REVIEW: Doritos Dinamita Flamin’ Hot Queso

Doritos has a long history of Super Bowl commercials. This year, it’s using the ad spot to relaunch its Dinamitas line with a handful of flavors that are not exactly new to shelves despite the packaging proclaiming newness in capital letters. Flamin’ Hot Queso Dinamitas first appeared in 2021 in bags considerably more cheese-colored and less bold than this iteration. A few years later, they’re back dressed in red and black, and the Dinameter’s pushing all the way to “EXTRA HOT.” It was impossible for me to approach these chips without picturing some sort of Looney Tunes character unwittingly ending up with a mouthful of dynamite so let’s find out if these cause my stomach to comically explode while smoke pours from my ears.

Opening the bag reveals these rolled up corn chips to be covered in classic red Flamin’ Hot dust, but the smell leans more traditionally cheesy-Dorito than anything intensely hot. They’re definitely extra crunchy, like the back of the bag notes, and the flavors that hit me first are corn and cheese. I wouldn’t really say the cheese represents queso in any noticeable way, but they reminded me of the Spicy Nacho Doritos variety. Despite every chip-tube being thoroughly coated in the finger-staining fire powder, I didn’t find these to be all that hot. I have a fairly high tolerance for heat and a very high tolerance for rapidly shoving snack food into my mouth, so even as my fingertips, knuckles, and wrists began to turn scarlet from repeated trips into the chip bag, I felt like the Dinameter was exaggerating. This is where I picture a greedy character gleefully gobbling up poorly disguised sticks of dynamite, unaware of the impending boom.

I don’t know if it’s the more compact rolled shape or what, but these are very easy to eat a lot of, and I didn’t find myself needing to reach for anything to quell the burn. Is it nice to have a beverage with them? Sure! If I found myself without one, would I still eat three servings? Also sure! The heat does start to creep in and slowly build in the back of the mouth, but they never turn the dial into “extra hot” territory for me or leave me feeling like I’m ready to spit flames at whatever nemesis tricked me into eating them. While these might fall short of their claim of being extra hot, they excel at being extremely snackable. With a solid cheesy base flavor and a hot-without-blowing-your-head-off heat, they’re a fun way to shake up your regular chip game. I can see people finding these hotter than I did, but if you’re heat-sensitive, you probably aren’t chasing down Dinamitas in the first place. If you’ve enjoyed anything Flamin’ Hot in the past, I think you’ll be more than happy to risk internal combustion and chomp on these.

Purchased Price: $5.49
Size: 10.75 oz bag
Purchased at: Mariano’s
Rating: 8 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (14 pieces) 150 calories, 8 grams of total fat, 1 gram of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 0 milligrams of cholesterol, 140 milligrams of sodium, 17 grams of carbohydrates, 1 gram of dietary fiber, 0 grams of sugar, and 2 grams of protein.

REVIEW: Doritos Dinamita Sticks (Smoky Chile Queso, Tangy Fiery Lime, and Hot Honey Mustard)

In 1971, Goodmark Foods introduced Andy Capp’s Fries, a “unique alternative to potato chips” that “look like French fries, but crunch like chips.” Named for the English comic strip character — and perhaps peculiarly so, given their namesake’s penchant for drinking, gambling, borrowing money, fighting with his wife, flirting with young barmaids, etc. — Capp’s Fries have gone through several iterations throughout the years including Hot, Salsa, White Cheddar Steak, and Ranch, to name but a few.

Fifty-two years later, and no longer satisfied with its lack of footing in the crunchy snack-stick arena, Doritos is throwing its hat in the ring with three new stick-takes on its Dinamita line -— Smoky Chili Queso, Tangy Fiery Lime, and Hot Honey Mustard. Did the wait pay off? It did.

First, a note about all three Dinamita Sticks — because these are corn instead of potato-based, they run a little denser than those from its alcoholic British comic-strip counterpart. A closer comparison texturally would be Chester’s Flamin’ Hot Fries, another Frito-Lay product. But these are a bit heavier still. Reading the ingredient list tells me that Chester’s employs dried potato in addition to enriched corn meal. The nice thing about the Dinamita Sticks’ density is that they give you a fuller feeling than Andy Capp’s or Chester’s.

Smoky Chili Queso

I don’t know that I detected any smoky, but man, were these ever chili queso, with a pronounced emphasis on the chili. The first second or two is delightfully cheesy, and then comes the heat. And it’s a big heat, like an Arizona sidewalk on the 4th of July. It’s fast and it lasts. While I found the heat level enjoyable, it might be too much if you’re even slightly heat-averse. You have been forewarned.

Rating: 8 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (28 grams) 140 calories, 7 grams of fat, 1 gram of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 0 milligrams of cholesterol, 180 milligrams of sodium, 18 grams of carbohydrates, 1 gram of fiber, less than 1 gram of sugar, and 2 grams of protein.

Tangy Fiery Lime

Full disclosure: I’m not a lime guy. Well, okay, unless it’s in pie form. In which case, sign me up. But I’ve never been big on spicy things with a lime infusion. These things, however? They may have made me a convert. The lime in the TFL Dinamita is strong, but serves as a great complement to a heat that comes across as a bit sweeter than the spicy punch of the SCQ. It takes longer to build, too and is extinguished with each limey pop of a new Dinamita. I was surprised by how much I ended up liking these things.

Rating: 8 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (28 grams) 140 calories, 7 grams of fat, 1 gram of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 0 milligrams of cholesterol, 180 milligrams of sodium, 18 grams of carbohydrates, <1 gram of fiber, less than 1 gram of sugar, and 2 grams of protein.

Hot Honey Mustard

Did you hear that crack? That was the sound of a home run leaving the bat. THESE THINGS. It’s like a sweeter McDonald’s Hot Mustard nugget sauce, only in crunch form. So. it’s THAT kind of mustard — the sinus-burning, Chinese kind that those of us in the know dip their egg rolls and Rangoons into. There’s a sweet, honey-esque undertone that adds a welcome complexity. While I really found things to enjoy about all three Dinamitas, this one was my favorite.

Rating: 9 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (28 grams) 140 calories, 7 grams of fat, 1 gram of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 0 milligrams of cholesterol, 180 milligrams of sodium, 18 grams of carbohydrates, less than 1 gram of fiber, less than 1 gram of sugar, and 2 grams of protein.

Purchased at: All were purchased at Walmart
Purchased Price: $3.88 each

REVIEW: Doritos Late Night Loaded Taco

Doritos Late Night line is back, inviting us to taste the night with a Loaded Taco flavor in a slick black and purple bag exclusive to Kroger stores. Past offerings in this series include much missed All Nighter Cheeseburger and Tacos at Midnight, which this new edition appears to be a spiritual successor to.

I’m pretty sure I tried Tacos At Midnight, but since a decade has gone by since those bags graced anyone’s beer can-strewn countertops at 2 a.m., I can’t say for sure this is the second coming of that flavor and will judge it on its own merits.

Looking into the Doritos Late Night Loaded Taco bag

Opening the bag, the scent is very reminiscent of what would waft at you from a Taco Bell paper bag, and the flavor is there to match. It’s decidedly “fast food taco” and not “taqueria taco,” and the emphasis is on the loaded part. They taste like the mess that falls out of a haphazardly made Taco Bell item, and as someone who ends up eating those overly sour creamed lettuce shreds, beef bits, and always worthless pieces of tomato, I mean that as a term of endearment and also kind of amazement. See, all the elements you’d expect to taste are here – the crunch like a hard corn shell, taco seasoning, cheese, sour cream, a hint of tomato, but then there’s also…lettuce? Does iceberg lettuce even taste like anything? Apparently, it does, and I’m pretty convinced that slight vegetal note is here, which seems like the kind of achievement Willy Wonka might be proud of. Sure, anyone can make a chip taste like sour cream and paprika, but can they also manage to layer in the suggestion of lettuce? Frito-Lay can.

Doritos Late Night Loaded Taco is lighter than the chip shown on the bag

The next logical step is wondering if you want a chip that I just said tastes like lettuce. I’d be skeptical too, but it turns out it isn’t a bad thing! The iceberg and tomato make subtle appearances, while the predominant flavors are much more in the dairy spectrum, with cream, sour cream, cheddar, butter, and Swiss all getting mentions in the ingredients list. Alongside a classic mix of Americanized-taco spices and sitting on a crunchy corn chip, these really do manage to mimic a fully topped crispy taco surprisingly well. Appearance-wise, the actual chips don’t look much like the very orange one pictured on the front of the bag, but their lighter yellow color reminds me more of taco shells anyway.

Doritos Late Night Loaded Taco bag says "Taste the Night"

Speaking of, would a Doritos Loaded Taco flavored Doritos Locos Taco be too meta or just right for late night? I’ll leave that one up to the fast food gods. In the meantime, enjoy these chips while they last, which, in the case of my bag, was not very long. If you have a Kroger affiliate near you, these chips are worth trying before the neon signs flip off and they disappear into the night.

Purchased Price: $5.49
Size: 9 oz bag
Purchased at: Mariano’s (Kroger)
Rating: 8 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (About 11 chips) 140 calories, 7 grams of total fat, 1 gram of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 0 milligrams of cholesterol, 150 milligrams of sodium, 17 grams of total carbohydrates, 1 gram of dietary fiber, less than 1 gram of total sugars, and 2 grams of protein.

REVIEW: Doritos Spicy Pineapple Jalapeno

Much like putting pineapples on pizzas, adding pineapple flavor to a Doritos chip is, um, unusual. And much like pineapple-bedazzled pizzas, I feel many folks won’t enjoy the uniqueness of Doritos Spicy Pineapple Jalapeno chips. Am I one of those people? Well, you have to read on to find out.

Having fruity-flavored Doritos shouldn’t be surprising since Frito-Lay added mango seasoning to its potato chips TWICE — the awful Lay’s Wavy Mango Salsa and the decent tasting, but not compelling enough to make me finish the bag, Lay’s Chile Mango. But now that pineapple flavor exists in the Doritos universe, which also includes pizza Doritos, should we expect a “Hawaiian” pizza variety someday?

When I first opened this Party Size bag, I got a strong hit of eau de pickled jalapeño with hints of something sweet that didn’t register as pineapple to my nose. Because of the bold peppery aroma, it reminded me of other Frito-Lay chips, like Lay’s Kettle Cooked Jalapeño. Their appearance also reminded me of other chips. If not for how they smelled, these could be mistaken for Doritos Cool Ranch or plain Toasted Corn Doritos at arm’s length.

My taste buds’ first impression of these wasn’t good. I guess they were shocked by the spicy, peppery, and fruity combination, which was a bit acrid at first. If I based my rating on those first few chips, I would’ve given these a three out of ten, but they got better after eating a few more. While the jalapeño and pineapple flavors were equal initially, the fruitiness stood out more after stuffing my face with more chips.

When I first started eating these, I thought having the pineapple there was weird. However, just like I got used to eating pineapples on pizza, my taste buds eventually accepted the fruitiness of these Doritos. I mean, the idea of pineapple flavor on Doritos is still odd, but it ended up tasting better than I thought it would. There were also times when my taste buds thought they noticed a bit of lime, which goes very well with spicy seasoning on chips, so maybe that’s why these grew on me. With that said, these aren’t as tasty as Doritos Flamin’ Hot Limón.

They’re also not as spicy as Doritos Flamin’ Hot Limón, but if you find Taco Bell’s Hot Sauce to be too hot, then you might want to avoid these.

Doritos Spicy Pineapple Jalapeno is not a flavor that will end up on my favorites list, and I think the pineapple and jalapeño combination might be too weird for some. But I do like it, and it has a unique taste that I feel is worth the money if your taste buds are adventurous.

Purchased Price: More than one should pay on eBay
Size: 13 3/4 oz bag (Party Size)
Purchased at: eBay (available at Walmart and Target)
Rating: 6 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (about 11 chips) 140 calories, 7 grams of fat, 1 gram of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 0 milligrams of cholesterol, 150 milligrams of sodium, 18 grams of carbohydrates, 1 gram of fiber, 1 gram of sugar, and 2 gram of protein.

REVIEW: Doritos Sweet & Tangy BBQ

Doritos Sweet & Tangy BBQ Bag

Of all the chip flavors I’ve tried and enjoyed, I don’t believe I’ve ever had barbeque-flavored Doritos. I believe there’s a Bold BBQ flavor available in Canada, but I guess every time I’ve been north, I’ve prioritized All Dressed chips instead. BUT NOW, a new Doritos flavor is available in the US — Doritos Sweet & Tangy BBQ.

Doritos Sweet & Tangy BBQ inside the bag

True to Doritos’ well-established brand identity of delivering bold flavors, these Sweet & Tangy BBQ Doritos looked and smelled like they were full of flavor right out of the bag. There was a strong aroma of vinegar, sweet barbeque, and tons of seasoning powder.

Doritos Sweet & Tangy BBQ dark seasoning

Maybe it’s because this particular seasoning is pretty dark, but these looked very heavily seasoned, which I prefer. But the taste really did surprise me a little bit. First of all, the corn chip flavor stands out MUCH more with this than it does in the traditional Doritos Nacho Cheese flavor. I’m not entirely sure why but I think it’s because the nacho cheese seasoning is much more salty and savory, and this chip is pretty sweet.

The other surprise is the distinct lack of smoke. Maybe I should have assumed this with a name like Sweet & Tangy, but this relies heavily on the BBQ flavor spectrum of tomato, vinegar, and brown sugar. I didn’t find it smoky at all, and it was very much NOT like the standard BBQ potato chip flavors you’d find at the market. There was a crisp acidic tang in the finish and aftertaste.

Overall I found these Doritos to be pretty unique. I think they’ve managed to hit a BBQ flavor in a super specific way with the sweet acid punch while still delivering a crowd-pleaser. I still prefer the OG Nacho Cheese flavor, but this is a compelling addition to the Doritos lineup.

Purchased Price: $4.99
Size: 9.25 oz bag
Purchased at: Mariano’s
Rating: 7 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (about 11 chips) 150 calories, 7 grams of fat, 0 milligrams of cholesterol, 190 milligrams of sodium, 18 grams of carbohydrates, 1 gram of fiber, 1 gram of sugar, and 2 grams of protein.