Have you ever had a Frito pie??!! Well if not you’re in for a treat because we made this Instant Pot Frito chili pie recipe last night and it was the bomb! With crunchy chips on top or poured over the top this is a family favorite meal of all time.
If you loved our 5 ingredient Instant Pot chili this takes it a step further and is a Southern dish you will surely add to your meal planning.
If you’ve never tried this you aren’t totally alone. I will say you’re missing out though!! Oh yes you NEED to make this easy Instant Pot Frito pie recipe on the stovetop or in your Instant Pot!! Definitely a favorite amongst all of our easy Instant Pot recipes. (affiliate links present, originally published 6/18)
Instant Pot Frito Pie
Think about total comfort food with a bit of a kick, this is it! We started with our Instant Pot chili and created this oldie but goodie dish. You could make Ninja Foodi chili too, it doesn’t matter what brand of pressure cooker you have at home.
Load this up with all the toppings you love like sliced avocados, jalapenos and/or cheese and OMG. Paired with these crunchy crispy corn chips your kids will definitely ask for seconds.
FIRST – You should sign up for my free newsletter so you get new posts emailed to you twice a week and never miss out on anything! Now let’s start with a few basic tips:
- Make sure to Bookmark our InstaPot recipes page. We add new ones each week!
- Then PRINT this —–> Instant Pot cooking times cheat sheet that will help you understand how long meat, vegetables and beans take to cook in your pressure cooker.
- This is a great InstaPot cookbook and a set of wooden utensils are great to grab too.
- I HIGHLY recommend you buy this non stick pot.
- You should still deglaze pressure cooker after sautéing but it won’t have as many issues with this better liner.
For reference, this is the pressure cooker I have (a 6 quart) and use for all recipe creations.

Instant Pot Frito Pie Recipe
You can totally make it either way but I’m a bit obsessed with my fancy pressure cooker so we are going to go with that….but I’ll explain both ways to you…..
I had it for the first time when I lived in Texarkana and went to a local fair. I had no idea when I got there what that even meant since in Ca. that just wasn’t a thing. Since I already loved the chips I thought I’d give it a whirl and OMG was it so good.
Transitioning it into something for a fun dinner idea with my own kiddos I thought I would use my pressure cooker this time. You could certainly use a pot on your stovetop instead but I love this multi cooker.

Ninja Foodi Frito Pie
These are the basic ingredients we used. Keep in mind there is an array of musts depending on where you are in the country and whom you talk to. Typically. people will have a family hand me down recipe that may have onions, insist on no beans or others that have to use cheese. Add what you love.
- Bag of Frito corn chips – I used the traditional smaller size, not dip size
- This is a GREAT camping recipe too, cook over a campfire, pour chili into small Frito bags, topped with toppings and serve in bag!!
- Black beans
- Enchilada sauce – I used mild and it still had quite a bit of kick to it
A great Ground beef recipe – you could use ground sausage too and I think that would be pretty killer
- Onion – just adds lots of flavor to everything
- Taco seasoning – you can make your own but I’m too lazy for that and buy one in the packet
- Diced tomatoes – I like petite diced in the can personally
- Chili powder or diced roasted jalapenos will make it spicy if you like
Toppings
- Shredded cheese
- Avocado – or guacamole
- Sour cream
- Green onions
- Slow cooker cornbread is a great side
Load on the toppings I say…….

Frito Chili Pie Recipe
Like I said, you can make this Instant Pot Frito chili pie style or on the stovetop. Just use a pot with a lid. Once it is done you can cover and keep warm so people can enjoy it over the next few hours. Another option is to pour it into a slow cooker and set to keep warm for longer. If you’re making it on the stovetop make it like this:
- Use a medium size pot on medium heat
- Add olive oil
- Put in ground beef and break up
- Add diced onion
- Cook until ground beef is cooked and onions are softening
- Turn heat to low
- Add packet of taco seasoning and stir so meat and onions are coated
- Add enchilada sauce, diced tomatoes (or tomato sauce for less of a chunk) and can of black beans
- Stir
- Allow mixture to come to a slow simmer and then turn off heat
For Instant Pot frito chili pie recipe; Put Fritos on plate + scoop of meat + some Fritos + all the toppings you want. There really isn’t any pressure cooking necessary for this one. You just need to use the saute feature so no waiting for it to come to pressure which makes it a lot faster indeed.

Instant Pot Chili Frito Pie
You can use lots of other options to make our Instant Pot frito chili pie recipe as well if you run out of these chips!! Tortilla types are just fine but will have a different flavor since those are made from the flour vs. corn versions. Another one we love is to pour this over crisped tater tots y’all. I know, you have got to try this option too right???
With that said if you do have any leftovers you can totally save it and use what you have to create a whole new dish the next day. You’ll need to wait until it cools down completely first and then pour it into a bowl with a lid.
Put into the fridge and warm within the next 3 days. It is even good just eaten as is really, just like a thinner chili. Jump to recipe and get started friends!
Want to see a few of my favorite things that I am totally obsessed with?? Take a peek and see how many you might already have…twinsies!
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Instant Pot Frito Chili Pie
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 lb ground beef
- 16 oz enchilada sauce
- 15 oz black beans
- 7 oz diced tomatoes I like petite diced, in can
- 1/2 onion diced
- 1 packet taco seasoning
- 2 c cheese Mexican cheese blend
- 2 avocados sliced
- 1 c sour cream
- 1 bag Fritos corn chips
Instructions
- If using Instant Pot set to saute and add ground beef and onions, cook until pink is gone, if making on stovetop do the same on low in a pot on the stovetop.
- Turn Instant Pot off or leave on low on the stovetop and add taco seasoning packet, mix until meat is covered with seasoning.
- Add can of black beans, enchilada sauce, and diced tomatoes and stir. Put lid on Instant Pot and close steam valve. Set to pressure high for 3 minutes or if using stovetop allow to heat up until it simmers nonstop while stirring consistently and then turn off stove and serve as directed below.
- Do a quick release on Instant Pot and serve as follows:Put a layer of Fritos, then a scoop of chili mixture, then fritos, a layer of cheese, slices of avocado, a dollop of sour cream and chives on top if desired. Serve!
Susan
Thursday 29th of July 2021
Instant Pot instructiosn say "and then turn off stove". Oops!