Nathan's Famous Chili Cheese Crinkle Fries: A Chip Alternative
More choices
Lately, the vending machine at work has been challenging me to "think outside of the box" and sample some new snacks other than the traditional potato chips, pretzels and crackers. My latest challenge was to try Nathan's Chili Cheese crunchy crinkle fries. I did this with caution because I am not a huge fan of chili. But, I have had some good chili lately, so I parted with my 75 cents and tried it.
Something different
I was expecting something very crunchy and something hot enough to cause serious throat and stomach discomfort like Andy Capp's hot fries. This was not my experience at all. It was not overly spicy. The "hot" did not hit me at first. It was probably the second or third bite before I noticed the slightly hot sensation.
These were only about as crunchy as cheese puffs or Snapea Crisps, perhaps just a little more so. They were flavorful from the first bite, but not an overpowering cheese sensation. The flavor was pleasantly subtle and did remind me of eating a bowl of chili, but the emphasis there would be on the side of chili powder. I do not recall any tomato flavor, even though tomato powder is listed in the ingredients before cheese powder. While they are called crunchy crinkle fries, though the shape resembles a crinkle cut fry, that is the only resemblance to a fry that I noticed.
While I was eating, someone came in the room who was a firefighter and asked me about them. I told him it was about a 2 alarm sensation of hot out of 5. He understood perfectly what I meant but refused when I offered him some.
What would these go with?
These would go well with sandwiches, maybe even including hot dogs. I can't imagine them with burgers and I wouldn't eat them with chili itself, because that might be too much of a chili taste overload.
I would suggest having something to drink with them because the chili spice does hit you and they are dry and crunchy. I was at work when I had them, so I had them with a cola and that was great. Water would be another good alternative. I suppose you could have them with beer or a fruity beverage, but that would not be my first choice. While milk is supposedly good after eating hot food, even though I drink milk, I don't think I would have that with them either.
Nutritional Highlights
A serving of about 20 pieces contains 150 calories, 70 of which come from fat.
- 8 grams of fat or 12% Daily Value
- 1 gram Saturated Fat
- 0 grams Trans Fat
- No cholesterol
- 235 mg or 10% Daily Value sodium
- 7% DV Vitamin A
- 11% DV Calcium
So, the way I see it, these are not TOO bad for you! ;-) They can be enjoyed once in a while.
If you see them
If you see Nathan's Famous Chili Cheese Crunchy Crinkle Fries in a vending machine, if you like the taste of chili, I would say go ahead and try them. It would be worth it. They are good as a snack or with a sandwich and are nothing like the traditional snacks from a vending machine. So far, I have only seen them in the vending machine, but I will continue looking for them in the regular snack food area.
Interesting related links
- Nathan’s Famous Invades the Snack Aisle in Trends on The Food Channel®
Nathan’s Famous, legendary for its hot dogs—not to mention its Fourth of July hot dog eating contest on Coney Island—is bringing its brand to a grocery store aisle near you. - Nathan\'s Famous - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- Snapea Crisps by Calbee - Yahoo! Voices - voices.yahoo.com
A tasty snack made out of peas: what a concept. When snack foods seem to be dominated by potato chips, pretzels and nuts, I was very curious when I saw these in the produce department. I tried them and will now share the experience with you. - Welcome to the Nathan\'s Online Store