Taco Pie
This Taco Pie is quick to prep in just 15 minutes and made with affordable, pantry ingredients. Layered with beans, ground beef, and cheese, every bite is full of flavor that your friends and family will love.
Having lived in Houston, Texas for many years, I love Mexican and Mexican-inspired recipes. They are full of so much flavor. This Taco Pie is a meal I had a couple of years ago at a friend’s house in Houston. I loved it so much, I’ve been making my own version ever since.
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It’s quick to assemble using a store-bought pie crust and a single skillet, keeping this meal about 45 minutes to make from start to finish. Plus, I usually customize it with whatever salsa and spices that I already have on hand. I’ve brought it to countless potlucks and family gatherings and it’s always a winner along with my Taco Pasta and Taco Cups.
Table of Contents
Why You’ll Love this Recipe
- Affordable ingredients with lots of flavor. Use your favorite Mexican ingredients here. It’s a recipe that uses so many pantry staples that you already have at home.
- Easy to serve a crowd. This is a recipe that everyone will love. It’s perfect for tailgates, potlucks, or just a regular weeknight dinner.
- Quick to assemble in 15 minutes. It’s a meal that takes barely any time at all to prep before the oven does the rest of the cooking for you.
Laura Ashley’s Tip: My family loves when I set out a taco pie toppings bar just like regular taco night so they can customize every slice.
Ingredients
Scroll Down for Ingredient Amounts Listed in the Recipe Card Below
- Deep-dish pie crust: Make sure this is the unbaked kind. It’s the store-bought solution to make this taco pie extra easy.
- Refried beans: Adds a rich and creamy base.
- Ground beef: Our favorite protein for this recipe. You could also use ground chicken or ground turkey for a lighter option.
- Taco seasoning: Seasons the meat with our favorite taco flavors. You can also use my homemade version noted under substations.
- Dried minced onion: You can also use 1/4 cup finely diced yellow onion if you prefer.
- Chunky salsa: Another one of our secret ingredients that adds so much bright tomato flavor and spice.
- Shredded cheddar cheese: Gooey and cheesy with every bite.
- Crushed tortilla chips or corn chips: Adds nice crunch on top.
- Garnish options: We love to finish the pie with fresh cilantro, shredded lettuce, chopped tomatoes, sliced jalapeño, sour cream, and hot sauce.
Tools You’ll Need
How to Make taco pie
- Preheat oven to 375°F.
- Place the unbaked pie crust in a pie dish if it’s not already in one. Poke the bottom with a fork a few times.
- In a large skillet, brown the ground beef over medium heat. Drain excess grease.
- Stir in taco seasoning, dried minced onion, water and salsa. Simmer 2–3 minutes until thickened.
- Remove from heat and fold in 1/2 of the cheese.
- Spread the refried beans in a single layer in the bottom of the pie crust.
- Top with the cooked beef mixture followed by crushed tortilla chips or Fritos, and remaining cheese.
- Bake for 25–30 minutes, until the crust is golden and the filling is bubbly. Rest for 10 minutes before serving.
- Top with taco garnishes if desired.
Expert Tips
- Use a store-bought deep dish pie crust. You want to make sure that it’s a deep dish crust so all of the fillings are layered correctly. Make sure you lightly prick it with the prongs of a fork for even baking.
- Layer the ingredients correctly in the crust. By putting the refried beans down first you create a nice base layer that holds the ground beef and tortilla chips nicely.
- Customize the taco pie with your favorite ingredients. Use your favorite salsa, taco seasoning, and cheese. It’s also excellent with guacamole, cilantro, fresh jalapeños, sour cream, green onion, and a queso drizzle!
- Grate the cheese from scratch. We definitely recommend grating from the block if you have a couple of minutes to spare. This will help the cheese to melt more evenly.
- Homemade taco seasoning. A packet of taco seasoning works great, but if you prefer a homemade version, simply mix together these ingredients and adjust to your preference: 1 tbsp chili powder, ½ tbsp ground cumin, ½ tsp onion powder, ¼ tsp garlic powder, ¼ tsp red pepper flakes, ½ tsp oregano, ½ tsp salt, ½ tsp black pepper.
Storage
Store any leftovers wrapped in plastic wrap or in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days. Reheat in the oven or microwave until warmed through.
You can also freeze the taco pie for up to 2 months. Before reheating, be sure to let it thaw overnight in the fridge.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, you can easily use ground turkey or chicken for a leaner version of this recipe.
Feel free to layer the ingredients in the pie shell up to a couple of hours in advance and then bake.
Yes, we love to set out regular taco toppings like shredded iceberg lettuce, more cheese, hot sauce, chopped tomatoes, and more!
More Easy Mexican-Inspired Recipes
Taco Pie
Ingredients
- 1 9-inch deep-dish pie crust unbaked
- 1/2 cup refried beans
- 1 pound ground beef
- 2 tablespoons taco seasoning
- 1 tablespoon dried minced onion or 1/4 cup finely diced yellow onion
- 1/2 cup water
- 1 cup chunky salsa
- 1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese divided
- 1 cup crushed tortilla chips or Fritos
- Garnish options: fresh cilantro, sliced lettuce, chopped tomatoes, sliced jalapeño, sour cream, hot sauce
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375°F.
- Place the unbaked pie crust in a pie dish if it’s not already in one. Poke the bottom with a fork a few times.
- In a large skillet, brown the ground beef over medium heat. Drain excess grease.
- Stir in taco seasoning, dried minced onion, water and salsa. Simmer 2–3 minutes until thickened.
- Remove from heat and fold in 1/2 of the cheese.
- Spread the refried beans in a single layer in the bottom of the pie crust.
- Top with the cooked beef mixture followed by crushed tortilla chips or Fritos, and remaining cheese.
- Bake for 25–30 minutes, until the crust is golden and the filling is bubbly. Rest for 10 minutes before serving.
- Top with taco garnishes if desired.
Video
Notes
Expert Tips
- Use a store-bought deep dish pie crust. You want to make sure that it’s a deep dish crust so all of the fillings are layered correctly.
- Pie crust prep. Make sure you lightly prick it with the prongs of a fork for even baking.
- Layer the ingredients correctly in the crust. By putting the refried beans down first you create a nice base layer that holds the ground beef and tortilla chips nicely.
- Customize the taco pie with your favorite ingredients. Use your favorite salsa, taco seasoning, and cheese. It’s also excellent with guacamole, cilantro, fresh jalapeños, sour cream, green onion, and a queso drizzle!
- Grate the cheese from scratch. We definitely recommend grating from the block if you have a couple of minutes to spare. This will help the cheese to melt more evenly.
- Homemade taco seasoning. A packet of taco seasoning works great, but if you prefer a homemade version, simply mix together these ingredients and adjust to your preference: 1 tbsp chili powder, ½ tbsp ground cumin, ½ tsp onion powder, ¼ tsp garlic powder, ¼ tsp red pepper flakes, ½ tsp oregano, ½ tsp salt, ½ tsp black pepper.
Nutrition
About Laura
Taught by some of the best, cooking and entertaining has always been my favorite hobby. Food is my love language! The conception of Dinner in 321 came from my family talks that sharing our dinners would help others learn new skills, tasty recipes, and make cooking fun! Read more…
I don’t like refried beans, would it be ok to leave them out?
Yes you can omit them 🙂