Taco Ranch Bites – seriously delicious!! Only 6 ingredients! Ground beef, taco seasoning, diced tomatoes and green chiles, cheddar cheese, ranch dressing, and phyllo tart shells. Can make ahead and refrigerate or freeze for later. I always have a batch in the freezer for a quick snack! Great for tailgating and parties! I never come home with leftovers. Everyone LOVES these cheesy taco bites. #tailgating #taco #beef #ranch #appetizer #partyfood #freezermeal
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Pin This RecipeIt is FINALLY college football season. This weekend all the big dogs are playing. It’s like Christmas at our house! I’m making lots of food for us to snack on while watching all the games. These Taco Ranch Bites are definitely on the menu! Taco Meat, ranch dressing, cheese, and diced tomatoes and green chiles baked in phyllo tarts. Seriously delicious! I ate WAY TOO many of these things when I created them. I can not wait to make this again this weekend!
How to Make Taco Ranch Bites
As I said, these taco phyllo bites are super easy to make. Just combine taco meat, ranch dressing, and cheese. Spoon the taco mixture into some frozen phyllo cups and bake. Just a quick note – this is made with phyllo tart shells. Look for the phyllo tart shells in the frozen dessert section – near the puff pastry.
You can make these tarts ahead of time and refrigerate or freeze for a quick snack later. I keep the trays and boxes of phyllo tarts and just freeze them in that. Works great! You can bake them from frozen – just add a minute or two to the cooking time.
Taco Ranch Bites are Great for a Crowd
We LOVE these easy Taco Ranch Bites. This recipe makes 75 bites, so it is perfect for a crowd!! These bites taste great hot out of the oven or room temperature. Give these a try for your next party! I promise there won’t be any leftovers!! YUM!
Taco Ranch Bites
Equipment:
Ingredients:
- 1 lb ground beef
- 1 (1-oz) package taco seasoning
- 1 (10-oz) can diced tomatoes and green chiles, undrained
- 2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
- 1 (8-oz) bottled ranch dressing
- 5 (15-count) frozen phyllo tart shells
Instructions:
- Preheat oven to 350ºF.
- In a skillet, cook ground beef until no longer pink. Drain fat.
- Add taco seasoning and diced tomatoes and green chiles. Stir and cook for 5 minutes. Remove from heat.
- Combine shredded cheddar cheese, Ranch dressing, and taco meat.
- Spoon taco meat mixture into frozen phyllo tart shells. You can freeze for later at this point.
- Bake for 8-10 minutes, until cheese melts. (Add 2-3 minutes to the baking time if baking frozen tarts).
Notes:
Steph
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OMG…so worth it just reading the comments! Some people should just not be allowed in the kitchen. Your responses were so kind🤗
I used wonton wrappers due to not being able to find the tarts. They worked great. I also used a tequila lima seasoning mixed with sour cream and drizzled it over the bites. These were a big hit.
I know you are big on using Rotel. Can the tomatoes and green chilies be subbed for Rotel?
Tomatoes and green chiles ARE Rotel
I have signed up to receive your recipe emails at least 3-4 times now and I STILL am NOT receiving any Can you explain why this is happening. I love your recipes and would like to see them in my email box Thanks
I can see that you opened today’s email – please let me know if you have any other issues.
This is a keeper as an easy, go-to appetizer. They have the perfect crunch from baked phyllo cup, and deliciousness from the taco meat mixture. Did I mention how addictive they are and how everyone will absolutely love them?? Have never heard a complaint yet! :).
My store was out of shells, so I used puff pastry sheets, cut into squares and put in muffin tins. Worked great, but a little greasy. I am going to make again today with the actual phyllo shells, can’t wait.
I’m going to try to make these but can’t find any of the shells. Is there anything different that I can use
I would use Tostito’s Scoops
Can you make the filling and fill the tarts and refrigerate them until evening and then bake? Will the shells become soggy? Freezer is pretty jammed right now to freeze.
Can I cook them the day before and reheat in the microwave?
If I am transporting these to a tailgate, will they become soggy? 6 hour drive and plan to put in heated cooler to keep everything hot.
I made these for a birthday party OMG they were delicious and I could not believe how fast they were gone I should have made double super easy and everyone loved them I will definitely make again
This was a super easy recipe and tastes awesome. I got lots of compliments!
SO glad they were a hit!
Do the pastry shells need to be bakes ahead of time?
NO
Could I use crushed tomatoes and add in the green chilis?????
SOUNDS AMAZINGLY DELICIOUS!!!!!!
Thanks, Jan
sounds like it would work!
I’ve made these using wonton wrappers also
has anyone used ground chicken instead of beef, if so how did it taste.
I’m sure it will taste fine if you like chicken
So good & so easy! I couldn’t find tart shells so just used 5 layered sheets and cut them into squares. Put them in muffin tin & good to go. So tasty! Nice to have a new go to appi!
Do you think after cooking, these could be left on warm in the oven for a bit? Or do you think this would overcook the shells?
These are soooo good, people! The tasty taco filling and crispy fillo cups, that can be dressed up (i.e., chopped black olives, green onion, tiny dollop of sour cream, etc.) OR just as-is. Everyone loved them!!
— Note:. If storing leftovers in refrig, the fillo cups tends to absorb a bit and loses the crispiness…fyi. Wonder if re-heat at higher temp might have worked better? Will try that next time. ……Thank you, Stephanie, for the recipe share!
SO glad you and your friends/family enjoyed them!!! LOVE your dressed-up version.
What did you sprinkle on them when they came out of the oven?
dried parsley
I cannot find the frozen shells anywhere. Are they raw or precooked. I found some precooked ones on Amazon but I'm thinking yours were raw. I did find the rolled sheets at Safeway, maybe I can make that work. Where do you purchase yours?
I buy mine at Walmart, Target & Publix. They are in the freezer section by the puff pastry. I believe they are already baked.
We dipped in fiesta ranch package mixed with 16 oz sour cream. This fiesta ranch dip made it over the top!
Hi, Tried these on my husband….During football season…Go Steelers(I’m a Patriots fan) ..mHUGE HIT! Then served at College tailgates, Christmas Eve Apps and make it when we travel to family/friends for the Weekend.Now a Family favorite! Depending on where I am in the country, sometimes need to mix up diced tomatoes and green chillies.Otherwise, I find Pastry tarts are easier to find down South than NE.My Favorite memory? WE are a military family and every time we get together n oh w from serving, they always request Taco Bites…God Bless The USA and what we feed our brave soldiers! LOVE,love, love this Recipe…as does my family!
I live in Newfoundland, Canada. And so far i can’t find the shells but can find the sheets. Would it work using a small cookie cutter and placing them in a mini muffin pan??
That should work fine. Enjoy!
Use the entire 8oz bottle of ranch dressing? Can you supplement the liquid ranch dressing for the ranch mix (powder)?
I used 8-oz of Ranch dressing. I'm not sure what you mean by "supplement the liquid ranch dressing for the ranch mix (powder)"
Everybody loves them. They are so good. Used 8oz of already prepared Ranch.
I wonder if you can use the yogurt ranch dressing, to save on some calories. These look ready good, they might even be good with salsa ranch dressing also.
Tammy, if you try it with yogurt ranch dressing, please let us know how it worked
I had the same question and re read the recipe in case I missed it…Looks like it makes 75. Recipe calls for 5 (15 count). packages of tart shells. It's a lot! Hope this helps you. 😉
My husband is always looking for a quick snack. These will be great. Can't wait to make them.
How many taco bites does this make?
Stephanie, my husband and I went to a NYE party last night and I was asked to bring an appetizer. I made these Taco Ranch Bites. There were many appetizers there, but mine was gone in a flash, shortly after I arrived. I will be making these whenever we go to a function at our clubhouse. They are absolutely delicious, just the right amount of heat for me and I guess everyone else at the party. I've gotten so many wonderful recipes from you. Thank you so much. Nancy
Do the phyllo cups have to be frozen? I have ones that are room temperature from my store. Will they still hold up well?
They will be fine.
Do you heat these up after they have been frozen or eat cold?
You need to bake them as directed
These look and sound great! I might toss a little cream cheese in there too! Thanks for sharing!
Yes… cream cheese sounds awesome.
CGiz … did you assemble the day of …
Looks like you could just use Tostito's Scoops?
I haven’t tried this with scoops so I can’t say with certainty
I do this with Scoops all the time.
If you use the scoops do you eat after filling or do you still need to bake them? Sounds like a great recipe for a Saturday meal while watching sports
Do I need a mini tart pan for these? Or will they hold up just fine on a cookie sheet? I’ve never worked with phyllo tart shells before.
They work fine on a cookie sheet.
I'm attempting to assemble these right now but am confused as to how to assemble them in the shells. Am i missing the instruction part for this?
Just put the taco mixture into each shell.
Wow these look awesome!
Those little babies look delicious and so easy to make.