lays potato chips, Recipes, & Food News

Best Flavored Potato Chips: Our Taste Test Results

by Slashfood Editor, Posted Sep 1st 2009 @ 4:36PM

Everyone loves potato chips. To satisfy your potato chips cravings and find the best flavored potato chips, read this potato chips taste test from Slashfood.

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Flavored Potato Chips

We crunched, munched and blind taste tested our way through more than 100 bags in search of the tip-top flavored chip in all the USA. In the end, we selected three runners-up and one winner each in the categories of Salt & Vinegar, BBQ and Sour Cream, and ten each for Hot and Wild Flavors. Flip through to find a new fave, or see if we gave the thumbs up to (or skipped!) your favorite chip.

Get snacking!

Rachel Been, AOL

Getty Images North America

Flavored Potato Chips

We crunched, munched and blind taste tested our way through more than 100 bags in search of the tip-top flavored chip in all the USA. In the end, we selected three runners-up and one winner each in the categories of Salt & Vinegar, BBQ and Sour Cream, and ten each for Hot and Wild Flavors. Flip through to find a new fave, or see if we gave the thumbs up to (or skipped!) your favorite chip.

Get snacking!

Rachel Been, AOL

Runner-up: BBQ
DIEFFENBACH'S BAR-B-Q
(Womelsdorf, PA)

An appealing combo of sweet heat and a whisper of smoke makes this cult chip worth seeking out.

Buy these chips at Anchor's Chip of the Month
Did we miss or hit your favorite chip? Shout it out on our blog at Slashfood.

Rachel Been, AOL

Runner-up: BBQ
LAY'S BARBECUE
(Nationally available)

Nearly every taster used the word "subtle" in their description of this chip's flavor, but also noted that the light BBQ spice, minus any overpowering heat, would make it oh so easy to munch one's way through an entire bag at a picnic.

Blogger Bob Sassone shared his Lay's thoughts on our blog at Slashfood.

Rachel Been, AOL

Runner-up: BBQ
MISS VICKIE'S SMOKEHOUSE BBQ
(Dallas, TX)

This chip lives up to its "Smokehouse" title with a sweetly fire-kissed 'cue taste and a tangy, crunchy, full-mouth feel. We just can't seem to quit loving you, Miss Vickie.

Blogger Bob Sassone shared his Miss Vickie's thoughts on our blog at Slashfood.

Rachel Been, AOL

Winner: BBQ
BETTER MADE RED HOT BARBECUE
(Detroit, MI)

We were almost put off by the unnatural hue of the chip's surface, but gosh are we glad we blazed on through. This is one standout chip, with a lingering, yet not overpowering sweet heat that creeps up and warms the ears, and leaves the tongue a-tingling. Of all the BBQ chips we sampled, this is the one with the most potentially addictive appeal.

Buy these chips at Anchor's Chip of the Month
Did we miss or hit your favorite chip? Shout it out on our blog at Slashfood.

Rachel Been, AOL

Runner-up: Salt & Vinegar
KETTLE CLASSICS SALT & VINEGAR
(San Francisco, CA)

An avowed kettle chip disliker on our tasting panel loved the interplay of explosive acidity and unapologetically applied salt so much, she grudgingly used the word "perfection." We could hardly disagree, and boy, did we love the crunchy texture.

Buy these chips at Anchor's Chip of the Month
Did we miss or hit your favorite chip? Shout it out on our blog at Slashfood.

Rachel Been, AOL

Runner-up: Salt & Vinegar
MISS VICKIE'S SEA SALT & VINEGAR
(Dallas, TX)

Quality potato flavor stands up to a slightly sweet vinegar sting for an especially well-balanced and quite crunchable chip.

Blogger Monika Bartyzel shared her Miss Vickie's thoughts on our blog at Slashfood.

Rachel Been, AOL

Runner-up: Salt & Vinegar
LAY'S KETTLE COOKED SEA SALT & VINEGAR
(Nationally available)

This chip's a major mouthful, with a pleasing tease of malty flavor, and slightly briny salt. Since they're a cinch to find on grocery store shelves, wow the crowd at your next big shindig.

Blogger Bob Sassone shared his Lay's thoughts on our blog at Slashfood.

Rachel Been, AOL

Winner: Salt & Vinegar
DIRTY SALT & VINEGAR
(Gramercy, LA)

Ka-POW! This chip knocked us in the kisser so hard one of our tasters claimed she popped straight to a London pub for a sec. A solid crunch matches the initial vinegar and unsubtle salt burst for a truly vibrant chip experience.

Buy these chips at Anchor's Chip of the Month
Did we miss or hit your favorite chip? Shout it out on our blog at Slashfood.

Rachel Been, AOL

Runner-up: Sour Cream
STEWART'S SOUR CREAM & ONION
(Saratoga Springs, NY)

After an initial salt kick, a subtle, sweet, creamy flavor underpins an onion essence present enough to please the palate, but light enough not to leave any aftertaste.

Did we miss or hit your favorite chip? Shout it out on our blog at Slashfood.

Rachel Been, AOL

Filed under: Taste Test

Me and Natural Lays Thick Cut Sea Salted Chips

COMMENTS 9

by Bob Sassone, Posted Apr 27th 2008 @ 5:01PM

Lays Natural Thick Cut Sea Salted This is a love story.

When I was a kid, I was hopelessly addicted to Munchos, the chips that Julie wrote about earlier. I still like them, but my current love affair has turned to Natural Lays Thick Cut Potato Chips with Sea Salt.

These fantastic chips are shelved (in my supermarket, anyway) in the aisle with the other "fancy" or gourmet chips: Kettle, Terra Red Bliss, and others. I'm not really sure why. There's nothing particularly different about them (unless you count orgasmic taste as different) and they're not exactly healthy (sorry, the "Natural" in the title is probably very true, but that doesn't mean these are low fat or low calorie). They should probably be in the regular chip aisle. Then again, if they were, more people would buy them and my store would probably run out and I'd be upset that night.

Filed under: Raves & Reviews, Ingredients

PepsiCo takes potato chips global

COMMENTS 5

by Sarah J. Gim, Posted Sep 9th 2006 @ 7:05PM

lay's potato chips While PepsiCo, along with its number one rival Coca-Cola, might be facing battles in India over the banning of its sodas, the company is relying on a slightly different segment of their business to fuel their overseas growth: potato chips.

They may seem trite here in the United States, but potato chips are easy to modify to local cultural cuisines. We may think Spicy Thai flavored Kettle Chips are exotic, but in the country of Thailand, Lay's, owned by PepsiCo, sells seaweed flavored potato chips. And its not just potato chips either, The seaweed flavor is on Doritos in Taiwan. Some of the other local flavors are:

UK - Lamb and Mint flavor, Beef and Onion Flavor, Pickled Onion flavor, a puffed snack with Spicy Tandoori Masala flavor and Cool Yoghurt and Mint flavor
India - The Chaat Street line reflects the flavors of street vendor snacks
China - Cool Cucumber and Cool Lemon chips
Brazil - Shrimp Cocktail flavor

The local flavors travel across boundaries, too. Lays "Mediterraneans," fried in olive oil with flavors like Feta cheese and Tomato and Basil, did well in South America. I just wish they'd sell some of those more interesting flavors here in the US.

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Filed under: Business, Trends, Lists, Ingredients