Kingston's Salted Cassava Chips, 80g

Cassava chips are made the way potato crisps are, but from cassava, a starchy tropical root eaten across Africa, South America and Asia. Kingston's slices it thin, fries it and seasons it with salt. The pack also calls them mogo chips and yuca chips, two other names for cassava. This is the 80g bag. The full product name on the pack is salted deep fried thinly sliced cassava roots.

Three ingredients

According to the published pack listing, the chips are made from cassava (97%), salt and palm oil. That is the whole list.

What cassava is

Cassava is the long, brown skinned root of a tropical shrub, with white, starchy flesh. It is the plant tapioca comes from, and in the Caribbean, East Africa and South Asia it is boiled, fried or made into flour. In East African and Indian cooking it is often called mogo, and in Latin America yuca.

How it eats

Cassava is denser and starchier than potato, so a thin cassava chip has a hard, glassy crunch and a mild, slightly nutty flavour, with a touch of sweetness.

Palm oil

The chips are fried in palm oil, the only oil on the list. Palm oil is rich in saturated fat, which is why the saturates on this bag are red while the total fat is amber.

Lightly salted

Salt is the only seasoning. The label gives 0.69g of salt per 100g.

Numbers per 100g

The label gives 458 kcal (1916 kJ), 16g of fat, 7.6g of saturates, 76g of carbohydrate, 1.4g of sugars, 2.5g of protein and 0.69g of salt per 100g. The listing gives no fibre figure.

Reading the front of the pack

On the UK front of pack scale, per 100g, fat at 16g is amber, saturates at 7.6g are red, sugars at 1.4g are green and salt at 0.69g is amber.

Carbohydrate and fat

Cassava is very starchy, so the chips carry 76g of carbohydrate per 100g and 16g of fat. For a comparison with a fried potato crisp we stock, Walkers Max Sizzling Flame Grilled Steak gives 53g of carbohydrate and 29g of fat per 100g.

Against the Spicy

The Salted chips carry a little less salt than Kingston's Spicy Cassava Chips, 0.69g per 100g against 0.83g, and a little more fat, 16g against 15g.

Sugars

Sugar is not on the list. The label gives 1.4g of sugars per 100g, green on the front of pack scale.

Protein

The label gives 2.5g of protein per 100g; cassava is a starchy root rather than a protein food.

Tapioca

Tapioca, the pearls of a milk pudding and the starch in many gluten free breads, is made from cassava; these chips are simply the root itself, sliced and fried.

A snack for gluten free guests

With no grain on the list, a bowl of cassava chips suits a table where some guests avoid gluten and others do not.

On a snack board

Cassava chips add a different shape and crunch to a snack board, beside plantain chips, nuts and a chutney.

In a lunchbox

A handful in a small tub makes a gluten free lunchbox snack.

Why the chips curl

Thin slices of a dense root shrink unevenly as they lose water in the hot oil, so each chip curls into its own shape.

Energy

The label gives 458 kcal (1916 kJ) per 100g. The listing gives no serving size, so the figures on this page are per 100g, and the whole 80g bag is best shared.

Allergens and diet

No allergen is listed in the ingredients, and the listing gives no may contain advice beyond a note that the chips are free from cereals containing gluten. The listing says the chips are vegan friendly and naturally gluten free; cassava contains no gluten. Recipes and factory arrangements change, so check the allergy advice on the pack you receive.

Naturally gluten free

Cassava is a root, not a grain, so it contains no gluten. With only salt and palm oil added, the chips suit anyone avoiding gluten, and the listing carries that claim.

Vegan friendly

There is no animal ingredient on the list, and the listing calls the chips vegan friendly.

One hundred per cent natural

The listing describes the chips as 100% natural, which fits a list of cassava, salt and oil.

The pack

The front shows a tropical scene with flowers and palm leaves, a figure carrying a basket, a bowl of pale cassava chips and an Island Sun badge, with the Kingston's name in the centre.

Deliciously thin

The listing describes the chips as thin and crispy. The slices are thinner than a kettle chip and curl as they fry.

With a dip

Cassava chips suit a mango chutney, a green chilli sauce or a tamarind dip, as they are eaten in East Africa and India, or a guacamole.

With a curry night

A bowl of cassava chips beside poppadoms and pickles makes a snack before a curry.

With drinks

A lightly salted chip suits a cold lager, a ginger beer or a rum punch.

Who it suits

Kingston's Salted suits anyone avoiding gluten, vegans, and anyone curious to try a crisp that is not made from potato.

Storage

The listing advises keeping the bag in a cool, dry place.

Other Kingston's

We also stock Kingston's Spicy Cassava Chips in the same 80g bag.

The tasting notes on this page are our own editorial assessment against the current pack format and the brand's published description.