The Absolute Best Frito-Lay Simply Chips You'll Find On The Shelves

The old adage that "it's impossible to eat just one potato chip" is right — especially when those chips deliver on both taste and health-consciousness. Enter, Frito-Lay's Simply Chips line. The Simply Chips oeuvre is home to simplified versions of the parent brand's most iconic snacks, from stripped-down Doritos to white cheddar Cheetos and more. Simply Chips, which have been around since 2002, don't contain any artificial flavorings or colorants, unlike many other popular store-brand potato chips. But, only one offering from the Simply line wowed us with its uncanny likeness to the classic chip upon which it's based. In Tasting Table's ranking of Frito-Lay Simply Chips flavors from worst to best, Simply Ruffles Sea Salt confidently took first place.

On taste, texture, and appearance (the Chip Criteria Trifecta!), we wouldn't even be able to distinguish classic Ruffles from their Simplified version in a side-by-side taste test. The resemblance was uncanny, from the crispiness, to the saltiness, and even the requisite oiliness, which led to greasy, near translucent patches much like the regular variety of chips. Likewise, this healthier snack option earns major points for its price tag too. At a Walmart in Chicago, for instance, an 8-ounce bag of Simply Ruffles Sea Salt chips runs for $3.98 (they're currently $3.50 on sale at the time of writing). An 8.5-ounce bag of Original Ruffles costs $4.18. So, foodies can feel good about not having to fork over extra money to get a healthier option without sacrificing taste.

Simply Ruffles' Sea Salt offering doesn't sacrifice on flavor, making them a solid dupe for the O.G. crunchy, salty chips fans know, love, and expect. And yet, the ingredients list is impressively (as its namesake promises) simple. Simply Ruffles Sea Salt non-GMO chips are made from American-grown potatoes, sea salt, and sunflower oil. And that's it. Despite the chip's straightforward makeup, it doesn't cut corners on decadence. One viral Reddit post with over 17,000 upvotes at the time of writing shows a photo of a single gargantuan Simply Ruffles Sea Salt potato chip the size of a full Xbox video game controller. 

Walmart product reviews echo our uncanny-likeness praise, with one user writing, "Crunchy Chips, Great Taste. These are very crisp," and another admitting, "I really can't tell the difference between them and regular chips." This seemingly-undetectable taste difference might be partially due to the fact that Original Ruffles potato chips are made from a similar lineup of potatoes, regular salt, and multiple different types of vegetable oils, including canola and/or corn oil. 

Sunflower oil undergoes less processing than vegetable blends, and sea salt retains more trace minerals than table, lending dimensional flavor on the palate and greater nutrition overall. Unlike baked chips — which another Reddit thread likened to "potato crackers" more than actual chips, and therefore not passable as a satisfying dupe — Simply Ruffles are fried to deliver on the classic profile fans crave, but prepared using a sliced, fried, and salted method to yield a healthier chip.