Here's What The "Reheating Nachos" Meme Means, For All You Millennials Out There

Friends, Romans, Countrythems — or rather, millennials, people over age 20, and normal, not chronically online people — I've gathered you all here today to discuss a meme you might have googled that led you here: "What does reheating someone's nachos mean."

Maybe you, too, saw the meme where Lady Gaga was accused of "reheating her own nachos" after dropping her new single "Abracadabra" this week.

Interscope Records / Via Twitter: @mce1201

Or maybe you saw Benson Boone being accused of "reheating Harry Styles's nachos" after his 2025 Grammys Awards performance.

Twitter: @adoredzweig

ICYMI, Boone performed his hit "Beautiful Things" (dubbed as this generation's version of Imagine Dragons), clad in a shimmery blue skin-tight suit, which people said was quite similar to outfits Styles has donned.

Or maybe you have no clue what I'm talking about! And that's OK, too. <3

OK, but what does it mean if someone is reheating someone's nachos? Are we talking about real nachos here? Did Lady Gaga make a video reheating a plate of nachos?

NO.

Think of it like this. Nachos are tasty. Everyone wants a bite. When we have leftovers, because they're so dang good, we try to reheat them. Sometimes they have hints of their prior flavor; sometimes they're soggy; sometimes you'll get a good bite; sometimes...they're just not quite right.

They don't always taste as they once did...yet, you could say that, still, at heart, they hold the foundations of the original dish. Similarly, when a person or artist is seemingly inspired by someone else (like, say, Benson Boone by Harry Styles, or perhaps the both of them by Freddie Mercury, Prince, or Little Richard), sometimes it's a hit, sometimes it's a flop, sometimes it's done juuust right. Either way, you could say that they're at least trying to reheat the other person's nachos.

In Gaga's case, some said she's reheating her own nachos (aka, drawing inspiration from her past avant-garde projects like The Fame Monster and Born This Way) for her new project. Others said she "went to the kitchen with gordon ramsey and made the chips from scratch" (aka, she's inventing an entirely new dish).

Or, in Beyoncé's case, "she is the tortilla industry," referencing the fact that Beyoncé keeps reinventing the wheel in her music and creates the foundations for other artists to take inspo (Beyoncé is quite notably cited as an inspiration for many modern artists). She's the nacho base.

Essentially, the whole nachos meme is just a greater metaphor for when someone appears to be recreating or reinventing something iconic from the past (good, bad, or neutral).

Whether it's Tate McRae...

RCA / Via Twitter: @midosommar

Kylie Jenner...

Or even fans requesting an artist "reheat" another artist's nachos (or, in normal words, to create something similar to their work):

ANYWAYS, to give credit where credit is due and reference the ancient texts, the meme likely originates from this scene from Baddies West. In 2023, the moment was turned into a viral clip suggesting that Natalie Nunn secretly wanted some of Stunna Girl's nachos.

"my god it comes from THIS," this person wrote on X. "nachos are just something that someone has!!!!! Natalie Nunn wanted what SHE had!!!!!! Don’t let the ancient stan twitter texts be rewritten like this!!!!"

Zeus Network / Via Twitter: @whomstissarah

So, there you have it. Love it or hate it, that's stan Twitter for ya (where many memes originate). Glad to see it alive and well, despite everything else going on on the platform (you know, incels and shit).

Twitter: @fazpo

Now, when Bowen Yang does a weekend update about reheating nachos on SNL, you'll know what he's talking about.

Annnd for more funny reheating nachos memes, here ya go:

VH1 / Via Twitter: @gayandold

@hyphenkordei / Kemosabe / RCA / Via youtube.com