National Corn Chip Day

National Corn Chip Day, observed January 29th, celebrates the crunchy snack made from ground corn, or masa, fried or baked into thin, crispy pieces. Corn-based snacks have deep roots in Mesoamerican cuisine, where corn (maize) has been a dietary staple for thousands of years, but the modern commercial corn chip is often traced to Elmer Doolin, a San Antonio businessman who purchased the recipe for fried corn chips from a Mexican vendor in 1932 and began mass-producing them under the Fritos brand, which grew into one of the best-known snack brands in the United States. Corn chips became a foundational American snack food category, spawning countless spin-off products and regional dishes, including Frito pie, a casserole-style dish combining corn chips with chili and cheese, popular especially in the American Southwest. The category has since expanded to include flavored, baked, and gourmet artisanal versions alongside the classic salted original. On National Corn Chip Day, people celebrate by snacking on corn chips plain or with dips like guacamole and salsa, or making dishes like nachos or Frito pie.