Walkers Prawn Cocktail Crisps, 6 x 25g

The prawn cocktail starter, prawns in a sauce of mayonnaise and ketchup, is a long standing part of British eating, and prawn cocktail crisps turn its sauce into a seasoning. This Walkers multipack holds six 25g bags, 150g in total, and the full product name on the pack is Prawn Cocktail Flavour Potato Crisps with sugar and sweetener.

What is on the label

According to the published pack listing, the crisps are made from potatoes, sunflower and rapeseed oils in varying proportions, a prawn cocktail seasoning and antioxidants: rosemary extract, ascorbic acid, a tocopherol rich extract and citric acid. The pack says the potatoes are 100% Great British potatoes.

The seasoning lists flavourings, sugar, acids (citric acid and potassium acetates), dextrose, potassium chloride, salt, yeast powder, onion powder, tomato powder, spice extract, paprika extract for colour and the sweetener sucralose. There is no seafood on the list, which is why the pack can say the crisps are suitable for vegetarians.

Why the name says sugar and sweetener

UK labelling rules require a food that contains both sugar and a sweetener to say so alongside its name. Here the sweetener is sucralose, which is intensely sweet, so the amount used is tiny compared with the sugar and dextrose. Together they give prawn cocktail its rounded sweetness, the part of the flavour that recalls tomato ketchup. For anyone who prefers to avoid sweeteners, the other flavours in the standard Walkers range we stock do not list one.

The tang and the tomato

The sharpness comes from two acids. Citric acid is the acid in lemons; potassium acetates are salts of acetic acid, the acid in vinegar, and they bring a vinegar like edge in a dry powder. Tomato powder and onion powder then give the sauce its body, and the spice extract adds a little depth, in the way a pinch of spice rounds out a homemade prawn cocktail sauce.

Numbers for one bag

The label gives 127 kcal, 7.2g of fat, 0.6g of saturates, 13g of carbohydrate, 0.6g of sugars, 1.1g of fibre, 1.5g of protein and 0.16g of salt for a 25g bag. Per 100g that is 509 kcal, 29g of fat, 2.2g of saturates, 2.2g of sugars and 0.65g of salt. On the UK front of pack scale fat is high, saturates and salt are medium, and sugars are low. One bag is about 6% of an adult's daily energy reference intake and 3% of the salt. For comparison, a 25g bag of Walkers Cheese and Onion gives 0.29g of salt, so a prawn cocktail bag carries a little over half as much.

Allergens and diet

No allergens from the UK list of 14 are highlighted in the published ingredients, and no crustacean ingredient is listed. The allergy advice says the crisps may contain cereals containing gluten, milk, mustard and soya. The pack states they are suitable for vegetarians and made with no added MSG or artificial colours. No vegan or gluten free claim is made. Recipes and factory arrangements change, so check the allergy advice on the pack you receive.

How the crisps are made

The crisp is the thin Walkers slice: potatoes washed and cut thin, rinsed of surface starch, and fried in the sunflower and rapeseed blend until the water has cooked out. The seasoning is tumbled on while the crisps are warm, and the pack says the bags are packaged in a protective atmosphere to keep oxygen away from the oil until a bag is opened.

Six bags, and the boxes it shares

Six bags cover a week of lunches with one to spare. Prawn cocktail also appears in larger Walkers boxes: three bags in the fourteen bag Classic Variety box, five in the twenty bag Classic Variety box, four in the fourteen bag Meaty Variety box and five in the twenty bag Meaty Variety box. If you want a single flavour, this pack is the one to buy.

For a single bag there is Walkers Prawn Cocktail at 45g, and for a baked version Walkers Oven Baked Prawn Cocktail comes as six 22g bags, with 0.48g of salt per 100g on its label. In the same six bag format we stock Walkers Cheese and Onion, Salt and Vinegar, Roast Chicken, Smoky Bacon, BBQ Sauce and Worcester Sauce.

A retro starter on a crisp

Prawn cocktail crisps suit a party that leans into the flavour's origins. Fill small crisp lettuce leaves with cooked prawns in a spoonful of mayonnaise and ketchup, then crumble a bag of these crisps over the top just before serving so they stay crunchy. The crisps echo the sauce, and the lettuce keeps it all fresh. For vegetarian guests, the crisps themselves are suitable, according to the pack, so a bowl of them can sit beside the platter.

Keeping them fresh

The pack advises a cool, dry place. Keep the bags in the outer pack until needed, and finish each bag once it is opened. In a lunchbox, a dry side pocket keeps the crisps away from fruit and drinks.

Sizes of Walkers 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 and names Walkers Snack Foods Ltd as the maker. The tasting notes on this page are our own editorial assessment against the current pack format and the brand's published description.