Potato chips with sweet flavor profiles are always a little bit weird, aren’t they? Chips are supposed to be savory. It’s a psychoculinary rule society tends to abide by and, yes, I did just make up the word “psychoculinary.” Still, sometimes I love them. When we taste tested those absolutely bonkers Lay’s chips that set out to taste like IHOP’s Rooty Tooty Fresh ‘N Fruity breakfast, I was the only person on the Sporked team who really loved them (honestly, Lay’s, bring them back). Suffice it to say, when Kettle released chamoy chips, I knew I had to try them.
Pros: Disclaimer: I don’t consume chamoy super regularly. I love it on the rim of a Michelada, but it’s not a condiment you’ll find in my pantry. From what I know, these new Kettle chips do, in fact, have all the flavor elements. They’re sweet, tangy, and have a little bit of chile pepper heat. You get a lot of lime right up front but it settles into a stone fruit sort of sweetness. If you don’t mind potato chips that are sweet and tangy rather than salty and savory, try ‘em! As my colleague Liv Averett said, they’d be really good on a sandwich with some savory meat, like marinated pork. Or how about crumbled on al pastor tacos?? Wild stuff.
Cons: They’re sort of weird! And very tangy. The lime flavor really slaps ya. I think these might just be too much for some people.
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.
Thoughts? Questions? Complete disagreement? Leave a comment!
Gwynedd Stuart
Danny Palumbo
Jessica Block
Thoughts? Questions? Complete disagreement? Leave a comment!