What is a Walking Taco? Brace Yourself: A Walking Taco is a Frito bag filled with flavorful chili and toppings! Tacos in a bag are perfect for any party and let’s face it, just so fun to eat. You have to try this easy Walking Taco recipe!
Walking Tacos
You are in for the perfect Game Day recipe with this easy Walking Taco recipe! Whether it’s for Super Bowl Sunday, or you’re feeding a crowd, walking tacos are the perfect party food.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- These tacos are great for entertaining for about any occasion!
- We love making this recipe for Super Bowl and other fun game day occasions.
- The taco/chili makes delicious leftovers!
Be sure to try my Fire-Fly Frito Pie Recipe too! Follow Picky Palate on Instagram for daily recipe inspiration.
What Is a Walking Taco?
A walking taco is simply your favorite taco ingredients in a chip bag such as Fritos or Doritos. It’s such a brilliant way to enjoy tacos, especially when you’re entertaining a room full of guests. Such a fun party food!
What You’ll Need
Here are the ingredients you’ll need to make walking tacos at home. See the recipe card located at the bottom of the post for full instructions.
- extra virgin olive oil– You’ll use the olive oil to saute the vegetables.
- onion– Finely chop the onion before sauteing.
- bell pepper– Bell pepper can be optional, if using finely chop.
- garlic– Mince garlic before adding to hot skillet.
- ground beef– Use 80% lean or higher ground beef.
- kosher salt– Kosher salt is a coarse salt commonly used for cooking and baking.
- freshly cracked black pepper– For best tasting results use fresh cracked black pepper.
- diced tomatoes– I like to use Rotel, mild version.
- prepared salsa– Use your favorite mild salsa.
- tomato paste- Tomato paste thickens and adds flavor.
- pinto beans– Drain and rinse the beans before adding to the meat mixture.
- black beans– Rinse all beans before adding to meat mixture.
- kidney beans– Drain kidney beans and rinse before adding to meat.
- black olives– Black olives can be optional.
- chili powder– Chili powder adds that nice chili spice to the meat.
- cumin– Ground cumin adds a touch of smoky flavor to the meat.
- hot sauce– Cholula works great here.
- lime juice– Fresh lime juice adds a touch of freshness.
- cilantro– Fresh chopped cilantro is a great garnish on top of the walking tacos.
- bags of Fritos– I ordered a large bag of snack size Fritos on Amazon.
- shredded cheese– Shredded mild cheese works great.
- sour cream– Use full-fat sour cream.
- jalapeno– Sliced jalapeno can be optional, but also delicious on top of the walking tacos.
How to Make Tacos in a Bag
Saute Onions, Peppers and Garlic. Heat oil in a large dutch oven over medium heat. Saute onion and peppers for 5 minutes or until softened. Add garlic and cook for 1 minute.
Cook and Brown The Beef. Add ground beef, salt and pepper. Cook until browned. Drain if needed. I usually don’t need to for the lean beef.
Continue Adding Chili Ingredients. Pour in tomatoes, salsa, tomato paste then stir to combine. Add 1 Cup warm water to thin out slightly then add in beans, olives, chili powder, cumin, hot sauce, lime juice, salt, pepper and garlic salt. I start with just a pinch of salt then keep tasting until it’s to my liking. Add chopped cilantro and reduce heat to low to simmer until ready to serve.
Spoon Chili into Frito Bags. Open bags of fritos. Spoon in chili, cheese, sour cream and jalapenos. Stick a fork in it and eat!!
Can I Use Different Chips For Walking Tacos?
Yes, try Doritos, the Nacho Cheese and Cool Ranch varieties work great.
How to Assemble Your Walking Tacos
Assembling a walking taco is easy! Follow these step-by-step photos showing you how to make the best walking tacos ever.
Add shredded cheese, jalapenos, or green onions if you can’t take the heat 🙂
Here you have it, your perfect little bag of “Walking Tacos!”
How To Serve
Serve these convenient bags of tacos for your next party or game day get together. There’s minimal mess to clean up and your guests love them!
How To Store Leftovers
Store any chili and topping leftovers in separate airtight containers in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Reheat chili in a heat proof bowl, loosely covered for 60-90 seconds in the microwave until hot.
Tips For Making the Best Walking Tacos
- You can also use snack size bags of Doritos instead of Fritos if you’d like.
- Cut the tops off of your bags of Fritos before your guests arrive so it’s easy to fill them with your homemade chili.
Try More Taco Recipes
How To Make A Walking Taco
Equipment
- Dutch Oven
- chef knife
- cutting board
- measuring cups
- measuring spoons
- mixing spoon
Ingredients
Chili
- 2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1 medium onion chopped
- 6-8 little sweet peppers or 1 green and 1 red bell pepper chopped
- 4 cloves fresh garlic minced
- 1 lb lean ground beef
- Pinch of kosher salt and black pepper
- 2 cans diced tomatoes
- 1 Cup Herdez Salsa or your favorite salsa
- 1 small can tomato paste
- 1 Cup warm water
- 3 cans of beans drained (I used black, pinto and red kidney)
- 1 can black olives sliced
- 2 Tablespoons chili powder
- 1 Tablespoon ground cumin
- 1 Tablespoon hot sauce Tabasco
- 1 Tablespoon fresh lime juice
- Pinch of Kosher salt fresh cracked black pepper and Lawry’s Garlic Salt with Parsley (to taste)
- 1/2 Cup fresh chopped cilantro
- Bags of Fritos
Toppings
- 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
- 1 cup sour cream
- 1/2 cup chopped Jalapenos or green onions
Instructions
- Heat oil in a large dutch oven over medium heat. Saute onion and peppers for 5 minutes or until softened. Add garlic and cook for 1 minute. Add ground beef, salt and pepper. Cook until browned. Drain if needed. I usually don’t need to for the lean beef. Pour in tomatoes, salsa, tomato paste then stir to combine. Add 1 Cup warm water to thin out slightly then add in beans, olives, chili powder, cumin, hot sauce, lime juice, salt, pepper and garlic salt. I start with just a pinch of salt then keep tasting until it’s to my liking. Add chopped cilantro and reduce heat to low to simmer until ready to serve.
- Open bags of fritos. Spoon in chili, cheese, sour cream and jalapenos. Stick a fork in it and eat!!
NEVER heard of these before but YUM :)! they look really tasty…. can’t wait to try them out. Thanks for my “you learn something new everyday” lesson.
This is so clever. I definitely want to try this.
We made these for the football concession stand here! And if you’re feeding a larger group, Sam’s club has a box of either fritos (or my favorite–Doritoes) 50 in a box for I think $13… it’s been a while since I’ve done them! My kids love them!
We used to make these on camping trips in Girl Scouts!!! We made so much crud in a bag. Nachos/tacos in a bag, omelets in a bag, I could go on.
We have had them for years and are a great fundraiser. I haven’t had them with actual chili..just built from taco meat. looks great and they are fun to eat. thanks
We cut them down the side and they were called frito boats, man I loved me a good frito boat! I’m very excited to introduce this to the kidlets.
I think we’ll be making these for super bowl Sunday! We used to eat these as kids and I had totally forgotten, thanks for the memory and the recipe!
Great idea! My kids are going to love this.
Interesting concept. I have a tendency to eat my tacos hunched over the sink.
We have these at the Ball Park and everyone LOVES them!! I think they are genius!!
Love the fun, yummy twist you added to yours!
Happy Sunday,
Tiffany
This is a meal I learned about my freshman year of college. Perfect meal for college students living in a dorm or an apartment!
I’ve seen these at sporting events and even at the kids schools for carnivals and stuff. I’ve seen them made with just cheese and doritos too.
I hadn’t heard of these until I went to girl’s camp last year. My favorite thing! Thanks for reminding me….these will be perfect to make next weekend!
These are so cool! I just published taco soup on my blog (with Fritos) and a couple of folks were commenting about Walking Tacos, which I had never heard of! This is such a fun, manly idea for a super bowl party 🙂
Too cute! And no dishes?! I think that is the best part! X-D I would also love to try this with some crushed up cheesy Doritos or Cool Ranch Doritos. Mmmm!
I love this idea…really want to try it soon!
Love this idea – actually love all your ideas! We are having friends over and will definitely be making these 🙂
This is the greatest idea for Sunday’s Game! I just found out we are hosting the big party and I think I’m going to have to make this. It’s simple, and portable. Thanks so much for the recipe!
great idea, I am going to try this!
I’ve heard of them! We used to make them in Girl Scouts (on camping trips) and call them “Tacos in a Bag” (so original…). We used bags of Doritos that we would slightly crush up, and then the usual taco toppings…and we’d always have a big bag of Doritos near by to replenish our bags for seconds! They were a winner with us as young girls, and my mom would also make them for dinner every once in a while!
I’d never heard of them, but they’re a great idea!
I have never heard of walking tacos but what a fun idea!!
Yes, but here they make them with small bags of Doritos instead of the Frito’s. I love them!
Yep, we used to have them with Doritos back in high school and middle school. Loved walking taco day!!!
I saw these at a Woolworth’s in Santa Fe many years ago! Nice to have the recipe!
Super idea! Who enjoyed them more? The kids or the adults? Lol. Thanx so much 4 sharing once again!
How cute! I’ve never seen these before!
This was a great reminder! We used to eat in the bags like this years ago. We called it Frito Chili Pie. Talk about saving on cleanup!
Cute idea!! I’ve never heard of them before, but a great idea!
My high school used to serve these for lunch about once a month! I’m sure the “chili” was just hamburger and tomato paste, but it was still fun!
I love this! They often sell this at local high school football games & such. I like your take on it!
we called these frito boats when I was a kid.
oops, no dishes 🙂
What a fun idea! Perfect for a part ~ love the do dishes part.
I use to eat these at the ball park all the time! Gotta love a Frito Pie 🙂
Those look fantastic, what a great idea!
These are so super fun!! 🙂