The Best Kettle Chips for Folks Who Like ‘em Crunchy

I work with people (COUGH *Jordan Myrick* COUGH) who earnestly believe that all potato chips should be kettle-style potato chips. While I do not ascribe to that point of view—I LOVE a thin, crispy chip!—I do think there’s a time and a place for a nice, crunchy kettle chip. One of those times is when you’re seeking out chips to put inside a sandwich—kettle chips really make an impression and they don’t get soggy even if you go ham on the mayo and mustard. Kettle chips also rule when you’re serving a thick, robust dip. And the place? How about Cape Cod…or the Sporked studio flanked by a couple of your best buddies?? 

How we shopped for the kettle chips for this taste test

In case there’s any confusion, in this taste test we were looking for the best kettle cooked potato chips. Not Kettle Brand potato chips. We already ranked those. We wanted to find out which brand makes the best kettle cooked potato chips overall, in terms of flavor, texture, and overall enjoyability. This isn’t about who makes the best tasting BBQ kettle chips or sour cream and onion kettle chips—it’s about which brands make the most reliably delicious chips when only potatoes, oil, and salt are involved.

What we were looking for in the best kettle chips 

• Crunch. Hi. Duh. Kettle chips should have a more aggressive crunch than thin potato chips, but they can still be light and crispy, too. We were looking for kettle chips that aren’t rigid, per se, but make a little more of a racket when you’re going to town on a bag. 
• Potato-y flavor. Kettle cooked chips are typically thicker cut and cooked in smaller batches at a lower temperature, which is meant to give them a more pronounced, caramelized potato flavor. So, yeah, we want that!
• Accessibility. Earlier this year, as part of our ChampionCHIP Challenge, we sourced potato chips from all over the country to find out which region produces the best chips. This taste test was different. We were looking for kettle chips you’re likely to find where you live, no matter where you live (as long as you live in the U.S.). To appease the Pennsylvania cohort, I did source a variety pack of Pennsylvania-style kettle chips. 

Best Lard Cooked

Grandma Utz’s Kettle-Style Potato Chips

Utz

Do ya like lard? Want your potato chips to taste like day-old bacon fat? Well, apparently, Pennsylvanians do! We ordered a grabbag Pennsylvania-style kettle chips, all of them fried in shortening (lard, tallow, etc.), and while these are NOT for everyone (even Mythical Chef Josh was taken aback by the flavor), Utz makes the best version of a fat-fried chip. Some of the lard-cooked chips we tried just tasted like old pork rinds, but Grandma Utz has the freshest flavor and a really nice crunch—not too rigid. They’re almost light and crackly, like something fried in lard should be. Cute bag, too. They’re certainly the best kettle chips if you’re going full MAHA.

Credit: Merc / Utz

Rating:

7/10

Sporks

Best Crunch

Hawaiian Original

Albertsons

If you want AGGRESSIVELY crunchy kettle chips, Hawaiian are the best kettle chips to seek out. These are VERY CRUNCHY. It’s a very RIGID sort of crunch. (Have I used caps with enough elan to communicate how crunchy these are?) Anyway, that’s what these kettle chips are for: big crunch, not necessarily big flavor. They’re a little bit undersalted, but the flavor that settles on your tongue as you eat is genuinely so nice and warm—an almost peanut oil-adjacent flavor. You could stuff these inside a sub, douse it with oil and vinegar, and they’d still probably retain their crunch!

Credit: Merc / Albertsons

Rating:

8.5/10

Sporks

Best Reduced Fat

Cape Cod 40% Reduced Fat

Target

Okay, we tried regular Cape Cod in our taste test and did enjoy them, but we all decided that when it comes down to it, we’re team reduced fat. That almost never happens! But it’s almost impossible to tell the difference between the two, especially if you aren’t eating them side by side because, like, why would you? My only warning about Cape Cod chips is that they’re pretty small. They’re not crumbled, the chips are just made with small potatoes or something. Lots of foldies too. Maybe not the best kettle chips for dips, but they have a great flavor and we love that they’re a lower fat option. 

Credit: Merc / Target

Rating:

9/10

Sporks

Best Tasting Oil

Zapp’s Regular Flavor

Affiliate

People usually come to Zapp’s for bold flavors like Voodoo and Evil Eye, but it turns out the brand makes some of the best plain kettle chips, too. My impression was that Zapp’s are cooked in a unique blend of oils that give them an interesting flavor. Granted, the cooking oils listed on the bag aren’t really unique, but they definitely taste unique to other chips we tried. The crunch is assertive but still crispy. These would be good as hell stacked on a BLT.

Credit: Merc / Utz

Rating:

9.5/10

Sporks

Best Classic Flavor

Lay’s Kettle Cooked Original

Affiliate

Lay’s Kettle Cooked chips are downright thin for kettle chips, but still MUCH thicker than classic Lay’s. And if Lay’s are your chips of choice (I love them, myself), I’m pleased to report that these kettle chips still have that iconic, oily Lay’s flavor. It’s hard to describe, but you know Lay’s chips when you taste Lay’s chips. If you want that flavor but you want a chip that won’t crumble into a million pieces when you just look at it, these are the best kettle chips to buy. 

Credit: Merc / Walmart

Rating:

9.5/10

Sporks

Best Potato Flavor

Kettle Brand Sea Salt Potato Chips

Target

Kettle makes the most potato-y tasting chips by far. They taste like earth. They taste like potato skin rather than potato meat. It’s very nice and very robust, but these probably have a bit too much going on for dipping chips. They’re SUPER salty, too. If you’re pairing with a salty dip, then get the unsalted Kettle chips (also great).These aren’t quite as crispy as our #1 pick, but, yeah, we’re happy to report that Kettle knows its way around a kettle chip.

Credit: Merc / Target

Rating:

10/10

Sporks

Best of the Best

Miss Vickie’s

Target

Miss Vickie’s kettle chips were the biggest surprise of the taste test. They have a really crunchy, really robust texture, and I think that’s what people want from kettle chips. The flavor is so pleasant and neutral. If you want big potato flavor, get Kettle, but if you want something that’s just oil salt and crunch to go with sandwiches, get these. So crunchy! So kettle! Their surfaces are covered in those teeeeeny little bubbles of oil that are so satisfying and give them such a nice texture. For chips you can find at any ol’ Subway, these are so good! Stop arguing with me in your head and just try them! 

Credit: Merc / Target

Rating:

10/10

Sporks

Other kettle chips we tried

Middleswarth The Weekender Old Fashioned Ket-l Chips, Martin’s Kettle-Cook’d Hand Cooked Potato Chips, Diffenbach’s Old Fashioned Kettle Potato Chips, Aplenty Himalayan Sea Salt, Kroger Kettle Cooked, Boulder Canyon, Great Value Kettle Cooked, Tim’s