Half What It Is Supposed To Be: Lay’s Chicken & Waffles Potato Chips Shouldn’t Survive As They Are.

The Good: Tastes good, Inexpensive
The Bad: Not at all chicken flavored.
The Basics: Lay’s Chicken & Waffles potato chips are good, but not incredibly balanced or, at all, chicken like.


This summer, Frito-Lay released several new flavors. They appear to be limited edition flavors and it is unclear if any of these flavors are likely to survive the summer. One flavor that shouldn’t survive is the Lay’s Chicken & Waffles potato chips. My wife was super excited about this flavor of potato chips, which made me pretty psyched about them. Sadly, the execution did not live up to the name. These are very much waffle flavored, without even a hint of chicken. I don’t know if Frito-Lay has ever reformulated, but unless they do, they should not keep this flavor for their permanent repertoire.

Basics

Chicken & Waffles Lay’s, are a potato chip made from one of the world’s dominant salty snack producers, Frito-Lay. The Chicken & Waffles Lay’s features a dusting or glaze of flavored powder on each and every (otherwise white) potato chip. This might be an audacious potato chip flavor, but it is a weak execution of it.

Chicken & Waffles Lay’s come in various sizes, but always in a bag. The size bag that I found was 9.5 oz. At a regular price in the $4.29 range, that seemed a bit overpriced- but average - to me, but fortunately, they go on sale frequently.

Ease Of Preparation

Lay’s Chicken & Waffles are simple to enjoy; all you need do it open the bag and remove the potato chips from it! There is no trick to eating Chicken & Waffles Lay’s; they are a snack that is ready to go from the bag to the mouth.

Taste

Chicken & Waffles Lay’s smell very much like fried chicken and ketchup, which is an odd aroma for the chips. The chicken scent is more pronounced the longer the bag of chips is open, which is an odd phenomenon. When the bag is initially opened, there is a hint of something sweet, but that changes into a distinctly ketchup scent.

On the flavor front, the Chicken & Waffles Lay’s potato chips taste sweet. There is a very true flavor of syrup with these chips. What there isn’t is a flavor of chicken. These might be waffle flavored chips; they are sweet and a little dry, but not greasy or chicken flavored. They have no aftertaste and, for me, the lack of a chicken flavor seriously undermines the originality and intrigue of these chips. They are simply a sweet potato chip.

Nutrition

Chicken & Waffles Lay’s are a fairly natural snack, with, surprisingly, none of the ingredients being unrecognizable! The primary ingredients are potatoes, vegetable oil, and Chicken & Waffles seasoning. This has a shelf life of only a few months, so it is not the ideal salty snack to stock up on.

Each 1 oz., 17 chip, serving of Lay’s Chicken & Waffles has 160 calories, ninety of which come from fat. There is a single gram of dietary fiber. While there are only 10 grams of fat and 2 grams of protein, there is a significant 135 mg of sodium, which represents 6% of one's RDA of sodium. There is a smattering of Vitamin C and Iron, but few other vitamins or minerals. This is not a health snack. There is a dietary note that the Chicken & Waffles includes milk ingredients, which prevents them from being Vegan compliant, at the very least.

Storage/Clean-up

Kept in their bag, Chicken & Waffles Lay’s will remain fresh for a couple of months, but once the bag is opened, it must be resealed, lest they get stale. I've never had to deal with issues of freshness for my Chicken & Waffles Lay’s.

Cleanup is simple as well. Chicken & Waffles Lay’s are a dry food, but because they are salty, greasy, and easily broken, they will require one to wash their hands afterward and should be wiped up to clean up.

Overall

Chicken & Waffles Lay’s are a decent embodiment of syrup-covered waffles in their flavoring, but not chicken. That makes them, at best, worth trying once, but not much more.

For other Frito-Lay snacks, check out my reviews of:
Ruffles Max Loaded Bacon And Cheddar Potato Skins potato chips
Tostitos Hint Of Lime chips
Lays Sour Cream & Onion Potato Chips

4/10

For other food and drink reviews, please visit my Food And Drink Index Page for an organized listing!

© 2013 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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