Walkers Oven Baked Prawn Cocktail Crisps, 37.5g

Prawn cocktail on a baked snack: this is Walkers Oven Baked Prawn Cocktail in a 37.5g single bag. The full product name on the pack is Prawn Cocktail Flavour Baked Potato Snack with Sugar and Sweetener, and the pack names Walkers Snack Foods Ltd as the maker.

Baked, from potato flakes

Instead of slices of potato, the recipe starts with potato flakes and starch, which are shaped and baked; the pack pictures thin, ridged ovals and says the range is always baked, never fried. That is why the legal name is baked potato snack rather than crisps.

The ingredients

According to the published pack listing, the snack is made from potato flakes, starch, rapeseed oil, a prawn cocktail seasoning (flavourings, sugar, citric acid, potassium acetates, dextrose, potassium chloride, salt, yeast powder, onion powder, tomato powder, spice extract, paprika extract for colour, and sucralose as a sweetener), sugar, an emulsifier (lecithins), sunflower oil and a colour (annatto norbixin).

Potato flakes and starch

Potato flakes are cooked, mashed and dried potato, and starch helps the shaped snack hold together as it bakes, giving a light, even snap instead of the harder crunch of a fried slice.

Sugar and sweetener

The sweetness of a prawn cocktail sauce comes from three places: sugar, dextrose, which is a simple sugar, and a small amount of sucralose, a sweetener. Because a sweetener is used, the full name on the pack says with sugar and sweetener. Even so, the label gives 2.3g of sugars in the whole bag.

The tang and the salt figure

Citric acid and potassium acetates, salts of the acid in vinegar, give the tang of the sauce. Potassium chloride tastes salty but contains no sodium, and the salt figure on a UK label is worked out from sodium. The label gives 0.48g of salt per 100g and 0.18g for the bag, one of the lowest salt figures of the Walkers packs we stock.

No seafood

Like every prawn cocktail crisp, the flavour copies the sauce rather than the prawns: flavourings, tomato powder and onion powder with sugar and acid. No seafood of any kind is listed, and the pack says the snack is suitable for vegetarians.

Numbers for one bag

The label gives 160 kcal, 4.8g of fat, 0.5g of saturates, 26g of carbohydrate, 2.3g of sugars, 2.2g of fibre, 1.9g of protein and 0.18g of salt for the 37.5g bag, which it treats as one serving. That is about 8% of an average adult's daily energy reference intake, 7% of the fat and 3% of the salt. Per 100g it is 427 kcal, 13g of fat, 1.2g of saturates, 70g of carbohydrate, 6.1g of sugars, 5.9g of fibre, 5.1g of protein and 0.48g of salt.

Reading the front of the pack

On the UK front of pack scale, per 100g, fat at 13g is amber rather than the red of a fried crisp, and saturates at 1.2g are green. Sugars at 6.1g are amber, with sugar in both the seasoning and the recipe. Salt at 0.48g is amber, near the bottom of its band.

Allergens and diet

No allergens from the UK list of 14 are highlighted in the published ingredients. The allergy advice says the snack may contain cereals containing gluten, milk, mustard and soya. The pack says it is suitable for vegetarians; there is no vegan claim and no gluten free claim. Recipes and factory arrangements change, so check the allergy advice on the pack you receive.

Colours and what is left out

The pink orange colour comes from paprika extract and annatto, a natural colour from the seeds of the achiote tree. The pack says there is no added MSG, no artificial colours and no artificial preservatives.

A single bag

A 37.5g bag is one serving, sized for a lunchbox, a bag or a desk drawer. Sweet, tangy and with no heat, prawn cocktail suits children and adults alike.

Who it suits

With no heat, a light texture and a sweet, tangy flavour, this suits children and anyone who finds salt and vinegar too sharp. Check the may contain advice first for anyone with an allergy, since it lists four allergens.

Serving ideas

Pair the bag with a ham, egg or salmon sandwich, or a crisp salad. The sweet, tangy flavour contrasts well with something plain and creamy.

In the kitchen

Crushed, the baked ovals make a sweet and tangy topping for a prawn salad or a fish pie. Scatter them at the last moment so they stay crisp.

Storage

The pack advises a cool, dry place. Finish the bag once it is opened.

The six bag pack

For a week of lunches, we stock the same Walkers Oven Baked Prawn Cocktail in a six bag multipack of 22g bags, at 94 kcal a bag.

Other Walkers Oven Baked flavours

In the same 37.5g bag we stock Walkers Oven Baked Cheese and Onion, Salt and Vinegar and Sea Salt, and in 150g sharing bags there are Walkers Oven Baked Sun Dried Tomato and Basil and Slow Roasted Beef. For a fried prawn cocktail crisp, Walkers Prawn Cocktail comes in a 45g bag.

Sizes of Walkers Oven Baked Prawn Cocktail Crisps we stock

Figures as published on each pack's label.

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.