Classic Frito Pie casserole with cheese, ground beef, beans, and enchilada sauce baked with crispy Fritos on top. A childhood favorite!
Frito Pie combines corn chips with a quick Tex Mex filling for a delicious Dinner ready in less than an hour! For more quick and easy meals, check out my Tater Tot Casserole and Cheesy Taco Pasta!
Sabrina’s Frito Pie Recipe
Made with crunchy corn chips, Frito Pie is definitely a childhood classic! It isn’t the fanciest dish but it is always a hit with kids and kids at heart. My version starts out on the stove with a quick homemade ground beef chili-style filling. The beefy spicy mixture gets transferred to a baking dish, smothered in chips and cheese, and baked. The extra step of making your own filling from scratch instead of using canned chili makes all the difference and it really isn’t that much time or work!
Recipe Card
Ingredients
- 1 pound lean 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
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and put the ground beef and onions in a large skillet on medium high heat.
- Cook the beef and onions for 6-8 minutes or until cooked through then layer the meat in the bottom of a 9×13 inch pan.
- Add the beans on top followed by the enchilada sauce, cheese, and chips.
- Bake for 20 minutes uncovered and garnish with green onions if desired.
Equipment
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Nutrition
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Table of contents
About this Recipe
The origins of this dish is a bit murky, but it likely came from Texas where an old recipe for a Texas Frito Pie was published in the 1940’s 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 chili-only meal.
Summary
- Step One: Cook up the beef and onions on medium heat.
- Step Two: Layer the meat mixture on the bottom of the baking dish or casserole dish, and then layer the other ingredients on top.
- Step Three: It’s ready after 20 minutes of baking! Serve with your favorite toppings.
Frequent Questions
Frito Pie is like a Southwestern style casserole. Using a chili base of beans, meat, and sauce, a few extra ingredients are added, namely cheese and corn chips, usually Fritos brand. It’s a classic comfort dish.
Fritos is a brand name. Compared to regular tortilla chips, corn chips are a bit thicker, crunchier, and saltier. Corn chips are made from ground cornmeal that’s minimally processed versus the tortilla chips which are made from corn that has been soaked, cooked, and treated with lime.
You could, but the regular tortilla chips aren’t going to hold up as well as the thicker corn chips.
If you’re thinking back to your childhood you may remember a similar recipe called Walking Tacos which is made with a small bag of Fritos topped with chili, cheese, and onions. Walking Tacos are also called Frito Pie in some places, but they are a bit different because this is a baked casserole and basically assembled the opposite way with the chips on the bottom.
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Key Ingredients
- Meat: Choose lean ground beef to make this recipe. You can also make the recipe with ground chicken or ground turkey as well.
- Onion: I use yellow onion for this recipe, but you can use white onion or even red onion as well if that’s what you have at home.
- Beans: Ranch style beans are a popular type of bean dish found in the Southwest. They are made with pinto beans in a thick chili gravy.
- Cheese: I used cheddar because I like the sharp cheese flavor with the chili spices. But you can use any other shredded cheese that melts well like Monterey Jack, 4 cheese blend, etc.
- Corn Chips: Although this is called Frito Pie, you can use any brand of corn chips. I used the strips, but you could also use the scoops and crush them a bit.
- Enchilada Sauce: My homemade enchilada sauce is packed with a flavor you can use in many dishes and is super easy! I like to make big batch and freeze it in 1-2 cup portions so I have it on hand for a last minute recipe.
Topping Ideas
- Shredded lettuce
- Salsa
- Refried beans
- Diced tomatoes
- Hot sauce
- Sour cream
- Guacamole or diced avocado
- Green Mexican Rice
How to Store
- Store: Wrap the casserole dish with plastic wrap and foil, or store in an airtight container, and keep the fridge for 3 to 4 days.
- Reheat: Preferably you want to reheat leftovers in the oven in a baking dish covered with foil so the chips don’t burn. After it’s heated through, let it bake a couple extra minutes uncovered to crisp up the chips.
- Freeze: After it has cooled completely, store leftovers in your freezer in an airtight container for up to 6 months. Let it thaw overnight in the refrigerator then reheat as you normally would.
Variations
- Slow Cooker: 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: 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.
- Walking Tacos: Cut open mini bags of Fritos on their side. Bake the filling without the chips. Scoop a portion and spoon on top of the bag of chips. Top with sour cream, cheese and other taco toppings.
- Tex-Mex: While this is already a Southwestern-style meal, take it a bit further by adding sauteed fajita peppers and roasted corn to the mix.
Related Recipes
More Easy Kid-Friendly Casseroles
Photos used in a previous version of this post:
This looks terrible. You didn’t drain the meat and you didn’t add any seasonings. It’s very plain.
Hi Astrid,
The meat in the recipe is lean as I wrote in the blog and the Beans are Ranch beans which are full of flavor and if you don’t have Ranch Beans we offer the recipe in the blog to spice them up! Enchilada sauce is packed with flavor and the blog offers several other options to spice up this yummy dish. Thanks for commenting, we added the word “lean” to ground beef in the recipe. Good catch!
Astrid it must be exhausting to be so negative
This looked amazing, so I made it and it was amazing. The enchilada sauce it was sold me, it worked so well. Thank you dinner, then dessert
Thanks Sabrina for posting the frito pie recipe, I live in Canada & no restaurants serve this. Your recipe is great as well as tasty!
I was searching for an easy, tasty dinner, and you did not disappoint! I was super impressed with the intense flavor I got by just throwing this together! My kiddos and hubby could not get enough!
So easy to make and tastes amazing! Made this for a potluck and it was a huge hit.
Everyone enjoyed this frito pie! A perfect match for my grilled corn! New favorite!
I have been wanting to comment on your site…but have been so busy till now…but this to me is very important. I have been following your recipes…for a while now. I am by no means the expert that you are…but I am a good cook…and can follow a recipe. Every single one of your recipes that I have followed have come out fantastic and delicious !! I think you are fantastic…and I look forward to my emails from you. Don’t ever leave me !!! lol <3
This is one of the kindest comments I have received. Thank you for taking the time to comment and I’m delighted you are enjoying the recipes. It means a lot to hear from good cooks like you!
I tried this for the first time tonight, and the only change I made was that I used 10oz of enchilada sauce instead of 20 oz. Everyone who ate this really enjoyed it, and I’ll definitely be making it again. Thanks for another great recipe, Sabrina!
This was great!! I was looking for something tasty and this definitely hit the spot!! My husband and son loved it and went back for seconds! I did use the chili cheese Frito’s but I loved the ranch style beans and enchilada sauce!! So very good, definitely tasty!!! Thank you
I’ve made this recipe a couple of times now and have enjoyed it each time.
The first time I made it, I read the recipe wrong, using only 1 15-oz can of Ranch Style Pinto Beans with jalapeño and 1 10-oz can of medium Red Enchilada Sauce and baked it all in a 10”x10” casserole. After realizing my error when I went to make it the second time, I think two cans of beans and two cans of enchilada sauce would be just too much for the 1 pound of beef the recipe calls for and would have made it too loose.
So, the second time I made it, I opted to go with just 1 can of enchilada sauce and 1 can of beans again and used Frito Chili Cheese chips … it was even better than the first time.
My “mistake” actually made for a more stable dish. I think to balance the dish if 20 ounces of beans and 20 ounces of enchilada sauce were used, you’d need at least a pound and a half to two pounds of beef.
I will definitely be making this again, with my modifications, which easily serves 6 as a main entree with a side salad.
Thanks for the feedback. I’m so glad you enjoy the dish so much!
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!!!
Yay!! Glad to hear it’s a hit!
What side would anyone suggest?
I’d probably suggest Mexican rice and make a fun toppings bar for everyone to load up on top of their Frito pie. Enjoy!
Would this be good in a tortilla.
Sounds delicious!
You guys are making this harder than it has to be, and grosser with the ranch style beans.
Put some regular ol’ pinto beans to cook.
Cook some ground beef, and make red chile with it.
Chop up some lettuce, tomatoes, onions and cheese.
Put the Fritos on the bottom of the bowl, put the pinto beans you put to cook (some like to drain the bean juice and others like it with the juice), and garnish with the rest.
Then you have an authentic New Mexican style Frito Pie, not whatever this is.
That’s certainly one way to make it more like a New Mexican version. I love recipes like this because you can make it like you are used to growing up or you can alter it to how you like. Thanks for sharing your version!
I schmered a can of refried beans on the bottom of the pan. I used venison burger and added a 4 oz. can of green chiles and a packet of taco seasoning with 1/4 cup of water to the onion and meat. I drained 2 cans of the Ranch beans and only used about 3/4 of the 20 enchilada sauce. Then I cubed 16 oz. of Velveeta with 1/2 cup of shredded Mexican bland cheese. It came out thick, cheesy, well seasoned and very tasty.
Yum!
This recipe is our go to meal, my husband loves it. I did add a few variations. I use 1 1/2 pounds of hamburger, and 3 cans of ranch beans (15 oz) I also use hot enchilada sauce, and add black olives. Then we have enough for leftovers.
Mmm, thanks for the suggestions. Sounds amazing!
Delicious just a little runny
Hi! This looks amazing! Can you tell me what ranch beans are…I’ve never heard of them. Thx!
They are basically a type of baked beans just jazzed up with flavorings. You can find them in your grocery store in the bean aisle. I hope you enjoy it!
Don’t see the Ranch Beans on the store shelves in Canada! HELP!
Have you tried buying them online?
Easy and tasty! Will make again for sure
I made this last night and added that
He
I made this last night and added the Fritos today. I used jalapeno corn chips. It was fabulous!!! We like this anyway but I have always used left over chili. This had a Mexican flair and we liked it a lot. Thanks so much for sharing.
Sounds amazing!
recipes look an sound great cant wait to try them
hope you love them!
Made the dish as per instructions and it was OK. My wife said let’s have frito pie and I searched and saw your recipe. It’s pretty basic but the enchilada sauce addition is not the best. The sauce is bland and it overpowered everything else. A true frito pie was adapted from left over chili. I would probably not make this again.
Sorry it didn’t live up to your expectations.
Please make it your own, it is basically a taco using Fritos instead of corn taco shells. I agree with you that the enchilada sauce is too much, we use our favorite salsa!! We modify the ingredients to satisfy our taste. This is a throwback item that when I was a kid, was only available at the Sonic Drive In……….nostalgia. Happy eating!!!
O-M-G was this a YUMMY recipe! Thank you so much for sharing! I made a few modifications. I swapped ground beef out for ground turkey instead. I also added chili powder, onion powder, garlic powder, pepper and a couple of pinches of Lawry’s seasoning salt to my ground turkey & onions. I could not find any “ranch style beans” at my local grocery stores so I ended up using Bush’s Southwestern Style Pinto Beans.
Lastly instead of using fritos as they can sometimes be too salty…I had some restaurant style corn tortilla chips on hand. I put several handfuls into a ziploc baggie and smashed the baggie up a little bit (not to the point where the chips turned to crumbs). The finished product was AMAZING. I included a dollop of sour cream on top of each of my servings. When my son stopped by to grab a bite to eat as he usually does each evening…he was initially disappointed when he saw what I had cooked for dinner that was UNTIL he tasted it. I stopped counting how many bowls he ate after his 4th :-)! Thanks AGAIN for sharing such a simple yet delicious recipe! This is most certainly a KEEPER!
How awesome!! Thank you so much for coming back to let me know!
Hi Sabrina-Have you ever made this with refried beans instead of ranch style beans.
I haven’t but if you decide to try, I’d love to know how it turns out. Thanks!
OMG!!!! This looks delicious! I love frito’s and I NEED to make this for dinner next week! 🙂
Happy eating!
Now that’s my kind of pie!
OH MY YUM!! This looks incredible!
Thanks!
This dish looks amazing, and I can hardly wait to make it.
I hope you enjoy it Ivory!
So cheesy and flavorful. This is the perfect frito pie!
Thanks!
What a great recipe! My boys will love it! Thanks!
Definitley kid approved!!
I made this for my daughter’s swim party and it was a huge hit. So easy to make and loved by everyone!
Awesome Joanie! I’m so glad you guys enjoyed it! Thanks for coming back to let me know!
THIS is my love language!
Haha, love it!!
Just a note. I’ve always heard that Frito Pie started in Woolworth’s in Santa Fe, NM. It’s on the “Square” in Santa Fe. I’m originally from NM, so don’t know if true or not. Will make recipe later!