes, and chopped cilantro.
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375°F. Line a large baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the beef and brown it, breaking it apart as it cooks, until it’s no longer pink. Add the taco seasoning and water. Adjust the heat to medium and stir the beef until the liquid thickens.
- Lay the tostada shells in a single layer on the sheet pan. Spread a generous tablespoon of warm beans on each shell. Spoon a few tablespoons of the taco meat on top. Divide the cheese evenly among them.
- Bake the tostadas for about 10 minutes or until the cheese is melted and the tostada shells are warmed.
- Garnish each tostada with salsa, lettuce, tomatoes, and cilantro.
Notes
I use about one cup each of the salsa and lettuce, half a cup of diced tomatoes, and a couple of tablespoons of chopped cilantro for the garnishes. You can also add sour cream, guacamole, diced avocado, or other taco toppings you like.
The nutrition estimate does not include the toppings.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 tostada
- Calories: 286
- Sugar: 0.9g
- Sodium: 594.8mg
- Fat: 15.1g
- Saturated Fat: 6.5g
- Unsaturated Fat: 7.3g
- Trans Fat: 0.3g
- Carbohydrates: 15g
- Fiber: 3.5g
- Protein: 17.9g
- Cholesterol: 51.1mg
The nutrition is an estimate only. It was calculated using Nutrifox, an online nutrition calculator.
More Easy Dinner Ideas
- Ground Pork Verde Enchilada Bowls
- One Pan White Bean Pasta
- Simple Tomato Basil Pasta
- Easy Mix, Roll, and Bake Enchiladas
Happy cooking,
