Do Flamin’ Hot Cheetos still taste like Flamin’ Hot Cheetos if they aren’t alarmingly red? Could a sad, beige chip really taste like nacho cheese? We’re about to find out, because Frito-Lay is launching a NKD line of chips. I’m guessing it’s NKD as in “naked” rather than NKD (en-kay-dee), because I’m not sure what that would stand for and because these new Frito-Lay chips’ entire raison d’etre is that they don’t have artificial flavors or colors.
Listen, I was as ready as you are to write these off as MAHA horse pucky, but we tried them all the same. You’ll also find Simply NKD Cheetos Puffs and Simply NKD Cool Ranch Doritos, but we only tried the Flamin’ Hot Cheetos and Nacho Cheese Doritos, because that’s what they sent (along with bags of the original versions for the purpose of comparison). Here’s what we think.
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Pros: These taste a lot like Nacho Cheese Doritos. Like, really close to identical. I had to eat a few to even be able to taste the subtle difference (which I’ll get to in the next section). BUT here’s an upside to kicking dyes to the curb: If you ever want to surreptitiously eat Doritos without winding up with fingertips caked with bright orange dust, now you can!
Cons: Okay, like I said the difference is subtle—but I swear there’s just something missing. Some of that Doritos fattiness that makes all the flavors come together so well. The team was of two minds, to be honest. Mythical Chef Josh Scherer agreed with me that they’re just not quite the same; my colleague Ariana Losch liked these a little better than OG Nacho Cheese Doritos. If you’re not eating the two side by side—and you aren’t married to that bright orange hue—you probably won’t notice the difference.
Pros: If you like Flamin’ Hot Cheetos because you like that citric acid tang, then you’re gonna love the Simply NKD version. We all thought they were even tangier and even a little bit spicier, and we gotta figure that’s a pro for most people. And, again, if you don’t love walking around with bright red fingertips or, worse, eating your desk Cheetos with chopsticks, you’ll probably really like these!
Cons: The additional tang might be a bit much for some people—but maybe you were never a true Flamin’ Hot fan to begin with.
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
Hebba Gouda
Ariana Losch
Danny Palumbo
Griffin Parker
