Before lining up 10 of the most readily available corn chips on the market for blind scrutiny, I had never properly delved into the seemingly endless permutations of corn, oil and salt.
Sure, every corn chip brand starts off with the same ingredients, but somehow the result is so wildly different. This taste test was judged entirely on taste and texture. And while smashability (the ability to mindlessly shovel the product in my face hole) was taken into account, it did not affect the overall score. To keep things fair, I only tested corn chips that were seasoned with salt as any dustings of flavour would have skewed the result.
You’d think after testing kilos of naked corn chips I’d be sick of them, but I am not. Salsa is not required to accompany any of these chips, but maybe some electrolytes are.
Let the games begin.
Best overall
La Tortilleria Totopos Tortilla Chips, 200g, $9.24 ($4.62 per 100g), available at IGA, some Harris Farms and independent grocers
Score: 9/10
Corn chips come in two categories: straight-up corn chips made from cornmeal fried in oil, and tortilla chips made from fried tortillas, which grew out of Mexican cuisine. These are of the tortilla variety, with La Tortilleria specialising in making tortillas the traditional way through nixtamalization (the process of soaking and cooking grain in an alkaline solution to increase the flavour, aroma and nutritional value) using Australian corn. The crunch on these is superior. The structural integrity would support any chunky salsa, dip or stand up in the preparation of chilaquiles (a Mexican breakfast dish where totopos are simmered in salsa), as suggested on the packet. It doesn’t taste as salty as the sodium levels on the packet reveal (462mg per 100g). It was one of the first chips I tasted and it set the bar high. A shining beacon. A true star. Always and forever, add to basket.
Best value
Sprinters Corn Chips Toasted, 200g, $2.49 ($1.24 per 100g), available at Aldi
Score: 7/10
There are two rules when it comes to Aldi products: they are either surprisingly good or surprisingly bad. The Aldi corn chips, thankfully, are the former. Sprinters are made with 78% corn, which sits on the higher end of the scale. The result is a denser, crunchier corn chip. Flavour-wise, the toastiness, as stated on the label, is present in aroma and flavour. The only caveat is that it’s made from a blend of three oils – canola, sunflower and palm oil.
The rest
Feel Good Foods Corn Chips Original, 500g, $10.35 ($2.07 per 100g), available at IGA, independent grocers and online
Score: 8/10
These corn chips succeed in having great crunch without tearing up your mouth. The salt content is on the lower end of the scale (339mg per 100g), which makes them highly smashable without imminent fear of hypertension. The most notable characteristic is its sweet corn aftertaste. While these stood up on their own, salsa is highly recommended if you intend on eating them in large portions.
Sonora Foods Salted Corn Chips, 500g, $7.40 ($1.48 per 100g), available at Woolworths
Score: 7/10
This is a solid corn chip. Literally. It’s sturdy, on the larger side and clearly made to be a vehicle for salsa or nachos. If eating on its own, it has enough give that it won’t shred your palate despite providing a highly satisfactory crunch.
CC’s Original Corn Chips, 175g, $5 ($2.85 per 100g), available at Coles and Woolworths
Score: 6.5/10
This chip has backbone, a notable crunch and a chunky texture of corn in each bite. They’re great on their own, but as the bag suggests, they’d make “the tastiest nachos ever” (their words, not mine). While the sodium levels are similar to the winning chip (472mg per 100g), these somehow taste substantially saltier. They’re more shareable than smashable. But each to their own.
Tostitos Cantina Style Lightly Salted Tortilla Chips, 175g, $5.20 ($2.97 per 100g), available at Coles and Woolworths
Score: 6/10
If this is lightly salted, I would hate to taste regularly salted. While the sodium levels (281mg per 100g) are far lower than some of the other chips, they actually taste saltier. Brace yourself. The texture is more akin to a regular corn chip than one made from fried tortillas, while the corn flavour is barely detectable. If you’re after a salt crunch to mindlessly shovel, this is your bag.
Macro Organic Corn Chips Original, 200g, $4 ($2 per 100g), available at Woolworths
Score: 5.5/10
There is a target market for this inoffensive chip and that is parents who need to fill their kids’ lunchboxes. Firstly, the packaging states these corn chips are a wholefood. The last time I checked, all corn chips made from wholegrain or nixtamalized corn, oil and salt are not wholefoods, they’re just wholegrain. The small, round chips – a touch larger than a 50c coin – have a limp crunch and are not conducive to dipping with adult-sized hands.
Doritos Original Salted Corn Chips, 170g, $4.80 ($2.82 per 100g), available at Coles and Woolworths
Score: 5/10
This corn chip is the embodiment of my attitude towards my bridging classes at university: Ps get degrees. It looks like a corn chip, smells like a corn chip and tastes like a corn chip – it’s just not excelling in its category. There is hardly any substance to these, and they disintegrate in your mouth after very little chewing. Despite the rosemary extract and citric acid in its recipe, the overwhelming flavour is salt – 434mg per 100g to be exact.
Mission Original Tortilla Strips White Corn, 230g, $4.50 ($1.95 per 100g), available at Coles and Woolworths
Score: 5/10
Beige. These tortilla strips look beige, taste beige and come in a beige bag. I should have taken all these signifiers as a warning. The strips of fried tortillas are on the softer side of crunchy without tasting stale and the saltiness tastes balanced, yet they’re so ordinary there is almost nothing to say about them. They’re like that person you introduce yourself to at a party only to be told you’ve met a dozen times before.
Old El Paso Tortilla Chips Original, 350g, $6.95 ($1.99 per 100g), available at Coles and Woolworths
Score: 4/10
I entered this taste test feeling cocky. I thought: how bad could it be? The rule with corn chips is that even bad corn chips are pretty good. How wrong I was. How is it possible that using the same three ingredients as every other brand, Old El Paso produced a chip that was both sweet on the palate and with a rancid aftertaste? The packaging suggests these would be “perfect for guacamole”, but I don’t want to waste an avocado just so I can eat some mid chips. My notes read: “Old Hell Paso.” Enough said.
