Frito Pie

Frito pie consists of beef or bean chili, cheese, onions, and jalapeños layered over Frito corn chips. The dish traditionally was served directly inside the corn chip bag, but because the bag has become thinner, the dish is usually served on a plate. Although, or perhaps because, Frito pie is a quintessential road food from the southwestern United States, its origins are undetermined. Both Texas and New Mexico claim to have created Frito pie. The dish gained renown at the Woolworth lunch counter in Santa Fe, New Mexico. According to the Dallas-based Frito-Lay company, the mother of Elmer Doolin, the founder of Frito-Lay, invented the dish in 1932. The latter is the most likely answer, because snack food companies have a history of creating recipes with their products to increase sales. Frito pie is essentially an Americanized version of the Mexican tostada—corn tortillas topped with ingredients similar to those used in Frito pie.