Walkers Smoky Bacon Crisps, 6 x 25g

Smoky bacon is a flavour that does its work by suggestion. This Walkers multipack holds six 25g bags, 150g in total, and although the flavour is named after a rasher of bacon, the published ingredients list no meat at all. The pack says the crisps are suitable for vegetarians.

What the seasoning is made of

According to the published pack listing, the crisps are made from potatoes, sunflower and rapeseed oils in varying proportions, a smoky bacon 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 is one of the shortest in the Walkers range: flavourings, yeast extract, salt, yeast powder, potassium chloride, citric and malic acids, and paprika extract for colour. Flavourings come first, which means the smoky, cured character is built mainly by the flavourings rather than by a long list of spices. Yeast extract and yeast powder follow and give the savoury depth that makes the flavour read as meat.

How a vegetarian crisp tastes of bacon

Think of bacon's flavour as three parts: the salt of the cure, the savoury depth of the meat, and smoke. This seasoning covers each without any meat. Salt and potassium chloride stand in for the cure. Yeast extract, which is naturally rich in glutamates, gives the savoury depth; the same compounds give aged cheese and gravy their savour. The flavourings carry the smoke and the bacon aroma. The citric and malic acids add a small sharpness that keeps the savoury notes from tasting flat, much as a cured meat has a slight tang.

The numbers for one bag

The label gives 128 kcal, 7.3g of fat, 0.5g of saturates, 13g of carbohydrate, 0.2g of sugars, 1.1g of fibre, 1.6g of protein and 0.17g of salt for each 25g bag. Per 100g that is 513 kcal, 29g of fat, 2.2g of saturates, 0.8g of sugars and 0.67g 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.

Two numbers stand out. The sugars are very low, 0.8g per 100g, because this seasoning has no sugar or dextrose in it at all, unlike several others in the range. And the salt, at 0.67g per 100g, is a little over half the 1.2g of the Walkers Cheese and Onion and Ready Salted bags, with potassium chloride doing part of the salty work.

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, and it states no added MSG or artificial colours. 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 crisp is the thin Walkers slice. Whole potatoes are washed and cut thin, the slices are rinsed to take off surface starch, and they are fried in the sunflower and rapeseed blend until the water has cooked out and the starch has set. The seasoning is dusted on while the crisps are still warm, and the pack says the bags are packaged in a protective atmosphere, which means the air in each bag is replaced with a gas mix to keep oxygen away from the oil.

Six bags and where they go

Six 25g bags make a week of lunchbox crisps with one to spare. Smoky bacon is savoury without heat or a sharp vinegar edge, which makes it an easy match for a cheese sandwich, a bowl of tomato soup or a plain buttered roll. It also suits a vegetarian who likes a smoky taste, since the pack confirms it is suitable for vegetarians.

Other ways to buy it

Smoky bacon also appears in both sizes of the Walkers Meaty Variety box, with five bags in the twenty bag box and three in the fourteen bag box, alongside roast chicken, prawn cocktail and cheese and onion. In the same six bag format we stock Walkers Roast Chicken, Worcester Sauce, BBQ Sauce, Heinz Tomato Ketchup, Prawn Cocktail, Salt and Vinegar and Cheese and Onion. For a steak flavour in a six bag box, Walkers Max Sizzling Flame Grilled Steak comes as six 27g bags.

Storing the bags

The pack advises a cool, dry place. Keep the bags in the outer pack, away from the cooker and the kettle, and finish a bag once it is open. A bag that has gone soft still works crushed over a macaroni cheese or a cauliflower cheese, where a smoky note sits well with the sauce.

Other 6 x 25g packs of Walkers 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.