Roysters T-Bone Steak Bubbled Chips, 6 x 21g

Roysters are thick, bubbled potato chips from KP Snacks, and T-Bone Steak is the meaty, peppery one, with no meat in it. This is the multipack of six 21g bags, 126g in all, and the pack gives figures for each bag. The full product name on the pack is T-bone steak flavour reformed potato snack, 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, sunflower oil, rice flour, a T-bone steak flavour (rice flour, salt, dried yeast extract, glucose syrup, natural flavouring, sugar, maltodextrin, ground black pepper, dried onion and dried garlic), wheat starch, wheat flour (with calcium, niacin, iron, folic acid and thiamin) and an emulsifier (mono and diglycerides of fatty acids).

Bubbled chips

Roysters are a reformed potato snack: dried potato is made into a dough with rice flour and wheat, and cooked into thick chips with a bubbled, blistered surface. The bubbles give a big, hollow crunch.

Steak without steak

There is no beef on the list. The steak taste comes from dried yeast extract, with the natural flavouring, onion and garlic, and the pack says the chips are suitable for vegetarians.

Black pepper

Ground black pepper gives a peppery warmth, like pepper on a grilled steak.

Glucose syrup and sugar

A little glucose syrup and sugar round the seasoning. The label gives 1.1g of sugars per 100g, green on the front of pack scale.

No MSG

The pack says no MSG, and none is on the list. Dried yeast extract is naturally rich in glutamates, worth knowing for anyone who avoids them altogether.

Sunflower oil

Sunflower oil is the only oil on the list. The label gives 32g of fat per 100g, red on the front of pack scale, and 3g of saturates, amber.

Numbers for one bag

The pack gives 113 kcal (472 kJ), 6.7g of fat, 0.6g of saturates, 12g of carbohydrate, 0.5g of sugars, 0.7g of fibre, 1.1g of protein and 0.34g of salt for each 21g bag. That is about 6% of an average adult's daily energy reference intake, 10% of the fat and 6% of the salt.

Numbers per 100g

Per 100g the label gives 539 kcal (2247 kJ), 32g of fat, 3g of saturates, 55g of carbohydrate, 1.1g of sugars, 3.4g of fibre, 5g of protein and 1.6g of salt.

Reading the front of the pack

On the UK front of pack scale, per 100g, fat at 32g is red. Saturates at 3g are amber. Sugars at 1.1g are green. Salt at 1.6g is red.

Dried potato

Dried potato is the first ingredient, so the chips are mostly potato, with rice flour and wheat to bind them.

Rice flour

Rice flour appears twice, in the dough and in the seasoning, where it carries the flavour.

Onion and garlic

Dried onion and dried garlic give the seasoning a savoury base, like a steak sauce.

Carbohydrate and fibre

The label gives 55g of carbohydrate per 100g, of which 1.1g are sugars; the rest is starch from the potato, rice and wheat. Fibre is 3.4g and protein 5g per 100g.

The emulsifier

Mono and diglycerides of fatty acids are an emulsifier that helps the dough mix evenly; the pack's vegetarian statement covers them.

Salt

The label gives 1.6g of salt per 100g and 0.34g in a bag, red on the front of pack scale.

Allergens and diet

The published ingredients highlight wheat, in the wheat starch and wheat flour. The allergy advice says the chips may contain milk. The pack says they are suitable for vegetarians; there is no vegan statement, and they are not suitable for anyone avoiding gluten. Recipes and factory arrangements change, so check the allergy advice on the pack you receive.

Six bags

Six 21g bags make a school week of lunchboxes with one to spare, and each bag is one serving.

No artificial colours or flavours

The pack says there are no artificial colours or flavours, and there is no colour on the list at all.

Fortified flour

UK wheat flour is fortified with calcium, iron, niacin and thiamin, and this list adds folic acid, which is why those five appear in brackets.

The pack

The maroon outer bag carries a white wave with the Roysters name in blue script, the words bubbled chips, two bubbled chips, a large 6 and the words T-bone steak.

Who it suits

A thick, peppery steak flavour chip with no meat suits vegetarians who miss a steak flavour and anyone who likes a big, hollow crunch. It is not suitable for anyone avoiding gluten.

In a lunchbox

A bag goes beside a cheese sandwich and a piece of fruit.

With a pint

A peppery steak chip goes well with a pint of bitter or a stout.

A crisp sandwich

A bubbled steak chip in a buttered roll with cheddar makes a crunchy crisp sandwich.

Distributor

As well as the freepost address for KP Snacks, the listing names Tayto Snacks, of Ashbourne in County Meath, Ireland, as a distributor.

Storage and packaging

The listing advises a cool, dry place. The published recycling guidance says the whole packaging can be recycled with carrier bags at large supermarkets and should not go in home recycling.

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.