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Our favorites smoked the competition.
In a Nutshell
We taste-tested 12 brands of barbecue chips you’re likely to find at your local supermarket or online. To find the very best ones, we tasted each without knowing which was which. We crowned one winner, but we also found one worthy runner-up.
“Barbecue” is a slippery word. It can mean meat that’s slowly smoked over a gentle fire, a backyard cookout, or a sweet-tangy sauce, usually flavored with tomato, molasses, brown sugar, and spices. Barbecue potato chips are rarely trying to taste like actual barbecued meat. Most BBQ chips are chasing the flavor of this specific variety of barbecue sauce, typical of the Kansas City tradition, sometimes with a bit of smokiness added. They’re barbecue mostly by association: The dry seasoning tastes like the sauce, which tastes like the ribs. Or…something like that.
Today, “barbecue” chips are a fixture of snack aisles and a mainstay of picnics and potlucks. The question is: Which brands are worth buying? To find the best barbecue chips, we tasted 12 brands you’re likely to find at your supermarket or online, most of them built around that familiar sweet, tangy, smoky barbecue-sauce profile. We tasted them blind and found two overall winners that do “barbecue” proud.
The Criteria
A great barbecue chip should be well-seasoned and evoke the flavors of barbecue, whether via that KC-style sauce-association pathway, or with a strong dose of spices and smoke. In general, the flavors should balance sweetness, smoke, savoriness, and tang. There should be a bright note from tomato powder, a savory vegetal element from garlic and onion powders, and just enough sugar to add sweetness. Though the chips can (and arguably should) taste smoky, the smokiness shouldn’t be overwhelming or unpleasant. They should not be greasy or taste stale; instead, they should be fresh and deliver a satisfying crunch, whether that’s the light crispness of a thin chip or the firm bite of a thicker kettle-cooked chip.
Overall Winner
Lay’s BBQ Flavored Potato Chips
These chips were thin and lightweight but still retained their crunch as we chewed them. Tasters appreciated their “crackly” crispness and bold barbecue flavor, which one taster described as “exactly what I expect when I bite into a BBQ chip.” The chips also had a gentle heat that builds toward the finish. The chips’ sweetness meant that a few editors thought they leaned slightly too honey-barbecue, but their savory-sweet balance had most of us reaching for another handful.
Runners-Up
Deep River Snacks Mesquite BBQ Potato Chips
This runner-up had thicker, crunchier chips and a more robust flavor than our winner. Tasters loved the chips’ “fantastic curled-up kettle crunch,” and highlighted their satisfying folds, bubbles, and darkened edges. The flavor profile was deeply savory, with a prominent roasted tomato note, backed by mesquite smoke and warm paprika. One taster said it struck the perfect balance of “tangy, crunchy, savory, sweet, and smoky,” and another called it their “perfect chip.”
Jackson’s Barbecue Kettle Chips
These potato chips had a thicker cut than Lay’s. Laila, our associate culinary editor, appreciated their “very crunchy” texture. Tasters also enjoyed their balance of smoky, salty, and sweet flavors. Some thought this chip’s seasoning was too mild, but others found it just right, with one taster noting they “would buy this chip 10/10 times and unfortunately finish the entire bag in one sitting.”
Stop & Shop BBQ Flavored Potato Chips
Though some tasters thought these chips were overly firm, others enjoyed their sturdy bite. “If you like crisp kettle-style, these are super crisp,” our editorial director, Daniel, wrote. Laila appreciated their “satisfying crunch,” and loved their salty, smoky, and paprika-forward flavor. Many tasters complimented the chips for their tangy flavor profile reminiscent of Kansas City-style barbecue sauce; one person enjoyed them so much they described them as “perfect.”
The Contenders
- 365 by Whole Foods Market Barbecue Chips
- Boulder Canyon Hickory Barbecue Kettle Potato Chips
- Deep River Snacks Mesquite BBQ Potato Chips
- Hal’s New York Barbecue Kettle Chips
- Herr’s Barbecue Potato Chips
- Jackson’s Barbecue Kettle Chips
- Kettle Brand Backyard Barbecue Potato Chips
- Lay’s BBQ Flavored Potato Chips
- Ruffle’s Smokehouse BBQ Flavored Potato Chips
- Siete Family Foods Kettle Cooked Chipotle BBQ Potato Chips
- Stop & Shop BBQ Potato Chips
- The Good Crisps Outback BBQ Potato Crisps
- Trader Joe’s BBQ Flavored Chips
- Utz Barbecue Ripples Potato Chips
- Wegmans BBQ Flavored Potato Chips
Key Takeaways and Conclusion
Our winning classic potato chip, Lay’s, had a quintessential barbecue flavor and was thin and satisfyingly crisp. Our editors were fans of Lay’s seasoning blend of onion powder, tomato powder, paprika, and garlic powder, which provided the right amount of savory and tangy flavors. Lay’s also uses a mixture of molasses, brown sugar, and sugar to bring a complex sweetness reminiscent of Kansas City–style barbecue sauce. Unlike many barbecue-flavored chips, Lay’s does not use smoke flavoring.
Our runners-up cover slightly different styles of barbecue flavors. Jackson’s has the sweetness and tomato you’d get from Kansas City-style barbecue, but with enough acidity from vinegar powder to push it into Carolina territory. Deep River’s barbecue chips—the only Mesquite barbecue chips we tried—have the real punch of wood smoke and a complex sweetness from both sugar and brown sugar. Though their smokiness comes from added smoke flavor, which can be overwhelming when used in excess, these chips remained well-balanced. For those who want a Kansas City-style barbecue sauce-flavored chip but want a thicker chip than Lay’s, Stop & Shop’s kettle-style chips will hit the spot.
Lay’s, Jackson’s, and Stop & Shop all use torula yeast and yeast extract to give their chips a boost of umami. Torula yeast and yeast extract are high in glutamates, amino acids that occur naturally in many savory foods, such as Parmesan, mushrooms, and tomatoes. The ingredients give the chips a nice saltiness, and kept our tasters coming back for more.
If you’re looking for chips with a classic barbecue-sauce flavor, Lay’s and Stop & Shop’s barbecue chips are your best bet. Those looking for barbecue chips with a rich smokiness will appreciate Deep River Snacks Mesquite BBQ Potato Chips. And if you want a bigger punch of acidity, grab a bag of Jackson’s Barbecue Potato Chips.
Our Testing Methodology
All taste tests are conducted with brands completely hidden and without discussion. Tasters taste samples in random order. For example, taster A may taste sample one first, while taster B will taste sample six first. This is to prevent palate fatigue from unfairly giving any one sample an advantage. Tasters are asked to fill out tasting sheets, ranking the samples according to various criteria. All data is tabulated, and results are calculated with no editorial input to provide the most impartial representation of actual results possible.
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Read the original article on Serious Eats
