Best Frito Chili Pie
by Sommer Collier — last updated on Feb 26, 2025 
The Best Frito Chili Pie – An easy recipe for classic Frito “pie” made with flavorful beef chili and corn chips! Serve this in a bowl or right in the bag with shredded cheese and all your favorite toppings.
Why We Love This Frito Chili Pie Recipe
You know I am a big fan of great retro recipes that are no-frills but have big, comforting flavors that we all love. Many are easy to prepare and perfect to feed a crowd for fun gatherings. Frito Chili Pie is a fabulous old-school recipe for tailgating, casual holiday parties, and campfire dinners. It’s just the right combo of crunchy, salty, savory, meaty, and cheesy that you crave in a classic party food!
If you aren’t already familiar, you should know that there is no actual pie involved here. But that’s ok! Frito Pie gets its name from how the dish is layered and served… crunchy corn chips are covered with a quick and easy homemade beef chili, then topped with shredded cheese and sliced green scallions, and finished with tangy jalapenos and a dollop of sour cream.
These can be assembled individually in shallow round dishes (like a pie) – or for a more traditional serving style, layer the chili and goodies right into single-serving bags of Fritos chips.
This Frito pie recipe takes under an hour to make and is even great to prep in advance. Simply make the chili portion ahead of time and have your toppings ready to go. Then rewarm the chili when ready to serve and enjoy!
Ingredients You Need
For the Frito Chili Recipe –
- Ground beef – I suggest lean, but use whatever percent fat you like
- Sweet onion – diced
- Garlic – minced
- Canned kidney beans – drained
- Tomato sauce – canned or jarred
- Diced fire roasted tomatoes – canned
- Spices – ancho chili powder, ground cumin, and dried oregano
- Beef base – or bouillon
To Make the Chili Pies –
- Fritos Corn Chips – either one large bag or 10 single serving bags
- Sharp cheddar cheese – shredded
- Scallions – chopped
- Sour cream – or greek yogurt
- Sliced pickled jalapeños – like our fantastic homemade quick pickled jalapeno slices
How to Make Easy Beef Chili for Frito Pie
- Brown the beef, onion, and garlic in a large saucepot over medium heat. Use a wooden spoon to break the meat into small pieces as you cook everything, about 8-10 minutes.
- Next, add in the drained kidney beans, tomato sauce, diced tomatoes, spices, beef base, and water.
- Stir well and reduce the heat down to a simmer. Cook the beef chili for at least 15 minutes, stirring the bottom of the pot every 3 to 5 minutes to make sure it doesn’t stick.
Once the chili thickens, turn off the heat. Then taste, and salt and pepper as needed.
Ta-da, you’re done! Who knew homemade beef and bean chili could be so easy to make on the stovetop?
You can move right ahead and assemble the Frito pies, or cool and store the chili in the fridge for later. Simply reheat the chili in the microwave or on the stovetop when you’re ready to serve.
Get the Complete (Printable!) Best Frito Chili Pie Recipe Below. Enjoy!
How to Assemble and Serve Frito Chili Pie in a Dish
Pro Tip: You can always set out a buffet line with all the various ingredients, and let guests serve themselves!
To start, spread out a handful of Fritos in a deep, wide bowl. Then ladle on a generous scoop of chili.
Then add a bit of the shredded cheese and sliced scallions. I like to let the cheese sit on the warm chili for a minute before adding other toppings, so that is gets nice and melty.
Lastly, top with sour cream and pickled jalapeno slices, or other fresh toppings.
Dig in while it’s warm!
How to Serve In Individual Frito Bags
Cut back on kitchen cleanup, or whip these beauties up alongside the campfire while camping, and serve Frito pie right in the bag! Here’s how to do it:
- Open the Frito bag and fold the top down to create a rim.
- Scoop chili over the Fritos. Don’t worry, the bag can handle it!
- Top each bag with shredded cheese, scallions, sour cream, and pickled jalapeños.
Serve with forks and plenty of napkins!
Additional Frito Pie Toppings
Lots of other nacho and chili-type goodies can be loaded on your Frito pie! Try any of these tasty toppings instead of or in addition to the other classic options we’ve listed in the recipe card below:
- Guacamole or fresh avocado slices
- Salsa or pico de gallo
- Greek yogurt (instead of sour cream)
- Shredded spicy pepper jack cheese
- Chopped cilantro
- Fresh slices of jalapenos
- Hot sauce for an extra kick of spice
Frequently Asked Questions
You sure can! Skip the beef and prepare the chili with an additional two cans of kidney beans, or two cans of black beans if you’d like to add a more southwestern flavor. For a completely dairy-free plant-based vegan Frito pie recipe, also use your preferred vegan sour cream and cheddar cheese.
This iconic party food is perfect with other game-day favorites like loaded stuffed jalapenos, crispy buffalo wings, and classic queso. Or bring some freshness to the table and serve alongside a crisp green salad with ranch dressing.
The corn chips will get soggy after more than an hour, so it is recommended the assembled Frito pies be eaten immediately. However, the leftover chili itself will keep well in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
Looking For More Classic Party Recipes? Be Sure To Also Try These Easy Recipes:
- Funyuns Sliders
- 5 Ingredient Pulled Pork Nachos
- Ultimate Dorito Taco Salad
- Nacho Hot Dogs
- Drowned Carnitas Party Sandwiches
Get the Complete (Printable!) Best Frito Chili Pie Recipe Below. Enjoy!
The Best Frito Chili Pie Recipe
Ingredients
For the Frito Chili –
- 2 pounds ground beef
- 1 cup diced sweet onion
- 3-5 cloves garlic minced
- 32 ounce canned red kidney beans drained
- 15 ounce tomato sauce
- 15 ounce diced fire-roasted tomatoes
- 2 tablespoons ancho chili powder
- 1 tablespoon ground cumin
- 1 tablespoon dried oregano
- 1 tablespoon beef base or bouillon
For the Frito Chili Pies –
- 9 ¼ ounce bag Fritos corn chips or 10 single serving bags
- 1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
- 1 cup chopped scallions
- 1 cup sour cream
- 1 cup sliced pickled jalapenos
Instructions
- Set a 6-quart saucepot over medium heat. Add the ground beef, diced onion, and garlic to the pot. Use a wooden spoon to break the meat into small pieces as you brown the beef and soften the onions, about 8-10 minutes.
- Once the meat is cooked through and broken into very small pieces, add in the drained kidney beans, tomato sauce, diced tomatoes, chili powder, cumin, oregano, beef base, and 1 cup of water.
- Stir well. Simmer for at least 15 minutes, stirring the bottom of the pot every 3 to 5 minutes to make sure it doesn’t stick. Once the chili thickens, turn off the heat. Then taste, and salt and pepper as needed.
- To serve: Place a handful of Fritos in a bowl. Top with a generous scoop of chili, followed by shredded cheese, scallions, sour cream, and pickled jalapeños.
Yum – this is a family favorite packed with flavor and so delicious.
this is the best thing ever! ive tried tacos with Fritos and even making them in the chip bag, but the chili added to these Fritos is amazing! thank you so much for sharing this recipe!
This recipe was a HUGE hit when we had friends over. The kids especially loved eating straight out of the Fritos bags. Fun and yummy!
This recipe is always a hit!! I mean what’s not to love…chili & fritos?! Lots of flavor & crunch!