REVIEW: Limited Edition Miller Lite Beer Pringles (Grilled Beer Brat, Beer-Braised Steak, and Beer Can Chicken)

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It’s almost Memorial Day, aka the unofficial start of Summer, aka prime grilling season (you know, if you’re the type to relegate your outdoor meat cooking to only one particular time of year).

In the spirit of the season, Pringles is teaming up with Miller Lite beer to bring a few different types of beer-inspired grilled meat potato crisps to store shelves: Grilled Beer Brat, Beer-Braised Steak, and Beer Can Chicken. (If you’ve never had beer can chicken, it’s where you stick an opened can of beer up a chicken’s butt before grilling it, ostensibly to… infuse the chicken meat with the essence of beer? It doesn’t actually make it taste like beer in my experience. Maybe it keeps the chicken moist, I’m no food scientist.) Anyway, although I don’t drink beer nowadays, I DO eat Pringles — and chicken, brats, and steak — so I tried all three.

Beer Can Chicken: The worst of the bunch. Not bad, but not good. Very neutral, in other words. These tasted like regular Pringles, honestly, that were maybe just a little… off. I heard someone online suggest that they tasted like chicken ramen packets, and someone else excitedly agreed, but I didn’t get that sense AT ALL. A Pringle flavored with chicken ramen seasoning would have been much better (though probably not accurate for Beer Can Chicken and chicken ramen seasoning Pringles have already been done). I found myself tired of these after two crisps.

Beer-Braised Steak: Interesting, and better than the BCC, but I wasn’t in love with these, either. There was definitely more of a meaty essence with these — even, dare I say, steak-meat — and a decent charcoal hint at the beginning, but it felt like it was all right up front on the chip, with no nuance or longer-lasting flavor.

Grilled Beer Brat: The best of the bunch, if only because it felt the truest to its intention. Though I still didn’t get any “beer” flavoring, this one nicely mimicked an actual grilled brat. My only complaint was the same as with the Beer-Braised Steak version — the flavoring could’ve used a little more oomph. All of the seasoning seemed to be at the beginning of the tasting, and I didn’t really feel like it warranted eating a bunch to get that good initial taste.

Because I wanted to know if I could trust my taste buds — and the Pringles food scientists to get it right — I blind taste tested each to see if I could pick out which one was which. The Chicken’s blandness was unmistakable — I guessed it on my first go-round. The other two took a bit more work. I initially mixed up which was which, but after having about three of each, I got them correct. Additionally, I tested them on my daughter, who went in with zero knowledge of the intended flavors. She thought the Chicken was “regular Pringles,” Steak was “garlic,” and Brat was “mint.” She also declared that she didn’t like any of them, and was scandalized that I tried to give her beer. Kids, am I right?

Purchased Price: $2.00 (each)
Size: 5.5 oz cans
Purchased at: Walmart
Rating: 5 out of 10 (Chicken), 6 out of 10 (Steak), 7 out of 10 (Brat)
Nutrition Facts: (14 Crisps) 150 calories, 9 grams of fat, 2.5 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 0 milligrams of cholesterol, 170 milligrams of sodium Brat/Steak 180 milligrams of sodium Chicken, 17 grams of carbohydrates, less than 1 gram of fiber, 0 grams of total sugars, and 1 gram of protein.

REVIEW: Utz Limited Edition Lemonade Potato Chips

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Who called them “Lemonade Potato Chips” and not “PotADEo Chips?”

Utz. It was Utz. What kinda question was that? You see the picture. I assume your follow-up question is, “Wait, WHY did Utz make a lemonade flavored potato chip?”

Well, Nosy, I’ll tell ya, Utz partnered with Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation to support childhood cancer research. It’s for a great cause, larger than all of us. Maybe stop asking so many questions, eh?

Ok, it’s getting a little awkward here between my imaginary friend and me, so I’ll just move on.

Lemonade-flavored chips. On the surface, that does seem strange, but I guess it hinges on your opinion of “sweet” chips. I kinda liked those Lay’s Tootie Frootie Oh Rootie or whatever chips. I love lime tortilla chips. I even kinda dug the Chicken and Waffles Lay’s, so a sweet element in a chip has worked for me. Do these?

Yeah, I think they do. Utz made a serviceable lemonade-flavored potato chip. It all starts with the fact that Utz has a classic potato chip to start with.

These look and smell exactly like regular salted potato chips, with maybe a hint of citrus at the end if your schnoz is up to the task of sniffing it out. Lemon didn’t pop my nostrils like I expected, which was encouraging, because I feared these would be overly artificial.

While I like these overall, it’s a bit of a mixed bag… pun intended, I guess. Some chips have a soft sweetness that really pairs well with the salty base chip. Others skip the sweetness entirely and go right to a borderline unpleasant sour blast that lingers a little too long. It’s like one out of every ten chips got dusted with a little too much of that malic acid taste.

The chips themselves are very good, but as I said, I like Utz potato chips. These would be a huge win if each chip had an even coating of salt, sweet lemon, and just a pinch of citric sourness. As they are, I think they’re pretty good. Eat as many chips in one bite as possible to balance the flavors.

I’m not a “finish a bag of chips in one sitting” guy because the grease gets to me, but I polished half the bag of these, only pausing a few times to grimace at the rogue sour chip.

I like ‘em. It’s definitely a good summer chip. I imagine these will have their haters, but I encourage you to pick a bag up, especially with the good cause attached to them.

Lemonade could be the new “hot” trend of the season. It’s a ubiquitous flavor on its own, but we’ve already seen some weird collabs in the chip world, and I shockingly didn’t detest Popeyes’ Pickle Lemonade. If these take off, you can probably expect more brands to milk lemonade for all its worth, and who knows, maybe fudge will be the next seasonal limited edition around the corner.

…I’m sorry. Buy these. Not bad! Good cause!

Purchased Price: $2.94
Size: 7.75 oz. (Family Size)
Purchased at: Walmart
Rating: 6 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (about 20 chips) 150 calories, 9 grams of fat, 2.5 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 0 milligrams of cholesterol, 170 milligrams of sodium, 16 grams of carbohydrates, 1 gram of fiber, 2 grams of sugar, and 2 grams of protein.

REVIEW: Guacamole Doritos (2025)

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Chips and dip: a tale as old as time.

Chips flavored like dip: a tale nearly as old as time.

People clamoring about bringing back discontinued chips that taste like dip from the glory days of pre-iPhone America: a tale as old as two decades.

Yes, for the first time in nearly 20 years, since this website’s inception, Guacamole Doritos are back on shelves. Originally running from 2003-06, this green-clad bag of vibrantly green tortilla chips has been the source of constant internet buzz and early aughts nostalgia. I am sure I had these at some point, but I have no recollection of, or specific love for, the original, so I’m going into this with an open mind and fresh tastebuds.

Biting into my first well-seasoned chip (always gotta pick a properly dusted one to start), there is no doubt these taste like guacamole. I immediately get that distinct, fatty, earthy avocado taste, rounded out by garlic, onion, and a touch of citrus. It truly tastes like I dunked a crispy chip into squishy dip. Quite marvelous.

Interestingly, the more I eat, the more the flavor moves away from avocado and into cheesy corn territory. This isn’t bad; it’s just different and not avocado. Some chips have a flavor that stacks, especially spicy ones, where the profile is initially subtle and then builds into a crescendo of flavor. These are different. They start boldly guac-y and then taper down to a spiced (not spicy) creamy cheesy taste with a hefty dose of corn chip. Still good, but that big-bowl-o-guac party vibe is drastically toned down.

Taking a look at the ingredients list, I’m not surprised to find sour cream, cheddar cheese, Swiss cheese, whey, AND butter all in the mix. Yet there is no powdered avocado or other science-adjacent ‘cado in sight. I am still remarkably impressed by how on-the-nose the guacamole presence is on the first couple of chips, and how this myriad of other components, combined with “natural and artificial flavors,” created such a perfect impersonation.

The good news is that even if the flavor does dwindle a bit, what’s left is still very good and worth the purchase of at least one bag for Doritos lovers. However, something tells me that the nostalgia chasers may not enjoy them as much as I do, or at least as much as they did in 2004, since our new, matured experiences can rarely live up to the memories we hold dearly in our minds.

Purchased Price: $2.69
Size: 2 5/8 ounces
Purchased at: Circle K
Rating: 7 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (11 chips, 28g) 150 calories, 8 grams of fat, 1 gram of saturated fat, 170 milligrams of sodium, 17 grams of carbohydrates, 1 gram of fiber, 0 grams of total sugars, and 2 grams of protein.

REVIEW: Lay’s Do Us a Flavor Bacon Grilled Cheese Potato Chips

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It’s been far too long since we’ve experienced a Lay’s Do Us a Flavor contest. It’s been so long that I don’t even remember when the last one was or what the flavors were without having to Google it.

This year’s crop of flavors includes Valentina & Lime, Korean-Style Fried Chicken, and Bacon Grilled Cheese. Unfortunately, unlike previous years, there’s no definite oddball loser among them that allows the food scientists at PepsiCo to flex their flavor alchemy at the cost of poor sales. So, no Cappuccino potato chips to freak out our taste buds.

Instead, all three of 2025’s Do Us a Flavor finalists have a legitimate chance of winning. However, all the past contests have shown us that the safest flavor wins. So here’s a review of the winner because I believe it’s the safest — Bacon Grilled Cheese.

(NOTE: I haven’t tried any other finalists because, for some reason, when I picked this up at Target, none of them were in stock.)

They’re not the most aromatic chips I’ve had. I notice the smokiness and the cheese, but they’re surprisingly light, even when I shove my face into the bag. Although, I could blame vog allergies for that.

Fortunately, the flavor is noticeably stronger than its scent. Between the cheddar cheese and the bacon, it tastes like there’s a bit more smokiness. If you’ve had the bacon or BLT-flavored Lay’s that come back occasionally, you’ll recognize that these chips have a similar smokiness. The cheese mostly reminds me of cheddar, but the ingredients also list blue cheese, sour cream, and buttermilk, which explains the chip’s pleasant tanginess. With its combination of tastes, I imagine Lay’s could repackage and rename this product without any changes as “Smoked Cheddar” in the future.

Lay’s Do Us a Flavor Bacon Grilled Cheese is a fine finalist, which is surprising because I believe Lay’s Bacon Potato Chips are mediocre. The addition of cheese to the smokiness makes a tremendous difference. However, while these chips are good, they don’t excite my taste buds as much as cheddar & sour cream or sour cream & onion. I wouldn’t be sad if I never got to try these again.

With that said, this chip is good enough and safe enough that it’ll probably win. However, if you love it and it doesn’t win, don’t fret. Like many previous Do Us a Flavor losers that aren’t Cappuccino, Lay’s has brought them back for a limited time.

Purchased Price: $4.00 (on sale)
Size: 7 3/4 oz bag
Purchased at: Target
Rating: 7 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (about 16 chips – 28 grams) 160 calories, 10 grams of fat, 1.5 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 0 milligrams of cholesterol, 140 milligrams of sodium, 15 grams of carbohydrates, 1 gram of fiber, 1 gram of sugar, and 2 grams of protein.

REVIEW: Signature Select Limited Edition Lemon Potato Chips

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While Lay’s isn’t giving us any weird sweet flavors with this year’s Do Us a Flavor contest, there is an oddball seasonal flavor on shelves right now if you happen to live near any Safeway/Albertsons stores or any of their sister grocery chains that are too numerous to list. Signature Select Limited Edition Lemon Potato Chips is part of a massive rollout of lemon-flavored products that are too numerous to list and have been around since spring began.

The idea of lemon-flavored potato chips seems odd to me, but also not so strange at the same time. During my dinner recipe searches, I’ve encountered lemon-flavored dishes that include potatoes, so combining the two isn’t so foreign. But this is the first time I’ve actually tasted lemon and potato anything because I’m too lazy to cook those dishes I found. Also, these chips don’t seem so odd because citrus-flavored tortilla chips are common.

When I first tried them, the lemon was so mild that I was disappointed. With more chips, the sweet and sour citrus flavor somewhat built up, but it sadly never reached a point where I wanted to pucker. The masochist in me had hoped the lemon would be bold enough to force some kind of facial expression that shows uneasiness. Instead, it had a mild citrus flavor that teetered between weird and okay. However, my wife ate two chips, grimaced, handed the bag back to me, and told me they had an odd aftertaste. Apparently, I liked them more than her.

While I didn’t find the flavor offensive, I disliked the cheap quality of the potato chips which seemed thinner than what Lay’s offers and not as crispy. But I guess that’s what you get with store brands sometimes.

Did Signature Select’s Limited Edition Lemon Potato Chips convince me that Big Chip should do a lemon flavor? I’m not sure. But if it happens, I’m always down to try two things that usually don’t go together again. If you have the same spirit and a Safeway/Albertsons or sister store nearby, perhaps allow your taste buds to experience a little adventure.

Purchased Price: $3.49 (on sale)
Size: 8 oz bag
Purchased at: Safeway
Rating: 6 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (1 cup – 30 grams) 180 calories, 12 grams of fat, 6 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 0 milligrams of cholesterol, 115 milligrams of sodium, 16 grams of carbohydrates, 3 grams of fiber, 0 grams of sugar, and 3 grams of protein.

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