Baked Frito Pie Casserole
Frito pie baked with seasoned ground beef chili, kidney beans, and melted cheese over a layer of Fritos corn chips. A 50-minute family dinner.
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Frito pie turns a bag of corn chips into a full 9×13 casserole. That is why it has been feeding Texas football crowds and church potlucks for about seventy years. Seasoned ground beef chili goes over a bed of Fritos, cheese melts down into all of it. A fresh handful of chips goes on at the very end.
That last part matters more than it sounds. Chips baked under a wet chili layer go soft and lose the crunch that makes it frito pie in the first place. Hold back about a third of the bag, scatter it on after the pan comes out of the oven. Every serving gets both textures.
The chili itself only needs about ten minutes on the stove. Taco seasoning plus a spoonful of extra chili powder does the heavy lifting, and simmering it down before it hits the pan is what keeps the whole casserole from going soupy.
Why You’ll Love This Frito Pie Recipe
- Crunch that survives the oven. A third of the bag goes on after baking, so the top layer stays as crisp as it came out of the bag.
- A true pantry dinner. Ground beef, a can of beans, a can of tomatoes, a bag of chips. Nothing on the list needs a special trip.
- Kids clear the plate. It tastes like nachos and eats like a casserole, which settles most dinner arguments before they start.
- Everybody finishes their own bowl. Sour cream and green onions go on at the table, so the picky eater can skip both and still eat happily.
Frito Pie Ingredients
Original Fritos hold up best here. The thin-cut and Scoops shapes are lighter and go limp faster under hot chili, and the flavored bags fight with the taco seasoning instead of getting out of its way.
- 1 lb ground beef (85/15)
- 1 small yellow onion, finely diced
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 packet taco seasoning (about 3 tbsp)
- 1 tbsp chili powder
- 1/2 cup water
- 1 (10 oz) can diced tomatoes with green chiles, undrained
- 1 1/2 cups tomato sauce
- 1 (15 oz) can kidney beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 cup frozen corn, thawed
- 1 (9.25 oz) bag Fritos corn chips, divided
- 2 cups shredded Mexican cheese blend (8 oz), divided
- 1/2 cup sour cream, for serving
- 3 green onions, sliced, for serving
Recipe Variations
- Use ground turkey in place of the beef. Turkey is poultry, so cook it to 165°F rather than the 160°F ground beef needs.
- Skip the beans and double the corn if your crowd is anti-bean. The chili comes out looser without them, so simmer it an extra 5 minutes before it goes in the pan.
- Make it walking-taco style for a party. Skip the casserole dish entirely and spoon the hot chili straight into individual snack-size bags of Fritos, then top each one with cheese.
How to Make Frito Pie
- Heat the oven: Heat the oven to 350°F and grease a 9×13 baking dish.
- Brown the beef: Cook the ground beef and onion in a large skillet over medium-high heat for 6-8 minutes, breaking the meat apart as it goes, until no pink remains and it reaches an internal temperature of 160°F. Drain off the fat.
- Season and reduce: Stir in the garlic, taco seasoning, chili powder, and water. Bring it to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer for 3-4 minutes, until the liquid thickens and clings to the meat.
- Build the chili: Add the diced tomatoes with green chiles, tomato sauce, kidney beans, and corn. Simmer for 5 minutes, until the mixture is thick enough that a spoon dragged through it leaves a track.
- Layer the pan: Spread about 4 cups of the Fritos across the bottom of the baking dish and scatter 1 cup of the cheese over them. Spoon the hot chili evenly on top, then finish with the remaining 1 cup of cheese.
- Bake: Bake uncovered for 18-20 minutes, until the cheese is fully melted and the edges bubble.
- Add the crunch and serve: Scatter the remaining Fritos over the top right before serving so they stay crisp. Let the pan sit 5 minutes, then pass the sour cream and green onions at the table.
Recipe FAQs
How Do I Keep Frito Pie from Getting Soggy?
Simmer the chili until it’s genuinely thick before it goes in the pan, and hold back a third of the chips for after baking. Loose chili plus a full bake is what turns the whole bag to mush.
What’s the Difference Between Frito Pie and Walking Tacos?
Same idea, different container. Frito pie is baked in a dish and scooped into servings. Walking tacos are the individual version, with the chili spooned right into a snack-size bag of Fritos.
Can I Make Frito Pie Ahead of Time?
Make the chili up to 3 days ahead and refrigerate it. Layer and bake right before dinner, since assembling early is exactly how the chips go soft.
Can I Use Canned Chili Instead of Making It?
Yes. Two 15-ounce cans of chili with beans get you through the assembly in about five minutes. Stir in a tablespoon of chili powder anyway, because canned chili runs mild.
How Many Fritos Do I Actually Need?
One 9.25-ounce bag. About 4 cups go in the bottom of the pan and most of the rest goes on top after baking, with maybe a handful left over for the cook.
Cooking Tips
- Drain the beef well. Fat left in the skillet pools under the chip layer and turns the bottom greasy instead of crisp.
- Spread the chili gently with the back of a spoon instead of dragging it around. Pushing it pulls the bottom chips up into the middle, where they soften fastest.
- Grate the cheese off a block. Bagged shredded cheese is dusted with starch so it won’t clump, and that coating gives melted cheese a slightly grainy finish.
Storage and Freezing
To store: Refrigerate leftovers in an airtight container for up to 4 days. The chips soften overnight no matter what you do, so add fresh Fritos when you serve.
To freeze: Freeze the chili on its own for up to 3 months. The assembled casserole doesn’t freeze well, because thawed corn chips turn to paste.
To reheat: Warm portions covered at 350°F for 15-20 minutes, until steaming at 165°F, then top with fresh chips. The microwave gets there in about 2 minutes if you’re in a hurry.
How to Serve Frito Pie
Frito Pie is filling enough to stand on its own, but a crunchy green salad with lime vinaigrette or a bowl of Mexican street corn balances out the richness. For a party, set the pan out with bowls of sour cream and sliced green onions and let people finish their own servings. Something cold and fizzy on the side is traditional.
Loved This Recipe?
Frito Pie takes 50 minutes and one bag of corn chips, and it’s the kind of pan that gets scraped clean.
Leave a star rating in the comments below, it helps other people find this recipe. Made it? Tag @allwellfed on Instagram, I love seeing this one in other people’s kitchens.
Baked Frito Pie Casserole
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 lb ground beef 85/15
- 1 small yellow onion finely diced
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 1 packet taco seasoning about 3 tbsp
- 1 tbsp chili powder
- 1/2 cup water
- 1 (10 oz) can diced tomatoes with green chiles undrained
- 1 1/2 cups tomato sauce
- 1 (15 oz) can kidney beans drained and rinsed
- 1 cup frozen corn thawed
- 1 (9.25 oz) bag Fritos corn chips divided
- 2 cups shredded Mexican cheese blend 8 oz, divided
- 1/2 cup sour cream for serving
- 3 green onions sliced, for serving
Instructions
- Heat the oven: Heat the oven to 350°F and grease a 9×13 baking dish.
- Brown the beef: Cook the ground beef and onion in a large skillet over medium-high heat for 6-8 minutes, breaking the meat apart as it goes, until no pink remains and it reaches an internal temperature of 160°F. Drain off the fat.
- Season and reduce: Stir in the garlic, taco seasoning, chili powder, and water. Bring it to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer for 3-4 minutes, until the liquid thickens and clings to the meat.
- Build the chili: Add the diced tomatoes with green chiles, tomato sauce, kidney beans, and corn. Simmer for 5 minutes, until the mixture is thick enough that a spoon dragged through it leaves a track.
- Layer the pan: Spread about 4 cups of the Fritos across the bottom of the baking dish and scatter 1 cup of the cheese over them. Spoon the hot chili evenly on top, then finish with the remaining 1 cup of cheese.
- Bake: Bake uncovered for 18-20 minutes, until the cheese is fully melted and the edges bubble.
- Add the crunch and serve: Scatter the remaining Fritos over the top right before serving so they stay crisp. Let the pan sit 5 minutes, then pass the sour cream and green onions at the table.
Notes
If you made this, leave a star rating down in the comments. It takes about ten seconds, and it’s how other cooks decide whether a recipe is worth trying.
