Snack #141- New York Style Risotto Chips Spicy Marinara Flavor

New York Style Risotto Chips Spicy Marinara Flavor

Risotto chips are something new that I’ve never seen before- the latest craze following all the bagel chips and pita chips. These have the texture of thin SunChips but they taste a little more like rice and a little less like a typical corn chip. The seasoning is supposed to taste like “fresh tomato with a kick” but I have to say that they don’t really taste like much. They have a little tomato powder thrown on with a bit of salsa flavor. In fact, these taste way more like a burrito than like a plate of risotto and marinara. Too much pepper, bean, and paprika flavoring and not enough fresh tomato taste. But then again, I haven’t had too many spicy marinara sauces in my life so maybe they all taste like spicy salsa and I just don’t know it. In any case, I think these would be good for dipping in hummus or something but the spice, and overall flavor, is lacking.

Rating on the Spice-O-Meter: 1.5/10

Bottom Line: Salsa flavored chips made out of rice…

Buy them here:

New York Style Risotto Chips, Spicy Marinara, 5 oz, (pack of 3)

Snack #140 - Doritos 3rd Degree Burn Scorchin' Habanero

At long last we found the third degree, and man are they HOT! After trying first degree and second degree, which were pretty hot themselves, we couldn't wait to try the spiciest of them all. I was immediately struck by the bright red color of the chips, like the color of the "flamin'"products that Lays makes.

The heat hits you immediately. My tongue lit up and a moment later the back of my throat was burning too. And the heat only intensified as I kept eating. Luckily, it was the kind of spice that a glass of water quickly washed away. When you can taste anything but the heat, they chips are pretty much like regular Doritos, which is great, if you're into that sort of thing.

Rating on the Spice-O-Meter: 8/10

Bottom Line: a mouth scorching Dorito

Snack #139- Parlee Farms Spicy Cheese Nuggets

Parlee Farms Spicy Cheese Nuggets

These nuggets come from a local farm in northeastern Massachusetts that also grows a variety of pick-your-own crops including fall favorites apples and pumpkins. I was not expecting a spicy snack to show up at a farmstand but it isn’t the first time these treats have appeared in unexpected locations! They are basically little cheese curls with an extra flavorful coating. They taste a little smoky with onion and blue cheese flavors underneath the spice. Not the hottest snack we’ve had but certainly well developed flavors, particularly for a cheese puff.

Rating on the Spice-O-Meter: 3/10

Bottom Line: Not super spicy but pretty tasty cheese nuggets

Snack #138- Utz Baked Pub Fries Red Hot Corn & Potato Snack

Utz Baked Pub Fries Red Hot Corn & Potato Snack

I really wish snack manufacturers would stop trying to reproduce french fries. I’m sorry, but they just cannot be put into a bag and sold on the shelf at the convenience store. They will ALWAYS end up with the texture of styrofoam. And these are no exception. They have a weird sweet taste that may be the combination of corn and potato and while they are pretty spicy, I have no desire to eat them because of the nasty texture. The two main ingredients are ‘degermed yellow corn meal’ and ‘dehydrated potato granules’. The heat is mostly a kick of paprika which at least mostly hides the flavor of the ‘fries’.

Rating on the Spice-O-Meter: 3/10

Bottom Line: Paprika flavored styrofoam

Snack #137- Takis Fuego Hot Chili Pepper & Lime Flavored Corn Snack

Takis Fuego Hot Chili Pepper & Lime Flavored Corn Snack

This label says ‘corn snack’ but these look more like rolled up tortilla chips coated in red powder. And strangely enough, that’s exactly what they taste like. The mysterious red powder is indefinable but also quite spicy. The heat mostly hits the back of the throat where it burns down the throat. There is also a lot of lime flavor in these and I was surprised because usually lime flavor is really acidic but the flavoring in these is milder. In fact the overall taste of these is better than I expected and not as disgusting as many chili lime flavored snacks.

Rating on the Spice-O-Meter: 5/10

Bottom Line: Chili lime tortilla chips.

Snack #136- Tosty Papiolas Hot & Spicy Chile Jalapeño Potato Chips

Tosty Papiolas Hot & Spicy Chile Jalapeño Potato Chips

I recently took a trip back to Costa Rica, and these might be the spiciest chips ever to come out of the entire country, although that isn’t saying much. They are a little stale (I waited a while to taste them because I was dreading the lack of spice) but they are standard crispy ruffle potato chips. The flavoring is extremely inconsistently spread over the chips and sometimes tastes pretty sweet but other times it is just straight spicy. It’s hard to discern actual ingredients in the flavoring and it almost like they managed to harness the heat of a pepper without any of the actual pepper flavor. They also seem to be lacking in salt which is unusual for a potato chip although they do have lemon flavor added which is bizarre. Overall they have a fair amount of heat but the overall effect is not particularly satisfying.

Rating on the Spice-O-Meter: 3.5/10

Bottom Line: Some heat but not a lot of flavor.

Snack #135 - Smart Fries Jalapeño Trio

These are gross! These packing peanut-like straws are crunchy, but for lack of a better description, taste like poison. Really, everything from the smell when I opened the bag, to the taste when they first hit my tongue - poison-y. Sorry I can't be more precise. The flavor is theoretically Jalapeño Trio - not really sure how you get more than one flavor of jalapeño in a single snack, but that's ok. Looking at the ingredients there is jalapeño flavor in addition to red and green pepper, so I suppose it's really more of a "pepper" trio. If you can stand to get through a few of these - which I did because I'm a responsible reviewer - a pretty nice heat builds up. My lips and tongue are definitely feeling it as I write this.

Rating on the Spice-O-Meter: 5/10

Bottom Line: Ew.

Maybe you'll want to try another flavor, or are feeling masochistic. If so, check out the full smart fries offerings at the Hot Chicks' Store:

Gourmet Basics Smart Fries 6-Flavor Variety Pak, 1-Ounce Bags (Pack of 24)