Popchips Chargrilled Steak Crisps, 5 x 17g

Popchips are popped rather than fried or sliced: small pieces of a potato dough are heated under pressure until they puff up, a little like popcorn. This multipack holds five 17g bags of the chargrilled steak flavour, 85g in all. The full product name on the pack is chargrilled steak flavour popped potato snacks, and the pack gives a freepost address for KP Snacks.

The ingredients

According to the published pack listing, the chips are made from dried potato, rice flour, sunflower oil, potato starch, a chargrilled steak flavour (maltodextrin, dried yeast extract, potassium chloride, sugar, dried onion, natural flavourings, citric acid, salt, dried garlic, ground black pepper, paprika extract for colour and black pepper extract), and salt.

How a popped chip is made

Instead of slicing a potato and frying it, the maker starts with a dough of dried potato, rice flour and potato starch. Small pieces are heated under pressure and pop into light, crisp chips; the pack sums it up as popped, not fried. The result is airy and crunchy, with a texture somewhere between a crisp and a rice cake.

The steak flavour

Dried yeast extract carries the meaty, savoury depth, the same way it does in gravy and stock. Onion and garlic give the grilled, browned side, black pepper and black pepper extract a peppery warmth, and a little sugar the caramelised edge of seared meat. Maltodextrin carries the seasoning and citric acid lifts it.

No meat

No meat of any kind is listed, and the pack says the chips are suitable for vegans and vegetarians. The steak character is built from yeast extract, onion, garlic and pepper.

Potassium chloride and the salt figure

Potassium chloride comes early in the seasoning. It tastes salty but contains no sodium, and the salt figure on a UK label is worked out from sodium. The label gives 1g of salt per 100g and 0.17g for each bag, the most of the Popchips we stock, though still amber on the front of pack scale.

Numbers for one bag

The label gives 72 kcal (305 kJ), 2.2g of fat, 0.3g of saturates, 11g of carbohydrate, 0.5g of sugars, 0.7g of fibre, 1.1g of protein and 0.17g of salt for each 17g bag. That is about 4% of an average adult's daily energy reference intake, 3% of the fat and 3% of the salt. Per 100g it is 426 kcal (1793 kJ), 13g of fat, 1.6g of saturates, 67g of carbohydrate, 1.6g of sugars, 4.3g of fibre, 6.6g of protein and 1g of salt.

Reading the front of the pack

On the UK front of pack scale, per 100g, fat at 13g is amber rather than the red of a fried crisp, and saturates at 1.6g are amber, just over the 1.5g line. Sugars at 1.6g are green. Salt at 1g is amber.

Allergens and diet

No allergens from the UK list of 14 are highlighted in the published ingredients. The published listing for this multipack does not carry the pack's may contain advice, so read the pack before serving anyone with an allergy. The pack says the chips are suitable for vegans and vegetarians and carries a gluten free claim. Recipes and factory arrangements change, so check the allergy advice on the pack you receive.

Gluten free and vegan

Dried potato, rice flour and potato starch take the place of wheat, and there is no dairy, egg or meat on the list, which is how one small bag can suit vegans, vegetarians and anyone avoiding gluten.

What the pack leaves out

The pack says there are no artificial flavours or colours; the flavourings are natural and the colour is paprika extract. Yeast extract, which is on the list, is naturally rich in glutamates, worth knowing for anyone who avoids them altogether.

A small bag

At 17g, each bag is smaller than a standard 25g crisp bag, so it suits a light snack, a younger child's lunchbox or a mid afternoon break. Five bags cover a working or school week.

The crunch

Popped chips have a light, airy crunch that dissolves quickly, gentler than a thick fried crisp. They are easy to eat and not greasy to the touch.

How hot is it

There is no chilli on the list. The black pepper gives a mild warmth, so the chips suit anyone who avoids heat.

Serving ideas

A steak flavour goes with a cheese sandwich, a tomato soup or a salad with a sharp dressing. The light chips also suit a picnic, where a heavy crisp might feel too much.

In the kitchen

Crushed, the chips make a light, peppery crumb for a mushroom soup or a bean salad.

Storage and packaging

Keep the bags in a cool, dry place and finish each bag once opened. The published recycling guidance says the whole packaging can be recycled with carrier bags at large supermarkets and should not go in home recycling.

Other Popchips flavours

In the same five bag format we stock Popchips Barbeque and Sour Cream and Onion, and in 85g sharing bags Popchips Sea Salt, Sea Salt and Vinegar, Barbeque and Sour Cream and Onion.

Other 5 x 17g packs of Popchips we stock

Figures as published on each pack's label.

The published listing gives the United Kingdom as the country of origin. The tasting notes on this page are our own editorial assessment against the current pack format and the brand's published description.