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.
You know I had a craving for this a couple of weeks ago and made it. I thought people would think it was weird, me wanting chili in August, but no one did when I said we made Frito Pie! 😛
Yum!! What a great, easy-to-put-together, have-on-hand-ready snack or dinner!
Love the rabbit story! I’ve never been to Texas…do you think they have chocolate candy Easter rabbits that size too?:)
Bountiful Blessings!
p.s. I haven’t been on a swing in ages! What fun!!
You didn’t know we have those big bunnies as pets in our backyard here in TX!! LOL Just kidding!! Looks yummy! Reminds me of going to the consession stand at baseball games and eating frito pie!
Thanks Christy, I live right outside of Houston, Texas and never even thought of using homemade chili for this. In concessions stands at our little field we cut open a bag of fritos along the long edge, pour a little chili right on top and then top with cheese. It’s a built in bowl! The kids love it! I will definitely try it with homemade chili next time we have it at home!
FRITO PIE!
Ya know, that used to be a regular on the lunch menu in the schools here in Texas! Still is a regular for a good fast meal here in our house. Good stuff Maynard. We just put a lot more chili on it. You gotta drown those Fritos then smother in cheese. 🙂
Oh, and that rabbit? He lives in my backyard along with my Longhorn Cattle right next to the oil well. 😉
My awesome Grandparents lived in Dallas for the first 10 years of my life….every summer, our 2 week trips out “west” to see them and back to Atlanta in the back of our station wagon always held excitement and wonder for me. I LOVE Texas, plus all the silly souvenirs at every gift shop. Thank you, Christy, for bringing up dear memories of precious times gone by.
Worrchsestireer sauce is a tough-y to say and spell ;-} so I usually mumble it, and quickly, despite my English heritage. ~sigh~ We do use mmubmblemummblele quite often in making dishes. Fritos are my FAVORITE chip or snack….so much so that I won’t buy them, or they would be gone in a flash. The saying goes, “Once on the lips, forever on the hips” so I know my limits. So maybe, next time I make chili, I will spring for a smaaaaall bag, so not many will be left….tee hee. Honey-pie often hosts a Poker Game night here and this would be a thumbs up from all the men, for sure. Thank you again for all the time and effort you are always putting out to others so selflessly. I personally think that you ROCK!
oh, btw, my last name of Leverett means “baby RABBIT under the age of one” on our English Family Crest…can I have that post card? tee hee j/k
Your stories of your Gramma just warm my heart. You are so good at reminding the little girl in me how WONDEROUS the world was when you are a little girl. I just LOVED the postcard and the recipe is a bonus! Smiles from the North…Ontario, Canada