Walking tacos are the ultimate deconstructed Mexican meal—simple, fun, and totally customizable. Perfect for game days, birthdays, or a casual weeknight dinner, these tacos served right in a bag of chips make hosting a breeze. Everyone can grab a bag, load it up with their favorite toppings, and enjoy a deliciously easy meal!
What Are Walking Tacos
Walking tacos are a fun, portable twist on traditional tacos. Instead of using a taco shell or tortilla, all your favorite taco ingredients are served right in a bag of chips—typically Doritos or Fritos. This deconstructed Mexican-inspired meal is perfect for parties, game days, or any event where easy, mess-free food is a must. Everyone can grab a bag, add their favorite taco toppings like cheese, lettuce, salsa, or sour cream, and enjoy a personalized meal on the go. Walking tacos are not just delicious but also super easy to make and clean up, making them a hit with both kids and adults!
Ingredients For Walking Tacos
- Taco meat: You can make this walking taco recipe with ground beef, ground turkey, or ground chicken. Use veggie crumbles, black beans, or your favorite meat alternative for a vegetarian or vegan version.
- Taco Seasoning: Use a store-bought packet or make your own homemade taco seasoning.
- Chips: Use the 1.75 large single serving bags of chips. I find the best chips for making walking tacos are nacho cheese Doritos, Fritos, tortilla chips, or your favorite kind of corn chips. For a low carb, protein-packed option, I love Quest Chips. You can also try gluten-free chips or skip the chips all together!
Walking Taco Toppings
- Tomato
- Green pepper, red pepper, or your favorite bell pepper variety
- Lettuce
- Onion
- Salsa or pico de gallo
- Sour cream or plain Greek yogurt
- Shredded cheese: Mexican cheese blend, Colby Jack, Monterey Jack, or cheddar cheese will all work well.
- Spanish rice
- Guacamole or avocado
- Queso Dip
- Black olives
See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.
Step-by-Step Guide: How to Make Walking Tacos
- Make The Meat Mixture: Brown the ground beef in a large skillet over medium heat. Drain any excess grease, then stir in taco seasoning and water (as directed on the seasoning packet). Simmer the beef mixture until fully cooked and the sauce thickens.
- Assemble: Cut each bag carefully along the side. Spoon a layer of seasoned meat directly into the bag and add your favorite toppings on top.
- Serve: Hand out the chip bags with a fork and dig into dinner! Enjoy!
How To Set Up a Walking Taco Bar for Parties
Walking tacos are a great way to feed a crowd, especially when you set up a “build your own taco bar.” Let each guest choose their own chip bag and fill it with their favorite proteins and taco toppings.
Consider adding extras like jalapeños, chili powder, hot sauce or taco sauce, or crumbled taco shells for extra crunch. Or, to round out the meal, serve some side options too. Mexican rice (or Spanish rice), refried beans, corn salad, Mexican street corn (Elote) pair perfectly!
And don’t forget to make it festive and fun with drinks and desserts! Make some margaritas, iced tea, punch, or lemonade to wash it down. After dinner, serve some sweets, like churros, Mexican ice cream, sopapillas or cinnamon sugar cheesecake bars.
Tips & Variations
- Maintain The Moisture: If you’re using slow cookers or warming trays, keep the proteins moist by adding a little liquid (broth, salsa, or water) to prevent them from drying out during the event.
- Choose Your Cheese: Shred your cheese instead of using a pre-shredded package. Pre-shredded cheese often has added anti-caking agents that can make it clump.
More TWists on Taco REcipes
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Walking Tacos
Ingredients
- 1 pound Ground beef or Turkey
- 1 package Taco Seasoning (The Doritos have a lot of seasoning so cut the amount of seasoning in half to avoid over seasoning)
- 4 1.75 Bags Large single serving bags of Doritos
- 1 Tomato
- 1 Green pepper
- 3 cups Lettuce shredded
- 1 jar Salsa
- 8 ounces Sour Cream
- 1 package Shredded Cheese
- 1 box Spanish rice
Instructions
- Prepare the ground meat according to the directions on the taco seasoning package (use only about 1/2 of the seasoning packet), cook rice and cut all of the vegetables.
- Cut the bag along the side, rather than opening at the top.
- Add the ingredients of your choice.
- Grab a fork. Dig in. Enjoy!
Jenn’s Notes
- Protein: Once cooked, room temperature ground meat can be stored in airtight containers for up to 3-4 days in the fridge or in the freezer for up to 3 months.
- Taco Toppings: Store any leftover taco toppings separately in airtight containers for a few days to maintain their freshness.
- To Reheat: When reheating proteins or beans, add a little bit of liquid (broth, salsa, or water) to prevent them from drying out. Reheat thoroughly to an internal temperature of 165°F.
Do these Dorito bags have to be served immediately? Or are they still good to take for lunch at work
I would keep the meat and toppings separate, but then you can combine them and eat them the next day.
Was invented at pow-wow across Canada. The only place I’ve seen this…and they’re originally called “taco in a bag”.
They have had this at HS football games here for at least four years.
Also, before I open the bag, I break up the chips with my hand! This way the chips aren’t too big!
This is prison food !!
This has been around for years. Just open the bag at the top. It’s less work. Nacho Doritos are better for tacos.
This is fair food, using fritoes
What a great idea to cut the bag along its side rather than just opening it from the top — much less messy than reaching down into the bag to get to the food!
but way messier