I have been on a mission to increase my water intake ever since Brooke Shields talked about her doctor prescribing potato chips to counteract overhydration. Same science, different motivating intention. Cause I love me my potato chips! So this bit of news was interesting: online resource The Kitchn just sought out three professional chefs to weigh in on the best store brand potato chips. While each of the chefs — who were interviewed separately and do not work together — named a different favorite flavor, all three had the same answer for the best brand. And the winner is, drumroll please… Kettle! And the three flavors singled out were Salt & Pepper, Habanero Lime, and Sea Salt. I’m down with all but the Habanero Lime. I like salt, people, it’s why I need to drink gallons of water! Here’s what the chef’s had to say about their selections:
For Marguerite Bottorff, senior sous chef of restaurant associates at The Kennedy Center, the big crunch of Kettle’s Krinkle Cut Salt & Pepper chips is the gold standard. “They go with everything and have the exact perfect bite to satisfy all snacking and pairing needs,” she says.
In addition to snacking on Kettle chips straight from the bag, Bottorff says she adds them to sandwiches for extra crunch, dips them in chocolate and peanut butter for a salty-sweet treat, and, of course, tops them with crème fraîche and caviar for a classy snack.
“I can never refuse a handful of Kettle chips,” confirms Diane Kochilas, Mediterranean cuisine expert and author of the New York Times bestseller The Ikaria Way.
While potato chips are a sometimes snack, saved for special occasions, she hasn’t met a flavor of Kettle chips she doesn’t like, but adds, “the spicy Habanero Lime chips are divine. They’re crunchy without being oily and every crumb is bursting with flavor. I love the thickness and the relatively firm texture of these chips.”
Chef Amando Auleley, on the other hand, likes chips so much he put them on the menu at The Smith Chicago. Those potato chips are made from scratch and paired with blue cheese fondue, but the chef says when it comes to his personal chip consumption, he prefers the simplicity of Kettle’s Sea Salt Potato Chips.
“The perfect balance of salt and crunch highlights the natural taste of the potatoes without overpowering them, which I genuinely appreciate,” says Auleley. The chef likes his chips cozied up to a sandwich or with a tangy dip or creamy cheese.
[From The Kitchn via Yahoo! Life]
In the house I grew up in, potato chips were basically treated as their own food group. There were always plenty around for award show viewing, as my mother taught me the necessity of “shovel food,” food you can shovel directly into your mouth without taking your eyes off the TV. In summer we’d break out the refreshing, cool addition of onion dip, always made using packets of Knorr soup mix. Looking back, I think I feel most proud of the fact that we were fairly democratic in our selections of chip type, flavor, and brand. Sure, Lay’s and Ruffles did the heavy lifting, but we would also happily indulge in Cheetos, Sun Chips, sour cream & onion, Fritos, Utz, and on and on. All were welcome in our house! (Except for Pringles. They know why.)
A couple years ago I was on a real bender for the Kettle Krinkle Cut Salt & Pepper, despite generally being a sea salt girl. The extra kick of the pepper can really hit the spot sometimes. And as for Kettle being the unanimous favorite brand, that checks out coming from chefs. They’re undeniably good, but also the brand is neither too low or high brow. I don’t think a chef is gonna go on record declaring their favorite chips are Lay’s, is all I’m saying. (At least not the chefs using chips as a vehicle for caviar.) Anyway, happy shoveling eating, everyone!
Kismet I have to say I really enjoyed this article and can relate to your extremely strong feelings on your favourite snack foods.
Me too!!!
I need to know what Pringles did to your family! I have two brothers, and we couldn’t do Pringles because it became this completely joyless experience of making damn sure each one of us got the same number of chips from the tube. It was the opposite of shovel food, and defeated the purpose of junk food!
The advertisements on this site have become unbearable and disruptive.
I’ve been a reader for a long time, years even, but it’s become impossible to navigate/read/comment with the massive and excessive loading.
Same!! I read far few articles these days on the site because of the ads.
Are you reading on your phone and do you use an iPhone or Android and what browser? Let me know and I will work with the ad company to reduce the ads.
I have the same problem on my Android phone with Chrome. Video ads that make the page take forever to load, massive scroll down ads one after the other that make the screen jump up and down – at one point there was a Stop and Shop frame with dancing vegetables all around; mercifully that stopped. But I persevere.
Oh my gosh, I’ve been struggling with the ads overtaking everything as well!
I use my iPhone to read the articles and every day I’m accidentally clicking links for all sorts of random ads and trying to find the tiny X to close them has become a game of hide and seek.
Thank you for looking into this issue!
iPhone, regular internet/no app. It’s infuriating!
I don’t have the problem with my Android tablet.
I 109% agree with Lindsay’s comment. It’s gotten really bad. Whereby it’s become difficult to scroll without interruptions… And to submit comments because the ads keep popping up and disconnect you from the scroll experience and/or the comment. I’ve experienced this on both Iphone and android. The user experiences is really bad – such that it’s making me not want to come to the site. I hope the feedback helps.
PS I hope my comment comes through. Because I just got an ad interruption.
Yes the ads have been AWFUL lately. I read on my computer (i mac, google chrome). If they don’t take up half the page, there is one that won’t let me click anything until it’s done
My favorite brand! I’m not fond of their Krinkle cut though, as they’re a bit too thick for me. If you want extra salty–say a really hot day in the summer–try their truffle chips. Excellent! Although my all-time favorite brand for truffle chip is Torres Black Truffle. The best! And growing up, we also had all the salty snack foods, principally potato chips but also Cheetos & Fritos &. Funyums & whatever else Frito-Lay wanted to throw out there. Even Pringles.
The Kettle Honey Dijon are my favs. When I fall off the wagon, i prefer to swan dive into a bag of those. YUmmmmm
Nope. It’s Lays Classic Low-Salt for me. Yum.
I’m a purist for classic, give me all the salt, Lays.
It’s Cape Cod chips all the way for me! I’ve been to their factory, it smelled amazing and it was mesmerizing watching those machines go.
Another Cape Cod fan right here!
How awesome to visit the factory! I would’ve left with a truck load of chips!
Absolutely Cape Cod sea salt! The perfect thickness and seasoning. I find Kettle chips to be too thick, too oily and too salty.
Kettle Truffle in the purple bag are deeeee-lightful.
Kettle Backyard BBQ are a staple during 49er football season = the color matches the team lol!
I do enjoy Cape Cod chips too. The way they curl up make them extra crunchy.
I was Lay’s Classic all the way until I decided to try Market Basket brand at half the price. They’re very good. Their corn chips and tortilla chips are good, too.
Miss Vickie’s makes a good chip too, not too salty. Don’t know if you have them in the US, it’s a Canadian company.
Yup! Miss Vickie’s Jalapeno! Yummers!
Miss Vickie’s is my FAVE. The texture is the best. We do have them here but they’re not everywhere – you have to remember which markets to go to that carry them. I went to Vancouver last year and discovered all the additional flavors that I wish we got here (All Dressed, Sweet & Spicy Ketchup). I brought as many back as I could (and got family members on the trip to do the same lol).
Miss Vickies Spicy Dill Pickle for the win!!! But Kettle’s Honey Dijon and their Salt & Pepper chips are also delightful.
Kettle’s vinegar and sea salt for me , any day !
Kettle’s are my favorite brand too, here in Europe, and my favorite flavor is sea salt and rosemary.
Close second: balsamic vinegar.
Sea salt and rosemary chips sound delicious!
Im not in the US or NA for that matter so I my crisps was we call them are slightly different. We do have Lays but their called Walkers and Kettle Chips, I dont like either. I find Lays/Walkers to be to thin a cut and very greasy and Kettle Chips are weird to me, I dont know how to explain it.
My favourite brand back in Scotland was Golden Wonder Cheese & Onion flavour with Sausage & Tomato coming in a close second. Golden Wonder had a fantastic range of flavours but it became harder to find them as Lays/Walkers took over. A few years back a brand called Brannigans had a Smoked Ham & Pickle flavour that were out of this world, sadly they were discontinued. Brannigans were thick and crunchy without being hard, delicious!
Now Im in France and the flavours are all over the place. The only brand Ive seen with a large range of flavours is Brets and they have flavours that are typical French foods like Cepes, Camembert, Confit d’Oignons, my favourite flavour though is Tartiflette. These crisps arent too thick or too thin nor are they greasy. I love that theyre also pretty low in salt for a packet of crisps. Lays do sell here but Ive only seen Nature (lightly salted), BBQ and Poulet Roti, they do have a larger range but as I said ive never seen them., wouldnt buy them anyway.
Damn! I’m in the U.S. and now I really, REALLY need to try Confit d’Oignons, Camembert, and Tartiflette potato chips! My son’s fondest hopes and dreams are of me taking him on a European extravaganza after he graduates from high school, and they may have traction now.
He really presented it in a way that was the most off-putting thing I had ever heard. He wants to visit the countries of his favorite soccer stars. Mbappé for the win! I can try these chips, and he can fawn all over everything Mbappé. Yes, of course, I will make the trip more than about soccer and chips, he might even learn something about history.
I like the Kettle Krinkle Salt and Pepper (and the Trader Joe’s dupes); my nostalgic favorites are Utz barbecue ripple chips; but the BEST chips are: Route 11 lightly salted. For real.
Maybe those experts haven’t tried them yet….
More Kismet posts please, you’re the funniest writer here!
Gotta agree – her posts are hilarious! I’d also like to know what the Pringles did to her. They’re not my fave, but I seriously got into their Cheese & Onion whilst skipping about Central Europe. Wish they were also in Canada.
I’m waiting as well. Pringles burned me and my brothers!
“Tayto’s Salt and Vinegar” for the absolute win!! I’m addicted (when I have access) They’re divine.
Hardbite (in Vancouver)! The spicy dill pickle and salt and vinegar chips are so good.
Zapp’s kettle chips are also really good. They’ve been my go to chip since the late 1980s, when we’d visit family in NOLA. Back then, they were only available in that area. Utz bought them after the founder passed away several years ago. I love the Cajun Crawtator, but it seems like the VooDoo chips are the most popular.
I do like Cape Cod and Kettle chips very much, but there is a special place in my heart for Wise potato chips! A little greasy but they hit must right!
Wise potato chips! The wonderment of my youth; the savvy owl beckoning, the taste!
Well, this sent me down an internet rabbit hole. Apparently, after potato chip manufacturing moved from batch to continuous processing (most moderb chips), a company in Maui developed a recipe for a thick cut, batch (kettle) cooked chip in the 1950s that was very popular on the island. Other “kettle” companies that came later were basically taking inspiration from them. Well, apparently, a couple of years ago the property owner for the Maui company told them that they were selling the property with only 30 days notice!!! They had to shut down after 66 years of operation.
lay’s makes a dill pickle flavor and it is SO good, but typically I get regular lays or regular utz
Kettles, Covered Bridge or Ruffles.
And it’s better if they have typical Canadian flavors like ketchup and all dressed. I so love dill pickle as well.
20 pounds of my body is chips!
Miss Vickie’s Sweet Chili and Sour Cream! Dang, now I am craving them…..
1. Android phone/chrome browser- the ads are interfering with reading/commenting and making my phone freeze. 2. Cheapskate here. My favorite potato chips are Aldi branded kettle cut potato chIps. The jalapeño and salt/vinegar are delicious. Occasionally, Aldi has lattice cut potato chips that are amazing, but they are only available now and then. 3. Loved this post. ❤️. Please recommend so new things to stream/watch.
Thank you! Thank you! Thank you for bringing up the obnoxious and disruptive ad situation. I use an iPhone and I’m thisclose to giving up on reading after years (decade?) of reading and lurking.
I think I really need to try Kettle’s salt and pepper. Fun article, Kismet. I too, want to know what Pringles did to your family. Is it because they taste like salty cardboard and disintegrate on contact?