Walking Taco Casserole
Posted: 05/30/23
Updated: 12/11/24
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Walking taco casserole, a.k.a. Frito pie, takes all your favorite taco toppings, layers them with crunchy corn chips, and tops everything with melty cheese. It’s a quick and easy dish you can have on the table in roughly 30 minutes, and it’s perfect for feeding a group.
🌮 What Makes This Recipe So Good
- Walking taco casserole (or maybe you know it as Frito pie?) is a super fun, super easy way to mix up a taco night. It’s full of flavor, and fully customizable. You can serve it with some delicious homemade salsa, copycat Chipotle guacamole, or restaurant-style queso. Heat it up with some sliced jalapeños or a dash of hot sauce. Top it with chopped tomatoes, black olives, sliced avocado, or a drizzle of chimichurri ranch. Anything goes!
- It’s basically a bunch of deconstructed crunchy tacos in a casserole dish. Personally, I love it. Crunchy taco shells always end up falling apart and dropping toppings everywhere. With a walking taco casserole, the taco shells (well, Fritos) are already broken up and ready to dig into with a fork. We know that’s where things are headed anyway so why not just cut out the middleman?
👩🏼🍳 Chef’s Tips
- Walking taco casserole is a dish best served fresh, but you can keep the leftovers for later if you need to. Just refrigerate them in an airtight container, then reheat everything in the oven to try and maintain a little crispiness in the chips.
- For added flavor, use one of the many varieties of Fritos, instead of the classic original corn chips! Fritos also come in spicy jalapeño, lightly salted, chili cheese, and flamin’ hot flavors. Even the honey BBQ twists could work well here – I’d personally use those along with shredded pork instead of ground beef.
🌯 More Delicious Mexican Dishes You’ll Love
- Canned Tuna Nachos
- Carnitas Burrito
- Tuna Tostadas
- John Wayne Casserole
- Shrimp Quesadilla
- Chile Relleno Burrito
- Slow Cooker Carnitas
- Burrito Suzio
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Walking Taco Casserole
Deliciously seasoned ground beef and veggies, topped with Frito corn chips and melted cheese.
servings
Ingredients
For the Walking Taco Casserole
- 1 tablespoon neutral oil avocado oil, olive oil, etc
- 1 pound lean ground beef
- 1 large yellow onion chopped, approximately 2 cups
- salt to taste
- 1 1-ounce packet taco seasoning
- 1 15-ounce can black beans drained, rinsed
- 1 15-ounce can corn kernels drained, rinsed
- 1 4-ounce can diced green chiles
- 1 cup sour cream at room temperature
- 3 cups Fritos original corn chips
- 3 cups shredded Mexican cheese
Suggested Toppings (All Optional)
- sour cream
- avocado slices
- chopped cilantro
- diced tomatoes or pico de gallo
- salsa
- queso
Equipment
- Oven
- stovetop
- Large skillet
- large wooden spoon
- 9×13 baking dish
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350° Fahrenheit.
- Heat large skillet over medium heat. When skillet is warm, add neutral oil and swirl or tilt pan to distribute oil evenly across surface. Continue heating pan until oil is hot and shimmery.
- When oil is hot, add ground beef, chopped onion, and 1 pinch salt to skillet. Cook 5 to 10 minutes, breaking up ground beef until meat is browned.
- When ground beef is no longer pink, add taco seasoning, black beans, corn kernels, diced green chilies, and sour cream to skillet. Stir to combine ingredients and cook mixture 2 to 3 minutes or until ingredients are warmed through. Stir constantly to prevent burning or sticking.
- Transfer ground beef mixture to baking dish. Spread mixture out to cover entire bottom of baking dish evenly, making sure to reach corners of dish. Top ground beef layer with corn chips, then sprinkle shredded cheese evenly over tops of chips.
- Place baking dish in preheated oven. Bake, uncovered, 15 to 20 minutes or until shredded cheese is melted and bubbly. Be careful not to burn cheese or chips.
- When cheese is completely melted, carefully remove baking dish from oven and set aside. Let stand 3 to 5 minutes, then divide into preferred portions, top with additional sour cream, avocado slices, chopped cilantro, and/or salsa if desired, and serve warm.
Notes
- Make it Dairy Free: Use dairy-free cheese and dairy-free sour cream.
- To Reheat from Frozen: Thaw in fridge overnight before baking. Cover 9×13 baking dish with aluminum foil, and bake for 15 minutes. Remove foil and bake for another 15 minutes until cheese is melted and bubbly.
Nutrition Information
Serving: 1serving | Calories: 570kcal | Protein: 27g | Fat: 34g | Saturated Fat: 13g | Trans Fat: 0.3g | Total Carbs: 42g | Fiber: 7g | Sugar: 6g | Added Sugars: 0g | Net Carbs: 35g | Vitamin C: 9mg | Cholesterol: 83mg | Sodium: 847mg | Potassium: 553mg | Calcium: 346mg | Iron: 3mg
Number of total servings shown is approximate. Actual number of servings will depend on your preferred portion sizes.
Nutritional values shown are general guidelines and reflect information for 1 serving using the ingredients listed, not including any optional ingredients. Actual macros may vary slightly depending on specific brands and types of ingredients used.
To determine the weight of one serving, prepare the recipe as instructed. Weigh the finished recipe, then divide the weight of the finished recipe (not including the weight of the container the food is in) by the desired number of servings. Result will be the weight of one serving.
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