by In my latest roundup of spicy snacks, I have found one chip that really brings the heat and two more snacks that will make you think of pickles (savory and sweet) while you munch.
Late July Scorchin’ Sauce Chips: Late July Snacks are made with the “finest organic and Non-GMO ingredients” and they offer a slightly healthier snacking option. The tortilla chips have a rustic, earthy flavor that comes from the natural ingredients, and they deliver a nice crunch. I have enjoyed other flavors I have tried from this brand like Jalapeno Lime, though those don’t have much heat. But now Late July is really kicking things up with their Scorchin’ Sauce chips. These have the richness and tang you expect from a salsa, even though tomatoes are not part of the ingredient list. They also have a bold peppery flavor along with a nice kick that immediately lets you know you are eating something with some heat. There is also some sweetness to balance things out.
As for the heat, these definitely deliver. The burn builds up as you keep eating and goes beyond Medium on my scale, approaching Hot. These chips offer a rare snack that you can find on the grocery shelves that truly brings some heat as opposed to the many mild-masking-as-hot selections out there. This is a relatively new flavor, and they have also added Hawaiian Habanero, so I will be checking that one out at some point as well. I found the Scorchin’ chips at Sprouts, and it looks like they are also available from some of the grocery chains like Kroger and Safeway. I’m not certain if these flavors are limited-time-only selections, but I do recommend checking them out.
Spicy Dill Pickle Goldfish: Yet another in the trend of dill pickle flavored items, these are made with the regular goldfish crackers (not the cheese-flavored ones), the type that you float in soup. But that’s okay because they provide a blank palette for seasonings. You get an immediate pickle tang from these crackers that delivers some pucker. And the dill is pretty prominent as well. So if you don’t like dill pickles, this is not the snack for you. But if you are a fan, you will likely gobble them down. Basically, imagine the taste of a plain cracker topped with a spicy dill pickle, and you have a good idea what these will deliver. Though as a bonus, there is none of the pickle juice running down your arm as you are eating them!
Heat-wise, these seem pretty mild at first, but they build up. There is a little bit of a kick after eating the first few crackers, and that continues to rise beyond Mild on my scale and approaching Medium. They won’t set your mouth on fire. But they do bring a nice little kick and I found them to be rather addictive. They are supposed to be available at Target and Walmart, but I have not found them in either of the stores closest to me. I actually stumbled upon them in a little local market near North Padre Beach and grabbed a couple of bags. So keep an eye out for them because they offer a good entry in the wave of dill pickle items these days.
HEB Bread & Butter Pickle Wavy Chips: This is yet another pickle-based chip, but it goes to the sweet side. Bread & butter pickles get their flavor from allspice, cinnamon, mustard seed and other spices along with sugar or some other sweetener. The chip version put out by HEB delivers an immediate sweetness, but not to the point that they are cloying. That is followed by the taste you would expect to replicate the flavor of the titular pickles. And it does so quite well. I am a big fan of bread & butter pickles, and I am a big fan of potato chips, so combining the two sounds like a great idea to me and gives us a little bit of a respite from the dill-pickle-everything trend (see entry above).
The bag calls these “sweet and spicy”, but the chips do not quite deliver on the latter. There is a little bit of a zing in there, and after eating a full portion they may be approaching Mild on my scale. But these will not satisfy if you are looking for some heat. Which is a shame, because that would have really kicked them to the next level. Even a little bit above Mild would have been nice, but you will have to add some hot sauce to get to that level or beyond. This is one of HEB’s limited-time-only offerings for Summer, so if they sound tempting, you will want to grab a bag pretty soon.
Nutrition Info:
Late July Scorchin’ Sauce Chips
Ingredients: Organic whole ground yellow corn, vegetable oil (sunflower and/or safflower and/or canola and/or soybean), scorching sauce seasoning (salt, sugar, vinegar powder [maltodextrin, white distilled vinegar], spices [black pepper, chili pepper, cumin, red pepper], onion powder, garlic powder, yeast extract, cayenne pepper sauce [aged red cayenne peppers, salt, garlic, distilled vinegar], paprika [for color], lactic acid, citric acid, natural flavors, red radish juice [for color], extractives of paprika [for color]).
Serving Size: 28g (About 12 Chips)
Calories: 140
Fat: 7g (1g Sat/0g Trans)
Protein: 2g
Carbs: 19g
Sodium: 220mg
Spicy Dill Pickle Goldfish
Ingredients: Made with smiles and enriched wheat flour (flour, niacin, reduced iron, thiamine mononitrate, riboflavin, folic acid), vegetable oil (canola, soybean and/or sunflower), salt, contains 2% or less of: nonfat milk, yeast, sodium diacetate, sugar, baking soda, spices (including dill), celery, citric acid, garlic and onion powders, red chili peppers, monocalcium phosphate, yeast extract, paprika (color), vinegar powder (maltodextrin, modified foodstarch, vinegar), dill oil, natural flavor, parsley
Serving Size: 30g (About 55 Pieces)
Calories: 140
Fat: 6g (0.5g Sat/0g Trans)
Protein: 3g
Carbs: 20g
Sodium: 320mg
HEB Bread & Butter Pickle Wavy Chips
Ingredients: Potatoes, vegetable oil (contains one or more of the following: cottonseed oil, corn oil, soybean oil, safflower oil, and/or sunflower oil), sugar, corn maltodextrin, salt, dextrose, onion powder, white vinegar powder, spices, citric acid, garlic powder, yeast extract, dehydrated dill, silicon dioxide, canola oil, tricalcium phosphate, acetic acid, natural flavoring, turmeric extract. contains a bioengineered food ingredient
Serving Size: 28g (About 11 Chips)
Calories: 150
Fat: 9g (2.5g Sat/0g Trans)
Protein: 1g
Carbs: 16g
Sodium: 190mg
