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Walking Tacos are an easy, crowd-pleasing meal made with taco meat and toppings served in chip bags. Perfect for parties, game day, and fun family dinners.
If you’re feeding a crowd, hosting game day, or just want a fun twist on taco night, Walking Tacos are always a hit. Served right in individual chip bags and loaded with seasoned beef and all your favorite toppings, they’re easy, customizable, and perfect for casual gatherings.
A walking taco is a taco served in a chip bag! It’s such a fun and mess-free way to eat tacos. I started making these Doritos walking tacos when we needed a quick, on-the-go meal to eat in between sports practices during the week. This recipe has been a favorite ever since. You can make the taco meat in advance and reheat it when it’s time to eat. Just load up your chip bags and add your toppings!
Ingredients You’ll Need
Be sure to scroll to the bottom of the post for the FULL PRINTABLE recipe card.
- Ground Beef – I like to use lean ground beef. You could also use ground chicken or turkey.
- Taco Seasoning – Store-bought or homemade taco seasoning
- Chip Bags – I recommend 1oz. snack-sized bags of Doritos, Fritos, or plain corn tortilla chips.
- Toppings – Shredded lettuce, tomatoes, olives, etc. Choose your favorites! I’ve included mine below.
Walking Taco Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 pound lean ground beef
- 1 packet taco seasoning
- 6-8 snack size bags of Doritos or Fritos
Taco Toppings
- Shredded Lettuce
- Diced Tomatoes
- Sliced Black Olives
- Shredded Cheese
- Sour Cream
Instructions
- In a large skillet over medium high heat, add ground beef. Use a wooden spoon to break up, and cook for 5-7 minutes until browned and cooked through. Drain any excess grease.1 pound lean ground beef
- Add taco seasoning and any water called for on the packet or in the recipe. Simmer for 3-4 minutes until coated and any liquid is absorbed.1 packet taco seasoning
- Gently crush the chips inside the bag, and top with meat and your favorite taco toppings.6-8 snack size bags of Doritos or Fritos
Notes
- You can add beans, use a different protein, different chips, etc.
- Top with salsa or guacamole, or any of your preferred Mexican condiments.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
How to Make Walking Tacos
Here’s how to make a walking taco, step-by-step. Of course, you can easily scale the recipe according to how many tacos you’re serving. Once you’ve prepped your taco in a bag, see below for topping ideas.
- Cook the meat. Add the ground meat to a skillet over medium-high heat. Sauté for 5-7 minutes, breaking up the meat while it browns. Drain the excess grease afterward.
- Add seasoning. Stir in the taco seasoning, then water as needed. Simmer the taco meat for 3-4 minutes to thicken.
- Serve. Gently squeeze the chip bags to crush up the chips, then load up the bags with taco meat and any of your favorite toppings, see below.
Try These Variations
- Vegetarian. Swap meat for black beans or try the plant-based meat from my tofu tacos.
- Different protein. Make walking chicken tacos or pork tacos. You can even try a variation with beef chili.
- Different chips. Try this recipe using bags of Cheetos, BBQ Fritos, or different-flavored Doritos.
- Nachos-inspired. Top your walking tacos with chile con queso or white queso and pico de gallo.
Recipe Tricks & Suggestions
- Leftover Meat? Walking tacos are a great way to use up leftover cooked taco meat, shredded beef, pulled chicken, or pulled pork. In this case, you can simply reheat the pre-cooked protein and add it straight to the chip bag.
- Taco Bar! If you are feeding a crowd, set up a taco bar. This way, everyone can self-serve and make their tacos 100% their own. Set up bowls of the toppings, add the taco meat to the slow cooker to keep warm. It’s a great option for entertaining and tailgating!
Taco Toppings
Top your walking tacos with … just about anything you’d pair with other Mexican food goes great here. These are a few more of my favorite easy topping ideas:
- Shredded lettuce
- Diced tomatoes
- Sliced black olives
- Shredded cheese
- Sour cream
- Sliced jalapeños
- Hot sauce (or enchilada sauce)
- Mexican coleslaw
Serving Suggestions
If we’re not taking our walking tacos to go, I’ll serve them next to easy Tex-Mex sides like avocado fries and Mexican rice for an easy family meal. At parties, these tacos go great with fun appetizers like Southwest egg rolls, crispy air fryer potato skins, and pizza sliders, washed down with a pineapple margarita.
Make-Ahead, Storage, and Reheating
I don’t recommend storing the leftover walking tacos once they’re assembled, as the chips will get soggy. However, the meat is great for meal prep:
- Prepare the meat ahead. Cook the taco meat and store it in an airtight container in the fridge for 3-4 days. It’s great to pack in a cooler box for camping trips and sports events.
- Reheat. Warm the meat in a skillet or the microwave when you’re ready to serve.
