Bottom Line: Screamin’ Sriracha Doritos bring the flavor of the sauce with some nice heat and should be more widely available in the stores.
There are lots and lots of Doritos flavors out there, but not enough that really bring the heat. Sure, you can always find a bag of Flamin’ Hot, but to me those are more sour than hot and I’m not a big fan of the flavor. The Flamin’ Hot Cool Ranch offer a decent twist (more on those here), but they need something like the Blaze to be a regular on the shelves (I haven’t seen that flavor in years). Just recently, I stumbled across Screamin’ Sriracha Doritos in CVS (a surprisingly good place to find spicy snacks), and it is another one that I believe should be getting more shelf space.
(Side note: Why exactly does Frito-Lay have an aversion to g’s in their adjectives? Flamin’. Sreamin’. What the heck?)
This is not a variety I have seen before and according to the back of the bag “The Flavor Gives You Chills”. I’m not really certain what that is supposed to mean, but these are some darn good chips. As you would expect from the title, these have a strong Sriracha taste with the tang and garlic and the funkiness from the fermenting of the peppers. There is no questioning what was used to flavor these. They also have some sweetness, more so than the sauce, but it is balanced well by the peppery seasonings. If you like Sriracha (and who doesn’t), you will certainly like these. (Note that they don’t specifically reference Huy Fung Sriracha, but that is the taste they resemble.)
And if you like spicy, you will like these as well. They have a kick that hits right away and quickly works up to the Medium heat level and even beyond. Sriracha itself is one of the milder sauces, but Frito-Lay apparently decided to amp that up so that these chips deliver the burn. They definitely are not in the same category as the Blaze heat-wise, but the combination of flavor and heat is right on, and I would definitely buy more of these if I could find them on a regular basis.
As I mentioned, I discovered these in CVS in the 3 oz bag, but they were not there the next time I went. A search on the internet shows them available from Walmart and Target, but I have not seen them in my local stores. You can buy them online from those retailers, and I may resort to that, but it sure would be nice if I could find them regularly on the shelves. If you do stumble upon these, I recommend picking up a bag or two. They are among the better Doritos flavors out there and they definitely have a kick.
Tale of the Tape
Ingredients: Corn, Vegetable Oil (Corn, Canola, And/Or Sunflower Oil), Maltodextrin (Made From Corn), Salt, Spices, Sugar, Natural And Artificial Flavors, Garlic Powder, Dried Red Bell Pepper, Onion Powder, Yeast Extract, Paprika, Modified Corn Starch, Sesame Oil, Paprika Extracts, Artificial Color (Red 40 Lake), Whey
Serving Size: 28g (About 12 Chips)
Calories: 140
Fat: 7g (1g Sat/0g Trans)
Protein: 2g
Carbs: 17g
Sodium: 190mg