What brand of tortilla chips should you buy? We tried 16 to find the best one for your next watch party
Whether you enjoy eating tortilla chips plain or use them as a vehicle for dips and spreads, the crunchy snacks are a staple at every gathering. It's so easy to run to the store, pick up a bag and have something to bring to a party. Some brands have even inspired deep, somewhat aggressive loyalties. (Chicago Tribune beer writer Josh Noel threatened to riot if his favorite Donkey chips were not included.)
Totopos and tostadas are integral components of Mexican cuisine, dating back centuries to the indigenous Zapotec people in Oaxaca. But the tortilla chip that we know today has only been around since the late 1940s. According to The San Diego Union-Tribune, Rebecca Webb Carranza was the creator of the triangle-shaped tortilla chip. Her family owned Los Angeles-based El Zarape Tortilla Factory at the time, and instead of throwing away misshapen corn and flour disks, she took them home, cut them into triangles, fried them up and served them at a party. El Zarape Tortilla Factory began selling 10-cent bags of Tort Chips, and they had become the family's main business by the 1960s.
According to the 2018 State of the Industry report by SNAC International, an international trade association of the global snack industry, tortilla chip sales grew by 3.4 percent and garnered more than $4.2 billion
