The Sour Cream And Onion Chips To Avoid At The Grocery Store

Potato chips are a salty, savory snack most people can't resist. They're deliciously greasy and perfectly crunchy. Along with being the best vessel for dips, potato chips are great to incorporate into recipes. Plus, they can easily be elevated while they're still in the bag. But, the best way to eat chips is on their own. Nothing beats having its salty, flavorful goodness dance around on your tastebuds. And this feeling intensifies when you pick a uniquely flavored chip like a Cuban or BLT sandwich. With each brand having an array of iconic and special flavors, it can be difficult to know which one to choose. However, there's one flavor that rarely disappoints and it's sour cream and onion. In a 2020 study by Statista, this chip was the third most popular chip flavor consumed in the United States that year. It was devoured by more than 68 million people. That's equivalent to the total population of France in 2024.

Sour cream and onion is such a beloved chip flavor because of its perfectly balanced flavor profile from the tangy sour cream and bold green onion. However, not all brands of potato chips were created equally. Some brands know how to flawlessly recreate this flavor like Lay's sour cream and onion, which was ranked the best Lay's chip flavor. Then, there are those who fall short. One brand that fails to make its sour cream and onion flavor stand out is From the Ground Up. Ranked the worst sour cream and onion chip by Tasting Table, this brand's flavoring surprisingly gets overpowered by its long list of vegetable ingredients.

Made from a plant-based flour blend that consists of cauliflower, beets, shiitake mushrooms, spinach, rice, carrots, broccoli, tomatoes, and potatoes, these chips are a great vegan and gluten-free option for people with dietary restrictions. And they aren't the only healthy chip brand on the market. However, these are advertised as cauliflower potato chips, which makes them slightly more unique. But, that's where the uniqueness ends. Its mixture of various vegetable flours and ingredients creates an oddly sweet bite. With only 1 gram of sugar, you wouldn't expect this chip to be as sweet as it is.

Its vegetable-heavy ingredient list makes it taste more like veggie straws than chips. Unfortunately, they also lack the signature greasiness that makes potato chips so satisfying to eat. This is probably because these sour cream and onion chips are cooked with only sunflower oil. While most store-bought chips are cooked with a combination of cooking oils. When it comes to flavor, this chip barely delivers on its claim of having a big sour cream and onion flavoring.

The only thing it delivers on is tasting like a blend of vegetables. Since it's vegan, it relies solely on vegetables to replicate that iconic flavoring. It uses onions, green onions, dill, parsley, garlic, black pepper, and natural flavors. Together, these flavors don't offer the same tanginess that sour cream does. Compared to Lay's, which uses sour cream, cultured cream, and skim milk, From the Ground Up version can be seen as a sweet vegetable take on a classic potato chip flavor. With how dull the flavor is, you're better off trying to make these chips at home.