Walkers Oven Baked Slow Roasted Beef Crisps, 150g

Walkers Oven Baked are baked crisps made from potato flakes, and Slow Roasted Beef is the savoury, peppery one, which the pack marks as new. This is the 150g sharing bag, which the listing says holds five servings. The full product name on the pack is slow roasted beef flavour baked potato snack, and the maker on the label is Walkers Snack Foods Ltd.

The ingredients

According to the printed pack, the crisps are made from potato flakes, starch, rapeseed oil, a slow roasted beef flavour (hydrolysed vegetable protein from corn, sugar, dextrose, onion powder, flavouring, carob flour, garlic powder, salt, citric acid, black pepper powder, smoked maltodextrin and paprika extract), sugar, an emulsifier (lecithins), sunflower oil and annatto norbixin for colour.

Always baked, never fried

The pack says always baked, never fried. Potato flakes and starch are made into a dough, formed into thin, ridged slices and baked, which gives a light, even crunch rather than the brittle snap of a fried slice.

Beef without beef

There is no beef on the list. The roast beef taste comes from hydrolysed vegetable protein, made from corn, with onion, garlic, black pepper, the flavouring and smoked maltodextrin, and the pack says the crisps are suitable for vegetarians.

Carob flour and smoke

Carob flour adds a dark, roasted note, and smoked maltodextrin a light smoke, the browned edges of a slow roast.

Black pepper

Black pepper powder gives a gentle, peppery warmth at the finish, like pepper on a roast.

Sugar

Sugar appears in the seasoning and again in the dough, with dextrose, so the crisps carry 7g of sugars per 100g, amber on the front of pack scale, and 2.1g in a 30g serving.

Numbers per serving

The pack gives 128 kcal (539 kJ), 3.8g of fat, 0.4g of saturates, 21g of carbohydrate, 2.1g of sugars, 1.7g of fibre, 1.6g of protein and 0.22g of salt for a 30g serving, which it puts at 6% of an average adult's daily energy reference intake, 5% of the fat and 4% of the salt.

Numbers per 100g

Per 100g the pack gives 427 kcal (1798 kJ), 13g of fat, 1.2g of saturates, 70g of carbohydrate, 7g of sugars, 5.8g of fibre, 5.3g of protein and 0.75g of salt.

Reading the front of the pack

On the UK front of pack scale, per 100g, fat at 13g is amber. Saturates at 1.2g are green. Sugars at 7g are amber. Salt at 0.75g is amber.

Fat

The label gives 13g of fat per 100g and 3.8g in a 30g serving, amber on the front of pack scale, with rapeseed and sunflower oils in the dough.

Hydrolysed vegetable protein

Hydrolysed vegetable protein, here made from corn, leads the seasoning and gives a deep, savoury taste, like a stock cube.

Onion and garlic

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

Potato flakes

Potato flakes are dried, cooked potato; with starch, they make a dough that can be rolled thin and baked.

Lecithins

Lecithins are emulsifiers that help the dough mix evenly.

Annatto

Annatto norbixin, a colour from the seeds of the achiote tree, gives the crisps a golden colour.

Carbohydrate and fibre

The label gives 70g of carbohydrate per 100g, of which 7g are sugars; the rest is starch from the potato flakes and the added starch. Fibre is 5.8g and protein 5.3g per 100g.

Allergens and diet

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

Five servings

The listing says the 150g bag holds five servings of 30g. Tip a serving into a bowl rather than eating from the bag.

Once opened

The listing advises a cool, dry place and says to eat the crisps within 3 days of opening, so fold the bag down and clip it shut.

No added MSG

The pack says there is no added MSG and no artificial colours or preservatives. Hydrolysed vegetable protein is naturally rich in glutamates, worth knowing for anyone who avoids them altogether.

The pack

The bag is cream at the top and deep red below, with a new flash, the Walkers logo, the words oven baked in white, slow roasted beef, a pile of ridged baked crisps with garlic and herbs, a round badge on the side and the 150g weight.

Who it suits

A savoury, peppery baked crisp with no meat suits vegetarians who like a roast beef flavour, and anyone who prefers a light, even crunch. Anyone avoiding milk, soya, mustard or gluten should read the may contain advice.

Serving ideas

Serve the crisps with a pint of ale, a cheese and pickle sandwich or a bowl of horseradish soured cream.

In the kitchen

Crushed, the crisps make a savoury crumb for the top of a cottage pie.

At a party

Tip the bag into a bowl beside the Sun Dried Tomato and Basil for a baked pair.

New

The pack marks Slow Roasted Beef as new to the Oven Baked range.

Other Walkers Oven Baked

In the same 150g sharing bag we stock Walkers Oven Baked Sun Dried Tomato and Basil.

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.