Straight up, Megan Thee Stallion is one of the hottest rappers in the game. Every year her presence elevates, and not just musically or visually — her partnerships, or overall brand awareness keeps ascending. 2026 appears to be no different, as she’s kicking off the year in style with a Cheetos ‘Pickle’s Back’ partnership that hits close to her Houston roots.
Houston is known as a hotbed for hip-hop, car culture, sports, and a varied culinary scene rooted in Southern tradition. Beloved for its diversity of ethnic influences, it’s no surprise that a trend like stuffing Flamin’ Hot Cheetos into pickles originated in Houston. Flamin’ Hot Cheetos is having fun with that flavor combo with its new Pickle’s Back concept, which pairs Megan with famous rock maestros, Nickelback for a cheeky campaign. Leading up to the announcement, Megan was gracious enough to give UPROXX the inside scoop on the partnership and her food favorites in Houston and beyond.
How did your Pickle’s Back partnership come about? Did it have anything to do with the trend in Houston of putting Flamin’ Hot Cheetos in pickles?
I am from Houston and I always eat pickles and Flamin’ Hot Cheetos together. I got the call from Flamin’ Hot and they were like, “My girl, we need you again. Come over.” And I was like, “I got this. I was going to do this anyway.” So who better to put in a position to do this commercial?
What are some of your earliest memories of Cheetos?
I remember when I was in middle school, we used to have the Flamin’ Hot Baked Cheetos and we had this little stand where you can buy snacks and the lady in the stand would always have the baked Hot Cheetos and nacho cheese, and she’d drizzle nacho cheese in there. That would be my lunch for the day sometimes. So I’m not new to this. I’m very true to the Flamin’ Hot Cheetos family.
Did you grow up eating spicy food in general?
Lots of Tex-Mex, lots of Louisiana spicy food, southern spicy food in general. I’m a spicy girl.
I’ve read that you really like catfish and spaghetti, what are some local dishes growing up in Houston that people may not know about nationally that are amazing?
This is going to be the most random chicken place ever. It’s on my side of town where I’m from and it’s called Timmy Chan and it’s fried chicken. It’s Chinese food, okay? It’s very good. I will highly recommend 10 out of 10 anybody go try it if they want a little heartburn.
You’ve talked in interviews about going to the Galleria in Houston. If you’re going to the Galleria, what are you eating?
I’m so devastated because I heard that they closed down Grand Luxe that was right in front of the Galleria. That was my favorite thing to do when I went. That was my spot. I don’t know why they took it away, but I’m boycotting that decision. They need to bring Grand Luxe back.
What was your favorite thing to get at Grand Luxe?
Definitely a chicken Caesar salad. I loved the little Buffalo bites. The strawberry lemonade is very on point. Them huge ass cookies. I think they got avocado egg rolls up there, we running down the menu at this point. Grand Luxe was my favorite.
Knowing you’re from Houston; which is your favorite: Pappadeaux’s or Pappasito’s?
It’s tough and it depends on how I’m feeling because I love queso and Pappasito’s has some of the best queso ever and they have some of the best enchiladas ever, and margaritas. Pappadeaux’s has a really good selection of drinks as well. That’s a very tough question.
What’s your order at Whataburger?
I’m getting the patty melt, and this is probably going to be controversial, but I want the patty melt sauce and I want you to add a little mayo on there. And, I want spicy ketchup.
What is your favorite soul food restaurant in Houston?
My favorite soul food restaurant in Houston was Mikki’s Cafe. I don’t know if they still have it, but Mikki’s is definitely my favorite. The cabbage is so good. The Oxtail’s so good. They have some good sweet tea. Now I’m hungry.
We’re going to switch from restaurants to snacks. Besides Cheetos, what other snacks or drinks are on your rider when you’re performing?
For me on my rider, I’m all water. I need the electrolytes, lots of ice, lots of fruit. I don’t do anything too heavy on my rider because of my stomach, I’d be a little anxious before my show. I don’t want to upset my stomach, but we definitely got Flamin’ Hot Cheetos on my rider too, and I eat that after the show.
After you perform, are you usually going back to your room and getting takeout?
Yes, it depends on where I am. If I’m in a city where I absolutely love, love, love, love, love the food, then I’m like, y’all let’s eat (the local food). If the restaurant closed, please make sure somebody got this for me when I get off stage. Sometimes I can’t eat after the show because I be still on my little adrenaline rush. But if I’m somewhere where I know the food is really good, I’m like, “y’all make sure y’all got my Philly cheesesteak after the show because I want that.”
So are you getting a Philly cheese steak in Philly?
I am. One million. Couldn’t even tell you the name of the restaurant, but I want the hood Philly cheesesteak. I don’t want the pretty regular restaurant, I want to go out there where the real Philadelphians is at. Go bring me back the real shit.
Where are two other cities that you get excited about the food for?
Miami and New York.
What’s the food in Miami you’re most excited about?
I love Cuban food. I really like the steak that I eat in Miami. I feel like Miami always has these random pop-up restaurants where you can get a hotdog, they have caviar on it, or you can get a burger where the bun is a big-ass mozzarella stick. Sushi tacos but the outside is fried seaweed and it’s all kind of sushi on the inside. When I see it on my TikTok and it look good, I got to go try it.
What’s something that you tried that everybody was talking about that’s a hot trend in food that you were like, “Oh no, that’s disgusting
I think I just brought up the sushi taco because that was something that really upset me.
It looked so, so good on TikTok. I think it was just too much of it. I think if the tacos was a little bit smaller, they would’ve been better, but they loaded that thing up with too much raw salmon and too much cream. It really upset my stomach and my taste buds. But if it was smaller, I would’ve been with it.
When you’re on your tour on the bus or Sprinter, is there any snacks or food besides obviously Flamin’ Hot Cheetos that you need to have with you?
Well, because I love Flamin’ Hot Cheetos, I always have things that pair well with that. I like pepper jack cheese cubes with the pickles. A lot of water. I really love Topo Chico. I love sparkling water, so definitely that and Twizzlers.
And those things will kind of balance out the heat or you need some fruit or something cold as well?
Pepperjack cheese and Flamin’ Hot Cheetos to me are not that spicy. I like the tang of the peppers that are inside of the PepperJack cheese. Weirdly to me, Flamin’ Hot Cheetos are kind of sweet. For some reason it pairs well together and the pickle just adds the good sour and salty on top.
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