What is Taco Tuesday?

Taco Tuesday is when you know you’re having tacos for dinner. On a Tuesday. What is Taco Tuesday to you? Some families might go out to their favorite taco stand, but we think Taco Tuesday is the perfect DIY dinner. You can put as much or as little effort into your taco menu as you’d like, leaning toward healthier ingredients or satisfying any picky eaters in your house by letting them build their own tacos instead of hacking the menu at Taco Bell. And the best part? You’ll find just a few dishes in the sink afterward.

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When is Taco Tuesday?

Every Tuesday is Taco Tuesday. 

Of course, if yours is a house of taco lovers, no one will stop you from declaring a lazy Sunday to be an unofficial Taco Tuesday. After all, what is Taco Tuesday to the taco fan: a day of the week or a state of mind?

How to meal prep for Taco Tuesday

Your Taco Tuesday ingredients might be different from your neighbor’s, but we bet you’ll have a few things in common. Here’s what we recommend to meal prep for Taco Tuesday:

• Soft shell tortillas (flour or corn)
• Hard taco shells
• Meat (beef, chicken, or Beyond Meat)
• Old El Paso taco seasoning
• Freshly diced onion
• Freshly diced tomato
• Shredded lettuce
• Old El Paso salsa (mild and either medium or hot)
• Cheese

It’s never a bad idea to have a can of Old El Paso refried beans on hand, too. If you really want to go all out, remember that tortilla chips and guac are one of the most popular chip and dip combinations in the country.

Don’t have time for Taco Tuesday meal prep? We know that feeling, and there’s nothing wrong with grabbing a bag of tacos from your favorite restaurant (and you can earn points in the Fetch app there, too)

When do people buy the most Taco Tuesday ingredients?

Our receipts show Saturday and Sunday are the most popular days to buy ingredients for taco fixings, followed by Monday and Tuesday during the week. And that makes a bit of sense, especially for fresh ingredients. If you want the fullest selection for those shelf-stable taco trimmings, pick up your cans of refried beans, jars of salsa and packets of seasoning when no one else is doing their taco shopping.

Who invented Taco Tuesday?

You’d think this would be an easy question, and yet the timeline of Taco Tuesday says otherwise.

• 1971: “Taco Tuesday” was first mentioned in the Spokane Chronicle on April 5.
• 1978: Gregory’s Restaurant and Bar in Somers Point, NJ had Taco Tuesday, as it was the only day the family-owned business would let Greg Gregory put tacos on the menu.
• 1982: Gregory trademarks “Taco Tuesday” in New Jersey.

Then it gets about as messy as your toddler’s self-assembled taco. Taco Johns gets involved with “Taco Twosday,” selling their 99 cent tacos in twos, eventually trademarking Taco Tuesday in 1989. It was only a matter of time before Taco Bell would jump into the fray, and there have been years of legal battles and countless cease and desist letters since.

While some might dispute it, we think Greg Gregory is the one who truly invented Taco Tuesday.

Is Taco Tuesday trademarked?

Taco Tuesday is no longer trademarked. 

While Greg Gregory invented Taco Tuesday and his family owned the trademark in New Jersey, Taco Johns and Taco Bell fought over it on a larger scale. In July of 2023, however, neither Taco giant wanted to keep defending the trademark against the other, and the Gregory family relinquished their claim to it, too. 

Taco Tuesday belongs to everyone now.

Save on stocking your pantry for Taco Tuesday with Fetch

Old El Paso offers one of the biggest selections of Taco Tuesday ingredients, and when you add them to your grocery list, you can rack up those General Mills Good Rewards, too. So download the Fetch app, snap your latest receipt and stock up for Taco Tuesday.