My conclusive result from maximizing this classic ballpark recipe is that tacos built in a Fritos bag are just good tacos. Tacos built-in Flaming Hot Cheetos bags with the works? WORLD CLASS. It’s been a dream of mine to recreate walking tacos with different bases and the works when it comes to toppings. I layered the taco meat over your favorite bag of chips, with a spoonful of homemade queso, shredded lettuce, diced onion, fresh cilantro, pickled jalapenos, more chips, more meat, more queso, sour cream, diced tomato, sliced green onion, and finished with crumbled queso fresco and Valentina hot sauce. When I tell you this is a LOADED walking taco, you better believe it. It’s more like a loaded walking burrito than a walking taco.

First, you have to pick your chips. Now don’t just go out and buy those tiny bags of chips for your next party without buying bigger bags. Let the tiny bags be the base of the taco, then set out a bowl of the bulk chips to add for toppings. They can mix and match, it’s a fun choose-your-own-adventure.

Let’s talk about the taco meat. Don’t overseason your meat. For every pound of ground beef, only use half a packet of taco seasoning. There is lots of salt in the chips and cheeses already, so be conscious. My trick to making ground taco meat go far is by breaking it up very fine. The trick is to add broth or water to the pan when you’re cooking your taco meat. This will help thin the ground beef particles as it cooks instead of seizing up in big clumps without any liquid.

The homemade queso is an optional step, that I of course LOVE! It’s a LOADED walking taco after all and who doesn’t love homemade cheese sauce with their nachos? The secret to this component is keeping it warm and the jalapeno brine. Use a small crockpot set up next to the chips to keep it nice and loose. You may have to triple the queso recipe to make enough for the crock, but the good news is you still only need one jar of jalapenos. Reserve the brine and besides adding to the recipe, it helps to thin the cheese sauce out as it sits.

Let’s bring this taco party back to our summer barbecues. Have a BYO nacho night and make it interesting with a crock of homemade hot cheese sauce and put out bowls of fun chips to mix in with your tortilla chips. This is fun food, so remember to make sure you’re having fun.