Tag: Chips

REVIEW: Dot’s Homestyle Pretzels Cinnamon Sugar Pretzel Twists

Erin 9 Comments

What are they?

Dot’s Homestyle Pretzels, the once regional savory snack that’s recently been expanding into stores nationwide, has come out with a limited-time Cinnamon Sugar seasoned version for the holiday season.

How are they?

If you’re familiar with the original Dot’s, you know these pretzel twists are seriously hard to stop eating, and this new variety is no different. The buttery, sweet scent smells just like an Auntie Anne’s cinnamon sugar pretzel or a freshly made piece of cinnamon toast. It’s a nostalgic flavor that Dot’s has taken a little deeper with notes of vanilla, maple, and molasses.

Anything else you need to know?

These pretzels don’t come cheap. A one-pound bag regularly runs somewhere in the 5-8 dollar range where I’m at. You can fairly regularly find them on sale, especially while they’re making a push to get into new markets, so if you see them for less, don’t hesitate to scoop them up.

Conclusion:

I think you get what you pay for here; these are so delicious. If you took them to a holiday party, they would disappear in a flash, and everyone would love you for bringing them. A warning, though. You should only do that if you bought several bags because you’ll want to hoard these for yourself.

Purchased Price: $7.49 (not on sale)
Size: 16 oz bag
Purchased at: Jewel-Osco
Rating: 10 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (16 pretzels) 130 calories, 5 grams of total fat, 0.5 grams of saturated fat, 260 milligrams of sodium, 19 grams of total carbohydrates, 1 gram of dietary fiber, 6 grams of total sugars including 5 grams of added sugars, and 2 grams of protein.

REVIEW: Spicy Nacho and Cool Ranch Jalapeno Doritos Dips

Vin 9 Comments

I’m sure by now you’ve all seen TikTok’s hottest new dance craze, the Dorito Dip.

What’s that? You haven’t? That’s probably because I just made it up.

Here’s something you won’t believe I’m not making up – Frito Lay makes Doritos-flavored dips now.

Do you love Doritos but wish they came in a wetter and gloopier form? Have you ever wanted a chip to taste like a Dorito, but inexplicably just didn’t get Doritos? Then you’re in luck because new Spicy Nacho and Cool Ranch Jalapeno Doritos Dips are hitting shelves nationwide.

I don’t know if I’ve ever actually dipped a Dorito, but you better believe I wanna dip stuff into the essence of Dorito… so that’s exactly what I did.

My dippers of the day were Santitas Tortilla Chips (underrated chips that someone once told me are literally repackaged unflavored Doritos), ridged potato chips, a soft pretzel, and Chicken McNuggets.

Starting off, Cool Ranch Jalapeno was only decent, and I actually liked it more for the addition of the jalapeno.

I didn’t necessarily think they’d be able to match the absolute perfection of Cool Ranch Doritos flavor, but I still needed more. It’s there, but the intensity is dialed down a ton. While the jalapeno gives it a nice crisp and spicy pepper flavor, the Cool Ranch takes a back seat. This flavor needs to be a dusty coating. It just doesn’t work as well as a sour creamy base.

To be fair, it still tasted pretty good with the Santitas and the soft pretzel, but it’s probably not even better than your run-of-the-mill ranch or onion-style dip.

As for Spicy Nacho, well, it just doesn’t need to exist. If I were to rank Spicy Nacho on the Dip Scale™, I’d put it slightly above the dip from Who Framed Roger Rabbit?

It’s no better than a mid-tier queso or nacho cheese. Fine, but whatever. I had to concentrate to get the distinct Nacho Cheese Dorito flavor that really only popped on the finish and was masked by the “spicy” of it all. Push comes to shove, you’ll know it’s based on Spicy Nacho Dorito, but it pales in comparison to the chip.

It’s not a bad pretzel companion, but it just didn’t enhance any of the other stuff. Santitas worked fine enough with both, but plain potato chips were a bust, and every McNugget dipping sauce works better.

Dorito flavor only succeeds as a dust. I’d steer clear of these unless you’re having a big spread and looking to pick up a couple of dips anyway. Just get the Cool Ranch and opt for a queso. Frito-Lay has a better Tostitos-branded one right down the aisle.

These don’t mention refrigeration after opening and are apparently shelf-stable for six months. Maybe I’m a wuss, but I find that pretty off-putting, just as I found the texture to be that of an off pudding. Wordplay.

These feel like they were dumped on shelves with no fanfare or marketing, and maybe for good reason. They’re a strange release at a strange time of year. They probably coulda done okay in the summer, but during Christmas? We’ll see how far the Doritos name takes them. I don’t think they’ll fly off shelves, but it’s not too late to try and move some units with the soon-to-be viral Dorito Dip.

Purchased Price: $4.98 each
Size: 10 oz.
Purchased at: Walmart
Rating: (Spicy Nacho) 4 out of 10, (Cool Ranch Jalapeno) 6 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (2 tbsp) Spicy Nacho – 40 calories, 3 grams of fat, .5 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 0 milligrams of cholesterol, 220 milligrams of sodium, 2 grams of carbohydrates, 0 grams of fiber, 0 grams of sugar, and 1 gram of protein. Cool Ranch Jalapeno – 50 calories, 5 grams of fat, .5 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 0 milligrams of cholesterol, 230 milligrams of sodium, 2 grams of carbohydrates, 0 grams of fiber, 1 gram of sugar, and less than 1 gram of protein.

REVIEW: Lay’s Sweet & Salty Dipped Clusters

Julie 4 Comments

Lay s Sweet Salty Dipped Clusters Bag

Sweet and salty may be a time-honored flavor combination, but it truly shines during the winter holidays. After all, this is the time we drizzle cranberry sauce over savory meat and vegetable side dishes. We hoard peanut brittle in tins. We melt Rolos on top of pretzel snaps, crown them with M&M’s, and devour them before even arriving at the holiday cookie exchange. Maybe it is just the sheen of the season, but something about these traditions really elevates the sweet-and-salty pairing in a way no other time of year can claim.

Lay s Sweet Salty Dipped Clusters 2

Lay’s Sweet & Salty Dipped Clusters takes the timeless flavor combination and adds holiday sprinkles on top —- literally. Described on the package as a “dipped potato snack,” the bite-sized, bell-shaped clusters consist of potato chip pieces, crisped rice, almond bits, milk chocolate coating, and red and green nonpareils.

Lay s Sweet Salty Dipped Clusters 6

The salty body of each cluster contains the potato chips, crisped rice, and almonds. The potato chip flavor dominates, but the other ingredients contribute to the snack’s intense crunchiness. The almonds provide a hint of nutty flavor, but I’m not sure I would have been able to identify almonds as an ingredient. Because the pieces are ground into such small flecks, they are difficult to detect. Like the holiday spirit itself or that one relative who sends a mildly insulting greeting card every year in lieu of visiting, the almonds are not seen, but their presence is still very much felt.

Lay s Sweet Salty Dipped Clusters 4

The pieces are packed tightly together in each cluster, which also contributes to their crunchy texture. The snacks almost remind me of a savory Rice Krispies Treat, although without the marshmallow binding.

Lay s Sweet Salty Dipped Clusters 3

The sweet flavor instead comes from the milk chocolate, which partially covers each cluster. (The festive sprinkles on top don’t contribute much taste or texture, but they are pretty nonetheless.) The chocolate is the perfect smooth, sweet complement to the salty, crunchy cluster. Together, the components make a delicious small treat that is easy to pop into your mouth during holiday movie marathons. The 5-ounce bag is on the small side, so larger appetites should plan accordingly.

Lay s Sweet Salty Dipped Clusters 5

As I made my way further into the bag, I noticed not every cluster was uniform in terms of shape, chocolate distribution, and sprinkle amount. I prefer the clusters that have a little more chocolate to balance out the rest of the salty snack, but other taste buds may beg to differ. The less aesthetically-pleasing clusters are obviously still delicious, but less festive. This might only present an issue if you value perfect presentation for holiday gatherings. Or did you eat all the Rolo pretzels and are secretly planning to pass off Lay’s Sweet & Salty Dipped Clusters as a homemade treat at the cookie exchange?

I won’t tell anyone if you save a bag for me.

Purchased Price: $4.99
Size: 5 oz bag (141.7 g)
Purchased at: Target.com
Rating: 8 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (per 6 pieces) 140 calories, 8 grams of fat, 2.5 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 0 milligrams of cholesterol, 150 milligrams of sodium, 17 grams of carbohydrates, 3 grams of fiber, 5 grams of sugar, and 2 grams of protein.

REVIEW: Doritos Minis, Cheetos Minis, and Sun Chips Minis

Erin 4 Comments

Doritos Minis Cheetos Minis and Sun Chips Minis Cans

Pringles, beware! The tennis ball manufacturer that cut a deal with you years ago is opening up its doors and Frito-Lay is coming in hot. Flamin’ Hot. It has shrunk several of its popular snacks to bite-size form, encased them in tubes, and the results are…mixed.

Nacho Cheese Doritos

Doritos Minis Nacho Cheese

I started with the classic Nacho Cheese Doritos and had high hopes because it’s hard to go wrong with this chip. I think some of the impetus behind this mini concept is the serving size and cuteness factor. People love Goldfish crackers and you can have 55 of them per serving. Wouldn’t it also be nice to have 55 tiny Doritos? It might be, if you could eat them that way. The serving here is 39 little chips, and this tube was a disaster. The contents looked like I’d just dumped out the remnants from a larger bag. There were some intact chips, but the majority had been broken to crumbs. Instead of being a new or adorable way to consume chips, I was left eating handfuls of shards or pouring them into my mouth from the tube.

Doritos Minis Nacho Cheese Can

Rating: 5 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (39 chips) 150 calories, 8 grams of fat, 1 gram of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 0 milligrams of cholesterol, 210 milligrams of sodium, 18 grams of total carbohydrates, 1 gram of dietary fiber, less than 1 gram of total sugars, and 2 grams of protein.

Cool Ranch Doritos

Doritos Minis Cool Ranch

My Cool Ranch canister fared better. They weren’t all shattered from the start. After tasting some individually and also by the handful, I still found these underwhelming. It didn’t seem like they had enough of the seasoning applied to them. The label claims they have the “same BOLD flavor,” but I found them blander than a standard bag. I had this problem with the Nacho Cheese variety too, but it was overshadowed by the other flaws. So far, I’m not sure I understand this product line.

Rating: 7 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (39 chips) 150 calories, 8 grams of fat, 1 gram of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 0 milligrams of cholesterol, 190 milligrams of sodium, 18 grams of total carbohydrates, 1 gram of dietary fiber, less than 1 gram of total sugars, and 2 grams of protein.

Harvest Cheddar Sun Chips

Sun Chips Minis

Here to confuse things more, are Sun Chips! These come in Harvest Cheddar or Garden Salsa. I like Sun Chips; they’re a welcome addition to the variety packs of lunch-size bags but will never be my first choice for a full-size option. I chose Harvest Cheddar and wondered how Garden Salsa also managed to sneak into the lineup. These mini chips have held their square shape better than the Doritos, although there are quite a few broken ones. They also seem appropriately seasoned and have come the closest so far to true miniatures of their inspiration chip. I think they’re a success, but do we need stamp-sized versions of two chips we only occasionally reach for to begin with?

Rating: 7 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (29 chips) 140 calories, 7 grams of fat, 0.5 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 0 milligrams of cholesterol, 170 milligrams of sodium, 18 grams of total carbohydrates, 2 grams of dietary fiber, 2 grams of total sugars, and 2 grams of protein.

Cheddar and Flamin’ Hot Cheetos

Things start to make more (or less?) sense when it comes to the Cheetos. Both Cheddar and Flamin’ Hot are cheese balls and aren’t masquerading as tiny regular Cheetos. On the one hand, a bunch of teeny Cheetos would have been cool, and I imagine they would have looked like a tube of Long John Silver’s crumblies. These two are the best tasting of the bunch though, so they’ve gotten something right there.

Cheetos Flamin Hot Minis

They have a thicker and very satisfying outside crunch that yields to a Cheeto-like interior. More regular Cheeto than puff, they get the texture right without being too airy or weird. There are 63 balls per serving and they fall somewhere between a normal cheese ball and a cocoa puff cereal size-wise. Looking at a bowl of these Flamin’ Hot ones, I can’t help but wonder if they should have put them in a box instead of a cylinder and called them cereal, à la Cinnafuego Toast Crunch. I won’t be surprised if this happens in three months.

Rating: 9 out of 10 (Cheddar), 9 out of 10 (Flamin’ Hot)
Nutrition Facts: (63 pieces) Flamin’ Hot – 160 calories, 10 grams of fat, 1.5 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 0 milligrams of cholesterol, 260 milligrams of sodium, 15 grams of total carbohydrates, less than 1 gram of dietary fiber, 0 grams of total sugars, and 1 gram of protein. Cheddar – 160 calories, 10 grams of fat, 1.5 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 0 milligrams of cholesterol, 330 milligrams of sodium, 15 grams of total carbohydrates, less than 1 gram of dietary fiber, 1 gram of total sugars, and 2 grams of protein.

Doritos Minis Cheetos Minis and Sun Chips Minis Sizes

Overall this mini lineup is a mixed bag, or should I say can. There isn’t anything necessarily wrong with them, but there isn’t anything that makes me want to buy them again either.

Purchased Price: $2.79 each
Size: 1 can
Purchased at: Mariano’s

REVIEW: Hot Honey Pringles

Brandon 4 Comments

Hot Honey Pringles Can

What is it?

America’s preferred cylindrically containered potato crisp (fight me, Stax) unleashes what probably has to be its 900th variety, Hot Honey. The flavor, if you’re unfamiliar, is sweet like honey but is also spicy (hence the “hot”). It has recently been involving itself in things ranging from fast food chicken sandwiches to ice cream to frozen pizza from a rap-maker named Lil’ Yachty.

How is it?

Hot Honey Pringles Closeup

It’s fine. That’s all — fine. You’ve got your regular Pringles salty crispness, but you get an immediate mild undertone of honey. And it is very honey-esque, don’t get me wrong. (And not just, you know, artificial sugar dust, I mean.) It takes a few crisps before the heat begins to build, and it eventually does, but it is manageable and mild.

Anything else you need to know?

This is a Walmart exclusive flavor (along with a re-release of the Philly Cheesesteak variety), so if you don’t have a Walmart near you, (a) how is it possible to not live near a Walmart; (b) that’s honestly pretty cool; (c) you’re not missing much unless you’re a Pringles completist; and (d) okay, but seriously, doesn’t EVERYWHERE have a Walmart?

Conclusion:

Hot Honey Pringles Cluster

On our “Spotted” post regarding the Hot Honey Pringles, the caption said something to the effect of “I’m surprised they didn’t add chicken to this,” and that is 100% spot-on and likely would have transformed an extremely one-note chip into something much more fun to eat. As it is, I won’t exactly miss this when it’s gone.

Purchased Price: $1.98
Size: 5.5 oz can
Purchased at: Walmart
Rating: 6 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (1 oz) 150 calories, 9 grams of fat, 2.5 grams of saturated fat, 105 milligrams of sodium, 17 grams of total carbohydrates, 2 grams of total sugars, less than 1 gram of fiber, and 1 gram of protein.