Easy Impossible Taco Pie

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.

Jump to:

• Why Is It Called Impossible?
• Ingredients – Here’s What You’ll Need
• Steps – Here’s How To Make The Taco Meat
• The Bisquick Custard and Finishing the Taco Pie
• Frequently Asked Questions
• Recipe Tips and Tricks
• Other Taco Meat-Based Recipes
• Recipe

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

1. 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. 

2. 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.

3. 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.

4. 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.

5. 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

1. 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.

2. Then, I added the Bisquick to the milk/egg mixture and whisked everything together.

3. 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.

4. 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.

5. 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

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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Recipe