Pringles Memphis BBQ Potato Crisps Review

I thought to try Pringles Memphis BBQ Potato Crisps the other day when I saw them for the first time at Walmart. These barbecue-flavored potato chips have a clearly-barbecue flavor. It’s quite strong, and quite Memphis. Indeed, they’re just as spicy as other BBQ chips I’ve sampled, and the bright orange coating lets you know that BBQ is coming well before you take that first crunchy bite. Pringles limited the “heat” in these crisps however, so you get plenty of BBQ without the fire often associated with it. While barbecue chips aren’t my first choice of potato chip, this traditional flavor brings back memories of many lakeside picnics as a boy during the 1970s. This product tastes very much like those chips from back then. Pringles did a good job of carrying forward the famed Memphis BBQ taste that generations both within and outside Memphis really love.

Pros, Advantages, Benefits, and Features

The barbecue aroma when you open the can, closely approximates the actual taste of this product, once you dig in.
Unlike Pringles Light BBQ chips that I reviewed previously, the barbecue flavor here is plenty strong to recognize as BBQ.
This 150 calorie snack is not greasy, and the flavor, never gets old. Nor will these chips leave much of an oily mess on towels or table cloths.
The stay-fresh can with the resealable lid keeps these BBQ crisps fresh for at least a couple weeks after opening, and many months longer if you do not break the seal. This is therefore, a great snack to stockpile.
Zero grams of trans fat here.
Cans may be stacked vertically or horizontally several layers deep, without fear that the potato crisps inside will crack apart.
The cans for each flavor of Pringles are different colors. This makes spotting the flavor you desire in your pantry quite simple.
I found this BBQ Pringles product for roughly $1.50 per Super Stack can; a good price I’d say.
Though the original flavor of Pringles is the one that I most relish, I’m pleased that Pringles today supplies many flavors of that famous potato-chip-in-a-can, like these.
As with all other Pringles canned potato chips, these ones are all shaped identically, which makes them easier to demolish. You can easily grasp a sizable handful, and gobble them down without much crumbs spilling all over your clothes.

Cons, Disadvantages, Problems, and Concerns

This is an artificially flavored snack food, and at 220 milligrams per serving, I deem the sodium content a bit high for my taste.
I’ve only ever seen these Memphis BBQ canned potato chips at Walmart.
This is a limited time only flavor according to the can. So enjoy them while they’re still available. Hopefully, Pringles will decide to make them a permanent part of their line of great-tasting potato chip snack products.
Each potato chip here could be somewhat thicker, as I often must grab two or three at a time to get a big enough mouthful. Thicker crisps would not only raise their wholesome taste, but also make them sufficiently strong to carry any dip you’d wish to scoop with them from the container to your mouth.
There’s also a sizable list of high-tech- and unnatural-sounding food additives printed on the can See below for details. Any present natural-ness herein, seems to have been more than cancelled by all of these additives.
Sugars (in the form of brown sugar and dextrose) as well as wheat starch have been added. Do away with added sugar, please. I wish these chips could taste as good as they do but without the added sugar and salt.

Ingredients

Dried potatoes, vegetable oil (contains one or more of the following: corn oil, cottonseed oil, soybean oil, and / or sunflower oil), corn flour, wheat starch, and maltodextrin. Contains 2% or less of: rice flour, salt, dextrose, sugar, monosodium glutamate, tomato powder, brown sugar, sodium diacetate, garlic powder, spice, onion powder, citric acid, mustard seed, distilled vinegar, turmeric, yeast extract, dry vinegar, disodium inosinate, disodium guanylate, natural smoke flavor, paprika extract (color), natural and artificial flavor, red 40 lake, yellow 6 lake, yellow 5 lake, and blue 1 lake.

Nutrition Facts

Serving size: 1 ounce (approximately 15 crisps). Servings per container: Approx. 6.
Calories per serving: 150. Calories from fat: 80.
Total fat: 9 grams, 14% DV.
Saturated fat: 2.5 grams, 13%.
Trans fat: 0 grams.
Polyunsaturated fat: 4.5 grams.
Monounsaturated fat: 2 grams.
Cholesterol: 0 milligrams, 0% DV.
Sodium: 220 milligrams, 9% DV.
Total carbohydrate: 15 grams, 5% DV.
Dietary fiber: 1 gram, 4% DV.
Sugars: 1 gram.
Protein: 1 gram.
Vitamin A: 0% DV.
Calcium: 0% DV.
Vitamin C: 6% DV.
Iron: 0% DV.

Product Rating

On the whole I consider these Pringles BBQ chips a reasonably pleasing snack; particularly at southern-themed party gatherings, or any gathering at all in fact. They hold their freshness for hours when poured into a bowl out in the open air, and are widely recognized as a snack tradition. People know a Pringles chip without ever seeing the can. I’d rate this product thus, an 90 of 100, only because barbecue potato chips have never been one of my most-preferred snacks. However, they work well when nothing else in the house works. As far as barbecue chips go, I’ve tasted none better, and if I liked BBQ more, I’d certainly rate them at at least 96 of 100.

Where To Buy Pringles Memphis BBQ Potato Crisps

So look for them in the dark red can that pictures a 5-string guitar on the front, with the clear plastic lid that tops it at large grocery stores. I’ve yet to see this flavor at my local convenience stores.

References

Revision History

2015-01-24: Moved this piece to the Tom’s Diet Quest blog, added whitespace, tweaked content, and adjusted ad placement and category and tag assignments.
2012-06-18: Originally published.