Family Size Vs Party Size Potato Chips: What's The Difference And What's The Better Deal?

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Sometimes you find yourself questioning just how much you actually need when feeding chips and dip to a crowd. Between super-sized offerings, including family and party bags of potato chips, this is the ultimate conundrum. And, what's more, what to do with the dreaded leftovers to keep them from going stale? If you're debating between family and party sizes of potato chips, you should know that the former averages between nine and 10.5 ounces while the latter is around 13 to 16 ounces per bag.

It's also worth noting that sizing terms can be inconsistent among different popular chip brands, where in some instances, the family size is actually larger than the party size. The prices can also vary depending on where you're shopping. This is so even between different flavors of Lay's potato chips. Take Lay's Wavy and Lay's Limón potato chips, for example.

At Walmart, a 10-ounce family-size bag of Lay's Wavy retails for around $17.99 or $1.80 per ounce. Meanwhile, a 13-ounce party-size bag of Lay's Wavy is priced around $12.97 or less than a dollar per ounce. In contrast, Lay's also offers a 12.5-ounce party size of its Limón flavor for $4.77 or 38.2 cents per ounce and a 15-ounce family-size bag of the same flavor for $14.99 or less than a dollar an ounce.

Breaking down potato chip sizes by the average price per ounce will provide better insight as to which is right for you. As long as you select a flavor that you and your guests will enjoy, both family and party size can do wonders for your snack time spread. If you do end up with too many, there are some tricks for extending the crispiness of your potato chips, such as putting a non-edible silica gel packet into the bag to mitigate excess moisture. Additionally, you can also use up stale or leftover chips in a number of creative ways.

Consider crushing up the chips and using them as breading for chicken cutlets. They will also make a great topping for your favorite casserole recipe, particularly if it's a potato-based dish. If you really want to preserve your family size or party size bag of potato chips, storing them in an airtight bag in the freezer is also a viable option.

To make the most of your large-scale chip bags, you can also try serving several different types of dips or assemble a grazing board or potato chip and dip flight. This can allow your guests to sample several different homemade or store-bought varieties of dip alongside one main flavor of potato chip to see how the two go together. A big bag of potato chips and a bit of culinary creativity is all you need.