We Tried Utz Lemonade Potato Chips and You Should Too

You clicked on this article, so you must have the same question I did when I first saw the press release: Why did Utz launch a lemonade-flavored potato chip? There’s a pretty good reason for this one, actually. While the other chip companies are launching trilogies of unique flavors for the sake of generating buzz, Utz is on a mission. Per the brand’s website, Utz will donate up to $25,000 from sales of these chips to the youth cancer-fighting Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation. That’s right, these are actually charity-flavored potato chips. That’s a first, credit to Utz.

I don’t have too much experience with this Northeastern snack company beyond their iconic tub of cheese balls and their family of sub-brands. (It’s hard to grow up in Dayton without pledging your eternal allegiance to MikeSell’s Potato Chips.) That said, I do know one thing: No one can agree on how to pronounce Utz. We’ll tackle the brand’s official stance after the review. First, let’s find out if the flavor is as good as the warm fuzzies you get from buying these lemonade chips.

New Utz Flavor!

Utz Lemonade Chips

Utz

Pros: I didn’t expect this to work, but it totally does. These chips start off as lemonade and end as potato chip—without stumbling over the transition. Utz didn’t skimp on the authentic stuff either; you’ll find sugar, citric acid, lemon juice, and lemon oil in the ingredients. I haven’t made lemonade in a while, but I’m pretty sure they covered the essentials. Should I have been salting the rim of my lemonade this whole time? (Utz, shoot me an email so we can figure out how to make a Margarita-flavored potato chip together.)

Cons: If you can believe it, the generous sour flavoring on these chips can get a little overwhelming. You won’t crush this bag in a single sitting without some serious sour-candy face. Oh no, built-in portion control ensures I enjoy these over multiple days! 

Credit: Liv Averett / Utz

Rating:

8.5/10

Sporks

How do you pronounce Utz?

Per the brand in multiple responses to public inquiries over the years, Utz is pronounced like klutz, mutts, or putz. In one response, they did acknowledge that the population of Dutch descendants in the brand’s home state of Pennsylvania led to multiple other pronunciations gaining traction; that said, the family of founders Bill & Salie Utz are pretty confident they know how their last name is supposed to sound.