Easy Impossible Taco Pie is a simple and delicious dish for the whole family. This recipe is a twist on the classic Bisquick Impossible Pie that uses taco-seasoned ground beef. This savory pie is a perfect dish for a busy weeknight dinner or a casual weekend brunch. Read on to find out how to make this amazing recipe.

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Why Is It Called Impossible?
This savory pie is called impossible because it forms its own crust as it bakes. A custard made with milk, eggs, and Bisquick is poured on top of a savory taco meat mixture. The Bisquick settles to the bottom as the pie cooks to form a thin crust. The eggs and milk rise to the top and become a custard-type covering of the taco meat.
Bisquick popularized the name impossible pie in the 1970s when printed the recipe on the back of the Bisquick boxes. The first impossible pie introduced by Bisquick was a coconut one. After that, numerous variations like this taco pie started appearing.
Ingredients – Here’s What You’ll Need
This recipe uses three basic groups of ingredients for the Impossible Taco Pie – taco-flavored meat, Bisquick custard, and shredded cheese on top.
- Taco-Flavored Meat: You can use your favorite taco-flavored meat in this recipe. I’m including the ingredients that I use for my taco meat. Ground beef, taco seasoning, Rotel Original Diced Tomatoes & Green Chilies, water, Velveeta cheese, and cornmeal. I like to use my Homemade Taco Seasoning, but you could also use store-bought taco seasoning.
- Bisquick Custard: The Bisquick custard uses milk, eggs, and Bisquick.
- Shredded Cheese on Top: I used shredded extra sharp cheddar cheese on top of the pie.
Steps – Here’s How To Make The Taco Meat
- I started by browning and crumbling ground beef in a skillet over medium heat. Once the ground beef was cooked, I drained it in a colander and rinsed it with hot water to remove as much fat as possible.
Some oppose my rinsing the cooked ground beef because I’m rinsing away fat and flavor. You can certainly omit the rinsing. However, I’ve consistently found that the real flavor comes from what is added to the cooked ground beef.
Before returning the ground beef to the skillet, I rubbed it between my hands to further crumble the pieces. I prefer the ground beef to be crumbled into small pieces in this dish and other dishes.
- Next, I returned the drained ground beef to the skillet over medium heat. I added taco seasoning, Rotel tomatoes, and water. After stirring everything together, I allowed the mixture to come to a boil.
Then, I reduced the heat to medium-low, covered the skillet, and let it cook until most of the liquid had evaporated. This took about 20 minutes.
- Once most of the liquid had evaporated, I added the cubed Velveeta cheese. I covered the skillet to allow the cheese to melt. This took about five minutes.
- Once the cheese had melted, I removed the cover and stirred everything together. I thought the mixture needed a bit of thickening, so I stirred in some cornmeal.
I’ve been using cornmeal to thicken taco meat since I was a kid. You can certainly omit this step if you like.
- Finally, I transferred the taco meat to a 9-inch pie plate sprayed with non-stick spray.
The Bisquick Custard and Finishing the Taco Pie
- I started by whisking the milk and eggs together in a measuring cup for the Bisquick custard. I used a measuring cup to make pouring the custard onto the taco meat easier.
- Then, I added the Bisquick to the milk/egg mixture and whisked everything together.
- I poured the Bisquick custard on top of the taco meat in the pie plate. I baked the taco pie in a preheated 400°F oven for 25 minutes.
- After 25 minutes, I removed the taco pie from the oven and topped it with shredded cheddar cheese. I returned the taco pie to the 400°F oven for another 10 minutes to allow the cheese to melt.
- Once the cheese was melted, I removed the taco pie from the oven. I let it cool for about five minutes before topping the taco pie with shredded lettuce, diced tomatoes, and a dollop of sour cream.
I served the Impossible Taco Pie with a light salad on the side. It was absolutely delicious. What’s even better is that the leftovers were just as tasty. Yum!
Frequently Asked Questions
Feel free to substitute ground turkey in this recipe. In fact, you can also substitute ground chicken or ground pork.
As a kid, I started using Velveeta cheese and cornmeal in taco meat years ago. I like the creaminess of the Velveeta cheese and the cornmeal’s thickening power. However, feel free to omit either or both of these ingredients.
You can use any type of shredded cheese that you like. Monterey Jack, Colby Jack, Pepper Jack, or Mexican blend cheese would also be good.
One of the beauties of this recipe is that you can tailor the toppings to your preference. In addition to lettuce, tomatoes, and sour cream, you can use chopped green onions, salsa, guacamole, black olives, jalapeños, or crushed corn chips.
Recipe Tips and Tricks
- For years, I’ve drained cooked ground beef in a colander and rinsed it with hot water to remove as much fat as possible. The taco seasoning and Rotel tomatoes provide the flavor to the taco meat, so I don’t feel that I’m rinsing away much flavor.
- The pie plate that I used in this recipe was a Pyrex pie plate, which is somewhat shallow. Therefore, I had to be careful not to over-fill the pie plate when adding the Bisquick custard. In fact, I could not use all of the custard I had made. A deeper dish pie plate might have been a better option.
- Even though this is called a pie, don’t expect the impossible bottom “crust” to be crispy.
- The Impossible Taco Pie leftovers are just as good the next day. However, I scrape off the toppings before covering it and refrigerating it. Generally, I reheat it in the microwave.
Other Taco Meat-Based Recipes
For other taco meat-based recipes, check out these favorites.
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Easy Impossible Taco Pie
Equipment
- 1 9-inch pie plate
Ingredients
Taco Meat
- 1 pound (16 ounces) ground beef (See Tip 1)
- 3 Tablespoon Taco Seasoning (See Tip 2)
- 10 ounce can Rotel Original Diced Tomatoes & Green Chilies
- ½ cup water
- 1 cup (4 ounces) Velveeta cheese, cubed
- 2 Tablespoons cornmeal for thickening, optional
Bisquick Custard
- 1 cup milk (See Tip 3)
- 2 large eggs
- ½ cup Bisquick
Taco Pie
- Taco Meat
- Bisquick Custard
- 1 cup (4 ounces) shredded cheddar cheese (See Tip 4)
- Lettuce, tomato, and sour cream for garnish
Instructions
Taco Meat
- Brown and crumble ground beef in a large skillet over medium heat. Drain well in a colander. (See Tip 5)
- Return drained ground beef to the skillet over medium heat. Add taco seasoning Rotel tomatoes, and water. Stir to combine. Bring to a boil; reduce heat to medium-low. Cover and cook until most of the liquid has evaporated, about 20 minutes.
- Remove the cover; add Velveeta cheese. Replace the cover and cook until the cheese has melted, about five minutes. If desired, add cornmeal to thicken the mixture.
Bisquick Custard
- Whisk together milk and eggs. Add Bisquick; whisk until well combined.
Taco Pie
- Preheat oven to 400°F. Spray a 9-inch pie plate with non-stick spray.
- Transfer taco meat to the prepared pie plate. Smooth out the surface. Pour on Bisquick custard, being careful not to overfill. (See Tip 5)
- Bake in a preheated 400°F oven for 25 minutes. Remove from oven and top with shredded cheese. Return to the oven for another 10 minutes or until the cheese has melted.
- Remove from the oven. Allow to cool for five minutes. Garnish with shredded lettuce, diced tomatoes, and a dollop of sour cream. (See Tip 6)
- Yield: Six servings. (See Tip 7)
Video
Tips/Notes
- I used 90% ground beef in this recipe. You can substitute ground turkey, ground chicken, or ground pork for the ground beef.
- I like to use my Homemade Taco Seasoning. You could also use store-bought, but will need one and a half packages.
- If you’re using a shallow pie plate, consider reducing the amount of milk to ¾ cup. Otherwise, you may not be able to use all of the custard.
- I used extra sharp cheddar cheese that I shredded myself. You could also use pre-shredded cheese in this recipe. In this recipe, you could also substitute Monterey Jack, Colby Jack, Pepper Jack, or Colby cheese for the cheddar cheese.
- Depending on the depth of your pie plate, you may not be able to use all of the custard without the mixture overfilling the pie plate.
- Other garnishes include salsa, guacamole, sliced olives, green onions, jalapeños, and crushed corn chips.
- Leftovers if any can be reheated in the microwave.
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