Lionel Messi, one of the most celebrated and decorated soccer (ahem, football?) players of all time, has a new collaboration with one of the oldest and most celebrated chip brands, Lay’s. Paying homage to Lionel’s home country of Argentina, which he helped win the most recent FIFA World Cup for in 2022, the newest limited edition creation from this power duo is Argentinian Style Steak.
When I think of Argentina and steak, I think of chimichurri, and the bold graphic of perfectly vibrant medium-rare steak covered in chunky green goodness on the bag lets me know my brain has gone in the right direction. For those unfamiliar with chimichurri, it is a delicious uncooked sauce made up of olive oil, fresh herbs, and garlic. I love chimichurri. Unfortunately, I don’t love these chips.
The chips aren’t bad by any means, but they don’t deliver the flavors I want and enjoy from steak with chimichurri. What the chip gets right is the beef flavor, as it’s certainly there and notably meaty from the first salty bite to the last. Where it goes wrong is in the lack of complexity and vibrancy of the chimichurri.
When I think of a good chimi, I think first of garlic, then maybe some parsley and a hint of basil, all enrobed in a velvety smooth fatty olive oil. The seasoning on these chips leans into the beef first, followed quickly by an aggressive onion flavor. I like onions and onion powder, but being the dominant flavor here is far from satisfying. The end result is a chip that tastes more like beef and onions than Argentinian Style Steak, which isn’t bad, but disappointing. Sour cream and onion, hold the sour cream, feels closer to home than a spiced-up steak.
In their purest form, this new limited edition chip reminds me of fast food French fries that sit in a paper bag on the drive home next to a juicy burger with onions on it. The fries absorb a bit of that beef and onion aroma, but still mostly taste like potatoes. I don’t mind fries with some beef and onion juice on them, but I certainly can’t put that kind of profile into the Messi-inhabited GOAT conversation.
Purchased Price: $2.69
Size: 2 1/2 ounces
Purchased at: 7-Eleven
Rating: 6 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (15 chips, 28g) 160 calories, 10 grams of fat, 1 gram of saturated fat, 140 milligrams of sodium, 16 grams of carbohydrates, 1 gram of fiber, 0 grams of total sugars, and 2 grams of protein.
