Let’s Settle It: Is It a Walking Taco or Frito Pie?

Food dialect and vernacular across the U.S. can sometimes be strange, especially when you meet someone who doesn’t know what the heck “pop” is because they call it “soda”—but it’s also really fascinating. Take the humble mountain pie, for example; you might not know what it is by its name. But, when we describe it as two pieces of white bread smothered with pie filling and cooked over a blazing fire, you might have an ah-ha moment because you know what it is by its other names (like campfire pie or pudgy pie).

We think learning about new foods and terms is one of the best parts of being a foodie. So when one of our team members brought up Thomas Rhett and Lauren Akins’ favorite tailgating snack—the Frito pie—it sparked a debate over whether Rhett meant a traditional Frito pie or a walking taco since many people use the words interchangeably.

But is there really a difference between the dishes made with a bag of chips and topped with meat? Yes, yes, there is—and it's all in the toppings.

What Is a Walking Taco?

A walking taco is a Midwestern classic that’s found at tailgates, fairs, and, frequently, school cafeterias. What makes a walking taco a walking taco is the use of taco-seasoned ground beef added directly to a bag of chips.

The portability of the meal is what makes it a great street food—and likely where it got its name, “walking” taco.

A walking taco starts with an individual-sized bag of corn chips—typically Doritos or Fritos—or tortilla chips complete with seasoned taco meat and your favorite taco toppings, like salsa, cheese, sour cream, lettuce, and tomatoes. Which chips you use as the base is a matter of personal preference—unlike a Frito pie, which requires using Fritos.

How to Make Walking Tacos

To make a walking taco, you start by lightly crushing the unopened bag of chips, then add the meat and toppings of your choice before lightly shaking the bag to incorporate everything, and enjoying on the go.

What Is a Frito Pie?

Frito pie is a Southern and Southwestern comfort food staple found at tailgates, fairs, and even restaurants. Unlike a walking taco, a Frito pie is always made with, you guessed it, Fritos. 

But that’s not even the main difference between the two foods—the thing that sets a Frito pie apart from a walking taco is that a Frito pie is topped with chili instead of taco meat.

How to Make Frito Pie

Frito pie starts with a bag of Fritos—either in the individual-sized bag or dumped into a bowl or casserole dish (another thing that’s different than a walking taco, which is always served from the bag). It then gets topped with your favorite chili and chili toppings, like cheese, jalapeños, and onions.

The three methods are all a little bit different. The bowl method is simply dumping whole Fritos into a bowl and topping it with the chili. While the casserole method involves actually baking the Fritos, chili, and cheese. The bag method starts by lightly crushing the Fritos before adding the chili and toppings and shaking it to mix—similar to a walking taco.

What About Other Regional Names?

What makes this debate even more confusing is the regionality of the names.

Some people—like our friends at "Southern Living"—call the Frito pie a walking taco when served in a Frito bag—even though it’s still topped with chili. But Midwesterners would say that that’s not really a walking taco because chili topping always denotes a Frito pie.

To go even further, some Southerners and Southwesterners say that even a meal made with taco meat and served with Fritos would be called a Frito pie because anything with Fritos makes it a Frito pie, chili or not.

Then, you have certain Midwesterners, specifically in the Ohio Valley, that call the walking taco a “taco in a bag.” And some West Coasters call Frito pie “pepper bellies.”

Even Frito-Lay itself has called the creation both Frito pie and walking tacos, so in the end, it really is all about where you live—but it sure is fun to debate about “the correct” name over a nice bag of meat-topped-chips.