The next time you need a satisfying, cheap casserole? Just serve up one of these hot, tasty Dollar Tree casseroles.
Can you make a casserole from Dollar Tree ingredients?
You bet.
We’ve made and taste-tested each of the recipes below (I’ll tell you which is my favorite!).
Throw one of these cheap Dollar Tree casseroles into your weekly meal routine, and you’ll start chipping away at the grocery bill.
Dollar Tree Casseroles
Use what you have in your pantry first (here are my favorite pantry meals), then buy the other ingredients for these low-budget casseroles from your local Dollar Tree.
Your grocery bill will thank you!
1. Cajun Chicken Alfredo Bake
I find that Dollar Tree’s Alfredo sauce can taste a bit bland…but paired with a Cajun or seasoning salt?
Wow – that takes it to the next level.
Give it a try!
Ingredients:
- 1 12-oz. package of egg noodles
- 1 14.5 oz. can of Alfredo sauce
- 1/2-3/4 tbsp. of Cajun or seasoning salt
- 2 cans of chicken
- 1 package of frozen stir-fry vegetables
Instructions:
- Preheat the oven to 375°F.
- Cook the pasta according to directions, and drain.
- Cook the stir-fry vegetables with 1 tbsp. of butter in a pan over medium heat. Cook through. Season with salt and pepper. Drain the juices.
- Add ½ tbsp. seasoning salt or Cajun seasoning to the can of Alfredo sauce. Mix together. Taste, and see if you want to add another ¼ tbsp. or not.
- Mix together the pasta, cooked vegetables, and Alfredo sauce. Drain the two cans of chicken, and mix them in.
- Cook at 375°F until bubbly and heated through, or about 10-15 minutes.
Serves: 4-6
2. Cheesy Tex-Mex Casserole
This one is my favorite.
The homemade cheesy sauce in this recipe? Makes the whole dish.
In my opinion, of course.
Ingredients:
- 1-2 cans of chicken
- 1 can of black beans
- Hungry Jack Hashbrown Potatoes
- Garlic Powder
- ½ block of cheese (your choice)
- ½ cup Milk
- 1 tbsp. Flour
- ¼ cup Herdez Salsa Verde Mild
Instructions:
- Preheat oven to 350°F.
- Make sauce. Mix in ½ cup milk with 1 tbsp flour, and stir until it thickens. Add in ¼ cup Salsa Verde Mild sauce. Stir in ½ cup cheese until it’s an ooey, gooey delightful mess. Set aside.
- Make hashbrowns according to directions. Add in garlic powder to taste (we used ½ tbsp.).
- Open, drain, and rinse black beans. Open and drain the chicken.
- Cook the chicken and black beans together with the hashbrowns.
- Spray the bottom of an 8” X 8” pan with non-stick spray. Fill it with the bean/chicken/hash brown filling.
- Drizzle the cheese sauce over the top.
- Warm in the oven at 350°F until bubbly and hot.
Serves: 4-6
Hint: want more? Here are 6 Dollar Tree shelf-stable pantry meal recipes.
3. Texas Caviar Frito Pie
This was such a hit with my husband! I loved it, as well.
In fact, we ate it for one of our “Hobbit Thursdays”, which is when we do a screen-free evening, wear green robes and PJs to dinner, light some candles at the dining room table, and read from The Hobbit while eating.
Psst: You can get more of my family fun night ideas here.
Ingredients:
- 1 frozen bag of Santa Fe Veggies Blend (OR 1 can of corn and 1 can of black beans)
- 1 bag of corn chips (from the snack food aisle)
- 2 cans of chicken
- 1 can of red enchilada sauce
- 1 4-oz block of sharp cheddar OR pepperjack cheese
Instructions:
- Preheat the oven to 400°F.
- Open and drain the two cans of chicken.
- Heat a pan to medium, and add the frozen bag of Santa Fe Veggies Blend, plus the two cans of chicken.
- Add in ½ can of red enchilada sauce.
- Grease an 8 X 8 pan.
- Add the veggie + chicken blend to the pan, then top with the corn chips.
- Shred the block of cheese and add it to the top.
- Bake in the oven until the cheese is melted through, or about 10-15 minutes.
Hint: You can choose whether you want the corn chips on the bottom and the veggie mixture on top, or the corn chips on top. Personally, after 11 years of living in Texas and eating my fair share of Frito Chili Pies, I like to put the corn chips on top so that they don’t get completely soggy.
Serves: 2
4. Tamale Pie
A tamale pie is a great Dollar Tree casserole to make – it’s forgiving, meaning you can substitute ingredients you find at your own Dollar Tree – and it tastes great.
Ingredients:
- 1 bag Texas Cornbread mix
- Package of 2 beef patties
- ¾ cup unsweetened applesauce (because most Dollar Trees don’t have eggs and you can substitute applesauce for eggs in baking recipes – but if you have the eggs at home, I’d use them according to the recipe on the back)
- 1 ¾ cup shelf-stable milk
- 1 frozen bag of Santa Fe Veggies Blend (OR 1 can of corn and 1 can of black beans)
- 1 can of red enchilada sauce
- 1 4 oz. of real cheddar cheese
Bonus: you can add a can of hatch chiles or regular chiles from the DT for $1.25 more.
Instructions:
- Preheat the oven to 425°F.
- Ground the patties in a pan over medium heat with your meat masher (what…you don’t have a Dollar Tree meat masher yet? Get yours – and check out lots more Dollar Tree food hacks here).
- Drain the grease out of the pan. Then add in the red enchilada sauce.
- Add in ½ bag of the frozen beans and corn (you can use canned for both, which are available at the Dollar Tree as well).
- Stir everything together.
- Mix the Texas cornbread according to the package directions. Our Dollar Tree does not sell eggs, so I used a substitute (1/4 cup applesauce = 1 egg) that I was able to find at the Dollar Tree.
- Grease an 8 X 8 pan, and fill it with the filling (meat, corn, and beans). Then top it with the cornbread batter.
- Bake at 425° for 30 minutes (shred the cheddar cheese block, and add to the top halfway through).
Hint: We had too much batter for the top of our 8 X 8 baking dish, so I made the remainder of the batter into cornbread that we ate as a side dish to a meal later that week.
Serves: 3-4
I’ll admit – before two years, when I started tinkering with Dollar Tree meal recipes, I didn’t think you could make full-on casseroles from Dollar Tree ingredients without supplementing from other stores.
I now know that you can, and I hope I’ve gotten you excited about the options. These are great options to have when trying to cut down on grocery and meal spending.
Amanda L Grossman
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