As we proceed through October, the pumpkins are turning to turkeys. Holiday flavors are invading store shelves at an alarming clip. Soon, I will have to wave goodbye to pumpkin spice and welcome peppermint mocha, sugar cookie, and Rudolph’s butthole-flavored everything. Can you tell I’m a little bitter?
Thankfully, I have some things to be thankful for. Thanksgiving is up first, and there is still plenty of residual pumpkin to be had. The very first Thanksgiving seasonal products I’ve encountered happen to be some of the weirdest. Boulder Canyon has turned both Pumpkin Pie and Turkey & Gravy into Kettle Cooked Potato Chips. I thought these sounded absolutely disgusting, so I bought them immediately.
I am a pumpkin champion, and I wasn’t very excited for these Boulder Canyon Pumpkin Pie potato chips. They smell like oil and cinnamon. They taste like greasy potatoes. The ingredient list contains pumpkin, ground cinnamon, and “spice” as the very last ingredient, indicating it’s sparse usage. These chips need more of all of these things to come anywhere close to pumpkin pie. I’ve never had a pumpkin pie this greasy.
The cinnamon on these Boulder Canyon Pumpkin Pie potato chips is so subtle that it’s barely noticeable. There’s a very mild sweetness to these chips, but there are only 10g of sugar in the entire bag. I’m trying to eat pumpkin pie, not watch my sugars. These chips are also under- salted. One serving is 0% of your daily sodium (5mg). It’s almost as if somebody covered a pumpkin in salt, licked most of the salt off, gave you the middle finger, and then forced you to eat the pumpkin. I’m covered in grease. The kettle chips are nice and crunchy, but I’m done with these.
How Many Showers I Need To Wash Off the Grease Rating: 2 out of 10
How Many Showers I’m Actually Going to Take Rating: 0 out of 10
Overall Rating: 2 out of 10
I was slightly more optimistic about the Boulder Canyon Turkey & Gravy chips. I thought very highly of the Lay’s Do Us A Flavor Biscuits & Gravy Chips (#VoteBiscuits), so these had some potential. I’m always a little concerned about meat-flavored chips, though. Phew. These are much better. This is a very savory chip. The ingredient list only reveals onion powder, spices, and natural flavor. Rather vague, but Boulder Canyon executed well.
Boulder Canyon Turkey & Gravy chips remind me of eating the crispy seasoned skin off the turkey right after your Dad takes it out of the oven on Thanksgiving Day, even though he told you not to touch it. They’re extremely crunchy, as Boulder Canyon makes a mighty fine kettle chip. Sure, they are still very oily, but this is a lot more acceptable for Turkey & Gravy over Pumpkin Pie. There’s a slight black pepper and herb-y taste here. Who knows, let’s call it rosemary. I definitely should not write for a food blog. They contain more salt than the 0% sodium in Pumpkin Pie, but I could stand for some more. These Boulder Canyon Turkey & Gravy chips do feel like Thanksgiving, so I recommend keeping them nearby when your Aunt & Uncle overcook the real turkey.
Make You Fall Asleep On The Couch During the Lions Game Rating: 7.5 out of 10
Makes You Realize How Bad Your Aunt & Uncle Cook Rating: 5.5 out of 10
Overall Rating: 6.5 out of 10
I feel like if they made these with sweet potatoes rather than real pumpkin then they would have been more successful. And they should have been generally coated in a spice mixture. Good to know the turkey and gravy chips are good! Have you tried the other flavors? I know they have cranberry and stuffing chips as well. Wonder how they turkey and gravy chip would taste with the stuffing chip…maybe this year don’t cook thanksgiving dinner!
The problem with the pumpkin pie chips is that they aren’t sweetened enough OR aren’t salted enough. They’re trapped somewhere in the middle of not knowing what they want to be. I didn’t try the Stuffing & Cranberry from last year’s holiday pack, but I can say right now they are only selling these two. The displays in stores have only these two identified. Maybe they will release the full pack closer to Thanksgiving?