How to make a simple and easy walking taco recipe while camping. The best campfire dinner idea with Doritos, ground beef, and all your favorite toppings!
Let me count the ways I love tacos. Camping tacos are even better because they're so easy to make after a long day in the great outdoors.
If you've never had a walking taco, or some might call it taco in a bag, you are in for a treat. All you need are personal sized bags of Doritos, taco meat, and your favorite taco toppings.
Now you could also use another type of chip, like tortilla chips or Fritos Corn Chips. But our family favorite for this recipe are Nacho Cheese Doritos and Cool Ranch Doritos.
The only thing you really have to cook for this recipe is the taco meat. Easy peasy in a cast iron skillet over the campfire or on your camp stove.
While you're camping, be sure and try our favorite loaded campfire nachos too!
WHERE CAN I FIND THE ACTUAL RECIPE CARD?
If you’d rather skip all of my cooking tips, important info for this recipe, and similar recipe ideas – and get straight to the walking tacos recipe – just scroll down to the bottom, where you’ll find a printable recipe card.
WHAT IS A WALKING TACO?
It's called by so many names… Walking tacos, walking nachos, taco in a bag or tacos in a bag, and walking taco salad to name a few.
Basically, instead of a taco shell, you add the meat, sour cream, and taco toppings to a bag of Doritos. Then stir it all up and you have the makings of a really delicious taco.
All you need is a fork. And it's a lot less messy than regular tacos, I'll tell ya that much.
PREP FIRST BEFORE YOU COOK
Before you can make anything, you’ll need to do a little prep work first.
Making sure you have a campfire going is imperative because that’s where we’re going to cook the meat. You can also cook on a camp stove or grill.
I say that because I know a lot of the time when we’re out camping, we can’t have a campfire. So if a stove is all you’ve got, you can definitely still make this recipe.
Next you’ll need to prep all your veggies and actually cook the meat. Usually, we’ll cook the taco meat at the campsite, but sometimes we’ll cook it before we leave home and pack it in a plastic baggie in the cooler.
WALKING TACO BAR IDEAS
If you're making these tacos for a crowd, or even just for your family, here is a list of walking taco toppings or ingredients you may want to include.
- Lettuce
- Fresh diced tomatoes
- Cheddar cheese
- Monterey Jack cheese
- Sour cream
- Salsa
- Queso
- Hot sauce
- Jalapeños
- Green onions or red onion
- Avocados
The list could really go on and on.
HOW TO MAKE WALKING TACOS
You'll start by cooking the meat.
Your fire should be down to coals at this point, with a little bit of flame here and there. We prefer to use our tripod grill right above the coals.
You’ll want to watch it closely, though. You may need to adjust the height of the grill over the fire, so the pan doesn’t get so hot that it burns the meat.
- In a large cast iron skillet, sauté the chopped onion.
- Then add the ground beef and mix it up with the onion, stirring occasionally while cooking.
- Meanwhile, while waiting on the meat to cook, chop up the lettuce, tomatoes, and avocados. I recommend shredding cheese at home or buying already shredded cheese.
- When the meat is cooked through, go ahead and responsibly drain it. Then add the salsa and stir it into the meat. Allow the mixture to simmer for another 5-10 minutes.
Note: If you don't want to use salsa, you can also use taco seasoning or a seasoning mix.
Now for the Fun Part…
Layering your Doritos walking taco is the BEST part about this whole recipe, besides eating it.
You'll need individual size chip bags. You can crush chips in the bag or just leave them as is and they'll kinda crush up on their own when you stir everything in.
- Open the bag, crushing chips up a little bit if you want.
- Then add in a nice sized helping of the ground beef mixture.
- Add in a dollop of sour cream and your favorite toppings. We usually add lettuce, tomatoes, and avocados.
- Then sprinkle in the shredded cheese.
Give it all a good stir with a fork, mixing it all up really well.
And then it's ready to eat. Wasn't that easy? And so, so, so, so good!
Just writing up this recipe makes me hungry for more.
You wanna know the best part about this dinner idea? No dishes! Besides the skillet and cutting board. Win win!
MORE TACO RECIPES AND TEX-MEX FAVORITES:
SHOP KITCHEN TOOLS AND CAMPING GEAR FOR THIS RECIPE:
Cutting Board and Outdoor Knife Set
Food Strainer – Comes in handy for draining the meat.
Tripod Grill – While we rigged up our own tripod grill, you can also buy them. They come with slightly smaller grates, but still usable over the fire.
Portable Charcoal Grill or Camp Stove
We’ve put together a list of gear for your camping kitchen. Be sure to check it out for all the essentials!
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Easy Campfire Walking Taco Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon bacon grease*
- 1/2 medium yellow onion chopped
- 1 pound ground beef
- 3/4 cup salsa
- 5 1- ounce bags Nacho Cheese Doritos**
- 3/4 cup sour cream
- 1 cup lettuce chopped or shredded
- 1 cup tomatoes diced
- 2 avocados peeled and chopped
- 1 cup cheddar cheese shredded
- 1 cup Monterey Jack cheese shredded
Instructions
- Choose whether you'll cook on a camp stove, grill, or over the campfire. We like to cook over the fire when possible.
- Your fire should be down to coals at this point, with a little bit of flame here and there. We prefer to use our tripod grill right above the coals. You may need to adjust the height of the grill over the fire, so the pan doesn’t get so hot that it burns the meat.
- In a large cast iron skillet, sauté the chopped onion in the melted bacon grease or olive oil.
- Then add the ground beef and mix it up with the onion, stirring the mixture occasionally while cooking.
- Meanwhile, while waiting on the meat to cook, chop up the lettuce, tomatoes, and avocados.
- When the meat is cooked through, go ahead and responsibly drain it.
- Then stir the salsa into the meat.
- Allow the mixture to simmer for another 5-10 minutes.
- Open the bags of chips, crushing chips up a little bit if you want.
- Add in a nice sized helping of the ground beef mixture.
- Then add in a dollop of sour cream and your favorite toppings.*** We add lettuce, tomatoes, and avocados.
- Sprinkle in the shredded cheese.
- Give it all a good stir with a fork, mixing it all up really well.
- And then it's ready to eat!
