Walkers Cheese and Onion Crisps, 6 x 25g

Six bags of Walkers Cheese and Onion in one pack is the week to week size. Each 25g bag is a single serving, sealed until it is opened, and the six together make 150g of crisps.

The recipe in plain words

According to the published pack listing, each bag contains potatoes, sunflower and rapeseed oils in varying proportions, a cheese and onion seasoning, and antioxidants: rosemary extract, ascorbic acid, a tocopherol rich extract and citric acid. The antioxidants protect the oil from going stale; they do not flavour the crisps. The pack says the potatoes are 100% Great British potatoes.

The seasoning explains the taste. It starts with dried onion, then salt, dried milk whey, lactose from milk, sugar, a flavouring containing milk and cheese powder. After those come dried yeast, citric and malic acids, whey protein, dried garlic, and two colours, annatto bixin and paprika extract. Onion leads; the milk based ingredients give a soft, rounded savour; the two acids add a faint tang that keeps it from tasting heavy; and the dried yeast and garlic sit underneath as depth rather than as flavours you would pick out.

Why the seasoning uses whey and lactose

Cheese powder is strong, and a little goes a long way. Whey and lactose, both taken from milk, bring a milder dairy flavour and help the powder spread evenly over every slice, so the flavour comes across as creamy rather than sharp. The sugar and lactose also round off the salt, which is part of why cheese and onion reads as a gentle flavour.

One bag at a time

The label gives the following for each 25g bag: 128 kcal, 7.4g of fat, 0.6g of saturates, 13g of carbohydrate, 0.7g of sugars, 1g of fibre, 1.7g of protein and 0.29g of salt. Per 100g that is 512 kcal, 29g of fat, 2.4g of saturates and 1.2g of salt, which sits high for fat, medium for saturates and salt, and low for sugars on the UK front of pack scale. One bag is about 6% of an average adult's daily energy reference intake and 5% of the salt.

The 25g bag is the reason to buy a multipack rather than a sharing bag. It is a fixed portion that takes no discipline, and each bag you do not open stays fresh in its own seal. The pack also says the bags are packaged in a protective atmosphere, which means the air inside has been replaced with a gas mix before sealing to keep the oil from staling.

Allergens and diet

Milk is highlighted in the published ingredients, in 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, especially when the bags are going into party bags for other people's children.

Six bags, and how they get used

Six bags cover a school or working week with one to spare, or a weekend of snacks for a small family. They travel well in a lunchbox if they are kept away from anything wet.

For a children's party, a flavour with no heat is an easy thing to drop into party bags. Ask first whether any guest has a milk allergy, because milk is in this seasoning, and keep a pack whose ingredients list no milk to hand as a swap.

If six is not enough, the fourteen bag Walkers Cheese and Onion box holds the same 25g bags. For households that like a mix, every size of the Walkers Classic Variety box includes cheese and onion alongside ready salted and salt and vinegar, and there is also a box that pairs seven bags of cheese and onion with seven of ready salted.

If you want this flavour with less salt, Walkers Lightly Cheese and Onion comes in a six bag pack too. Its label gives 0.62g of salt per 100g, about half the 1.2g here, which is worth knowing for anyone keeping an eye on salt across the week.

A few kitchen uses

A bag of cheese and onion crushed in its packet makes a quick crumb for the top of a pasta bake or macaroni cheese, and a handful inside a buttered white roll is the crisp sandwich at its most traditional. Both are better uses for a bag that has gone slightly soft than the bin.

Storage

The pack advises a cool, dry place. Keep the bags in the outer pack until needed, away from the kettle and the cooker, and shake each bag gently before opening so the seasoning is spread evenly over every crisp.

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 are our own editorial assessment against the current pack format and the brand's published description.