10 7-Eleven-Brand Snacks You Need To Try

When you live in a big city, gas stations and convenience stores become a way of life. Whether you're out of toothpaste, need to grab a six-pack for a party, or have the midnight munchies and need ice cream, it's often more convenient to pop into a corner store than get in the car and drive to a supermarket. Where I live in Denver, there's no shortage of gas stations and food marts, and 7-Eleven is one of the most populous chains in the area. At first glance, a 7-Eleven store may not look too different from any other convenience store or bodega, but there's a pretty neat history behind the multinational chain — and from the slow rollout of a high-end 7-Eleven expansion to the store's popularity overseas (look up 7-Eleven Japan on YouTube to have your mind blown), a lot seems to be going on beneath the surface.

The stores peddle everything from personal care products to phone chargers to chips, candy, and deliciously greasy slices of hot pepperoni pizza. Living in a Denver apartment complex directly across the street from a 7-Eleven, I'm no stranger to the chain's portfolio of products. While the franchise offers plenty of recognizable outside brands, 7-Eleven also boasts its own line of products under the 7-Select moniker. Many 7-Select items are copycats of popular name-brand products sold at a slightly lower price, and as someone who's always on the hunt for a deal, you can bet I've tried out a slew of them. While I've become a huge fan of 7-Eleven-brand snacks, there are a few that really stand out, and what follows is a collection of my absolute faves.

One of my favorite things at 7-Eleven is their vast selection of jerky options. Beef, turkey, and bacon jerky make fantastic protein-packed snacks for hiking trips, beach days, and post-run fuel since they don't need to be refrigerated, and 7-Eleven has some brilliant original flavors. The franchise offers many selections from the usual jerky purveyor suspects like Jack Link's on top of a couple of 7-Select options. The sweet and salty Mahalo Teriyaki beef jerky has been a longtime favorite, but as of late, 7-Select maple-flavored bacon jerky has stolen my heart.

Sweet, caramel maple syrup and salty, fatty bacon — is there a more perfect marriage than these two foods that don't sound like they should work together,= but somehow do? Smoky maple bacon is a straight-up banger. Put it in portable, shelf-stable, dehydrated jerky form, and we're cooking with gas (without any actual cooking involved, of course). This 7-Eleven brand of maple bacon jerky achieves flawless harmony between salty, smoky, and sweet elements. Its texture is chewy yet pliable with a thin, crispy, almost caramelized exterior. In classic bacon fashion, it's nicely salty with a little bit of smoke and a delightfully candy-like maple taste at the end.

Did you know pickle juice is extremely high in electrolytes? That's right — there's no need to shell out $2 to $3 for a single packet of Liquid IV if there's a jar of pickles chilling in your fridge. Loaded with sodium and potassium, pickle juice is way more hydrating than most people realize. It's common nowadays for convenience stores to stock electrolyte powders up near the checkout area along with 5-hour Energy and other supplements in an attempt to sway customers into last-minute impulse purchases, but if you're checking out at a 7-Eleven and need a hydro boost, consider checking out the refrigerated section instead.

Here, you'll find 7-Select hot n' spicy pickle bites conveniently packaged in a bag with a bit of that nice, briny, electrolyte-loaded pickle juice at the bottom. The pickle is sliced into thick, bite-sized pieces for easy snacking, and each piece has a brilliant crunch. They're bursting with juicy, salty, and lightly sour flavor with a cooling dill element that brings it all together in a fun-sized package loaded with flavor. The hot n' spicy pickle bites don't have an overwhelming amount of heat, but it's definitely perceptible (at least to the taste buds of this Midwestern gal) — the spice level isn't going to have you reaching for a bottle of milk, but it's enough that you may wish to slow down and savor each bite individually.

When you think of fried pork rinds, an image of a tough, greasy, fatty, heavy bite probably comes to mind. It's a fair guesstimate if you've never tried fried pork rinds (also dubbed chicharrones in many Spanish-speaking areas). In reality, fried pork rinds have a crispy, puffy texture, and the type sold in stores is hardly dripping with grease — they're light, crunchy, fluffy, and more similar in composition to a Cheeto puff than something deep-fried. It's because the moisture within the pig's skin steams up as the skin cooks, making way for the air pockets that lead to chicharrones' airy consistency.

Like potato chips, fried pork rinds are shelf-stable and make a yummy treat on the go. 7-Eleven stores sell a few varieties, but the barbecue-flavored pork rinds with added smoke flavor are hands down the best. The barbecue flavor is a little smoky and a little sweet — it has just enough presence to be perceptible without overpowering the inherent salt-and-fat-laden taste of fried pork rinds. There's a very fluffy crunch to them that's on brand for chicharrones, and while the rinds are a good size, they have a pleasant way of dissolving into almost nothing after a couple of crunches between the teeth.

Breakfast sandwiches are the ultimate grab-and-go item. Most breakfast sandwiches consist of typical foods like bacon, sausage, cheese, and eggs sandwiched between two halves of a bagel, biscuit, or croissant. 7-Eleven stores sell a few varieties of such breakfast sammies, but the cinnamon swirl French toast breakfast sandwich is elite. Rather than employing plain toast, two circle-cut slices of French toast with a swirl of cinnamon sugar on top are used to sandwich a cage-free egg patty, sausage, and American cheese.

The sweetness of the bread and the nip of cinnamon make this 'wich the creme de le creme — sweet flavors aren't usually incorporated into breakfast sandwiches, but if you get your hands on one of these, you'll start wondering why it's not. The sweetness amplifies the salty taste of the sausage and harmonizes with the sharpness of the American cheese to create something greater than the sum of its parts. Cinnamon swirl French toast breakfast sandwiches are usually in the refrigerated section at 7-Eleven, and it's best to heat them up in the microwave prior to eating for optimal cheese meltiness (I like to throw mine in the air fryer at home for a few minutes). Drizzle some hot honey on top for extra sweetness and a little kick.

One notable feature of 7-Eleven stores is their impressive hot food and grill items. Most 7-Eleven stores dedicate a significant portion of the checkout counter area to rolling grill tops crammed with hot dogs, corn dogs, and taquitos. Remember those playground slides with rolling metal cylinders that often pinched your fingers when you were a kid? That setup may not have been a Nobel prize-winning idea for a slide, but make it horizontal and hot, and it's an ideal delivery system for 7-Eleven's grilled items.

The franchise has four types of taquitos to pick from: buffalo chicken, beef taco and cheese, Monterey chicken, and jalapeño cream cheese — the last of which is my pick for the winner. 7-Eleven jalapeño cream cheese taquitos are fried rolled-up tortillas stuffed with spicy jalapeños and creamy, fluffy cream cheese. While the other taquitos have a palpable cheap American-Mexican restaurant vibe, the jalapeño cream cheese variety actually tastes more like a cream cheese wonton than anything you'd find at a Mexican joint. With a crunchy exterior mimicking that of a wonton wrapper and a simple cream cheese and jalapeño filling, the jalapeño cream cheese taquito is a pure carb and cheese nirvana.

Potato chips are absolutely essential road trip fodder, and these days, there are seemingly endless potato chip flavors. From classics like cheddar or salt and vinegar to unique potato chip flavors like salted egg and fried squid, there's something out there for everyone. Me? I'll take just about any chip someone hands me, but with the options available in most stores, I'm a barbecue gal through and through. 7-Eleven sells a few varieties of such flavor potato chips, but 7-Select's kettle barbecue chips happen to be my favorite.

Kettle chips are cooked in batches in a "kettle" of hot oil with temperature decreasing over time, unlike traditional potato chips that are all cooked at the same temperature at once. There is little nutritional difference between kettle and regular chips, but generally, kettle chips are thicker and crunchier. Interestingly, 7-Select kettle barbecue chips aren't noticeably thicker than any other potato chip off the shelf, but they do have a 10/10 crunch factor — a key point in any respectable chip. The seasoning includes quintessential ingredients like molasses, paprika, and onion and garlic powder for a timeless barbecue flavor.

Between fun Ben & Jerry's pop culture flavors, the company's progressive mission, and the fact that the ice cream itself is studded with more mix-ins and goodies than any other brand I have come across, it's pretty dang hard to beat Ben & Jerry's in my book. However, one evening not too long ago, my local 7-Eleven was sold out of all my favorite Ben & Jerry's flavors, so I took a chance on 7-Select double cookie dough ice cream and had my mind absolutely blown.

7-Select double cookie dough ice cream is loaded with large chunks of chocolate chip cookie dough — we are talking multiple nuggets of dough per bite, a surprisingly difficult ratio to find. This mix also includes mini chocolate chips layered throughout a sweet, creamy vanilla brown sugar ice cream base. Sure, the ice cream itself is a little thinner and less rich than similar higher-end ice cream brands, which becomes evident if you try to dig in immediately after plucking it out of the freezer (it'll be hard as a rock), but overall, 7-Eleven's double cookie dough ice cream is a very solid original item for the franchise.

In the last few years, The Wonderful Company has come out with a line of shelled and seasoned pistachios in a bunch of flavors that are, as the name suggests, pretty darn wonderful. There's a brilliant sea salt and vinegar flavor, melt-in-your-mouth honey-roasted nuts, a woody, smoky barbecue variety, and more, but the chili-roasted pistachios seem to be a true fan favorite. I've become a big fan of Wonderful Pistachios, but when I'm stopping by my local 7-Eleven, I often opt for the 7-Select chile lime pistachio kernels instead.

The 7-Eleven brand of chile lime pistachio kernels are not whole nuts like the Wonderful brand; rather, they're chopped up into even smaller pieces. This makes them perfect for snacking by the handful but equally efficient for sprinkling on top of a salad, adding to trail mix, or even topping off a savory tart. The kernels are coated in a well-balanced chile lime seasoning that imparts just the right amount of smoky, salty, zesty, sweet, and nutty elements to each bite. It may sound like a lot going on for pistachios, but give them a shot and thank me later — these tiny snacks are seriously addicting from the very first bite.

Hot honey is having a moment. The sweet-and-spicy syrup is being used in everything from pizza to salad dressing to cocktails, and what's not to like? The simple combination of honey and hot peppers is an incredibly efficient method for delivering a zingy dose of sweet heat to anything that needs it. When I noticed 7-Eleven had added hot honey boneless wings to their hot foods menu, I was immediately intrigued — and now, they're my go-to whenever I'm looking for cheap wings on the fly.

Don't get me wrong, these are still gas station-quality wings, but they're not trying to pretend to be anything else. In a world where we're shelling out a pretty penny to eat outside our homes, it's nice to have the option for an affordable (and still tasty) treat from time to time. 7-Eleven's hot honey boneless wings are less "boneless wings" and more "chicken chunks strung on a skewer." It's not the most attractive set of boneless wings in the world, but the hot honey boneless wings have a solid, balanced, sweet-and-spicy flavor and a great crispy exterior if they're pretty fresh off the grill. They're also not overly spicy, making them a good option for a picky eater who may be turned off by heat.

Cheesecake has to be one of the most popular desserts in the world, or at least in the United States. C'mon, there's an entire chain of restaurants — The Cheesecake Factory, anyone? — dedicated to celebrating this rich, creamy, and slightly tangy dessert! Like most cakes, cheesecakes tend to be reserved for special occasions. However, if you don't have a Cheesecake Factory date on the books anytime soon and are too pooped to bake one at home (aren't we all?), 7-Eleven has your back.

7-Select raspberry cheesecake bites, located in the refrigerated section, consist of a filling similar in consistency to a ganache that is dipped in a coat of dark chocolate. The filling has the sweet, decadent, and very subtle tart flavor of a raspberry cheesecake. You won't find the classic cheesecake graham cracker crust anywhere in these sweet bites, but the slightly bitter dark chocolate casing provides a wonderful contrast to the creamy, fruity sweetness of the filling. The only downside is the portion size — the raspberry cheesecake bites are pretty large and will require at least two bites for most of us, and the small package only fits about five or six pieces. Still, these sumptuous snacks are a real treat and definitely worth trying the next time you're craving a no-fuss dessert.

For better or for worse, I am a near-daily 7-Eleven customer. While the stores sell many of my favorite brands of snacks, I'm always intrigued by store-brand copycat items, and thus, have given a fair shake to what I believe to be nearly every 7-Eleven original food. In order to create a comprehensive list of items you need to try, I narrowed things down to include only my very favorite 7-Eleven-brand items (though there are certainly many other original snacks that are well worth trying) and included both sweet and savory picks to encompass the full scope of what's available at these stores. To ensure consistency in quality, this selection includes exclusively foods that I have personally tried at least three times and that I purchase on a regular basis. For foods that are copycats of other brands, the version included in this list is something I enjoy equally or more than the original. All of the snacks on this list are available at the same price range or at a lower cost than similar selections available at stores in the 7-Eleven franchise.