The Blonde Diaries

Yum…Taco Pie

My grandmother had quite the knack for creating recipes and meals for me during my college years.  It started with that aweful meal plan most freshman living on campus are required to purchase.  Well my parents couldn’t understand my constant complaints until they ate a meal on move out day. Of course I had a good many of meal credits left at the end of the semester that they didn’t want to waste and we had to go use them, but I digress.  So after that memorable meal, I was able to exchange visits with my grandmother for meals and no meal plan.

One of her most popular recipes with my friends at school was Taco Pie.  It is a very simple recipe and I’m not quite sure how she came up with it or the inspiration.  One warning though is any recipe that calls for a pound of ground beef, a can of pureed beans, and an entire bag of crushed fritos is not going to be close to healthy or low calorie.  It is excellent for a free day and does freeze/defrost well.

Taco Pie

• saute 1 pound ground beef
• puree 1 can pinto beans
• crush 1 regular sized bag of fritos
• Create layers in your casserole dish:
  • Fritos
  • Chili
  • Meat
  • Beans
  • Cheese (use shredded cheese to your liking)
  • Repeat until you run out
• Top with Jiffy cornbread mix (prepared following directions and add in a 1/2 creamstyle corn to mix)
• Bake until topping is golden brown

One warning on this recipe- buy the jiffy cornbread mix the day you are planning to make this and do not put in your pantry.  Weevils tend to love this stuff so you don’t want everything to get contaminated by storing the mix in your pantry.