Lay’s Just Launched 3 New Limited-Edition Potato Chip Flavors — And There’s One Clear Favorite

There’s one thing I’ve come to know about Lay’s: The brand is constantly releasing new (often limited-edition) bags of chips. We, at The Kitchn, have been on the beat for a while now, covering the international-inspired collection last fall, Canadian-favorite All-Dressed Chips earlier this year, and so on. The latest launch is a nod to the brand’s most curious (and creative!) snackers. 

Lay’s just announced the finalists for its popular “Do Us a Flavor” competition — a campaign where fans submit their ideas for new Lay’s chips flavors. I got an early look (and taste) of the three contenders before voting starts next week, and here’s my two cents. 

The “Do Us a Flavor” campaign first started back in 2014 and has periodically returned every few years or so. Each time, fans submit their ideas for a new never-before-tried Lay’s flavor with the hopes of seeing it en masse on shelves (and winning a million bucks!).   

The fan-submitted finals this year are Valentina & Lime (featuring Valentina Mexican Hot Sauce), Korean-Style Fried Chicken, and Bacon & Grilled Cheese. Voting starts on April 21 (which is also when the chips enter retailers nationwide) and runs until June 13. It’s unclear if the winning flavor gets to join the catalog of existing flavors, but I’ve seen past winners resurface from time to time (like former winners Fried Green Tomato and Wavy Tzatziki!).

All three will only be available for a limited time (at least, for now). You can vote for your favorite by scanning a QR code on the back of the bags. 

I love me some Korean Fried Chicken. When I think of it, I think of crispy, sweet, sticky, chicken with a little kick of spice from gochujang. The textures are hard to translate to a singular chip, but going into this I was really looking for the sweet-spicy-salty flavors I associate so fondly with the dish. 

The ingredients have actual chicken fat — which is important to know for vegetarians! — and that felt like a good sign that these would closely mimic the actual dish. One bite in, and I found this sweet Korean-inspired flavor pleasantly surprising. These chips were incredibly crispy (as most Lay’s chips are) and had a sweetness that reminded me of the saucy coating on Korean Fried Chicken. I was missing some (if not all) of the signature spicy chili flavor that comes from gochujang. Still a really tasty chip, though. 

This next fan-imagined flavor sounds so good, I’m surprised Lay’s hasn’t done it before. Again, this chip includes animal fat from pork, which is important to know for Halal and veggie folks out there. The flavor on this one was very smoky, something that Vicky, our studio director, and I picked up on within the first crunch (a good bit of liquid smoke). Other than that, it’s cheesy and as Kelli, our culinary producer, said, tastes like a “solid chip.” I agree, but could’ve done with a bit more cheese flavor.

Dolloping a bit of Valentina hot sauce and a few squeezes of lime juice on a Lay’s chip is actually an already known (and beloved) snack hack, so putting it all together feels like a no-brainer. After one bite, I didn’t even have to think about which one is the best. It’s this flavor all the way! It’s got a clear kick from the hot sauce seasoning, but it’s complemented so delightfully by the lime. Salty, spicy (but not too spicy), citrusy. These are the real deal. 

It wasn’t just me that found these to be the clear front-runner. Kelli and Vicky both adored these with Vicky gushing, “yeah, this one, this one is the winner.” I fully agreed. 

Which flavor are you most excited to try? Tell us about it in the comments below.

This post originally appeared on The Kitchn. See it there: Lay’s Just Launched 3 New Limited-Edition Potato Chip Flavors — And There’s One Clear Favorite