Frito Pie is a crowd-pleasing casserole with a rich beefy base (similar to chili) topped with heaps of cheese and… you guessed it… FRITOS!!
Holly’s Recipe Highlights for Frito Pie
Frito pie (aka Frito taco pie) isn’t a pie, it’s more similar to taco casserole.
- Ingredients: This easy dish can be made at home with a few simple ingredients.
- Texture: The corn chips on the bottom of the casserole soften, almost like corn tortillas, while the Fritos on top stay crisp and crunchy.
- Prep ahead: Prepare the recipe up to 48 hours before baking.
- Serving suggestion: Swap up your typical taco night—add some toppings to the table, and let everyone create their own bowl.
Ingredient Tips For Frito Pie
- Meat: I use lean ground beef, but any ground meat can be used.
- Seasoning: Use a packet or make homemade taco seasoning.
- Vegetables: Beans, beans, tomatoes, and corn stretch the casserole further and add flavor. Replace the diced tomatoes with salsa if you’d prefer.
- Fritos: The Fritos (corn chips) on top add crunch and flavor, while the ones on the bottom soften slightly and take on a texture almost similar to a tortilla.
- Cheese: Pre-shredded cheese blends work well in this recipe.
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!
Fun 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
Frito Pie
This frito pie is a TexMex inspired casserole with ground beef, tomatoes, corn, taco seasoning & salsa, layered with Frito chips and shredded cheese.
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 pound lean ground beef
- 1 yellow onion finely diced
- 1 packet taco seasoning or 3 tablespoons homemade taco seasoning
- ½ cup water
- 1 tablespoon chili powder
- 1 (10 ounce each) can diced tomatoes with chilies such as Rotel, or salsa
- 1 ½ cups tomato sauce
- 1 cup frozen corn kernels thawed
- 1 (15 ounce each) can red kidney beans drained and rinsed
- 1 (9.25 ounce each) bag Fritos® corn chips divided
- 2 cups shredded Mexican cheese blend divided
- sour cream for serving, optional
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease a 9 x13-inch casserole dish.
- Brown ground beef and onions, drain fat. Stir in taco seasoning, chili powder, and water.
- Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer until thickened. Stir in diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, corn, & beans. Simmer an additional 5 minutes.
- Add 4 cups of corn chips to the bottom of the prepared dish. Sprinkle with 1 cup of cheese.
- Spread beef mixture over top and top with remaining cheese.
- Bake 18 to 20 minutes or until cheese is melted.
- Top with remaining chips and desired toppings.
Notes
Beef can be replaced with ground turkey or chicken if desired.
If serving leftovers, reserve corn chips for topping until serving. Add corn chips and toppings after re-heating.
To increase the heat, add diced jalapenos to the meat mixture.
Adapted from Betty Crocker
Nutrition Information
Serving: 6g | Calories: 624 | Carbohydrates: 53g | Protein: 33g | Fat: 32g | Saturated Fat: 12g | Cholesterol: 87mg | Sodium: 1314mg | Potassium: 1006mg | Fiber: 11g | Sugar: 8g | Vitamin A: 1596IU | Vitamin C: 16mg | Calcium: 366mg | Iron: 6mg
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© SpendWithPennies.com. Content and photographs are copyright protected. Sharing of this recipe is both encouraged and appreciated. Copying and/or pasting full recipes to any social media is strictly prohibited. Please view my photo use policy here.
absolutely amazing! tried it with Fritos on the bottom and also without. I probably liked it better with no Fritos on bottom but either way, this is delicious. THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THIS!!
Sounds so good
I made this recipe and it was very easy and very delicious.
Simply delicious a keeper for sure!
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!