The Origins Of The Quirky Yet Delicious Frito Pie

Texans and New Mexicans both claim to have originated the Frito pie. With a battle like that, it is at least easy to conclude Frito pie is delicious and worth fighting over. Crispy corn chips, smothered in rich meaty chili topped with cheese and onions and sometimes jalapeños and sour cream, who wouldn't want to duel over the rights?

Looking at the known facts, Texans check more boxes. The recipe for Frito corn chips was invented in 1932 by San Antonio resident, Gustavo Olguin and then purchased from Olguin by fellow Texan, Charles Elmer Doolin. Doolin is responsible for making the well known company Frito-Lay what it is today. 

Way back when he began making the chips, Doolin's mother, Daisy, served up a casserole dish using the novel chips (believed to be a proto-Frito pie) topped with cheese and diced onions. In the 1960's, her recipe was even printed on millions of bags of Fritos distributed across the country. The Doolin family is still dedicated to the legacy of Frito pie as noted in Kaleta Doolin's (Charles's daughter) 2011 book, "Fritos Pie, Stories, Recipes and More."

Texans also helped Frito pie gain its popularity by serving it alongside other concession favorites in the state's high school football stadiums — sometimes as plain as mama Doolin's recipe of cheese and onions, and fully done up with specifically West Texas-style chili, jalapeños, sour cream, shredded lettuce, diced tomatoes, black olives, and more.

While New Mexican Teresa Hernandez, who worked the counter at Woolworths, certainly helped popularize the dish — reportedly selling 56,000 of them in just a single year — the record points more toward the Doolin family. Their association with both the chip and the dish dates back decades earlier than New Mexico's major claim to credit.

Bragging rights aside, depending on the preparation, presentation, and location in which it's being served — the Frito Pie, chili pie, taco-in-a-bag, or Walking Taco (sometimes bastardized by using Doritos instead of Fritos– for shame), has gotten well beyond these two southwestern states.