Updated on October 4th, 2023
These frito burgers are loaded with homemade chili con carne, cheddar cheese, and Frito chips! The homemade chili uses steak and bacon for the meat and consists of beans and various seasonings. For the steak, I just like to buy a package for pre-cut stew meat from the store. The squeeze of lime juice in the chili really helps to add a good amount of the flavor. The burgers can either be grilled or cooked on the stovetop. I prefer grilling but for this specific recipe, I cooked the burgers on a griddle. These burgers are great for game day. Enjoy.
Frito Burgers Recipe
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 6 Servings 1x
Ingredients
Scale
- Chili Con Carne-
- 4 strips bacon (chopped)
- 1lb beef stew meat, or chuck roast (cut into small chunks)
- 1 small onion (peeled and chopped)
- 2 garlic cloves (minced)
- 1 tablespoon chili powder
- 1 teaspoon ground chipotle chili
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 (14 ounce) can kidney beans (drained)
- 1 (14 ounce) can crushed tomatoes
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- ½ lime (juiced)
- 1 tablespoon masa corn flour
- salt and pepper
- Burgers-
- 2lbs ground chuck
- seasoning salt
- 1 red onion (sliced into rings)
- 6 slices cheddar cheese
- 1 bag frito chips
- 6 hamburger buns
Instructions
- Place the chopped bacon into a medium saucepan over medium heat. Brown the bacon and then add the chopped stew meat, onions and garlic. Cook for another 5-8 minutes or until the beef is browned on all sides. Stir occasionally.
- Add chili powder, chipotle chili, cumin, oregano and sugar to the pot. Add the crushed tomatoes and kidney beans. Add a ½ teaspoon of salt and a ½ teaspoon of pepper. Stir and cover. Bring the mixture to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 1 ½ to 2 hours, stirring occasionally, until the beef is very tender. Add the masa and lime juice. Stir and allow the masa to thicken the chili for another 5 minutes.
- Lightly grease the grates of an outdoor grill. Preheat the grill to medium-high heat. Form the ground beef into 6 patties. Sprinkle on both sides with seasoning salt. Grill the patties for about 5 minutes per side or until fully cooked (the internal temperature has reached 160 degrees F). During the last few minutes of cooking top each patty with a slice of cheddar cheese. Cook until the cheese has melted.
- Optional step: Turn the heat to low on the grill, and place the buns cut side down and cook until toasted, being careful not to burn the buns.
- To assemble to burgers: Place a couple of slices of red onion onto the top of the bottom bun, followed by a hamburger patty, a heaping scoop of the chili and frito chips. Place the top bun over the frito chips.