Earth Balance Vegan Sour Cream & Onion Kettle Chips

I'm an unapologetic chip lover. I'm not saying to eat chips for every meal of the day, but if you think chips will ruin your life or your diet, you have other issues going on. One variety of chips I haven't had since going Vegan are sour cream & onion. I always liked them, but I thought a Vegan version would be close to impossible. Well, I'm happy to report that Earth Balance has made an excellent Sour Cream & Onion Kettle Chip that might even fool non-Vegans!

The Kettle chip is a harder chip, which I can either take or leave. The flavor on the other hand is 100% zesty tang. They actually used Vegan sour cream which is awesome! It tastes like the real thing to me. I'm also happy to report that they are Gluten-free, Non-GMO and Kosher. So score another one for the Vegans, we finally have a sour cream & onion chip! So what's next?

Fritos Corn Chips

My favorite chip growing up was Fritos. Sure, Cheetos and Funyans weren't too far behind, but Fritos and I have an emotional attachment. I vividly remember being at my Grandmother's during the summer, running through the sprinkler, eating popsicles and Fritos. Of course, growing up in the Cornhusker State, anything with corn was super popular. Years later I became a Chili Cheese Frito fiend (I'll admit I miss them.) And I've also had a couple Frito Pies in my time.

Chicago Vegan Foods even put a Frito Pie Kit with Teese in the Vida Vegan 2013 Swag Bag! How rad is that?

Another thing I love about Fritos is the size. They are tiny and manageable. Eat them one by one or by the handful! Now for the sad news... I'd love to eat Fritos more often than I do, but there's a little problem, GMO's. Frito Lay uses GMO corn for Fritos.

I don't talk about GMOs much because most of the stuff I review is Organic or Non-GMO. I don't know if you've noticed but I don't usually review products that use GMOs, so I would feel weird posting these Fritos without mentioning it. And while we're at it, if you love Fritos and would like to see Frito Lay stop using GMO's, here is a link to contact them. Every little bit helps! I know there are a couple Non-GMO Frito alternatives out there like the Trader Joe's Organic Chip Dippers, but it's just not the same.

So, now my love of Fritos is known and I'd love them even more if they were GMO Free!

  

Kettle Brand Maple Bacon And Sweet & Salty Potato Chips

These Maple Bacon and Sweet & Salty chips from Kettle Brand have cause a bit of a stir, specifically the Maple Bacon ones. Why? Because the Maple Bacon Chips are Vegan. Yes, some Vegans are upset that "bacon" is a Vegan flavor. I tend to be a pretty non-judgmental Vegan and I even enjoy the flavor of fake bacon in seitan, tempeh and now chips. As long as the flavor is created without harming an animal, why are you complaining? Go whine about something else while you type on your non-Vegan computer. Anyway...

So let's start this off with the Maple Bacon chips on the left. Do they really taste like bacon? There's definitely a hint, but I would align it closer to a BBQ chip. I do like it! It's sweet with a little bit of tang and some bacon inspired smokiness. Even if you are not a bacon fan, you're not going to cringe at the taste of these. I'm going to say the bacon name is mostly for marketing purposes. Good for Kettle for taking a bacon chip and making it Vegan!

Now, let's talk about the more innocent Sweet & Salty chips on the right. I find them really interesting. It's a basic potato chip that has been sprinkled with a sweet and salty coating. Pretty tasty actually, they remind me of sweet corn. The sweetness is restrained and doesn't take over the traditional potato chip flavor. They're probably best on their own, but I could imagine them tasting good with some Vegan sour cream dip.

Thank you to Kettle for making these flavors of potato chips Vegan! They didn't have to, and I certainly appreciate it.

Trader Joe's Vegan Chips: Part II

It's Super Bowl Sunday and you are probably huddled up on the couch with your chips and soda. No Super Bowl party for me this year, but let's pretend. Known to change up their product selection (check out Part I), Trader Joe's has a couple new chips for me to try and this is the perfect day for it!

Before anything else, I have to say that I'm a huge Fritos fan and my one gripe is that they aren't organic. So I was pretty excited to see these Organic Corn Chip Dippers and tore them open right in the store (not really). The flavor is actually tame compared to Fritos. I know they are supposed to replicate Fritos Scoops size-wise, but flavor-wise the salty, oiliness wasn't there. Not to say they were bad, just not what I expected. It's still a great organic chip for dipping.

Trader Joe's Vegetable Root Chips are made of sweet potato, taro, batata and parsnip pieces. I like the wide variety of earthy flavors. Also, aesthetically they will brighten your spread.

Trader Joe's never fails to surprise with new and interesting products. Trader Joe's Crunchy Curls are pretty innovative. It's a lentil and potato puffed curl. Texture-wise I would compare it to a super puffed Cheeto or something similar. It had strong potato flavor, which I found delicious.

If you are lucky enough to have a Trader Joe's by you, go grab some of these chips and tell me what you think!

Food Should Taste Good Sweet Potato Chips

Food Should Taste Good is back with a brand new invention, kettle cooked sweet potato chips! And as luck would have it, all of the new flavors are Vegan. Definitely not your typical potato chips, sweet potatoes provide a hearty crunch and a sweet flavor. The four varieties are Original, Salt & Pepper, Barbeque and Salt & Vinegar.

The first thing you'll notice is how thick and well seasoned the chips are. Plus the chips sizes were pretty nonuniform, which can be fun. I think the most amazing chips out of the bunch were the Barbeque. They had an abundance of BBQ seasoning which had a hint of brown sugar. Salt & Pepper were perfectly salty and peppery (duh). And Salt & Vinegar were very salt and vinegary (double duh). Original flavor will be your best dipping chip, which I tested out with Wayfare Hickory Smoked Cheddar and it was delish.

So if you are looking for a chip that's a little different than your typical Lay's potato chip, you should check out FSTG's Sweet Potato Chips!