5 Weirdest Lay’s Flavors Ever Dropped in North American

Founded in 1938, Lay’s is one of the leading potato chip brands in the world, with a wide range of international flavors and varieties. Though, if you’re like me, you probably still think of them as the plain bag of chips your parents threw in your lunch bag while everyone else in your class was eating snacks that were either “cool ranch” or “extreme.” But Lay’s has tried to escape that perception as the “standard” potato chip by offering some weird, even off-putting flavors, which often didn’t last long on shelves. (Go figure!) 

Here’s a rundown of some of those weird (and often regrettable) Lay’s flavors that you’ll probably never see on store shelves again. 

5. Deep Dish Pizza

While the idea of combining pizza and cheese flavors into a potato chip certainly makes sense, it’s a surprise that they decided to focus on Chicago’s wettest form of pizza instead of something more traditional. (For example, those sketchy $1 New York Pizza slices that somehow always tasted like “settling.”) 

Now, they probably chose deep dish pizza because this was part of Lay’s 2018 “Taste of America Line” which featured various regional specialities like Fried Pickles With Ranch and Chesapeake Bay Crab Spice. From that standpoint, this flavor was practically normal, with a heavy garlic and oregano taste, paired with tomato and cheese. (Although, one online reviewer said it tasted more like parmesan than mozzarella, but that still sounds pretty dang good.) 

4. BLT Sandwich

Originally released in 2012 as a way to promote “National BLT Sandwich Month,”  this discontinued Lay’s flavor got a bit of a reprieve in 2024, when Lay’s re-released it as part of their “Flavor That Hits Home” line. 

I guess a sandwich-flavored chip makes sense, as most chips get paired with sandwiches in the end. And sure, bacon flavored chips are wonderful. But what makes this weird to me is the addition of lettuce and tomato. Why have something so healthy and sensible built into something so unhealthy? Or, why not just plain bacon? To be fair, you didn’t really get much of a lettuce taste from this chip, which featured more of a smoky bacon and tomato flavor, with a bit of paprika and brown sugar to round the whole thing out.  

3. Wavy Mango Salsa

Several of these weirder Lay’s flavors come from Lay’s recurring “Do Us A Flavor” contest, where they’d create several new flavors and let fans vote on them. And for that, I’d imagine that several of these flavors were meant to be deliberately weird to get fans curious enough to try them. Also, these flavors were submitted by fans, who could also be trolling the rest of the country with their submissions. I’m betting that’s what happened with 2014’s Wavy Mango Salsa chips, which featured a mango and cilantro flavor, with one online reviewer describing it as a mix of sweet, fruity and salty flavors. 

And while that sounds intriguing, they also said that reactions from other people who tried it “ranged from a body lotion to fruity potatoes.” So, it’s no real surprise that this flavor didn’t win the contest, losing out to a “Kettle Cooked Wasabi Ginger” flavor. Yep, that definitely tracks.  

2. Cappuccino

Another competitor from the 2014 Do Us A Flavor Contest, Cappuccino was a sweet potato chip that combined coffee and cinnamon flavors. This one picked up a bit of a cult following, with fans creating a Facebook group to try and promote the flavor. However, people who responded to a Lay’s Facebook post about the flavor were a little less positive, posting that it was “gross,” “Cappuccino sucks,” and “Cappuccino went in the trash.” 

So, I guess you could say the reaction was…mixed?

1. Maple Moose

This one was the winner of the 2013 Lay’s Canadian “Do Us A Flavour” contest, beating out some interesting alternate flavors like “Creamy Garlic Caesar,” “Grilled Cheese & Ketchup,” and “Perogy Platter.” But while it got the most votes and became a short-lived Lay’s flavor, later buyers weren’t fans of the maple-flavored potato chip. 

While it was described by the company as “a smoky flavour with a hint of sweetness,” one Redditor described it as tasting like “beans in maple sauce” Another online review said it “had a weird astringency that honestly reminded me of sauerkraut. Or some bizarrely spiced cabbage-based dish at least.” 

And all of that might be why the flavor was discontinued in 2014 due to low sales.