Aldi's new kettle chip flavors are the spicy new find
Posted on Mar 5, 2021
Aldi is the best grocery store in the world. The Germans really knew what they were doing with this one! Cheap prices, small stores, good products - what’s not to love?
True Aldi fans know what the best part of shopping at Aldi is: the legendary middle aisle. This is where Aldi puts its limited-time specials, which can include but is not limited to new flavors of cereals, real name-brand foods, housewares, clothing, and even pet toys. Aldi shoppers will tell you about the times they walk out of the store with a cat’s scratching post, a new coffee maker, slippers, and none of the milk they went in to buy in the first place.
We found these new flavors of chips in our local Aldi’s middle aisle, and we just couldn’t walk out without them. Hot Chicken Kettle Chips is one thing, but seeing Cuban Sandwich Kettle Chips is too good to ignore. We ended up grabbing both bags, because that’s how it is with Aldi, and we probably ended up forgetting to buy some very important essential thing like paper towels. But that’s fine - now you can share the chips with us. At least, you can read what we thought of them.
Both chips were kettle style, meaning they’re thicker and crunchier than regular potato chips, in case you live in a place where they don’t do kettle style chips. Kettle chips make for the best salt and vinegar chips, by the way - the crispiness really shreds the inside of your mouth, allowing for the vinegar burn to get into every little crevice and cause the maximum amount of pain. Exquisite.
As a tribute to that pain, we’ll start with the Hot Chicken chips. Nashville-style hot chicken is one of those trends that’s hit the big time recently. Everybody’s been doing it one way or the other, be it as a part of the Chicken Sandwich Wars or just because they’re looking for new flavor. Nashville hot chicken is different from other spicy chickens because it’s coated in a hot pepper paste instead of sauce, giving it a tangy, vinegary flavor.
We’ve never had authentic Nashville chicken, so we don’t really have anything to compare these to. But they are spicy, and kind of tangy, and sorta sweet? Kind of generic, but definitely not bad for Aldi. The crunch is very, very good for these kettle chips. The chips are very thick and extra crunchy and feel just right for this level of spice. These are chips with body. With substance.
That substance is even better with the Cuban chips. Now these are an interesting chip flavor. Recently, and we lay the blame for this at the Lay’s Do Us A Flavor competition, chip flavors have been getting pretty baroque. Instead of the simplicity of Salt and Vinegar, or Sour Cream and Onion, we’re getting potato chips designed to imitate the flavor of an entire meal Willy Wonka style.
A Cuban sandwich is made with ham, mustard, Swiss cheese, and pickles. At least, these Cuban sandwich flavored chips are made to taste like that. When you crack open the bag, you get hit with the smell of pickles and mustard; when you bite into them, it’s a surprisingly strong flavor of ham and cheese! This is a very complicated chip. You can taste all four ingredients at a time if you try to focus. It’s a really, really good flavor.
Aldi is known for its high-quality products, and these are no exception. Like Trader Joe’s - which is actually owned by Aldi - this is one of those grocery stores that has a substantial cult following behind it. The Aldi subreddit is always sharing new recommendations on the hot “secret” Aldi item that’s in vogue right now, which is normally a cat toy because it’s Reddit. But shopping at Aldi has really felt like joining a secret club, the same way some people treat having a Costco membership. Have you tried the Red Bag Chicken, yet? And what about those candles? And the advent calendars? I’m not going to even get started on the advent calendars. It’s a fun little secret club and the only price of admission is going to one. What do you have to lose?
Both of these chips are an excellent find, but like everything good that comes from Aldi, they’re only going to be around for a limited time. If you want to try them, you better run over to your local Aldi as fast as possible. Just don’t be surprised if you come home with a ping-pong table.
Categories: food
Tagged: aldi chicken chips nashville hot chicken potato chips spicy