Easy Ground Beef Frito Pie
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Frito Pie is a family-friendly classic Tex-Mex recipe. Ground beef, beans, and the perfect seasoning blend are layered with tons of cheese and of course, Fritos! Serve it up topped with crunchy Fritos on top and your favorite taco toppings like sour cream, pico de gallo, and jalapeños!
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Why I love this recipe
Frito pie is a layered taco casserole topped with crunchy Frito corn chips, some people call it Frito taco pie or Frito pie casserole as well. It has a similar flavor to chili and the whole family goes crazy for it.
I love that it is an easy recipe you literally can’t mess up. also love that it is easy to assemble and can be prepped ahead of time, then baked later.
Need more Mexican meal inspiration? Try our 30 minute Taco Macaroni or Taco Soup!
Ingredients
- ground beef
- yellow onion
- taco seasoning
- chili powder
- Rotel diced tomatoes and green chilies
- tomato sauce
- kidney beans
- corn
- Fritos corn chips
- shredded Mexican blend or cheddar cheese
- green onions
- sour cream & your favorite toppings
Step by step
See the printable recipe card below for exact instructions and measurements.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and spray a 9 by 13 inch casserole dish with nonstick spray.
- In a large skillet, brown the ground beef and drain. Return to the skillet
- Add diced onion, taco seasoning, chili powder, and water. Stir to mix. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer 3-4 minutes or until thickened.
- Add Rotel, tomato sauce, beans, and corn. Simmer 5 minutes.
- Add a single layer of Fritos to the bottom of the casserole dish. Top with 1 cup of cheese, then hamburger mixture, then another cup of cheese.
- Bake for 20 minutes.
- Top with additional Fritos chips, green onion, sour cream, and your favorite toppings.
Recipe Note: The bottom layer of Fritos soaks up the filling and the texture becomes similar to corn tortillas. Some people love it and some aren’t fans. If you want to omit the bottom layer of Frito chips and only serve with the top layer, you can do that! Make this your own!
Variations and substitutions
- Make these walking tacos style by making the meat filling on the stovetop and simply serving in small bags of Fritos. Scoop the beef mixture into the bag of Fritos and let each person add their choice toppings.
- Substitute the Rotel with salsa.
- Substitute the tomato sauce with enchilada sauce.
- Use pinto beans, black beans, or chili beans instead of kidney beans.
- Add in diced bell peppers, garlic, or cumin to make the flavor your own.
- Add rice to the meat mixture to stretch it farther to feed a crowd.
Toppings
Like tacos, you can add all of your favorite toppings to the Frito pie to make it your own.
Salsa, hot sauce, sour cream, or guacamole are all great toppings as are veggies like diced tomatoes, black olives, jalapeños, chopped red onions, or cilantro.
If you try this recipe please comment and rate it below, I love hearing from you!
Easy Ground Beef Frito Pie
- Total Time: 40 minutes
- Yield: 8 1x
Description
Frito Pie is a family-friendly classic Tex-Mex recipe. Ground beef, beans, and the perfect seasoning blend are layered with tons of cheese and of course, Fritos! Serve it up topped with crunchy Fritos on top and your favorite taco toppings like sour cream, pico de gallo, and jalapeños!
Ingredients
- 1 pound ground beef
- 1 yellow onion, diced
- 1 pack taco seasoning (1.25 ounce)
- 2/3 cup water
- 2 teaspoons chili powder
- 10 ounce can Rotel diced tomatoes and chilies
- 15 ounce can tomato sauce
- 15 ounce can kidney beans, drained and rinsed
- 15 ounce can corn, drained
- (2) 9 ounce bags Fritos corn chips, divided
- 2 cups shredded Mexican blend cheese, divided
- 1/4 cup green onion, chopped
- sour cream & taco toppings for serving (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and spray a 9 by 13 inch casserole dish with nonstick spray.
- In a large skillet, brown the ground beef over medium high heat and drain. Return to the skillet
- Add diced onion, taco seasoning, chili powder, and water. Stir to mix. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer 3-4 minutes or until thickened.
- Add Rotel, tomato sauce, beans, and corn. Simmer 5 minutes.
- Add a single layer of Fritos to the bottom of the casserole dish (see note below). Top with 1 cup of cheese, then hamburger mixture, then another cup of cheese.
- Bake for 20 minutes.
- Top with additional Fritos chips, green onion, sour cream, and your favorite toppings.
Notes
The bottom layer of Fritos soaks up the filling and the texture becomes similar to corn tortillas. Some people love it and some aren’t fans. If you want to omit the bottom layer of Frito chips and only serve with the top layer, you can do that! Make this your own!
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Category: main course
- Method: baking
- Cuisine: Mexican
Nutrition
- Serving Size:
- Calories: 553
- Sugar: 5.2 g
- Sodium: 516.6 mg
- Fat: 24.7 g
- Carbohydrates: 57.2 g
- Fiber: 6 g
- Protein: 26.4 g
- Cholesterol: 60.5 mg