On most days, I’m a Lay’s guy. I’ll take some Lay’s Classics with a fresh squeeze of lime over any flavor Pringle, Frito, Flamin’ Hot whatever the f*ck, Cheeto, tortilla chip, or Dorito. Lay’s are, as far as I’m concerned, the next best side snack to french fries. But some days, when I feel like going a little wild, I’ll grab a bag of Kettle Brand chips and crunch on them ’til my mouth is raw.
Kettle Brand and Lay’s couldn’t be more different. Lay’s are light and crispy, almost paper thin, but Kettle Brand delivers the texture. Kettle chips have more bite, they’re more satisfying, and because they’re much thicker and crunchier, they tend to hold flavors much better than the lighter potato chips out there. The brand also has a tendency to favor premium ingredients, making each flavor an experience in and of itself, unlike say, Doritos, which has too many flavors that taste totally redundant (I know, I’ve ranked them all).
What makes Kettle chips special more than anything is that they are fried in a hot kettle of oil and that makes all the difference. Instead of simply being crispy, this results in an almost caramelized quality that makes the flavors come across as richer, deeper, and more complex. It’s an upmarket chip, not always great for dipping but often excellent on its own.
To help you find the Kettle chips worthy of your pantry space, we decided to rank every single flavor we could get our hands on. Here is the verdict!
15. Unsalted
Price: $3.19
Tasting Notes:
Why? Light salt I can understand, but totally naked kettle-fried potato chips?
These taste like nothing and anyone who tells you they’re in the least bit enjoyable is lying to you. There is the slightest hint of sweetness, but mostly it tastes like you’re eating stale dried potato.
The Bottom Line:
Skip this flavor unless you literally can’t have anything else. Like if you have gout or something. And even then, there has got to be something better to snack on.
14. Truffle Oil and Sea Salt
Price: $3.19
Tasting Notes:
The “and sea salt”’ of this flavor might as well not exist because all you’re going to taste here is that truffle oil. It has strong savory umami notes, but I think this chip is a little too overwhelming to rank any higher for me. With the right sort of dip I can see this tasting really rich and delicious, but on its own, it’s just too much and hovers a bit too close to tasting rotten.
The Bottom Line:
It should taste great with the right dip, but on its own, it’s way too overwhelming unless you’re in love with that truffle oil flavor.
13. Sour Cream & Onion
Price: $3.19
Tasting Notes:
Sour Cream & Onion is a staple flavor of potato chips, and while these are delicious, I don’t think this flavor translates that well to the kettle chip form. The caramelized sweetness that comes with the batch-cooked kettle fried process clashes with the tangy flavor profile of this combination of sour cream and onion. It’s not as sharp and intense as this flavor typically is, it’s a lot more subtle which may or may not be what you want.
The Bottom Line:
We want more of a tangy bite, this misses the mark a bit.
12. Sea Salt
Price: $3.19
Tasting Notes:
As I mentioned in the lede, I love Lay’s Classic, which is one of the simplest potato chips on the market. You’d think that would mean I have a preference for simple potato chips, but where I’ve ranked Kettle’s similar Sea Salt flavor proves that that isn’t really the case. This flavor is just fine, it’s salty, slightly sweet, and has a nice thick texture but Kettle Brand makes a lot of different variations on Sea Salt, all of which are much more enjoyable to eat than this one.
The Bottom Line:
It’s simple, salty, and sweet, but Kettle offers a few flavors that add a single ingredient or two and better utilize sea salt.
11. Honey Dijon
Price: $3.19
Tasting Notes:
Don’t let Honey Dijon landing near the bottom of this list read as a bad thing — we’ve now reached Kettle Brand’s first truly great flavor of this ranking. The Honey Dijon is incredibly tasty, with sweet honey notes on the nose and a flavor profile that brings you through all sorts of nuanced earthy flavors.
The chip starts off sweet before settling into an earthier bitterness, snapping into a floral-backed tang, and a lingering sweet aftertaste. It’s a journey of flavors that never gets boring.
The Bottom Line:
Sweet, tangy, earthy, and then sweet again. Honey Dijon offers shifting flavors that are a joy to taste.
10. Dill Pickle
Price: $3.19
Tasting Notes:
Dill Pickle feels a little redundant, it relies heavily on vinegar and garlic, two ingredients that show up in so many different Kettle flavors. But while Dill Pickle feels repetitive, it’s also a little too delicious to rank any lower. The initial flavor is mostly indebted to spicy garlic and tangy vinegar, but there is an earthy pickle-backed bitterness at the end that makes this chip incredibly addicting.
Like the Truffle Oil flavor, this one needs a dip to truly shine, but it’s delicious enough on its own that even without a dip, it’s still pretty damn good.
The Bottom Line:
They mostly taste like garlic and vinegar, but if you like pickles the aftertaste here is really going to satisfy you in a way the other flavors won’t.
9. Sea Salt & Vinegar
Price: $3.19
Tasting Notes:
The Seal Salt flavor was bland and boring but the Sea Salt & Vinegar adds that one extra ingredient that makes this flavor really work. There is so much to offer here, it’s sweet and salty, with a savory finish that soaks into the tongue and the perfect thick texture.
There is something so satisfying about the way this flavor works with the crunch of the chip, it tastes like it should be Kettle Brand’s default flavor, like they could just call it “Kettle Brand Classic.” It’s the foundation that some of the higher-ranked flavors are built from.
The Bottom Line:
If you’ve never tried Kettle Brand and you want to know what it’s all about, start here.
8. New York Cheddar
Price: $3.19
Tasting Notes:
New York Cheddar is f*cking awesome. This is truly one of the best-tasting cheddar flavored chips you’re going to find on the market. It doesn’t taste overly cheesy, salty, or artificial — like Cheddar Ruffles or Cheetos. Instead, you get a nice sharp kick, a little sweetness, and a mix of the natural nutty qualities of cheddar, and a bit of sour cream tang.
The Bottom Line:
The best cheddar-flavored chips on the market, no contest.
7. Backyard BBQ
Price: $3.19
Tasting Notes:
This was a tough one to rank because Kettle Brand makes three different BBQ-flavored chips, and they’re all pretty delicious. Backyard BBQ is my least favorite of the three. This chip hits you with an initial sweetness that turns smokey and leaves a subtle burn of garlic and onion flavors at the aftertaste.
It’s incredibly fragrant, and it lends itself well to the thick texture of this crunchy chip.
The Bottom Line:
Truly a smokey and savory delight. One of the best BBQ potato chips on the market, but far from Kettle Brand’s best.
6. Salt & Pepper
Price: $3.19
Tasting Notes:
Look, I know Salt & Pepper is ranked way too high on this list, but I don’t care, it’s my ranking, and I f*cking love this flavor. It’s my go-to! It might seem simple, but it should actually be called “Salt, Pepper, & Onion” because this flavor has a distinct sharp onion flavor at the finish that makes it incredibly savory and addictive.
The initial salt and pepper flavors are really nice too, big flakes of black pepper dot every chip, offering fragrant and earthy peppercorn notes that help to elevate this chip very close to being as good as a fresh piping hot order of well-seasoned French fries.
The Bottom Line:
The only potato chip flavor that could stand in as a substitute for an order of fries. Eat it with a burger and you’ll be amazed at how little you miss the French fries.
5. Bourbon BBQ
Price: $3.19
Tasting Notes:
Far smokier than the Backyard BBQ, the Bourbon BBQ hits you with that same initial sweetness but features a tangier flavor with more pronounced smokey notes. I’m getting a bit of paprika here with some rich dark sweetness that sort of approximates bourbon, but not exactly.
The Bottom Line:
Sweeter and smokier than the Backyard BBQ.
4. Pepperoncini
Price: $3.19
Tasting Notes:
Here is the thing about the Kettle Brand Pepperoncini, it doesn’t taste anything like actual pepperoncini chili peppers. It doesn’t have that bright spicy sweetness, but, don’t let that bother you because name aside, this flavor is delicious. It’s very vegetal, with a green bell pepper-esque flavor that starts sweet, shifts into tangy territory, and ends with a garlicky aftertaste.
The Bottom Line:
The Pepperoncini doesn’t exactly taste like pepperoncini, but it’s still deliciously vegetal and fresh tasting, and who could hate that?
3. Farmstead Ranch
Price: $3.19
Tasting Notes:
Like the New York Cheddar, Kettle Brands absolutely nails ranch-flavored chips, no contest. In a ranking of ranch chips, I’m positive Farmstead Ranch would come up on top. This chip has a healthy dusting of dried ranch powder all over each chip, offering a satisfying buttermilk-indebted flavor.
It has a nice balance of salty, garlicky, and sweet flavors that taste akin to dipping your chip into actual ranch dressing. Yes, it’s that good!
The Bottom Line:
Hands down one of the best ranch-flavored chips you’ll ever eat. It tastes remarkably natural and will satisfy if a bottle of real ranch isn’t handy.
2. Korean BBQ
Price: $3.19
Tasting Notes:
I have to give it to Kettle Brand, they somehow made three different BBQ flavors that all taste distinctively different, but their best is easily the Korean BBQ. Unlike the Backyard and Bourbon BBQ, this Korean BBQ puts less emphasis on smokey flavors and ups the sweetness to a considerable degree.
The resulting flavor is a perfect blend between dark molasses sweetness and savory sweet onion with the slightest hint of smokey notes on the backend.
The Bottom Line:
Kettle Brand’s best BBQ flavor and easily one of the best BBQ chips on the market.
1. Jalapeño
Price: $3.19
Tasting Notes:
Here it is, Kettle Brand’s best flavor by a mile. Spicy chips are all the rage — just look at the success of Flamin’ Hot! — but while those chips deliver the heat, they tend to lack in flavor, coming across as grossly artificial. These jalapeño chips take an opposite approach, offering a more subtle and natural take on spice.
It’s not hot enough to burn your tongue or make you sweat, but what this flavor lacks in heat, it makes up for in taste. At first, you’ll be hit with an initial sweetness followed by some bright vegetal notes with a strong hint of garlic. After the first couple of chips, you’re going to wonder where the heat is but after about four or five the spice starts to accumulate in the back of the throat, growing hotter and hotter with each chip. That makes eating these chips incredibly addicting — as you start to chase the heat you’ll likely find yourself pouring yourself another serving whether you’re hungry or not.
If that’s not the sign of a truly great chip, I don’t know what is.
The Bottom Line:
A natural approach to spicy chips, Kettle Brand’s Jalapeño is the most elevated and complex spicy chip you’ll ever eat. Your move, Flamin’ Hot.