If you’re like me, you’ve entered the Lay’s Do Us A Flavor contest every year since its inception (only 4 years, don’t worry). If you’re not like me, you’ve found yourself walking into a 7-11 at 1 o’clock in the morning thinking “why are there biscuit flavored chips where my sour cream and onion ones used to be?”. As a public service for you, our loyal fans, we walked into that 7-11 at 1 o’clock in the morning to sample the finalists of this year’s contest.
First up: Crispy Taco Classic Lay’s
Ok first of all, Lay’s, if you’re reading this: Last year I submitted “Fiery Doritos Locos Taco Supreme” as my flavor, and I didn’t even make it into the final three. This feels like a scam. But y’all do y’all. I’ll probably still eat your chips.
Anywho, “crispy taco” flavor comes to us from Ellen Sarem of San Antonio, Texas, who says, “My fiance loves crunchy beef tacos more than anything. I actually made them for one of our first dates, and after three years, I can now finally say that I’ve mastered cooking his favorite dish.” Ellen, it’s none of our business, but if your fiance loves tacos more than you, it might not be a healthy relationship. And why did it take you three years to learn how to cook tacos? Did you make up this story about your fiance to get a sympathy vote from Lay’s and basically steal my million dollar idea from last year? It’s fine.
Right off the bat, I’m going to tell you that these are the winners of the three (and not just because it was originally my idea, basically). Lay’s hits all the taco flavor highlights: cumin, sour cream, spice, beefiness, crunch, and somehow that hint of shredded lettuce. These are good. Real good.
On to the Fried Green Tomato Wavy Lay’s:
Fried green tomato chips come to us from Gregory Pope of Charlotte, North Carolina, who says, “Fried green tomatoes remind me of my childhood in Georgia. Fried to a golden brown, salted and peppered, they were always the perfect feel-good food prepped by my dad for our family dinners.” Again, another nice anecdote for a sympathy vote. Whatever. Gregory wins points here by choosing Wavy Lay’s as his vehicle. However, he loses some major points in taste. These have weird hints of wasabi and no real noticeable green tomato flavor. If I didn’t know these were supposed to taste like a fried green tomato and I blindly tasted one, I would tell you it was a wasabi pea, probably.
And finishing with Everything Bagel Kettle Cooked Lay’s:
Last, but not least, we have everything bagel with cream cheese from Lindsay Hoffman in Palm City, Florida, who says, “There’s no better way to start your day than with an everything bagel with cream cheese. It’s become my favorite morning ritual.” And shockingly, Lindsay doesn’t appear to be a 300 pound monster in her picture or video. Lindsay picks up some strong points by choosing kettle cooked as her chip base, but the flavor misses. The “everything” flavor doesn’t come out strongly in the bagel component, and it seems like Lay’s just substituted their usual sour cream flavor in lieu of cream cheese. C- at best.
Get these limited edition Lay’s while you can, and go vote online for your favorite flavor. The winner (which should have been me last year, but I’m not bitter) will receive a hot $1 million. And if you’re feeling inspired, start thinking up your winning recipes for next year.