Instant Pot Walking Taco Casserole–an easy one pot Mexican dinner with rice, enchilada sauce, seasoned ground beef, melty cheese and Fritos! Top with lettuce, tomatoes and a dollop of sour cream. Mmmmm!
Instant Pot Walking Taco Casserole
I love walking tacos! A walking taco is a small bag of Fritos with a scoop of taco meat and then a bunch of toppings like lettuce, tomatoes, sour cream and olives. It’s a fun way to eat tacos/taco salad on the go.
This Instant Pot walking taco casserole is a family size meal that has all the flavors of walking tacos in one pot. This casserole turns one pound of meat into 6 servings. The most important part is the Fritos and melty cheese on top! Yum yum! You’re going to love this dinner.
- You can make this casserole with either white or brown rice. Brown rice (20 minutes) will take a few more minutes to cook than white rice (5 minutes).
- Use your favorite brand and spice level of enchilada sauce. I used a mild red sauce.
- You can use ground turkey in the place of ground beef.
- Colby jack cheese can be subbed with cheddar or Monterey jack cheese.
- Don’t forget the lettuce, tomatoes for color and freshness. It really takes the meal to a new level.
- Pickled jalapenos are a fun addition and add a bit of bite. Find them in the aisle next to the pickles.
- This dish can be gluten free. Just make sure the corn chips and broth are gluten free.
- If you don’t have an air fryer lid you can just put the normal lid on the Instant Pot and let the cheese melt on the warm setting for a few minutes.
- Store the leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. The Fritos do get soggy so it’s best served fresh.
More Instant Pot Recipes You’ll Love…
Instant Pot Taco Stuffed Peppers
Instant Pot Fiesta Chicken Casserole
Instant Pot Cattle Drive Casserole
Want More Tried And True Instant Pot Recipes?
- Sign up to receive daily Instant Pot recipes (it’s FREE)
- Join the 365 Days of Instant Pot Recipes Facebook group
- Subscribe to my YouTube channel
- Buy the 365 Days of Pressure Cooking Cookbook
Instant Pot Walking Taco Casserole
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 5 minutes (plus 5 minute NPR)
- Total Time: 20 minutes
- Yield: 6 servings 1x
Description
An easy one pot Mexican dinner with rice, enchilada sauce, seasoned ground beef, melty cheese and Fritos! Top with lettuce, tomatoes and a dollop of sour cream.
Ingredients
- 1 pound lean ground beef
- 1 cup diced onion
- 3/4 tsp kosher salt
- 1 tsp cumin
- 1 tsp chili powder
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp smoked paprika
- 1 1/4 cups chicken or beef broth
- 1 cup white or brown rice
- 1 (10 oz) can red or green enchilada sauce (I used mild)
- 1 (4 oz) can diced green chiles
- 1/2 cup sour cream
- 2 cups shredded colby jack cheese, divided
- 2–3 cups Fritos
- Toppings: shredded lettuce, diced tomatoes, chopped cilantro, pickled jalapenos, sour cream
Instructions
- Turn Instant Pot to saute setting. When the display says HOT add in the beef and break it up. Add in the onions. Brown for about 5 minutes. Drain off excess grease. Stir in the salt, cumin, chili powder, garlic powder and smoked paprika.
- Pour in the broth and scrape the bottom of the pot so that nothing is sticking. Turn off the Instant Pot.
- Sprinkle in the rice, don’t stir, but gently press with a spoon to submerge.
- Pour the enchilada sauce and green chiles on top.
- Cover Instant Pot and secure the lid. Make sure valve is set to sealing. Set the manual/pressure cook button to 5 minutes for white rice or 20 minute for brown rice. When time is up let the pot sit for 5-10 minutes and then move the valve to venting. Remove the lid.
- Stir in the sour cream. Sprinkle on half of the cheese, all of the Fritos, and then the other half of the cheese. Put the air fryer lid on top and turn it on for a couple of minutes, until cheese is melted.
- Scoop onto plates and top with lettuce, tomato, pickled jalapenos, cilantro and extra sour cream. Eat and enjoy!
Notes
If you don’t have an air fryer lid you can just put the normal lid on the Instant Pot and let the cheese melt on the warm setting for a few minutes.
I used my 6 quart Instant Pot Duo 60 7 in 1*. You can also use your 3 or 8 quart pot.
- Category: Beef
- Method: Instant Pot
*Karen Petersen is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.
The flavor deserves a 5, however, the since the brown rice was not cooked, I only gave it a 4. Most of your recipes require a 22 minute cook time for brown rice, but I followed the directions. Is this a typo? It was good with reduced sodium chicken broth and 2% Greek yogurt in place of sour cream.
★★★★
Now that I’m looking back at it I’m not sure why I used 20 instead of 22. It probably is a typo!
Wow, this was so good. I substituted Morningstar Crumbles for the beef as I often do. The first comment from the the family was, “you should have doubled the recipe”! A new favorite to make often, thank you for another excellent recipe Karen!
★★★★★
Ahhh I love hearing this Chad! Thank you!
Sounds really good but my family really doesn’t like rice in their Mexican food. Does it need to go in or will it change the time of cooking?
Thanks
Well, without the rice you won’t need to pressure cook it. You could brown beef on the stove add in a few seasonings (not so much since rice won’t absorb them) and the enchilada sauce. Then serve with the sour cream, fritos and cheese.
Sounds like a great recipe. Could you substitute salsa for the enchilada sauce?
Yes you could!