Walkers Cheese and Onion Crisps, 150g

The 150g sharing bag is Walkers Cheese and Onion made for the middle of the table. It is one bag, sealed until opened, holding the same thin crisps as the 25g multipack bags, and the label divides it into five servings of 30g.

The flavour

Cheese and onion on a Walkers crisp is a mild flavour by design. There is no heat, and the tang is small, so it sits easily next to sandwiches, cold meats and dips. On the published ingredients it is onion that leads, with the dairy following as a soft savoury note and a pinch of acid stopping the whole thing from tasting heavy.

What the label says

According to the published pack listing, the ingredients are potatoes, sunflower and rapeseed oils in varying proportions, a cheese and onion seasoning and antioxidants. The seasoning lists dried onion first, then salt, dried milk whey, lactose from milk, sugar, a flavouring containing milk, cheese powder from milk, dried yeast, citric and malic acids, whey protein, dried garlic and the colours annatto bixin and paprika extract. The antioxidants are rosemary extract, ascorbic acid, a tocopherol rich extract and citric acid, and their job is to keep the oil from going stale.

The pack also says the potatoes are 100% Great British potatoes and that there is no added MSG. The phrase "in varying proportions" after the two oils is standard label wording. It means the maker blends sunflower and rapeseed oil and the ratio can change from batch to batch, so both have to be named.

How the crisps are made

A classic crisp is a thin slice of potato fried until almost all of its water has gone. The slices are cut from washed potatoes and rinsed to take off loose starch, then fried in hot oil. As the water boils off, the starch sets into a brittle sheet, and that is the snap you hear when you bite. The powdered seasoning is tumbled over the warm crisps so the thin film of oil on each slice holds it, which is why the flavour sits on the surface rather than being cooked into the potato.

A sharing bag in numbers

Per 30g serving the label gives 154 kcal, 8.8g of fat, 0.7g of saturates, 0.8g of sugars and 0.35g of salt. That serving is about 8% of an average adult's daily energy reference intake and 6% of the salt. Per 100g it is 512 kcal, 29g of fat, 2.4g of saturates, 2.6g of sugars and 1.2g of salt, which reads as high for fat, medium for saturates and salt, and low for sugars on the UK front of pack scale.

A 30g serving is a modest bowlful, and the whole bag is five of them. A group rarely measures, so if you are keeping count, pour a serving into a small bowl rather than eating from the bag.

Allergens and diet

Milk is highlighted in the published ingredients, through the whey, lactose, flavouring, cheese powder and whey protein. The allergy advice says the crisps may contain cereals containing gluten, mustard and soya. The pack states they are suitable for vegetarians. They are not vegan, because of the milk, and no gluten free claim is made. Recipes and factory arrangements change, so check the allergy advice on the pack you receive, and mention the milk to guests who avoid it.

Serving it well

A sharing bag behaves best in a wide, shallow bowl. Crisps are fragile, and the weight of a deep pile breaks the ones at the bottom into crumbs. Pour out half, clip the bag shut, and top the bowl up as it empties, so what people are eating has not been sitting open in a warm room all evening.

Cheese and onion suits most of a buffet table. It works with cold meats and pickles, sits next to sandwiches without fighting them, and has no heat to warn anyone about. For a drink, something cold and fizzy, such as a lager, a dry cider or a ginger beer, cuts through the richness.

If there are dips on the table, give them their own bowls and spoons rather than letting people dunk straight from the bag. The crisps left in the bag stay dry, and the ones in the bowl get eaten before a wet dip can soften them.

Other sizes

For portions rather than a bowl, the Walkers Cheese and Onion multipacks hold six or fourteen 25g bags, and there is a 45g single bag. For a sharing bag of a different flavour in the same range, we stock Walkers Ready Salted and Walkers Salt and Vinegar at 150g, and for a baked version of this flavour there is Walkers Oven Baked Cheese and Onion.

Storage after opening

The pack advises storing it in a cool, dry place and, once opened, eating it within three days. Clipped tightly, the crisps hold their crunch for that long; left open in a warm kitchen, they soften within a day. Broken pieces at the bottom of the bag are good crumbled over a pasta bake.

Sizes of Walkers Cheese and Onion Crisps we stock

Figures as published on each pack's label.

The published listing gives the United Kingdom as the country of origin and names Walkers Snack Foods Ltd as the maker. The tasting notes here are our own editorial assessment against the current pack format and the brand's published description.