January 29, 2025

Review: Golden Sriracha Doritos

Bottom Line: The “new” Golden Sriracha Doritos aren’t much different from the Sweet Chili flavor, and they fall notably short on the heat (they should have brought back the Screamin’ Sriracha flavor instead).

Doritos has a new flavor on the shelves, and they seem to have invested a lot in this one because they’re pushing it pretty heavily. I’ve seen articles on food sites and quite a number of other places talking about the new Golden Sriracha Doritos and how we all need to give them a try. According to their website, these are inspired by “fan-favorite” yellow and green sriracha sauces and bring “tangy and sweet flavors” with “just a dash of heat.” With so much hoopla, I figured I had to check them out.

I will say that you taste a sriracha funkiness right away, along with some tang and a fair amount of sweetness. In fact, the sweetness really dominates, and these seem to evoke the flavor of sweet chili sauce more than sriracha. There’s a little bit of heat, but it’s just a slight zing and doesn’t even reach Mild on my scale. The taste is decent, and I did enjoy them, but a better name for these would be Sweet Chili Doritos . . . which . . . they already have.

So, I’m going to fuss at Lay’s/Doritos here because I believe they missed the boat. This “new” flavor is basically a redux of an existing variety, with maybe a slight sriracha kick, while they previously had a sriracha chip out there that deserved much more shelf space. The Screamin’ Sriracha Doritos were a hit as far as I’m concerned, delivering a good sriracha flavor along with some decent heat (you can read my review of those here). But I never found more than two small bags of those, and they seem to have disappeared completely. Why put out this “new” flavor, which is nearly the same as another version they already sell, when they could have brought back the Screamin’ Sriracha? My guess is they’re catering to the average consumer with a lower tolerance for heat, but I think the hotter chips would have still sold well with enough promotion.

Despite that, the Golden Sriracha Doritos are what we have, and they’re not bad—just not different enough from the Sweet Chili version, and they definitely fall short on the heat. I found the new offering at Sam’s Club in a large bag for about four bucks, which is a pretty good deal on chips in the current greedflation environment. These are joining the permanent lineup (or at least as permanent as sales dictate), and you should be able to find them in most stores where Doritos are sold.

Nutrition Info:

Ingredients: corn, vegetable oil (corn, canola, soybean, and/or sunflower oil), and less than 2% of corn maltodextrin, sugar, natural and artificial flavors, salt, garlic powder, monosodium glutamate, onion powder, citric acid, whey, spices, paprika, yeast extract, potassium salt, red bell peppers, sour cream (cultured cream, skim milk), turmeric extract (color), malic acid, disodium inosinate, disodium guany

Serving Size: 28g (About 11 Chips)
Calories: 140
Fat: 7g (1g Sat/0 Trans)
Protein: 2g
Carbs: 17g
Sodium: 150mg

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *