The Weirdest Chip Flavors from Around the World

When I first went to America, I briefly didn’t think things through when I picked up a bag of blue Lay’s chips in a gigantic (because: everything is bigger in America) supermarket. Blue = paprika = exactly what I was craving. Extremely pleased, I got back into our rental car, cola in hand, and started snacking. And they were absolutely disgusting. Not for one second did I consider that they hadn’t received the memo that in the Netherlands, blue means paprika-flavored chips. A bit stupid of me too, because I was now stuck with a giant bag of vinegar-flavored chips. VINEGAR! It was just as sour (and disgusting) as it sounds.

But you learn by doing: I’ll never make that mistake again. Always read what it says on the bag. In English, that’s easy enough, but in Spain and France I’ve occasionally stood in front of the chip aisle with Google Translate. And thank goodness, it has saved me from quite a few disappointing purchases. Because what some companies do to chips is simply criminal. Honestly, would you want to try any of these flavors?

1. Lay’s cucumber flavor
I genuinely have very little idea what this flavor would taste like. Cucumber really tastes like… Nothing, doesn’t it? The only thing I like about cucumber is the bite and the moisture on a scorching hot day. It’s all about what you eat that bite with that makes cucumber delicious. So my guess is that this simply tastes like very boring potato. Watery potato? Anyway, it’s a no for me.

2. Lay’s milk chocolate chips
Ridged chips are always better than chips without ridges, I firmly believe that. But… Potato chips with milk chocolate flavor? How exactly does that work? Chocolate in the form of ridged chips, yes yes yes. Ridged potato chips with chocolate flavor, no no no.

3. Lay’s again, with garlic butter scallop flavor
Um… I don’t even know where to begin with this variety. Some people find scallops difficult to prepare properly, so maybe this is the perfect solution for them? I genuinely have no idea. And then garlic and butter as added flavors… With scallops as the main ingredient. How on earth can they actually make this taste like that dish?

4. Pringles with cinnamon and sugar flavor
Look, this seems like a perfectly fine flavor. On a pastry, for example. A croissant too. But on potato chips? That’s a weird sweet-and-savory combination that I’m really not interested in. If you are, would you also like to try the Pecan Pie flavor? Pringles has released that one too. I don’t dare try it myself.

5. Lay’s Caesar Salad flavor
In the category of ‘I want to be healthy, but not really’: is this the same as eating a salad? Nope. How they make this taste like Caesar Salad… I’ll admit, I’m intrigued…

6. Doritos with brie flavor
Honestly, I can actually get behind this one. A combination of two delicious things can’t really go wrong, can it? Brie is delicious, chips are delicious. I’d probably prefer plain chips topped with just melted brie (I want to make that now!), but I’d definitely try these.

7. Cheetos with avocado flavor
Ugh, no. Surely this can’t be real? Just like cucumber, avocado’s flavor isn’t really what you’re eating it for, is it? And potato chips with avocado flavor would just taste like… Nothing, right? You could build your own salad with the Caesar Salad flavor, cucumber flavor, and then this one. Deli-heaven.

8. Mackie’s chips that taste like… Whisky & Haggis
Ladies and gentleman, we have a winner. Is this not the most disgusting thing ever? Haggis is already so, uh… extraordinary, and whisky… Well, you have to like it. But I already find combining the two pretty disgusting, let alone turning them into a chip flavor. This has left me a little shaken.

9. Lay’s caviar
Turning a delicacy into chip flavor: bold. Caviar chips: only in Russia, right? But you’d make me much happier with a paprika-flavored chip.

10. Chicken wings and blue cheese flavor
Let me start by saying that I have a genuine passion for chicken wings and blue cheese sauce. I could eat them every day. I also think it’s such a shame that they’re hardly ever on menus in the Netherlands, because this is a seriously underrated dish. But in chip form…? Nope. I’ll pass on these.

11. Lay’s with kiwi flavor
No words. Ten euros if you can finish a bag.

12. Lay’s Mint Mischief
I understand that, as Lay’s, you have to stay a little innovative and come up with new flavors. But why was that delicious Marco Borsato chip taken off the shelves (still such a shame), while they do release mint-flavored chips? Why not just have a peppermint?

13. Lay’s hot & sour fish soup (also known as Tom Yam)
Tom Yam is already a pretty unusual flavor in itself, and it works very well in soup form. Why do you think there are no potatoes in it? Because they don’t taste good. Just don’t.

Also read:

• Why you always finish that bag of chips
• Why you should start eating your chips with Turkish yogurt
• Of all chips, plain chips are the least unhealthy