There’s something magical about the meeting of perfectly spiced beef and salty-but-sweet fried… There’s something magical about the meeting of perfectly spiced beef and salty-but-sweet fried corn.

Sure, the fried taco shell is an innovation of Tex-Mex cooking rather than an authentic slice of Mexico, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t delicious. Use a bag of corn chips instead with all the trimmings, and you have a new kind of mobile taco.

The recipe is a variation on something the Lone Star State has known about for a long time — the Frito pie. Unlike with that dish, however, you’ll be ready to eat out of the foil-lined bag after very minimal preparation. No, it isn’t the most elegant, but it’s great. It’s a walking taco.

Ingredients:

The essentials:

1 pound lean ground beef

1 packet taco seasoning

Roughly 2/3 of a cup of water

7 individual bags of Fritos

Shredded monterey jack or cheddar cheese to taste

Trimmings:

Sour cream — an essential

Chopped lettuce

Diced onion

Diced tomatoes

Salsa

Taco sauce

1. Start by preparing your ingredients for later. Chopping lettuce and tomatoes or shredding cheese now will make completing the rest of the recipe a breeze.

2. Break up and brown the beef in a skillet over medium heat. Drain the excess fat.

3. Stir in the taco seasoning and whatever amount of water is recommended by its packet, and let simmer for about 20 minutes.

4. When the flavors of the taco meat concoction have mingled appropriately, remove from heat.

5. Open a bag of Fritos, add a scoop of ground beef and dress with condiments to your liking.

6. Pick up a knife or fork — perhaps a spork — and enjoy.

Variations:

Chili instead of ground beef, making the final product more like a Frito pie

Doritos or other corn chips in place of Fritos

Beans in place of meat for a vegetarian version