If you were one of the hot lunch kids in elementary school, you undoubtedly had the pleasure of eating Walking Tacos. If you were a sack luncher, boy are you in for a treat.
For the unfamiliar, a Walking Taco is a bag of Fritos turned into a giant taco. It’s the most ingenious culinary invention since bacon wrapped everything. It was the perfect way for a cafeteria to serve tacos without turning into a nightmare Chipotle line. You didn’t pick which toppings you wanted. You got what was in the bag and you liked it.
There are plenty of variations on the Walking Taco. Some people use chili while others get all fancy with olives and jalapenos. I simply bought what I remembered from 4th grade. We kept it simple at Holy Family Elementary.
Of course back in the day we used the little 1-oz bags of Fritos that cost 25-cents. Now I’m pretty sure you can only get those in variety packs at Costco. Don’t worry, I have a plan for that.
Gratuitous meat picture!
There’s almost no cooking involved in making a Walking Taco, so even the least talented among us can get the job done. You just brown the meat, drain, add taco seasoning, cook some more. You could probably even do that in your gender-neutral Easy Bake Oven.
Here’s step one of my brilliant solution to having way too many Fritos. Dump some out! Genius, right? My call from the Food Network or Cooking Channel should be coming any day now.
I’m sure you’re now concerned about the height of the bag versus the actual contents in it, but I have that solved as well.
As you can see, the delicious ingredients for the Walking Taco are all the way at the top of the bag. You can confirm this by looking at the very first picture if you believe your eyes deceive you. I simply used the best life hack the internet has to offer. Roll the bottom of the bag into itself. You’re left with a free-standing lunch from heaven. Now feel free to cruise around the library or office while eating.
I came up with this from memory, then double checked Food.com to see if there were any glaring omissions. There were not. Good job, childhood.
Ingredients:
All quantities at your discretion.
- Bag(s) of Fritos, ideally 1-oz.
- Ground Beef
- Taco Seasoning (1 packet per lb of beef)
- Tomatoes
- Onion
- Mexican Blend Cheese
- Salsa
- Shredded Lettuce
- Sour Cream (if that’s your prerogative)
Instructions:
- Brown meat.
- Drain liquid, return to stove, add taco seasoning.
- Continue until cooked through.
- Separate and eat superfluous Fritos.
- If using medium bag, roll bottom into itself to create bowl.
- Add meat to chips, top with whatever the hell you want.
- Eat with spork.
- Get upset you don’t own a spork and use a spoon.
- Reminisce about playing in a cement parking lot for 30 minutes after lunch.
- Go back to real life.