Tyrrells Roasted Chicken and Sage Crisps, 150g

Roast chicken with sage is the flavour of a Sunday lunch, the bird and its sage and onion stuffing, and Tyrrells builds it on a hand cooked crisp. This is the 150g sharing bag, which the label suggests serves five. The full product name on the pack is chicken and sage seasoned potato crisps.

The ingredients

According to the published pack listing, the crisps are made from potatoes, sunflower oil, rice flour, yeast extract, sugar, salt, onion powder, dried herbs (parsley and sage), natural flavourings, cooked chicken powder, garlic powder, ground black pepper, citric acid and sage extract.

Real chicken

This seasoning lists cooked chicken powder, made from real chicken. That gives a roasted, savoury depth, but it also means the crisps are not suitable for vegetarians or vegans. For a vegetarian roast chicken flavour, the Walkers Roast Chicken crisps we stock are labelled suitable for vegetarians.

Sage and parsley

Sage is the herb of sage and onion stuffing, with a warm, slightly piney, peppery taste that suits roast poultry and pork. Here it appears twice, as dried sage and as sage extract, so it comes through clearly. Dried parsley adds a fresh, green note, and onion and garlic the savoury base of a stuffing.

How the flavour is built

Rice flour carries the seasoning and helps it stick. Yeast extract leads the flavour ingredients, giving a savoury, gravy like depth; sugar and salt balance it, and natural flavourings round out the roasted character. Ground black pepper adds a little warmth, and citric acid a small lift, much as a squeeze of lemon lifts a roast.

Hand cooked

The listing describes these as hand cooked English crisps. Hand cooking means frying the slices in batches, which gives a harder, more uneven crunch than a crisp fried continuously on a conveyor, with some slices curled and folded.

Numbers per serving

The label gives 151 kcal (632 kJ), 8.3g of fat, 0.7g of saturates, 15.9g of carbohydrate, 0.5g of sugars, 2g of fibre, 2.2g of protein and 0.36g of salt for each 30g serving. That is about 8% of an average adult's daily energy reference intake and 6% of the salt. Per 100g it is 504 kcal (2105 kJ), 27.7g of fat, 2.4g of saturates, 53.1g of carbohydrate, 1.5g of sugars, 6.6g of fibre, 7.4g of protein and 1.2g of salt.

Reading the front of the pack

On the UK front of pack scale, per 100g, fat at 27.7g is red, as it is for fried crisps generally. Saturates at 2.4g are amber. Sugars at 1.5g are green. Salt at 1.2g is amber.

Allergens and diet

No allergens from the UK list of 14 are highlighted in the published ingredients, but the allergy advice says the crisps may contain milk. The seasoning contains cooked chicken powder, so the crisps are not suitable for vegetarians or vegans. The pack carries a gluten free claim, and no gluten containing cereal is on the list. Recipes and factory arrangements change, so check the allergy advice on the pack you receive.

What the brand leaves out

The pack says Tyrrells never uses artificial ingredients such as artificial flavours, colours or MSG, and there is no colour on this list at all. Yeast extract, which is on the list, is naturally rich in glutamates, which is worth knowing for anyone who avoids glutamates altogether.

The pack

The front of the orange bag uses a black and white vintage photograph, like the other Tyrrells packs we stock: three women dressed as chickens striding across a street, one carrying a bunch of sage. The current pack also carries a new flash.

Serving the bag

Roast chicken and sage suits a picnic, a pub style lunch or a bowl beside a cold beer. It goes well with a chicken or turkey sandwich, a leftover roast sandwich with stuffing, or a bowl of leek and potato soup.

In the kitchen

Crushed, the crisps make a savoury, herby crumb for chicken or turkey escalopes, or a topping for a chicken and leek pie. Because of the chicken powder, keep the crumb for meat dishes.

Storage and packaging

The pack advises a cool, dry place and, once opened, an airtight container. The bag is packaged in a protective atmosphere, and 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 Tyrrells flavours

In the same 150g bag we stock Tyrrells Lightly Sea Salted, Sea Salt and Black Pepper, Sea Salt and Cider Vinegar, Smoked Paprika, Sweet Chilli and Red Pepper and Cheddar Cheese and Chive. For a vegetarian choice in the same bag, Tyrrells Cheddar Cheese and Chive, Smoked Paprika, Sea Salt and Cider Vinegar and Lightly Sea Salted are all labelled suitable for vegetarians.

Other 150g packs of Tyrrells we stock

Figures as published on each pack's label.

The published listing gives England as the country of origin, and the pack names KP Snacks Limited as the maker. The tasting notes on this page are our own editorial assessment against the current pack format and the brand's published description.