Time: 30 minutes
Feeds: 4 people
Ingredients:
- Small individual bags of chips, preferably Fritos and Doritos
- 1 lb ground beef
- 1 packet of taco seasoning
- 3/4 cup water
- 1 can black beans, undrained
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp onion powder
- 1/4 tsp paprika
- 1/4 tsp chili powder
- 1/4 tsp cumin
- pinch of salt
- pinch of dried oregano
- smallest pinch of MSG (optional)
- Mexican shredded cheese, for serving
- Sour cream, for serving
- Salsa, for serving
- Sliced black olives, for serving
Directions:
For the taco meat: In a medium skillet, add the ground beef and start to cook, breaking up the meat to create a single layer in the pan. Continue cooking until the meat is no longer pink and has started to brown in places. Add the taco seasoning and 3/4 cup of water and simmer until the sauce has thickened.
For black beans: Although this step is completely optional, I like to doctor my beans a bit for extra flavor. Add canned black beans with the juices to a small saucepan. Add garlic powder, onion powder, paprika, chili powder, cumin, salt, and dried oregano to the beans and heat on medium. I also will sometimes add the smallest pinch (usually no more than an 1/8 teaspoon) of MSG to the beans as well as they can take the salt and sometimes need that deeper umami flavor. Simmer for at least 5 minutes to let the flavors come together. Remove from heat and set aside for assembly.
For taco assembly: Open a bag of chips and add some shredded cheese as a base layer. Then add some beans and taco meat. Finish by topping with more cheese, salsa, sour cream, and sliced black olives. If eating out of the bag is a little unwieldy, you can dump the taco onto a plate and eat it that way!
Notes: This is a very versatile recipe and can be modified to make it however you like! You could use any kind of ground meat you wanted or could even use fajita meat, birria beef, etc. Of course, the toppings can be changed to fit your tastes as well. We really liked these on Doritos (either cool ranch or nacho cheese) and thought they were great on Fritos too. The Fritos are a little saltier so something to keep in mind. We each had 2 bags and it was perfect!