Lay’s continues to giveth with yet another new Baked Lay’s flavor. And this one’s kinda meta. It’s Loaded Baked Potato. Lay’s isn’t the first to tackle a potato-flavored potato chip. Pringles made a Loaded Baked Potato flavor way back in 2006. But they were discontinued in 2018. So Lay’s is taking up the mantle and attempting to pack all the flavors of a deluxe baked potato into one baked chip.
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Here’s what I’m expecting from such a chip. I want to taste: sour cream, cheddar cheese, chives, bacon, and actual potato. Is that a lot to ask from a chip? Yes. But if you’re promising me a loaded baked potato then you better tap into your inner Wonka and deliver on the premise. Let’s crunch down some of these new Lay’s chips and find out if the flavor scientists did it.
Pros: Spoiler alert, but it’s a bit tough for me to find something nice to say about these chips. I like that they’re Baked Lay’s? They have a good crunch? There is some essence of baked potato—the flavor is reminiscent of a Ruffles Sour Cream & Cheddar knock-off. And, because a Baked Lay’s chip naturally has a more potatoey flavor, that does come through.
Cons: The main flavor I get is fake butter. These chips taste like old movie theater popcorn butter. I’m sorry! I really wanted to like these. But it’s just a big swing and a miss. There’s a bit of a sour tang that might be trying to be sour cream but ends up just coming off as spoiled butter. Please try again, Lay’s. Try to get some smoky bacon and zesty chives in there. I’ll try them again!
Hi! I’m the editor-in-chief of Sporked. I will never turn down a fresh-shucked oyster but I’ll also leap at whatever new product Reese’s releases and I love a Tostitos Hint of Lime, even if there is no actual lime in the ingredients.
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What I buy every week: Trader Joe’s dried okra. Appleton Farms prosciutto from Aldi. Some sort of Trader Joe’s cheese (I’m into the aged gouda at the moment). Frozen waffles (usually the Eggo Cinnamon Toast Minis). Spindrift water (loving the Cosmopolitan right now).
Favorite ranking: Smoked salmon. Imagine me as Scrooge McDuck but instead of coins I’m diving into a vault of slippery smoked salmon slices. Pure joy. I also found some real steals in that taste test!
Least favorite ranking: Canned oysters. I had such high hopes for this but it quickly became a chore. The kitchen smelled like an uncleaned aquarium.
Thoughts? Questions? Complete disagreement? Leave a comment!
I actually like the “soured” sour cream taste. It is a more cultured lactic acid tang, which is intentional with the French equivalent to sour cream, crème fraîch. Since I know it isn’t actually spoiled sour cream, it doesn’t put me off and think it actually enhances it. That may be why you consider the taste too subtle, if it isn’t hitting the right notes where it hits. You can only do so much to emulate an actual loaded baked potato.
Regarding the fake butter, most off-the-shelf butter is margarine. If I remember, I don’t have the chips on me right now, I think it tastes closer to the spray butter.
I taste the chives, still think it’s a bit more subtle than sour cream and onion, which makes it in my mind more accurate at what it is trying to be.
It could be better with notes of bacon, but this applied to anything.
Despite this, it is my favorite, even over the original.. which was already my favorite snack, besides just cheese. I like more fermented cheeses, so my review is probably starting to make sense. 😅
They are soooooo bad! I love the bbq and regular baked lays. But, this flavor is god awful. The backend isn’t bad but the first taste yoh get is so awful, you don’t want to put the whole thing in your mouth.
Justine Sterling
Gwynedd Stuart
May Wilkerson
Griffin Parker
I actually like the “soured” sour cream taste. It is a more cultured lactic acid tang, which is intentional with the French equivalent to sour cream, crème fraîch. Since I know it isn’t actually spoiled sour cream, it doesn’t put me off and think it actually enhances it. That may be why you consider the taste too subtle, if it isn’t hitting the right notes where it hits. You can only do so much to emulate an actual loaded baked potato.
Regarding the fake butter, most off-the-shelf butter is margarine. If I remember, I don’t have the chips on me right now, I think it tastes closer to the spray butter.
I taste the chives, still think it’s a bit more subtle than sour cream and onion, which makes it in my mind more accurate at what it is trying to be.
It could be better with notes of bacon, but this applied to anything.
Despite this, it is my favorite, even over the original.. which was already my favorite snack, besides just cheese. I like more fermented cheeses, so my review is probably starting to make sense. 😅
I really hope they do not discontinue it.
They are soooooo bad! I love the bbq and regular baked lays. But, this flavor is god awful. The backend isn’t bad but the first taste yoh get is so awful, you don’t want to put the whole thing in your mouth.