Canada’s Best Ketchup Chip: A Definitive Ranking
I love ketchup in almost all its forms. Chunky house-made restaurant ketchup; beachy, over-vinegared ketchup meant for dressing chip truck fries; sugary and slightly runny catsup sold in Latin America; and of course, Heinz, the gold standard mother sauce of all. I’d put ketchup on ice cream if you asked me too.
But for the longest time, ketchup chips specifically did not make this list. Throw tomatoes if you want: I simply didn’t like them! Maybe this had more to do with the fact that, in snack form, ketchup chips don’t taste specifically like ketchup the sauce but more like its component parts: the garlic, onion, and tomato powders, plus the fried potato that lies underneath. But when the Chatelaine team recently set out to try every brand of grocery store ketchup chip we could get our hands on, I was shocked at how good (and how not good) some of the newer options tasted.
Did we miss a brand—or is there a regionally specific ketchup chip maker we don’t have access to in Ontario? We’d love to hear about it!
Here is our definitive ranking of best ketchup chips Canada
Compliments Ketchup Flavour Potato Chips, $3 for 200 g
The entire team, which included editors, art directors, a food stylist, a prop stylist and a photographer, were pretty meh on this option. Thin, not as crisp, and not generously seasoned. “It tastes like they’re saving money on flavour,” wrote one tester.
Compliments Extraaa! Ketchup Flavour, $3 for 200 g
Perhaps this is where the flavour went? Many testers appreciated the generous use of seasoning, but it didn’t quite hit all the right ketchup notes. “This tastes like cheese,” our food stylist said; another thought it was closer to all-dressed.
Ruffles Double Crunch Ketchup Chips, $4 for 180 g
Nearly half of the team wrote “too crunchy!” in their tasting notes for Ruffles’ ridged version. But maybe crunchy isn’t quite the word here—these chips were cracker-hard and almost difficult to chew.
PC Loads of Ketchup Rippled Potato Chips, $3 for 200 g
Everyone loved the classic thin crunch of these chips, but opinions were divided when it came to flavour; some thought the extra ketchup seasoning made the chips more sweet than savoury.
Old Dutch Baked Ketchup Potato Chips, $5 for 200 g
I should say upfront: these are baked, they are crisps and not chips, and the odds were likely stacked against them from the get-go because of this. One tester mentioned the texture was almost cookie-like; another wrote that the flavour was too one-note: just tomato.
Hardbite Handcrafted Ketchup Potato Chips, $4 for 200 g
Testers loved this chip’s salty, kettle-cooked texture and its flavour, which had a bit of a carrot-like note to it. A decent snacking chip, but not a ketchup ideal.
Farmboy Ketchup-Flavoured Potato Chips
We’re sorry, Farmboy. Testers did not love this chip: more potato than ketchup, and not enough salt.
Pringles Ketchup Flavour Potato Chips, $3 for 156 g
Do Pringles count as chips? Even if you love their signature shape and soft crunch, you may not love their take on this flavour. Many testers noted the chips were quite pale and underseasoned, with very little ketchup flavour.
Lays Original Ketchup Chips, $4 for 235 g
Many testers found that Lay’s Original hit all the notes of what they imagined a ketchup chip should taste like—a nostalgic ideal. Tangy, sweet, salty and crisp. “A classic!” wrote one.
No Name Ketchup Flavour Potato Chips, $2 for 200 g
A solid entry! “This tastes so much like Heinz,” wrote one. More than one noted it was a decent alternative to Lay’s Original.
Miss Vickie’s Sweet and Spicy Ketchup Chips, $4 for 190 g
Is it cheating to include an option that isn’t strictly plain ketchup? Maybe, but we don’t care: This kettle-style chip is absolutely delicious. With the exception of two tasters who abstained from this pick due to dairy allergies (it contains “milk ingredients”), the opinion on this sweet, spicy, and very crisp take on original ketchup was uniform: the best of the bunch.
How we select our products. We’re committed to finding the best and most accessible pantry ingredients, and that means being able to test and judge them fairly: in the same place, at the same time, under the same conditions. This means not every single brand available on the national market is going to make it to our Toronto-based kitchen. Some items are only regionally available in a specific province, while others are priced well out of the average grocery budget. Here’s what we guarantee: at least half of our picks will always be available nationally, we will always include selections from major grocery store chains. And if there’s a pick you really think we missed, we’d love to hear about it: letters@chatelaine.com.
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