Earlier this year, Hot Pocket released a line of four new flavors made with Hot Ones hot sauces: Fiery Hot Pepperoni, Hot Habanero Sausage & Pepperoni, Smoky Green Chile Cheesesteak, and Spicy Garlic Chicken & Bacon. Why did they make two pepperoni Hot Pockets? Couldn’t tell ya. What we can tell you is that the Spicy Garlic Chicken & Bacon Hot Pocket (made with Hot Ones Classic hot sauce) is a dream of a brand collab. As my colleague Jordan Myrick put it, “It’s like if a spicy chicken enchilada and a Costco chicken bake had a baby.” It’s gooey, savory, and spicy but not scorching so you can actually enjoy the tender crust and big pieces of chicken. If you’re a Hot Pocket fan, this is the brand collab for you.
Warning: If you don’t want to become addicted to a snack cracker, don’t eat Old Bay Goldfish. These things are outrageously good—savory, zesty, and small enough to eat by the handful. They don’t have as much heat as you might be used to in Old Bay, but that only means you can eat more of them. I wasn’t even a big Old Bay fan, but these crackers made a convert of me. Toss some of these in a bowl of tomato soup or clam chowder? Life changing stuff. Ideally, the best brand collabs create something even better than their source material, and that’s the case here.
Howdy! I’m Gwynedd, Sporked’s managing editor. I live in Los Angeles and have access to the best tacos the U.S. has to offer—but I’m a sucker for a crunchy Old El Paso taco night every now and then. I’ve been at Sporked since 2022 and I’m still searching frozen mozzarella sticks that can hold a candle to restaurant sticks.
Why you should trust me: I’ve been a journalist for 20 years (yikes), a consumer of food for 40-plus years, and I’m truly hard pressed to think of foods I don’t like (or that I can’t tolerate at the very least). Oh and one time I cooked my way through Guy Fieri’s cookbook and wrote about the journey through Flavortown.
What I buy every week: Trader Joe’s Original Savory Thins. Fat free plain yogurt (usually Fage or Nancy’s). Honeycrisp apples. Sweet cream coffee creamer for my at-home Americanos. A frozen cauliflower crust pizza and some jarred mushrooms to top it with. Old El Paso Stand ‘N Stuff taco shells and Gardein Ground Be’f, even though I think “be’f” is a nightmarish contraction.
Favorite ranking: Stouffer’s frozen dinners. I don’t own a microwave (I get my cancers the old fashioned way!), so I love taste testing things that I don’t really buy to eat at home.
Least favorite ranking: Soy sauce. Don’t get me wrong, I love soy sauce—but consuming that much sodium in one sitting is probably illegal in some countries. Our frozen enchilada taste test was a close second; the smell of microwaved corn tortillas still haunts me.
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Gwynedd Stuart
Jordan Myrick
Justine Sterling
Danny Palumbo
