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!

baked frito pie in a casserole dish

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!

ingredients to make Frito Pie with labels

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.

Frito Pie ingredients in a frying pan

How to Make Frito Pie

  1. Brown beef and season with a packet of taco seasoning. Stir in remaining filling ingredients.
  2. Layer Fritos, cheese, and the meat mixture in a casserole dish per the recipe below.
  3. Top with more cheese and bake until bubbly.

Serve and enjoy… and don’t forget the toppings!

layering frito pie in a casserole dish

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.

serving frito pie from a casserole dish

More Chili Inspired Favorites

baked frito pie in a casserole dish
5 from 96 votes↑ Click stars to rate now!
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Frito Pie

A TexMex inspired casserole with ground beef, tomatoes, corn, taco seasoning & salsa, layered with Frito chips and shredded cheese.
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 33 minutes
Total Time 48 minutes
Servings 6

Ingredients  

  • 1 pound lean ground beef
  • 1 onion diced
  • 1 package taco seasoning & water as indicated on package
  • 1 tablespoon chili powder
  • 10 ounces diced tomatoes with chilies or salsa
  • 1 ½ cups tomato sauce
  • 15 ounces kidney beans drained
  • 1 cup corn drained
  • 1 bag Fritos® corn chips divided, about 5 ½ cups
  • 2 cups Mexican cheese blend divided, shredded, 8 ounces
  • ¼ cup green onions chopped
  • sour cream for serving (optional)

Instructions 

  • Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease a 9"x13" 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 Frito chips to the bottom of 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
5 from 96 votes

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

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About the author

Holly is a wine and cheese lover, recipe creator, shopping enthusiast and self appointed foodie. Her greatest passion is creating in the kitchen and making deliciously comforting recipes for the everyday home cook!
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Comments

  1. Wow, this is a real crowd pleasing recipe. The only changes we made was to add 1/2 Tbsp cumin and 1/2 Tbsp chili powder, based on other reviews. We got all the ingredients put together yesterday morning, then spent about one hour in the afternoon cooking the meat, putting it all together, and baking it. Served it for Happy Hour at our Elks Lodge, got lots of compliments, and it was completely gone by the time we went home. We rarely post reviews, but this recipe is fabulous. Thank you!!5 stars

  2. Great recipe!!! Am eating the magical meal as I type this message out. I am returning for helping #2 ,be back in a minute…………ok I am back. My recipe was a little different because of what I added, which is shredded beef not ground. I used a 1@1/2lb. pkg. also used a 1lb. pkg. of Pico de Gallo. When every thing was done and in a light boil the heat went off a lid went on the pot so everything could steep awhile. Also added about a table spoon of tomato paste. All other ingredients listed in the recipe were used except for the green onions. Instead of using the dry taco seasoning, I used a dry low sodium and mild chili mix which took the place of the combined taco seasoning / chili powder mix. Well going back for helping #3. WOW this my idea of good comfort FOOD!!! Thanks Holly..5 stars

  3. I followed the directions exactly and the Fritos turned to mush. My husband wouldn’t eat it. I’m so disappointed. The filling tasted great. I’d suggest baking the filling and spoon over uncooked Fritos.

  4. The recipe says 1 bag of Fritos but then it says 5 1/2 cups which would be WAY more than even a party size bag?

    1. Depending on how you season and prep your chili it will change the flavor but I think that sounds like a great idea, Pat!

  5. I use your recipes as a guideline and veganize them.

    For the ground beef, I used TVP (textured vegetable protein). In place of the package of taco seasoning, I added my own home-made Taco seasoning with no salt. I soaked and cooked dried beans with no salt. I pan-fried corn off the cob. I topped it with guacamole mixed with vegan sour cream.5 stars

  6. So good!! I ended up adding 2 more tablespoons of taco seasoning and a tablespoon of cumin to suite our tastes but this recipe was amazing! Even my sometimes picky 3 year old absolutely loved it! We’ll for sure be adding this to our dinner rotation :)5 stars

  7. Your recipe calls for 1 TBSP of chili powder but nowhere in the instructions does it call for it. Just FYI.

    1. Thanks for catching that Melissa! It should added in Step 2 with the taco seasoning.

  8. HI Holly :-) Even though I’m not a fan of Mexican food, this recipe caught my eye, since I LOVE Fritos Corn Chips (go figure). This actually sounded delicious to me, but the sodium content is ‘waaay’ through the roof, as are most Mexican dishes. I can’t see a way to make this any ‘healthier’, so too bad. :-(

    1. Fritos do contain quite a bit of sodium however most of the remaining ingredients can be purchased with no sodium including the diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, beans and taco seasoning (I use homemade). Hope that helps!

      1. We ALWAYS use “Lightly Salted” FRITOS in all dishes using them!! It’s a huge difference full circle!