Chip Chip Hooray: We Found the Best Potato Chips Ever!
Updated: Aug. 03, 2023
Our Test Kitchen sampled a whopping 22 brands of chips to find the best potato chips on the market. Find out which are a must at your next party.
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Searching for the Best Potato Chips
When you’re craving a salty snack, what’s the first bag you reach for in the pantry? Potato chips of course! But are you satisfying your need for salt and crunch with your go-to brand?
To find out, the Taste of Home Test Kitchen put 22 different potato chips to the test. This is our largest taste test of all time!
How We Found the Very Best Chips
Sure, lots of potato chips are good, but not all chips deserve to be called the best. In this taste test, our culinary experts sampled 22 chip options blindly, including classic, kettle and wavy chips. Each was judged with these three categories in mind:
- Appearance: No one wants potato chip shards or burnt crisps. The best potato chips should be perfectly golden.
- Texture: Great potato chips should have a terrific crunch—the kind that’ll have others asking “can I have some?” after you have a bite.
- Flavor: It’s all about the flavor! The best potato chips should taste like potato and salt. If a chip is greasy or undersalted, it won’t get the thumbs up from our picky Test Kitchen crew.
This was our saltiest test yet, but in the end, five brands can be called Test Kitchen-Preferred.
Best Classic Potato Chips
Utz Original Potato Chips
When you want a satisfying classic potato chip, look no further than Utz Original Potato Chips.
These chips hit all the marks for our Test Kitchen team: Super crunchy, nice subtle potato flavor, and with the right amount of salt. It truly doesn’t get better than these Utz chips and that’s why these rank so highly among our pros.
Unlike many of its classic potato chip competitors, Utz chips could stand up to a sizeable scoop of dip—no leaving chip crumbs in the Dill Pickle Dip!
Best Ripple Chips
Ruffles
Who can resist a good ripple chip? These potato chips are texture on top of texture, especially when you’re munching on a bag of Ruffles.
Talking to Ellen Crowley in the Test Kitchen, “You just can’t go wrong with these!”
That’s because Ruffles have that trademark crimp that no one can resist. They’re salty, potato-forward and just absolutely irresistible. No, Ruffles won’t stand up to more generous scoops of your favorite dip, but that didn’t bother our Test Kitchen much. The flavor and texture was satisfying enough on their own.
Best Kettle Chips
Dirty Potato Chips
Kettle chips are thicker than their classic counterparts and are often a bit more irregular in shape and color. If this is your preferred chip style, you’ll want Dirty Potato Chips next time you get the munchies.
These chips have a delightfully golden appearance with lots of small air bubbles and curled edges for maximum crunch. With a slightly buttery flavor and a nice level of salt, these chips are absolutely the treat that will cure your snack cravings.
Plus, with their sturdier texture, these chips are perfect for scooping up your favorite onion dip.
Best Wavy Kettle Chips
Cape Cod Waves
Want kettle chips and waves? You can get them in Cape Cod Waves.
These thicker cut chips have the structure and ridges to stand up to even the heftiest scoop of chip dip. A bowlful of these golden brown and pleasantly crunchy chips will certainly be gone at your next party.
With just the right amount of salt and kettle-cooked taste, these chips are “seriously addicting,” per Alicia Rooker in the Test Kitchen.
Best Organic Potato Chips
Late July Organic Potato Chips
If you want to expand your organic eating habits into snack foods, look no further than Late July Organic Potato Chips.
These chips are cut a bit more thickly than some options but have such a satisfying texture. “These have nice curls and are super crisp and light,” says the Test Kitchen’s Shannon Norris.
Late July’s chip offerings bridge the gap between classic- and kettle-style chips so they’re sure to please everyone at your picnic.
Check Out More Test Kitchen-Preferred Products
Our Test Kitchen is constantly testing kitchen gadgets, cleaning gear and food looking for brands that deserve the right to be called Test Kitchen-Preferred.
If you’re looking to fill your pantry and fridge with the best products, check out these tests:
Originally Published: April 27, 2022
