Gwynedd Stuart
Looking for good protein snackies? You could definitely do worse than Quest protein chips. Quest Nutrition was one of the first brands to attempt to make satisfying salty-crunchy snacks that are low carb and high protein (they launched back in 2014!), and they were definitely ahead of a big ol’ curve. The high protein snack market has exploded this year, thanks to the proliferation of GLP-1 weight loss meds, which require users to take in a certain amount of protein per day. At the moment, you can get high protein versions of nearly every packaged food under the sun—cereal, yogurt, ice cream, waffles—but people still want chips, dammit. Something to scratch that salty-crunchy itch.
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More and more brands are coming out with protein chips these days—even Frito Lay is getting in on that action—so can Quest’s decade-plus-old snacks still hang? I tasted a bunch of flavors to find out.
- Quest Tortilla Style Salsa Verde
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This is a very weird interpretation of salsa verde. I appreciate how spicy these tortilla-style protein chips are, but they have an odd sweetness I couldn’t quite make peace with. The fruitiness of the peppers is too much like actual fruit. It’s like if Cool Ranch seasoning was infused with dehydrated fruit punch. The tortilla-style chips themselves are pretty damn good, but pick a different flavor.
Credit: Liv Averett / Quest
- Quest Original Style Cheddar & Sour Cream
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If you haven’t eaten chips in a really long time because you’re avoiding carbs, these may taste pretty okay to you. Like the Sour Cream & Onion chips (which we’ll get to in a sec), they are VERY coated in flavor dust. They’re VERY salty. And they’re crunchy! It’s a “crisp” sort of experience; Pringles adjacent, but minus even a whisper of potato flavor. In fact, Quest’s “original style” chips are made with milk protein, whey protein, vegetable oil, corn starch, and corn fiber. Unfortunately, there’s something about the creaminess of this flavor that seems to accentuate the chip’s milky protein base. It’s not a positive.
Credit: Liv Averett / Quest
- Quest Original Style Sour Cream & Onion
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All of Quest’s chips are loaded with flavor dust and these are, too. Lots of bold, creamy, oniony flavor here, but they suffer from the same issue as the Cheddar & Sour Cream chips, which is that the milky seasoning brings out the flavor of the milky protein base. The chips themselves have a slightly weird texture and become a little powdery as you chew, but I think that’s easier to get past than the unadulterated milky flavor. My husband took a bite of one of these without fully understanding what he was eating and was genuinely upset by the experience.
Credit: Liv Averett / Quest
- Quest Tortilla Style Hot & Spicy
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Calling this a “flavor” is a stretch. Really, the only “flavor” is spicy; even Frito-Lay’s famous Flamin’ Hot seasoning has more going on in the flavor department. That said, if you want protein chips that hurt you a little, these are pretty good.
Credit: Liv Averett / Quest
- Quest Original Style BBQ
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While creamy flavors—Sour Cream & Onion and Cheddar & Sour Cream—seem to enhance the flavor of the milk-based protein blend the chips are made with, this sweet and zesty BBQ seasoning covers it up almost entirely. It’s not my favorite BBQ seasoning ever—there’s a lot of brown sugar flavor in the mix—but these come the closest to being like regular ol’ potato crisps (think: Baked Lay’s) rather than protein chips.
Credit: Liv Averett / Quest
- Quest Tortilla Style Protein Chips Pizza
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These pizza-flavored chips aren’t for everyone, but they’re for me. They’re giving Keebeler Pizzerizas vibes and I love it. They taste like dehydrated tomato paste and Italian herbs, with just a hint of fennel seed to channel sausage. And, in general, we much prefer Quest’s Tortilla Style chips to their Original Style chips. In terms of ingredients, they seem to be almost identical to the Originals, but they have a cornier flavor I swear isn’t only in my head. Promise.
Credit: Liv Averett / Quest
- Quest Tortilla Style Spicy Sweet Chili
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This is a great interpretation of sweet chili flavor. If you love Spicy Sweet Chili Doritos as much as we do, you’ll dig these.
Credit: Liv Averett / Quest
- Quest Tortilla Style Nacho Cheese
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These aren’t quite as good as Protein Doritos, but they’re up there among the best protein chips for sure. They’re absolutely COATED in a salty, cheesy nacho flavor that successfully covers up any of the chip’s weird flavor. I know I said the other cheesy/creamy flavors were misses, but this Quest flavor is an exception. I would eat a whole bag of these, no problem, and I don’t care about my protein intake!
Credit: Liv Averett / Quest
Quest Chips!
Quest Chips!
Quest Chips!
Quest Chips!
Quest Chips!
Quest Chips!
Quest Chips!
Luke Field
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