Walkers Monster Munch Roast Beef Snacks, 40g

Monster Munch are the Walkers baked corn snacks shaped like monster claws, and Roast Beef is one of the two classic flavours, with Pickled Onion. This is the 40g grab bag, one bag and one serving by the pack. The full product name on the pack is Roast Beef Flavour Baked Corn Snack.

The ingredients

According to the published pack listing, the snacks are made from maize, rapeseed oil and a roast beef seasoning. The seasoning lists wheat flour (with calcium, iron, niacin and thiamin), hydrolysed soya protein, whey permeate (from milk), flavourings, rusk (from wheat), sugar, flavour enhancers (monosodium glutamate and disodium 5'-ribonucleotides), onion powder, salt, garlic powder, ammonia caramel for colour and spices.

Roast beef flavour, no beef

The beefy taste comes from hydrolysed soya protein, flavourings, onion, garlic and spices, with monosodium glutamate and disodium 5'-ribonucleotides to deepen it. No meat is on the list, and the listing says the snacks are suitable for vegetarians.

Hydrolysed soya protein

Hydrolysed soya protein is soya protein broken down into its savoury building blocks. It gives a rich, meaty depth, and it is why soya is among the allergens.

Rusk and wheat flour

Rusk, a dried, crumbed bread, and wheat flour carry the seasoning and help it stick to the snacks. They are why the bag contains wheat.

Ammonia caramel

Ammonia caramel is a brown colour made by heating sugar, and it gives the seasoning the colour of gravy.

Maize

Maize, or corn, is the first ingredient: the snacks are made from a corn mix baked into the claw shape, light and crunchy.

Baked, not fried

The listing says the snacks are baked, not fried. Rapeseed oil is the only oil on the list.

The claw shape

Monster Munch are shaped like monster claws, big enough to pick up one at a time, and the pack carries the Monster Munch monster.

Numbers for one bag

The pack gives 197 kcal (824 kJ), 10g of fat, 0.9g of saturates, 23.6g of carbohydrate, 1.2g of sugars, 0.7g of fibre, 2.8g of protein and 0.69g of salt for the 40g bag. That is about 10% of an average adult's daily energy reference intake and 14% of the fat.

Numbers per 100g

Per 100g the label gives 492 kcal (2061 kJ), 25g of fat, 2.2g of saturates, 59g of carbohydrate, 3g of sugars, 1.7g of fibre, 7g of protein and 1.73g of salt.

Reading the front of the pack

On the UK front of pack scale, per 100g, fat at 25g and salt at 1.73g are red, saturates at 2.2g are amber and sugars at 3g are green.

Salt

At 1.73g per 100g and 0.69g in the bag, Roast Beef carries more salt than Pickled Onion, at 1.55g per 100g in the same 40g bag.

Onion and garlic

Onion powder and garlic powder give the seasoning the savoury base of a roast dinner gravy.

Spices

Spices close the seasoning list, a little warmth behind the beef flavour.

Sugar

Sugar sits in the middle of the seasoning. The label gives 3g of sugars per 100g, green on the front of pack scale, and 1.2g in the bag.

Allergens and diet

The published ingredients highlight wheat, soya and milk: wheat in the flour and rusk, soya in the hydrolysed soya protein, and milk in the whey permeate. The allergy advice says the snacks are made in a factory that also handles gluten, barley, celery and mustard. The listing says they are suitable for vegetarians; they are not vegan, because of the milk, and they are not suitable for anyone avoiding gluten. Recipes and factory arrangements change, so check the allergy advice on the pack you receive.

A grab bag

The front of the bag reads grab bag, and at 40g it holds twice a 20g multipack bag. It is one serving by the pack, so the numbers above are for the whole bag.

Recycling

The listing asks for the packet to be disposed of responsibly and points to the Walkers recycling page.

Who it suits

Roast Beef Monster Munch suit anyone who likes a meaty, gravy flavour on a big corn snack, and vegetarians who miss the taste. They are not for anyone avoiding gluten, milk, soya or MSG.

In a lunchbox

A 40g grab bag is a big lunchbox bag; for children, the six bag multipack of 20g bags gives a smaller portion.

With a sandwich

A bag of Roast Beef Monster Munch goes beside a cheese sandwich or a ham roll, where the gravy flavour fits.

At Halloween

The monster claws suit a Halloween party table, in a bowl with other spooky snacks.

In the kitchen

Crushed, the snacks make a savoury, beefy crumb for the top of a cottage pie or a cauliflower cheese.

Other Monster Munch

We stock Roast Beef in a six bag multipack of 20g bags too, Pickled Onion in the same 40g grab bag and in multipacks, the Monster Munch Variety box, which holds four Roast Beef bags, and Monster Munch Giants.

Storage

The listing advises a cool, dry place. Finish the bag once it is open.

Sizes of Walkers Monster Munch Roast Beef Snacks we stock

Figures as published on each pack's label.

The tasting notes on this page are our own editorial assessment against the current pack format and the brand's published description.