Best Frito Pie Chili Recipe (2024)

FAQs

What is chili over Fritos called? ›

Frito pie is a dish popular in the Midwestern, Southeastern, and Southwestern United States, whose basic ingredients are chili, cheese, and corn chips (traditionally Fritos, hence the name). Additions can include salsa, refried beans, sour cream, onion, rice, or jalapeños.

Corn, vegetable oil (corn and/or canola oil), whey, salt, spices, maltodextrin (made from corn), cheddar cheese (milk, cheese cultures, salt, enzymes), potassium salt, tomato powder, monosodium glutamate, onion powder, natural flavors, romano cheese (cow's milk, cheese cultures, salt, enzymes), dextrose, sugar, ...

But no one asked me, and that's just fine. It's delicious and that's all that matters. Frito chili pie is simply Fritos, chili, and cheese. You slice open single serving sized bags of Fritos, pour ladlefuls of chili over the chips, and immediately sprinkle the tops with shredded cheese so it melts.

New Mexicans say Teresa Hernandez invented it in the 1960s at the Santa Fe Woolworth's (now the Five & Dime), ladling her mother's homemade red chili into opened corn chip bags, adding no garnishes or additions.

But regardless of its true origins, Walsh argues that Texas helped the dish achieve notoriety: "Frito pie owes its popularity to Texas high school stadium concession stands where it's made by tearing open the bag of chips and ladling in all of the options in the condiment holder," he tells Eater.

The Frito pie is a popular dish throughout the Midwest and Southern United States consisting of chili topped with Fritos Corn Chips and shredded Cheddar Cheese. This can be served with a variety of toppings, which frequently vary by region.

Crush up a few chips and sprinkle them into the chili. Mix into the pot and simmer until the chips are fully absorbed.

(NEXSTAR) — It may be a Texas classic and you may like to consider it a Texas creation, but the origin of the Frito Pie — the cheesy, crunchy county fair treat — is not so cut-and-dry. In fact, Texas is in a long-standing rivalry with another state for birthplace bragging rights.

The similarly simple Frito pie is surprisingly (and famously) controversial, with the classic concoction of meat, chile (or chili, depending on the regional variety), cheese, beans, and, of course, Fritos, claimed by at least two possible points of origin: New Mexico and Texas.

The Least Nutritious Snack Chip Options

A single serving of Fritos Original Corn Chips provides 160 calories, 10 grams of fat, 15 grams of carbohydrate, and 2 grams of protein.

Are Fritos baked or fried? ›

Fritos are made by deep-frying extruded whole cornmeal, unlike the similar tortilla chips, which are made from cornmeal and use the nixtamalization process (known as masa). It is one of two brands representing Frito-Lay along with Lay's.

C.E. Doolin launched “Fritos” in 1932, inspired by a recipe he had purchased from Gustavo Olguin, a Mexican-American restaurant owner in San Antonio, where Doolin had worked as a fry cook. Olguin's “fritos” (the name came from the Spanish word frit, meaning fried) were small fried corn chips made from masa dough.

The name walking taco is sometimes used synonymously with the term Frito pie or to refer to an on-the-go variation of it, though the name Frito pie is more often used in the South, especially Texas, where it most often refers to a bag of Fritos chips filled with chili.

Unlike a walking taco, a Frito pie is always made with, you guessed it, Fritos. But that's not even the main difference between the two foods—the thing that sets a Frito pie apart from a walking taco is that a Frito pie is topped with chili instead of taco meat.

Unlike a walking taco, a Frito pie is always made with, you guessed it, Fritos. But that's not even the main difference between the two foods—the thing that sets a Frito pie apart from a walking taco is that a Frito pie is topped with chili instead of taco meat.

The Frito pie is also known as a “walking taco,” “pepperbellies,” “Petro's,” “jailhouse tacos,” or officially—under Frito-Lay North America, Inc.'s trademarked “packaged meal combination consisting primarily of chili or snack food dips containing meat or cheese corn-based snack foods, namely, corn chips”—the Fritos ...

That feeling is the beauty of the Frito pie. A deeply New Mexican dish, an insider's food that everyone can and should enjoy. Go out and find your favorite. Use its unpretentious accessibility to explore New Mexico and the places and restaurants you might otherwise pass up.