This 2014 Lay's "Do us a Flavor" contest finalist has hit supermarket shelves and Snaxtime is on the case to see if this new potato chip variety is worthy of a win.
Right off the bat the flavor concept is not very original, but it is fireproof. Almost everyone loves cheese and bacon so for Lay's to go with this flavor is a safe bet. Also, mac-n-cheese is a wildly popular menu item found at not only dinner tables across America but at countless restaurants from budget buffets to high end steakhouses.
So the concept is a surefire winner, but how does it taste? Good! Really good, but it doesn't necessarily taste like mac and cheese with bacon. We found the flavor to be reminiscent of the classic cheddar and sour cream potato chip with a hint of Bac~Os Bits. We say Bac~Os, the classic salad topper, instead of bacon because the bacon flavor in the chips tastes more like imitation bacon than the real thing. We were impressed to see "Bacon Fat" in the ingredients, but it was listed last. "Natural Bacon Type Flavor" was listed higher up and it is this "Bacon Type" flavor that is coming through.
That is not to say we didn't enjoy this product. The chips have a great crunch with a nice amount of cheesy flavor. We ate the entire bag and licked our fingers afterwards. The flavor description is a fun gimmick on Lay's part, but the product itself tastes more like regular cheddar and sour cream potato chips with a hint of porky smoke, and we certainly didn't feel like we were eating mac and cheese with bacon.
