Walkers Ready Salted Crisps, 45g

If you want to know what a crisp tastes like before anyone seasons it, open a bag of ready salted. This is the 45g single bag of Walkers Ready Salted: thin slices of potato, fried and salted, sized for one person and a sandwich.

What is in the bag

According to the published pack listing, the crisps are made from potatoes, sunflower and rapeseed oils in varying proportions, salt, and antioxidants: rosemary extract, ascorbic acid, a tocopherol rich extract and citric acid. The pack says the potatoes are 100% Great British potatoes and that there is no added MSG and no artificial colours.

The oils are named together with the words in varying proportions, which is standard label wording for a blend whose ratio can change from batch to batch. The antioxidants protect that oil from turning stale, which is the one flavour a plain crisp cannot hide.

The crisp sandwich, done plainly

A ready salted crisp sandwich is the simplest version of a British lunchtime habit: soft white bread, butter, and a layer of crisps pressed gently so they crack. Because the crisps bring only crunch and salt, the filling can do the talking. Ham and mustard, cheese and pickle, egg mayonnaise and tuna all work, and the 45g bag is enough for a generous sandwich with a handful left over.

What the bag adds up to

The label gives 234 kcal, 14g of fat, 1g of saturates, 23g of carbohydrate, 0.2g of sugars, 1.9g of fibre, 2.9g of protein and 0.54g of salt for the 45g bag. That is about 12% of an average adult's daily energy reference intake, 20% of the fat and 9% of the salt. Per 100g it is 519 kcal, 31g of fat, 2.3g of saturates, 0.4g of sugars and 1.2g of salt, which is high for fat, medium for saturates and salt, and low for sugars on the UK front of pack scale.

The bag size is worth noticing. A 25g bag from a Walkers Ready Salted multipack is 130 kcal on its label, so this bag is close to twice as much. Both are the same crisp; only the portion changes.

Allergens and diet

No allergens from the UK list of 14 are highlighted in the published ingredients. The allergy advice says the crisps may contain cereals containing gluten, milk, mustard and soya. The pack states they are suitable for vegetarians. No vegan claim is made, and with milk in the may contain advice we would not describe them as vegan; no 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 slices are cut thin from washed potatoes and rinsed to take off the loose starch that would glue them together. They are fried until nearly all their water has cooked out, which leaves a brittle, glassy sheet of set starch and oil, and salt is scattered over them while they are warm. With no seasoning powder on top, the colour of each crisp shows the potato underneath: slices from potatoes with a little more natural sugar fry to a deeper gold.

Front of pack colours, explained

The UK scale colours each nutrient per 100g. Anything above 17.5g of fat is coloured high, and a fried crisp at 31g is well over that line. Saturates between 1.5g and 5g count as medium, and 2.3g sits there. Sugars under 5g are low, and 0.4g is about as low as a crisp gets. Salt between 0.3g and 1.5g is medium, and 1.2g sits in the upper part of that band, where the plain salted crisps in the range usually are.

The plain crisp as a yardstick

Because there is no seasoning to hide behind, ready salted is the fairest way to compare one crisp with another. Taste two plain crisps side by side and the differences are the potato, the thickness of the slice and the oil, which is exactly what a flavoured crisp covers up.

The bag itself

The published listing asks you to dispose of the packet responsibly and points to the Walkers recycling page for how to recycle it. Crisp packets are made from layered films that keep light, air and moisture out, which is part of why the crisps stay crisp until the bag is opened.

Other sizes and relatives

For a week of lunches, Walkers Ready Salted comes as six or fourteen 25g bags, and for the table there is a 150g sharing bag. In the same 45g size we stock Walkers Cheese and Onion, Salt and Vinegar, Prawn Cocktail, Roast Chicken and Lea and Perrins Worcester Sauce. For a baked plain crisp in a single bag, Walkers Oven Baked Sea Salt comes in a 37.5g bag.

Keeping it crisp

The pack advises a cool, dry place. Once the bag is opened, finish it the same day, or roll it down and clip it for later in the afternoon.

Sizes of Walkers Ready Salted 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.