Doritos exist because a Disneyland restaurant didn't want to throw away stale tortillas, and the flavour everyone associates with the brand today wasn't even part of the original launch.
Leftover tortillas at Disneyland
The most commonly told origin story traces Doritos to Casa de Fritos, a Mexican restaurant inside Disneyland, in the early 1960s. Staff began frying and seasoning tortillas that would otherwise have gone to waste rather than discarding them. Frito-Lay marketing executive Arch West is credited with spotting the potential and pushing the product to a national launch in 1966.
Nacho cheese wasn't first — it came later, in 1972
The original 1966 Doritos were a plain, toasted corn flavour with no seasoning beyond salt. Nacho Cheese, the flavour most associated with the brand today, wasn't introduced until 1972, making it the first flavoured variety rather than the founding one. Cool Ranch (sold as Cool Original in the UK) followed in 1986.
Same brand, different flavours by market
- US range — Nacho Cheese, Cool Ranch, and rotating limited flavours like Spicy Sweet Chili.
- UK range — Nacho Cheese and Cool Original overlap with the US, alongside UK-specific flavours such as Chilli Heatwave, Lightly Salted and Tangy Cheese.
That's why a US visitor can grab a bag of UK Doritos and find flavours they don't recognise, and vice versa — same brand, genuinely different regional line-ups. Doritos sits within the site's wider American candy & snacks range alongside other US import brands.
Frequently asked questions
How were Doritos invented?
Doritos are said to have originated at Casa de Fritos, a Mexican restaurant at Disneyland in the early 1960s, where staff started frying and seasoning stale tortillas instead of throwing them away. Frito-Lay executive Arch West is credited with turning the idea into a nationally marketed product from 1966.
Was nacho cheese the first Doritos flavour?
No. The original 1966 Doritos were a plain toasted corn flavour. Nacho Cheese wasn't introduced until 1972, when it became the first flavoured variety and went on to become the brand's signature flavour.
Do Doritos flavours differ between the US and UK?
Yes. Alongside shared flavours like Nacho Cheese and Cool Original (called Cool Ranch in the US), the UK range includes flavours like Chilli Heatwave and Lightly Salted that aren't part of the core US line-up.