Texas Straw Hat
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Also called Frito Pie, these Texas Straw Hats are an easy meal that are satisfying and quick for weeknight prep! Top with your favorite toppings and enjoy!
Today I’m bringing you another easy ground beef recipe. Don’t you just love recipes that use the words “easy” and “ground beef”? For me, that spells food for the masses! This one is also easy to tailor to what you have on hand so don’t go out buying special ingredients if you don’t already have them. Feel free to add drained diced tomatoes or tomato sauce in lieu of the tomato paste, leave out the thyme if you like, and just add a little extra chili powder. Cook it until it is nice and thick for layering and you’ve essentially just made yourself a Frito Chili Pie.
Check out some of my other easy meals like Cream Cheese Chicken Enchiladas, Fiesta Taco Salad, Easy Skillet Chili Bake, Easy Taco Soup, and Instant Pot Beef Barbacoa Tacos.
Ingredients You’ll Need to Make Texas Straw Hats:
- ground beef
- chili powder
- tomato paste
- onion
- pepper
- thyme
- salt
- fritos
- cheese
Quick tip! Sometimes I make the meat up and then just pop whatever is left in the fridge so throughout the week if anyone is hungry they can just heat up some meat and toss it on some corn chips! It’s kinda like my pizza rolls, gives you some time off from cooking later 🙂
Helpful Kitchen Tools
How to Make Texas Straw Hats:
Brown your beef and onion together.
Use this amazing Ground Beef Chopper while you brown your meat. This is one of my very favorite cooking implements. It makes browning ground beef SO much easier, AND is under $5!
Another quick ground beef tip: Usually I have my beef all browned and in the freezer and just take out a bag to use in order to cut out this extra step
Drain your grease off good and add tomato paste…
then add Salt, Pepper, Thyme and Chili powder.
and Worcestershire sauce.
and pour in your water.
Stir all of that up good and bring it to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for twenty minutes, stirring occasionally.
How to Serve Texas Straw Hats:
Serve hot atop corn chips! Top with your favorite toppings. Some of our suggestions are:
- cheese
- sour cream
- tomato
- avocado
- lettuce (make it a taco salad and add a yummy dressing!)
- your favorite salsa
- guacamole
Ingredients
- 1 lb ground beef
- 6 ounce can tomato paste
- 2 tsp chili powder
- 1/2 tsp salt 1/8 tsp pepper, 1/4 tsp thyme
- 1 c chopped onion
- 1 c water
- 1 tsp Worcestershire
- 2 c shredded cheddar cheese
- corn chips
Instructions
- Brown beef and onion in a skillet. Drain off grease. Add all other ingredients except corn chips and cheese. Stir and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for twenty minutes, stirring occasionally. Serve atop corn chips, topped with cheese.
this looks delish… never had it quiet like this. Thanks Christy! Loved the story too!
These look delicious 🙂 kinda like my taco pies
http://chubbagurl.blogspot.com/2008/05/taco-piles.html
I think Ill try this one but put some refried beans down before the meat, I LOVE taco style dishes 🙂 Carm
We call these “Pepper Bellies” 🙂 NUMMY.
This is a good create your own recipe as I do the meat base in the skillet and have ingredients set out so each person can assemble to taste. I provide shredded lettuce, diced raw onion, chopped tomatoes, shredded lettuce, sour cream, refried beans, sloce dblack olives, jalapenoes and what ever else may be in the fridge or pantry. if I am lacking something it is an “oh well” till next time. After the assembly choice evertthing then is smothered in shredded cheese. My other little rule is that I always use paper plates for these so we can throw away the melty cheese mess.
Love this easy recipe & loved your story too. I had not seen that one but we did have postcards about the jackalope.
It was great that your Granny left you with some wonderful memories.
I didn’t know one of my grandmothers and the other died just before I turned 4 so my memories are very few.
But, most of all I love your wonderful sense of humor.
Us real Texans throw in some refried beans over the chips then the meat sauce, then the cheese, sour cream, avocado/guacamole, and of course jalapenos. Then comes the PACE Piquante sauce…hot of course.
We also use the jack-a-lope meat instead of beef…lol!
Rusty
Thanks for another great recipe! I know what we will be having for supper tomorrow night! I am fortunate to have a hubby that loves groung beef, just about any way ya fix it.
Meant to tell you also…….I made your wonderful Apple Dumpling recipe a few days ago,,,,only I used slightly under- ripe Nectarines! It was a HUGE success!