No store does more than H-E-B to impress the editors of Food & Wine magazine. On July 28, the venerable publication sang the praises of the Texas supermarket chain, naming the five best pre-made foods every Texan should add to their grocery list.

The following H-E-B heavy-hitters made the cut:

  • True Texas BBQ spicy pickles
  • tarragon pecan chicken salad
  • fresh guacamole
  • pre-marinated taco and fajita meats
  • flour tortillas

To compose the list, food writer Derin Yilmaz, an H-E-B neophyte, polled a gaggle of the magazine’s editors who either live or have lived in the Lone Star State.

“There was a time I didn’t know what H-E-B was and had never even heard the name,” Yilmaz said in her introduction.” When I revealed this naiveté to my Texan best friend, she looked at me in shock…”

Although Yilmaz’s admission might indeed be jaw-dropping, it wasn’t surprising that Food & Wine would want to celebrate the homegrown institution. If readers are making one of the magazine’s chef-driven recipes, chances are they are getting the ingredients at H-E-B. Many experts admitted to keeping the picks in their own pantries.

Southern Smoke founder Chris Shepherd, who serves as the magazine’s “Editor in Chef,” called the pickles a must-try item and the fajita meat a “delicious timesaver,” but practically rhapsodized over the tortillas.

“H-E-B arguably has some of the most delicious flour tortillas commercially made, and yes, those are in our refrigerator at home almost every day of the year,” said the Houston-based chef.

Food & Wine news editor Merlyn Miller, a native of Beaumont, raved about the convenient chicken salad, giving a secondary shout-out to the dill and mustard seed-seasoned pimento cheese.

“Almost every time I go home, my mom has one of H-E-B’s prepared, mayo-based salads in her fridge, and this one is my favorite. It has crunchy pecans, sweet grapes, and isn’t overly dressed,” she told Yaniz of the chicken salad.

Chances are, if someone is making one of Food & Wine’s elaborate recipes in Texas, they are using leeks, herbs, and olive oil picked up at one of H-E-B’s hundreds of stores — or in Fort Worth’s case, H-E-B sibling Central Market.