Frito Pie is a crowd-pleasing favorite, great for game day and a family meal everyone will agree on!
This casserole starts with a rich beefy base (similar to a chili) with ground beef, seasonings, and beans. Before baking, it’s all topped with heaps of cheese and… you guessed it… FRITOS!!
Add your favorite taco toppings like tomatoes, sour cream, and jalapenos!
What is Frito Pie?
Frito pie is not really a pie, it’s a kind of a taco casserole (like Dorito casserole)!
- Also known as Frito taco pie, this easy dish can be made at home with a few simple ingredients.
- It can be made ahead of time and baked just before serving.
- The corn chips on the bottom of the casserole soften, almost like tortillas while the Fritos on top stay crisp and crunchy.
- Swap up your typical taco night and add some toppings to the table and let everyone create their own bowl.
Turn it into a Party Favorite!
You can make this into a walking taco style meal!
Prepare the filling and simmer on the stove top (instead of baking). Use single serving Fritos corn chips bags and scoop the heated filling into the bag right on top of the Fritos. Hand it off to a hungry eater to add their favorite toppings! No mess and no dishes!
Frito Pie Ingredients
FILLING: Ground Beef (or ground chicken) is seasoned with taco seasoning. The addition of beans, beans, tomatoes, and corn turns it into a zesty and hearty filling. We used diced tomatoes but you can substitute salsa if you’d prefer.
Add in your favorites from diced bell peppers to garlic and cumin! To stretch the filling even further stir in a little bit of rice.
FRITOS: The Fritos on top add crunch and flavor while the Fritos on the bottom of the baking dish soften slightly and take on a texture almost similar to a tortilla.
CHEESE: We love to add lots of cheese, either TexMex or shredded cheddar cheese.
How to Make Frito Pie
- Brown beef and season with a packet of taco seasoning. Stir in remaining filling ingredients.
- Layer Fritos, cheese, and the meat mixture in a casserole dish per the recipe below.
- Top with more cheese and bake until bubbly.
Serve and enjoy… and don’t forget the toppings!
Add Some Toppings
Much like tacos, this Frito pie recipe can be topped with your favorites! I like to have small bowls of toppings for everyone to pick their own!
- Sauces: Salsa, hot sauce, sour cream, guacamole
- Veggies etc: Sliced black olives, diced tomatoes, shredded lettuce jalapeños, green chiles, lime wedges, scallions, cilantro.
More Chili Inspired Favorites
- The Best Chili Recipe – everyone’s favorite
- Quick Hot Dog Chili – so much yum
- Green Chili Recipe – great for a crowd
- Texas Chili – a classic no bean favorite!
- Easy White Chicken Chili – healthy and delicious
Frito Pie
Ingredients
- 1 pound lean ground beef
- 1 onion diced
- 1 oz taco seasoning 1 packet, or 3 tablespoons homemade taco seasoning
- ½ cup water
- 1 tablespoon chili powder
- 10 ounces canned diced tomatoes with chilies or salsa
- 1 ½ cups tomato sauce
- 15 ounces canned red kidney beans 1 can, drained and rinsed
- 1 cup frozen corn thawed
- 9.25 ounces Fritos® corn chips divided
- 2 cups shredded Mexican cheese blend divided, 8 ounces
- ¼ cup chopped green onions
- sour cream for serving, optional
Instructions
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Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease a 9 x13-inch casserole dish.
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Brown ground beef and onions, drain fat. Stir in taco seasoning, chili powder, and water.
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Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer until thickened. Stir in diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, corn, & beans. Simmer an additional 5 minutes.
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Add 4 cups of corn chips to the bottom of the prepared dish. Sprinkle with 1 cup of cheese.
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Spread beef mixture over top and top with remaining cheese.
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Bake 18 to 20 minutes or until cheese is melted.
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Top with remaining chips and desired toppings.
Notes
Nutrition Information
Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.
Course Beef, Casserole, Dinner
Cuisine American, Tex Mex
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Great recipe! I make it at least once a month in our house. Some tips: the onions were a little too crunchy for our taste the first time so if you would like softer onions, sweat those for a few minutes first until they get almost translucent and then add the ground beef, etc. Also, if you forget beans like I did, try refried! I thought they worked in a pinch.
Thanks for sharing your tip, Kerri!
Frito Pie yes please! This was a huge hit with my family! They really enjoyed this. The recipe was easy to follow and I had most of the ingredients in the cupboard.
Great Recipe here. To me it is the best recipe online…period!!! It comes together so quickly and this is a pantry pull for sure. My Family loves this Frito Pie so much, that I make it twice a week with no complaints. I have made this for Pot Lucks. For when someone is sick and they are not cooking. For any reason at all.
Made this tonight for dinner and it was fantastic! Hubby & I really liked it and will definitely make again!!!
I love this recipe. When I got ready to make it I realized that I was missing a few ingredients. Our roads are icy and I didn’t want to chance driving to the store. As I was trying to decide on making something else, I remembered that I had some left over chilli so I used that in place of the other ingredients. I added the corn, cheese and corn chips and baked as recipe called for. I topped it with more cheese, sour cream and more corn chips. It turned out great. and even better hubby loved it and asked me to keep the recipe.
this recipe earned 5 stars. Thanks!!
So happy to hear you enjoyed this recipe, Anita!
I loved this recipe. I only added some chopped fire roasted poblanos to the onions and turkey and a clove of garlic. I did add the Fritos and cheese to the bottom. It’s very reminiscent of a tamale pie so the mushiness is absolutely fine. I added crunch by putting the Fritos on the top with a sprinkle of cheese. Extremely good!
So glad you enjoyed it, Valérie!