Acapulco Delight - A Great Mexican Enchilada

     Don't you like family cookbooks? They're probably the best source of tried and true recipes.  I still have one that I picked up about 25 years ago when I was working as a business teacher at a private Christian school. Last week  I made one of our family's favorite recipes from that book--Acapulco Delight.  

 I made some modifications to this recipe because I never seemed to have green chili salsa on hand, so I used tomato sauce.  I am going to give you both ways and you can decide which one you like the best!  

   When I found out I had celiac disease, I started to make a lot of my  sauces and dressings from scratch.  Just in case you wonder when you see the pictures,  I made more sauce so I could have both a 9 x 13 and an 8 x 8.

Delicious & Gluten Free Acapulco Delight

1. Brown meat and veggies:  Put 1 lb of hamburger into a stainless steel skillet and brown, drain off any fat. Add 1 chopped medium onion  and  2 cloves of minced garlic.

2.  Mix Gluten free taco seasoning that equals 1 packet:  Mix in a small glass bowl 2 T chili powder, 1 T paprika, 1 T cumin, 1 t salt, and 3 T chopped cilantro.

3.  Add sauce:  
(1)  Mix together in a saucepan 1 14.5 oz can of tomato sauce, 2 cups of water, and the spices. Simmer the sauce about 10 minutes 
(2) Then stir in  2 T cornstarch that's been mixed with  4 T of water and stir back in to help thicken the sauce. Let the sauce simmer a few more minutes.  
(3)  Taste it and adjust any seasonings. Often I put in 1/2 - 1 cup of salsa to give it a bit more kick.

4.  Meanwhile:  Grate about 3-4 cups of cheddar or colby-jack cheese, slice up a large can of olives, and slice about 2-3 green onions.

5.  Assemble the casserole in a 9 x 13 pan:
(1)  Pour in  half of the meat mixture and spread out evenly.
(2)  Layer cut corn tortillas over the top.  
(3)  Sprinkle cheese over the tortillas.
(4)  Put another layer of cut corn tortillas on top of the cheese.
(5)  Spread over these tortillas a large can of refried beans.
(6)  With a spatula spread a pint of sour cream on top of the beans. (You can use less if you like)
(7)  Sprinkle over the sour cream the sliced green onions and olives.

(8)  Layer cut corn tortillas on top of the green onions and olives.

(9) Cover with the remaining sauce and sprinkle cheese on top.

6.  Baking instructions:  This casserole bakes at 350 for 30 minutes.  I usually cover mine with foil.

7.  Condiment Platter: The recipe suggests serving this casserole with a condiment platter so that people can add lettuce, tomatoes, avocados, sour cream, and salsa on top of their  cooked casserole.  It definitely is good without it, so do what works for you!

The original Acapulco Delight Recipe - Instead of using tomato sauce, in the original recipe, you use 2 cans of Ortego green chili salsa and 1 package of taco mix. The recipe also calls for 2 pounds of hamburger, but I always try to cut down on how much red meat we eat.  I've done it with 1 pound for years.

Other Mexican recipes on this blog:

Mexican Casseroles
Texas Style Gluten Free Stacked Enchiladas  (From my Come & Dine cookbook)
Acapulco Delight - A great Mexican Enchilada (From my Heritage School Cookbook)
Michelle's Favorite Vegetarian Enchiladas   (From my daughter)
Kathy's Baked Chili & Chips Casserole  (From my church cookbook, Come & Dine)
Gluten Free Mexican Quinoa Casserole  (From an Internet search)
Fiesta Gluten Free Tamale Pie   (From my church cookbook, Come & Dine)
Authentic Chicken Enchiladas Verde  (From a church friend)
Rebecca's Favorite Chicken & Chile Enchiladas  (From a church friend)
Delores's Chicken & Tortilla Casserole (Made Gluten Free)  (From my church cookbook, Come & Dine)

Tacos, Chimichangas  & Etc.
Rachel Ray's Recipe for the Best Fish Tacos   (From Food Network)
Fantastic Baked Chimichangas  (From my Syre School Cookbook)
Authentic Chicken Flautas  (My hispanic friend Abbie taught me how to make these!)

Delicious Chicken Fajitas  (A mix of many recipes)
Fabulous Vegetarian Gluten Free Fajitas   (From an Internet search)
Easy Gluten Free Baked Taquitos  (From a newspaper clip)

Beans & Rice
The Best Homemade Refried Beans  (From an Internet search)
Texas Pinto Beans & Rice  (From my Texas airport cookbook)

Mexican Chicken & Beef
Anna's Pollo Guisado (Mexican Braised Chicken)  (From a church friend in Phoenix)
Fantastic Gluten Free Carne Asada!  (From an Internet search--a combination of sites)
Belizean Chicken, Black Beans & Rice, and Belizean Coleslaw  (From my daughter's family)

Soups
Mexican Chicken Soup- A Great Remedy for Colds & Flu  (I got this over 25 years ago from a Mexican cookbook)
Bethany's Crowd Pleasing Tortilla Soup  (From a friend in Califiornia)
Southwest Turkey Soup   (From my Syre School Cookbook)

Salads
Baja Salad with Black Beans & Quinoa  (My own version of something I ate in Seattle)
Mexican Salmon & Mango Salad  (Modification of a Betty Crocker recipe)