Review: Ruffles - Flame-Grilled Cheeseburger Chips

Frito Lay's Ruffles Flame-Grilled Cheeseburger-flavored chips feature the brand's crunchy, ridged chips with a seasoning blend that purportedly tastes like a bacon cheeseburger.

I bought a 8.5 oz. bag for $1.99 on sale.

The aroma from the bag is not exactly appetizing, at least not for me. It smells mostly like old oil at first blush, although if you sniff it for a while, it slowly starts smelling more like various condiments (mainly ketchup).

In terms of flavor, these chips are overwhelmingly greasy. Initially, there's a bit of tang reminiscent of ketchup, but it quickly gives way to a slightly smoky flavor that is strangely (and unpleasantly) fatty in nature. There's a hint of bacon flavor in there as well as some cheesy notes, but those aren't very prominent. The chips leave a very unpleasant aftertaste in my mouth as if I just ate a mouthful of rancid beef fat, so much that it feels like the back of my tongue is coated in nonexistent grease.

These chips actually reminded me a lot of the Flame-Grilled Steak Ruffles Max chips they put out a few years ago... which is terrible in my book, because I think I gagged when I first tried those. The use of "flame-grilled" in both flavors is probably intentional; I think the "beef" seasoning must be the same one they originally developed.

One of the strange things about these chips for me was the fact that almost every chip tasted different in terms of seasoning. Some chips tasted strongly of ketchup, whereas there were a couple that called to mind mustard. There were a few chips that tasted very smoky and bacon-like and had little tang. All chips had that unpleasant aftertaste and greasy flavor, but there were a couple where that was almost all I tasted, which made for incredibly unpleasant eating.

Overall, Ruffles Flame-Grilled Cheeseburger Chips are a hard pass for me. I can't get over the rancid-tasting grease flavor, which no amount of water seems to wash away. Yes, it does vaguely call to mind a bacon cheeseburger, but rather than the juicy and charred meatiness of an actual cheeseburger, these chips capture the greasy aftermath left behind on the plate.

By Renee.

Nutritional Info - Ruffles Flame-Grilled Cheeseburger Chips
Serving Size - about 11 chips (28g)
Calories - 150 (from Fat - 90)
Fat - 10g (Saturated Fat - 1.5g)
Sodium - 160mg
Carbs - 15g (Sugar - 1g)
Protein - 2g