Frito Chili Pie

I found this recipe on Eat Cake for Dinner.  The original recipe is from Pioneer Woman and it's a really delicious homeade chili recipe served in Frito bags.  I've never seen this before and I thought it was such a great idea.  I was already planning to make chili for dinner so I opted for this version and it was a HUGE hit.  The kids and my husband really loved it although none of them would take more than one bite out of the bag, which is the fun part! They all just dumped it out into a bowl and mixed the fritos in with their chili.  After dinner was over I looked back at the Pioneer Woman's recipe and realized that I forgot to add the shredded cheese.  Honestly, it wasn't missed at all.  The chili is so good on it's own and aren't the fritos fattening enough? ;) I also substituted black bean for the pinto beans because I LOVE black bean chili.  I thought the chili was fairly spicy but no one in my family including the kids said a word about it being too spicy so I kept quiet.  I think this is a must try chili if you haven't found a really good chili recipe yet.

Ingredients:

1 lb ground beef

1 can tomato sauce

1 can of Rotel tomatoes and chiles

1 teaspoon ground oregano

1 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons ground cumin

2 tablespoons chili powder

1/2 cup water

1 can black beans, drained and rinsed

1 can red kidney beans, drained and rinsed

2 tablespoons masa or fine ground cormeal

Preparation:

In a large stockpot brown ground beef until no longer pink.  Drain excess fat.  Add in tomato sauce and Rotel tomatoes and chiles and mix to combine.  Now add oregano, salt, cumin and chili powder and mix well.  Add 1/2 cup of water to pot, stir and cover.  Let simmer on low for about 30 minutes.  Uncover pot and add drained and rinsed beans (add additional water, up to 1/2 cup if chili looks very thick).  Recover and simmer for an additional 20 minutes.  Mix masa with a little water, it should look like a grainy, wet paste.  Pour into chili and stir to combine.  Cover and simmer for about 15 minutes.

To serve:

Turn Frito bags on their sides and make a slit across the bag using a scissor.

Spoon chili directly into each Frito bag.  You can use a basket to keep them upright.

                                                                    Serve and Enjoy!

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