Frito Pie

Cheesy Crunchy Frito Pie Recipe with ground beef, ranch style beans, cheese and enchilada sauce baked with crispy Fritos on top is a childhood favorite!

We love childhood favorite recipes like Tater Tot CasseroleUltimate Sloppy Joes and Cheesy Taco Pasta.

Frito Pie
 Frito Pie

Frito Pie is certainly not going to win any creativity awards for me, but it is a quick and easy childhood classic we enjoy once in a while as a treat.

Plus, parties. YES, this is one of the first side dishes that disappears during gameday parties.

The origins of this dish is pretty murky, but it likely came from Texas where an old recipe for a Texas Frito Pie was published in the 1940s which included Fritos chips being served with chili. The beans and beef in this recipe make a slight approximation to chili, but without the effort of making a delicious chili.

Frito Pie Casserole

This is an easy frito pie.

You could also make this Frito Pie with canned chili, but I prefer to make recipes with mostly homemade ingredients (ignore the obvious Fritos in this recipe for a moment) and making the beef and bean mixture from scratch takes just minutes.

If you’re thinking back to your childhood you may remember a version of this recipe called “walking tacos” which is a frito pie in a bag made with a small bag of fritos topped with chili, cheese and onions.

In college we served these walking tacos with topping bars and felt fancy. We topped them (and these are great toppings for your frito pie too) with:

  • shredded lettuce
  • salsa
  • diced tomatoes
  • sour cream
  • guacamole or diced avocado
  • jalapenos
  • rice
  • refried beans

Crispy Frito Pie

The dish doesn’t have to be too complicated and you can adjust flavors as you’d like. Sometimes we make these flavors more like a traditional taco and use taco seasoning in the mix, top with salsa instead of enchilada sauce and serve with sour cream, lettuce and tomatoes.

We’ve also made the recipe with ground chicken and ground turkey, added sautéed fajita peppers and roasted corn. You can go as fancy as you’d like, but for this recipe we are sticking with the classics.

Easy cooking variations:

Slow Cooker Frito Pie:

Add all the ingredients except the fritos to a slow cooker in the same order and cook on high for 2 hours, top with chips and cheese and cook for another 30 minutes on high, uncovered.

Meal Prep Frito Pie:

Assemble all the ingredients except for the chips ahead and refrigerate. When ready to bake top with the chips and cook for an additional five minutes to account for temperature difference.

Individual Frito Pie:

Cut open mini bags of Fritos on their side. Bake the Frito Pie without the fritos, then scoop a portion and spoon on top of the bag of fritos. Top with sour cream and cheese.

Frito Pie

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Frito Pie
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Frito Pie

Cheesy Crunchy Frito Pie with ground beef, ranch style beans, cheese and enchilada sauce baked with crispy Fritos on top is a childhood favorite!
Course Main Course
Cuisine American
Keyword beef, casserole, Frito Pie, fritos
Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Total Time 35 minutes
Servings 8 servings
Calories 613 kcal
Author Sabrina Snyder

Ingredients

  • 1 pound ground beef
  • 1 yellow onion chopped
  • 20 ounces Ranch Style beans drained
  • 4 cups Fritos chips
  • 20 ounces enchilada sauce
  • 2 cups cheddar cheese shredded
  • green onions sliced, optional

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and put the ground beef and onions in a large skillet on medium high heat.
  2. Cook the beef and onions for 6-8 minutes or until cooked through then layer the meat in the bottom of a 9x13 inch pan.

  3. Add the beans on top followed by the enchilada sauce, cheese and chips.
  4. Bake for 20 minutes uncovered and garnish with green onions if desired.

Nutrition Facts
Frito Pie
Amount Per Serving
Calories 613 Calories from Fat 297
% Daily Value*
Fat 33g51%
Saturated Fat 12g75%
Cholesterol 69mg23%
Sodium 1068mg46%
Potassium 511mg15%
Carbohydrates 52g17%
Fiber 9g38%
Sugar 5g6%
Protein 27g54%
Vitamin A 755IU15%
Vitamin C 2.5mg3%
Calcium 308mg31%
Iron 3.8mg21%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

About the Author: Sabrina Snyder

Sabrina is a professionally trained Private Chef of over 10 years with ServSafe Manager certification in food safety. She creates all the recipes here on Dinner, then Dessert, fueled in no small part by her love for bacon.

Dinner, then Dessert, Inc. owns the copyright on all images and text and does not allow for its original recipes and pictures to be reproduced anywhere other than at this site unless authorization is given. If you enjoyed the recipe and would like to publish it on your own site, please re-write it in your own words, and link back to my site and recipe page. Read my disclosure and copyright policy. This post may contain affiliate links.

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Comments

  1. Love love love this recipe! Adding the enchilada sauce is brilliant and adds amazing flavor. I make this for company all the time and they love it. I don’t think there’s ever been leftovers no matter how much I make:). Thank you!!!

    1. I’d probably suggest Mexican rice and make a fun toppings bar for everyone to load up on top of their Frito pie. Enjoy!

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