10 Ways to Celebrate National Corn Chip Day

What Is National Corn Chip Day?

American food holidays are a delightful way to commemorate foods and dishes that have become an integral part of our country’s food culture. National Corn Chip Day is just such a holiday. Every year on January 29th, National Corn Chip Day provides an opportunity to look back at the events in history that led to the rise of corn chips as a popular U.S. snack. This holiday also gives people the chance to celebrate their love of corn chips through inspiring recipe ideas, both historical and brand new.

The Rise of Corn Chips in the U.S.

The leading corn chip brand Fritos got its start when traveling salesman Elmer Doolin tasted a delicious, crunchy, salty corn snack while passing through San Antonio. Sensing this could be big, he offered $100 to the Mexican man who was making these chips in exchange for the recipe. The story goes that Doolin experimented with this recipe until he perfected it and then launched the Frito Corn Chip. Initially selling them from the back of his Model T in the 1930s, they went on to become a mass-market success.

How You Can Celebrate National Corn Chip Day

Mark your calendar so you can make sure to observe National Corn Chip Day by giving yourself and your family a fun Friday treat you won't forget! Here are some ideas to get you inspired: 

1. Prepare a dipping sauce station with your favorite cheese blends, salsa, and guacamole for a chip and dip adventure.
2. Watch a sports game on TV with a homemade snack mix made of corn chips, peanuts, pretzels, and a touch of chili powder.
3. Go sweet and salty with some chocolate covered corn chips—made just like you would make chocolate covered pretzels.
4. Sprinkle corn chips on your dinner salad instead of croutons for some serious savory crunch. 
5. Make it a taco salad night but swap out tortilla chips for corn chips for a new flavor and texture.
6. Crush up some corn chips to top mac and cheese or your favorite casserole dish.
7. Explore Mexican cheese trends to create cheese blends with authentic flavor for corn chip nachos. Try a little Queso Quesadilla or Asadero with your cheddar.
8. Cook up a Frito Pie, a thick, baked chili dish topped with cheddar and corn chips that dates back to the 1960s.
9. For a party treat, buy several single-serve bags of corn chips, cut the tops open, and add taco fixings to make Walking Tacos. No dishes to wash except the spoons!
10. Try your hand at making your own corn chips from scratch, any shape you want. All you need is some cornmeal, water, oil, and salt. 

Happy (Food) Holiday!

Make National Corn Chip Day a regular holiday for your family! And don’t forget to share your mouth-watering creations on social media with corn chip lovers across the country at #NationalCornChipDay. Get creative—these tiny, crunchy, salty snacks really pack a punch and can take an old recipe in a brand new direction.

High Protein Seasonings for Craveable Nutrition

For snack manufacturers, a quick and simple solution to boost protein and create the healthy salty snacks consumers are looking for is to add protein seasonings to existing snack products. Protein seasonings are an innovative way to incorporate protein into savory snacks during the seasoning step—transforming them into savory protein snacks without any additional ingredients or processing steps. 

XtraPro Seasonings are Glanbia's own high protein seasonings that can add savory flavor and nutrition to potato chips, pita chips, crackers, pretzels, popcorn, nuts, extruded snacks, and more. Learn more about the growing demand for crunchy protein snacks and how XtraPro Seasonings can help you deliver!