23 April 2012

PopChips Barbeque Crisps [@popchipsuk @waitrose] [By @Cinabar]



PopChips are a new brand here in the UK, but are more common place in the States. The word ‘chips’ in their title hints at their American background, but we know what they mean! ;-)
The idea behind these crisps is that they are a healthy alternative to regular crisps as they haven’t been fried. You may assume then that these crisps were baked, but actually they have been popped. It may sound strange, but apparently if you apply a little heat and pressure to a potato slice it pops, rather like popcorn.
I picked up theses barbeque flavour PopChips in Waitrose, in a single serving bag as I couldn’t see any multipacks. They had a ready salted and a sour cream flavour individually too, but this one sounded the most interesting. Each crisp looks rather thick, and does appear slightly bubbled in appearance. They were coated with a sprinkle of a red powder that seemed to be fairly evenly distributed.
I have to say the texture of these crisps really is something quite special. They are remarkably crunchy and satisfying to munch. There are lots of layers to bite through, but they are not overly hard. It’s a clever texture and I really liked it. The taste was impressive too, these crisps were good and strong. The flavour combined a nice mix of sweet tomato, a good smoky hit and a gentle warmth from some spice, and it was rather moreish. It reminded me of pork barbeque ribs, because of the tomato base flavour, and it worked well making them super tasty.
I also found the bag of crisps to be perfectly filling with a  sandwich at lunch time, and it didn’t taste at all low fat. The packaging of these PopChips doesn’t draw much attention to their healthy status, but it really should. There were less than 100 calories in the serving and they are very low fat, but you would never be able to tell from the taste! That's my kind of product!
I will definitely be going back to Waitrose to try the other varieties, healthy crisps just don’t usually taste this good!
By Cinabar

4 comments:

EzC said...

I've had the BBQ Popchips, the Salt and pepper ones as well, (I thought the S&P ones were nicer) but I urge you to look out for Mark & Spencers own version of these 'Popped Chips', as I think they're even better as they feel lighter and more crunchy. Their lightly salted ones are seriously lovely - even though they don't sound like they'll be that tasty...

bob said...

You've finally convinced me to seek these out in earnest, Cinnabar.
They're a little harder to find on this side of the pond than you would think, but seems like it may well be worth the effort.

Deb said...

I live in Colorado in the US-I've been a fan of popchips for a long time. More and more stores here are starting to carry them. I prefer the plain salted ones, the flavored tend to have too much seasoning for me, but I'm glad a great product has made it's way across the water!

cinabar said...

Do try the black pepper ones if you can find them - they are super yum :-)