Walking Tacos with Fritos
Need an easy, crowd-pleasing dinner or party snack? These Walking Tacos with Fritos are a fun, mess-free twist on taco night. They’re served right in the chip bags for maximum flavor and minimal cleanup. Pile on your favorite toppings and let everyone build their own handheld taco-inspired creation!
Serve these Walking Tacos with Fritos (with chip bags) at your next party, game night, or family gathering. They’re guaranteed to be a hit with taco lovers and are especially fun for kids’ birthday parties. Since everyone can customize their own bag, it’s also a great “camping” idea. And if you prefer walking tacos without the bag, try this Walking Taco Casserole with Fritos version that’s baked in a 9×13 dish – the same crowd-pleasing flavor, no chip bags needed!
What are “walking tacos?”
“Walking Taco” or “Taco-in-a-Bag” are not tacos in the traditional sense. Instead, it’s a Midwestern term for the “Frito Pie” – another Texas dish that resembles more of a taco casserole with Fritos.
The casserole-like ground beef filling is loaded into individual bags of corn chips and then loaded with all the typical taco toppings. Think of it like a crunchy taco salad served in a fun small bag.
Assemble these Walking Taco with Fritos bags to serve by hand to friends or guests or create a “DIY” walking tacos bar for everyone to make their own. It’s loads of fun! Serve them on a BIG BOARD for a party!
TIP: Turn the bag on it’s side and make a slit with scissors for easy filling! So smart!
Ingredients needed to make Walking Tacos with Fritos (with chip bags)
- Ground beef mixture: The meaty filling for these walking tacos consists of regular ground beef, softened white onion, black beans, salsa, and taco seasoning.
- Frito corn chips: This recipe provides enough filling and toppings for twelve 3.5-ounce Frito corn chip bags. Feel free to purchase fewer bags and reduce the recipe or store leftovers for later. You could also use Trader Joe’s corn chips.
- Toppings: A combination of finely shredded lettuce, cheese (Monterey Jack or a Mexican blend), tomatoes, fresh cilantro, salsa, onions, and sour cream.
- Garnish: Complete your walking tacos with pickled jalapeños and hot sauce, if desired.
How do you make Walking Tacos with Fritos?
Make the ground beef filling:
- Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat with olive oil. Add half of the onions, the ground beef, and the salt. Use a spatula to break the beef into small pieces. Cook until the onions are soft and the beef is cooked through, about 5 minutes. Drain off any excess grease, if needed.
- Lower the heat to medium-low and add the black beans, taco seasoning, and 1/2 cup of salsa. Cook until the beans are warm, about 2 minutes.
- Remove the skillet from the heat.
Prepare the toppings:
- Prepare a large board, tray or serving area with small bowls of the remaining onions, salsa, cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, cilantro, sour cream, and pickled jalapenos.
Assemble the walking tacos bags:
- Grab a chip bag and crunch the chips with your hands.
- Use scissors to cut down the side of each chip bag.
- Spoon the beef on top of the chips, and top with lettuce, cheese, tomato, onions, a sprinkle of cilantro, and a spoonful of sour cream, and salsa.
Garnish and serve:
- Garnish your walking tacos bag with 1-2 pickled jalapeños and a drizzle of hot sauce, if desired.
- Assemble as many walking tacos bags as there are people to serve.
Serving
Once assembled, serve these walking tacos with Fritos immediately for the best flavor and texture. Hand them out or get everyone to dish up for themselves with their preferred choice of toppings and garnish.
Since these walking tacos with Fritos are quite a filling and complete meal as is, I’d recommend finishing with a scoop of Mexican Vanilla Ice Cream and these irresistible Mexican Chocolate Brownies!
Optional to serve the spread on a big board! We used the 12×24″ inch board.
Sandy’s tips and substitutions:
- Avoid an overly soggy filling: Make sure to properly drain your browned ground beef and the canned beans. If you don’t, excess liquid can create a soggy filling which will quickly soften the crunchy Frito corn chips.
- Storage: These walking tacos with Fritos are meant to be eaten immediately as the crunchy corn chips will quickly soften from the moist filling and toppings. Leftover ground beef mixture can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for 4-5 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months. Leftover fresh toppings should be stored in separate airtight containers in the fridge and used up within 1-2 days.
- Self-assembly: You can assemble each bag yourself to serve or create a walking tacos bar with all of the ingredients and have your family or guests make their own “taco salad” in a bag.
- Type and flavor of chips: Instead of Fritos corn chips, why not try making this walking tacos recipe with Doritos tortilla chips?! While I’ve used original Fritos corn chip bags, feel free to experiment with other flavors – Chili Cheese, Flamin’ Hot, Honey BBQ, or Lightly Salted.
- Switch up the toppings: Add your favorite toppings to these walking taco bags. Corn (fresh, or canned corn, drained), red bell peppers, black olives, sliced avocado, and red onion are all great options.
- Ground meat: For a leaner version, try lean ground beef, ground turkey, or ground chicken.
More recipes with a Mexican twist to try while you are here:
Get the Recipe:
Walking Tacos With Fritos
Ingredients
- 1-2 Tbsp olive oil
- 1 ½ pounds ground beef
- 1 large white onion, finely chopped (about 2 cups), divided
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 15 ounce can black beans, rinsed and drained
- 1 ounce pkg taco seasoning
- 1 cup salsa, divided
- 12 3.5 ounce bags Frito corn chips
- 3 cups finely shredded romaine lettuce
- 12 ounces shredded Monterey Jack cheese
- 2-3 Roma tomatoes, chopped
- ½ cup tender cilantro stems and leaves
- ¾ cup sour cream
- Pickled jalapeños and hot sauce, for garnish
Instructions
- Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat with olive oil. Add half of the onions, the ground beef, and the salt, and use a spatula to break the beef into small pieces. Cook until the onions are soft and the beef is cooked through 5 minutes or so. If you need to, drain off any of the fat.
- Lower the heat to medium-low and add the black beans, taco seasoning, and 1/2 cup of salsa and cook until the beans are warm, about 2 minutes. Remove the skillet from heat.
- Prepare a large board, tray or serving area with small bowls of remaining onions, salsa, cheese, lettuce, cheese, tomatoes, cilantro, sour cream, and pickled jalapenos.
- Grab a chip bag and crunch the chips with your hands.
- IMPORTANT TIP HOW TO CUT THE BAGS: Use scissors to cut each bad down the side of each chip bag.
- To assemble each bag: Spoon about the beef on top of the chips, and top with lettuce, cheese, tomato, chopped onions, a sprinkle of cilantro, and a spoonful of sour cream and salsa.
- Garnish with 1-2 pickled jalapeños. Each person can make their own “taco salad” in a bag, and eats right away so the chips don’t get soggy!
Hello and welcome to my home and table!
I’m Sandy—lover of food, family, cooking, THE BIG BOARD, travel, and bringing people together. Through great recipes and connection around the table, we become better, stronger, and more courageous people. Feasting on Life is real, and every time we do it, we grow a little more. Read more...
