Salted Caramel Lay’s Are Back—But Are They Good?

A lot of things went on in 2020. I don’t particularly feel like recapping them here (the horrors persist, as they say), but you could be forgiven for having let Salted Caramel Lay’s come and go without notice. The salty-sweet holiday flavor, which returned to shelves this month, isn’t new, but it’s new to us and might just be new to you, too. Could a chip that surely seemed like little more than a pandemic-era troll actually taste good? We broke open a bag to find out.

Returning Product!

Lay’s Salted Caramel Potato Chips

Ralphs

Pros: We absolutely love when a snack that shouldn’t work does work. Frankly, a lot of the stabs snack companies take at achieving that perfect sweet-salty balance land flat. But these are actually really compelling. They’re sweet but not cloying—you can definitely still taste that crackly, salty Lay’s potato chip beneath the caramel. They kind of remind me of honey butter chips—they have a similar butteryness that serves as a sort of bridge between salty and sweet, if that makes sense. It’s the kind of chip you’ll keep eating because your mouth needs to understand what’s happening.

Cons: Obviously, these aren’t for everyone. I can see some people really being offended by the flavor because, okay, maybe it does have a little bit of phony sucralose sweetness. Also, we really liked the way the caramel flavor dust tasted with potato, but it’s not a totally natural fit.

Credit: Liv Averett / Frito-Lay

Rating:

8/10

Sporks

Will you try new Salted Caramel Lay’s?

About the Author

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.