You’ve probably had spicy chips (if you have not, we have suggestions). And you’ve probably had honey barbecue chips (we like Lay’s Honey Barbecue, fwiw). But hot honey potato chips feel like new info, right? Beloved Pennsylvania potato chip purveyor Utz just dropped a collab with chile-infused honey brand Mike’s Hot Honey: Utz Mike’s Hot Honey potato chips. Will a straight-up sweet condiment work as a flavoring for a savory snack? We tasted these new Utz chips to find out.
These are as wacky as they sound. When you first take a bite, you get slapped with honey sweetness. As you chew, that gives way to some much needed saltiness, and then the finish is genuinely very spicy. The heat settles on your tongue and in the back of your throat. They definitely get less weird as you continue to eat them, but that initial burst of honey flavor is pretty out there if you’re a savory snack purist.
As always, the quality of the chips themselves is outstanding. They’re thin, light, and crispy, but they still have so much potato flavor. And I love that Utz chips aren’t as oily as Lay’s. If you’re in the mood, you can really eat a bunch of these without feeling like you did shots of vegetable oil.
I don’t think this flavor is for everyone (it’s probably not for me, to be honest). But the flavor is certainly accurate to its inspiration, so if hot honey chips sound good to you, you should absolutely give these a try.
Credit: Liv Averett / Utz
Rating:
7/10
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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
Ariana Losch
Matt Crowley
Jessica Block
Thoughts? Questions? Complete disagreement? Leave a comment!