I’m not sure what the original snack food was, but as far as I’m concerned, it’s potato chips. Thin, crispy, salty to the max, and good on their own or as a vehicle for dips, there’s really no limit to their enjoyment. Pour them into a giant bowl for party sharing, toss them next to (or even in) a sandwich for lunch, or wedge a bag into the center console of your car to keep commute crankiness at bay.

Now, you might be thinking (as I admittedly did when starting this assignment), how different can potato chip brands really be? Don’t they all use pretty much the same ingredients? They sure do. Though there are some discrepancies in types of oils and in kettle-cooked vs. fried or flat vs. ridges, it’s not like we can dive deep into flavor notes here. How the chip tastes is still paramount, but this ranking will lean much more heavily on things like texture, crunch, and what the eating experience is like, re: snackability.

For this test, I sampled chips as plain as they could get. No added flavors, no ridges, no nothing, except the potatoes themselves and however heavy a dash of salt the brand deemed appropriate. Let’s dig in.

Allrecipes