7 Hippeas Puffs Flavors, Ranked

If you've ever taken a stroll down the snack aisle at your local Whole Foods, chances are you've laid eyes on Hippeas Chickpea Puffs, aka the plant-forward alternative to satisfy your finger-staining Cheetos Puffs cravings. Maybe a bag has even made it into your cart on occasion. Or, if you're a cautious consumer (and who isn't, nowadays?), perhaps you've been waiting for a sign that Hippeas' Puffs are worth your hard-earned dollar.

Let me be the beacon to guide you toward the bright horizons of chickpea snacks. Though I'm ranking the seven bags of Hippeas that I tried, I liked all of them (which, yes, made this ranking rather difficult). My best advice to those who have been on the fence about trying Hippeas is to grab the bag that sounds most appealing — or, follow my advice below. I ranked the selections based primarily on the strength of each flavor, and I'll let you know when my own preferences factored into this ranking, as well. 

Some recommendations are based on firsthand impressions of promotional materials and products provided by the manufacturer.

Though I didn't particularly dislike Hippeas' Flavor Blast! Blazin' Hot Chickpea Puffs, they ultimately didn't live up to the standards put forth by the other puffs I tried, especially given the "Flavor Blast!" moniker on the bag. That said, go ahead and grab a bag if you want a little kick of spice, but don't expect to get much more than that.

The puffs are definitely spicy, but they're not overwhelmingly so — in fact, I thought another flavor on this list was a little spicier. Moreover, I didn't get much flavor other than spice in this bag. That's not objectively a bag thing, and I could see myself reaching for these when I just want a little heat, but I couldn't rank this above any of the other, more flavorful bags on this list. That's just my two cents, though, and if all you want is some spice, don't shy away from this one. 

If you want a plant-based dupe for a bag of Cheetos, Hippeas' Cheezy Vibes Chickpea Puffs would be a good buy. I didn't want to rank these in second-to-last place, but again, the competition was fierce! I was wary of this flavor at first because many plant-based cheese flavors use nutritional yeast as a base, and I've never been able to get accustomed to the flavor. 

Fortunately, no nutritional yeast is listed on the ingredients label for these puffs — that may be a negative for some, but it was a huge pro for me. So, given the praise, why did these only come in sixth place? Some of the following flavors are punchier, or they just appealed to me more. I'll absolutely reach for this bag when I want a cheesy plant-based snack, but for snacking in general, I'd grab one of the following.

It was really difficult to choose whether Cheezy Vibes or Groovy White Cheddar should rank higher on this list, but ultimately, I chose to give the advantage to Groovy White Cheddar. My reasoning was simple: I thought the white cheddar flavor, though still plant-based, was a little more authentic than the flavor of Cheezy Vibes. 

These do such a good job at mimicking real white cheddar that I had to double-check the ingredients to make sure it didn't actually contain white cheddar. Indeed, they don't, and the flavor seems to primarily come from a combination of onion powder, garlic powder, yeast extract, turmeric extract, and rosemary extract. Huge kudos to the recipe developer that ideated this formula — it definitely works, and I'm even munching on these as I type this. White cheddar fans (or lovers of the famous Smartfood Popcorn flavor) will be very, very pleased with these. 

The top four entries in this list are all packed with explosive flavor, and thus were ranked mostly based on how much I enjoyed them. I was pretty surprised with my own preferences — I found myself endeared to some flavor profiles I'd normally shy away from, and this is probably the biggest factor that gave me such a positive opinion of Hippeas. 

Sitting solidly in fourth place is Hippeas' All Dressed Up flavor. I liked it a lot, but it lacked the focus of some of the following flavors and was ultimately a little confusing. There's a lot going on here — the puffs taste like a barbecue and ranch combo, and I didn't get much of the salt and vinegar flavor listed on the bag, though I'm guessing those were camouflaged with all the other notes present. This bag definitely fits its "all dressed up" moniker, though, and will be a fun buy for those who like that particular combination. 

If you're a fan of Grillo's Pickles, there's little doubt that you'll love Hippeas' Grillo's Pickles flavor, which comes loaded with a huge amount of dill. I was shocked to rank this bag in third place — not because I doubted its pickle-esque qualities, but because I famously don't like pickles in any application. However, I do love dill, and that's what skyrocketed this selection up to the top three. 

Dill definitely hits first, which endeared me to these little guys immediately. I did get some more of a briny, pickled flavor as the bite went on, but it wasn't enough to deter me from wanting more. Dill pickle fans will enjoy these; that said, temper your expectations if you're thinking these will taste exactly like pickles. While you can tell that pickles played a role in their creation, they're more dill-forward than anything (again, a huge plus for me). 

Speaking of my own flavor preferences, I'm also usually not the biggest barbecue fan. I don't dislike the flavor; it's just never my go-to, and it doesn't tempt me as much as other profiles typical in the crunchy snack world. So I was similarly surprised that Hippeas' Bohemian Barbecue flavor took a stunning second place in this ranking. Maybe I'll have to rethink my barbecue opinions — I really, really liked these.

These puffs are heavy on the smoke factor, which I absolutely loved. But there's plenty of flavor behind the smoke, too. Tomato and paprika are apparent and give the puffs depth, and no single note overwhelms the next, so everything sits in pretty good balance here. If I liked them this much as someone with a middling opinion on barbecue-flavored snacks, I can't imagine how much more they'll be enjoyed by someone who's a huge fan of the profile. Still, they couldn't quite surpass my number one choice. 

I'm not the biggest jalapeño girl, which feels somewhat sacrilegious to admit — aren't we practically mandated to go gaga over anything with the pepper in it? Even more so when the famous flavor is combined with savory cheddar. I was, then, understandably shocked to find that Hippeas' Jalapeño Cheddar Puffs were my absolute favorite of all the brand's offerings. 

First of all, I thought these puffs were spicier than the Flavor Blasted! Blazin' Hot ones mentioned above, which took me by surprise. I really liked the spice here because it came with ample flavor — bright jalapeños dominated the bite, while a mock cheddar flavor kept it from being too overwhelming. If you like jalapeños, jalapeño cheddar, or just spice in general, these deserve a spot in your cart immediately. They were the most flavor-packed option of the bunch. To be perfectly honest, I haven't stopped munching on them since I opened the bag. 

Though I was impressed by the entire lineup of Hippeas' Puffs flavors, I still had to give them an order, so I chose to rank them based on how strong the flavor profiles were and how much the varying flavor combinations appealed to me. The brand pulls off vegan cheese flavors remarkably well, but it really shone when it came to its more complex flavors. 

Honestly, I'd buy Hippeas over flavored potato chips without hesitation — they're that good. While I couldn't give a very high score to the fairly one-note Flavor Blasted! Blazin' Hot, Groovy White Cheddar, or Cheezy Vibes, they'll still appeal to anyone who's a typical fan of those profiles. The bags that featured more complexity were especially impressive and thus able to get higher marks here.