7 Potato Chip Flavors Launched in the 1970s

The 1970s were a wild time. We had disco and bellbottoms, lava lamps and shag carpet. It was a time of experimenting, including with potato chips. While chips, known as crisps in the U.K., have been a popular snack since roughly the 1920s, it wasn’t until the ’70s that more flavors were introduced both here in the United States and abroad. Maybe even a few flavors of chips that you enjoy adding as a side to your vanilla ice cream today.

The regular potato chip, as we know it, has a legend surrounding its birth. Some like to say that it was created during an argument between a cook and an American titan. That story has been hotly debated over the years, so we’re not quite sure how these salty, crispy snacks came to be. Even the sister of that fabled cook disputed the story and claimed that she was the one to create them in her obituary. Regardless of whether it’s true, it’s fun to think that these snacks were born from a cook wanting to get back at a disgruntled customer.

Potato chips were a solid favorite snack in the ’70s, which may have led producers to start experimenting with flavors and flavoring techniques at that time. We’ve put together a list of eight potato chip flavors that got their start in the time of disco, so read on and learn a bit more about the history of one of the world’s favorite snacks.

Back in the day, there just weren’t a lot of flavors available in potato chips. You had your regular, plain chips and then barbecue was introduced. Over in the U.K., there were a few more options, with salt and vinegar being introduced in the ’50s and remaining one of the most popular flavors there. However, in the U.S., it wasn’t until the 1970s that we got one of the flavors that still remains popular today — sour cream and onion.

The story behind how this flavor came to be is still largely unknown, as is the exact date when it came out. However, there’s no doubt that people love the creamy, tangy taste along with the satisfying crunch, both today and back then. Popular brands that carried it were Old Dutch and O’Boisies, before Lays eventually adopted it as well. And, of course, the potato chip flavor pioneer, Taytos, eventually brought it on board as well.

Today, we can enjoy sour cream and onion chips from most brands, like Lays, Pringles, Ruffles, and more. Every chip brand has its own spin on the flavor. There are even many recipes floating around for making sour cream and onion chips at home.

Say what you want about the Midwest. It has concocted some of the best potato chip flavors and brands in the U.S. over the years. Granted, they’ve also introduced some of the more unique. Old Dutch is one of the oldest Midwest chip brands, and it’s credited with introducing the region to flavors like the next on our list — onion and garlic. It may not be the most adventurous flavor, but considering there were far fewer flavors at the time of its birth, it stood out.

There isn’t any official documentation stating exactly when onion and garlic potato chips came to be. However, it is mentioned as one of the flavors Old Dutch introduced in the U.S. So, it’s safe to assume that it likely came out around the ’70s, which is when sour cream and onion was first introduced.

Of course, it’s a flavor that is widely available today at more places than just Old Dutch. It’s a bold taste that is savory and tangy, which works well as a snack. It also works if you want to use potato chips as an ingredient in a number of dishes, ranging from Spanish tortillas to pie crusts. There are tons of ways you can use onion and garlic chips.

Canada is known for having more unique flavors when it comes to potato chips. They were the first country to introduce dill pickle chips in the ’90s, after all. So it’s no surprise that in the ’70s, they introduced ketchup-flavored chips. According to a senior marketing director at Lay’s, the flavor came about when the company wanted to create a chip that tasted like French fries and ketchup. Other stories claim that snackmaker Hostess came up with the ketchup flavoring for chips.

Whoever first introduced the flavor aside, ketchup potato chips are incredibly popular in Canada and have been pretty much since they came out. While some companies have brought them into the U.S., they still do better amongst our neighbors to the north.

Why is it that Canadians love such uncommon potato chip flavors? Some attribute it to immigration patterns, with many Eastern Europeans having settled in the country, leading to a preference for vinegar-based flavors. It also could be simply because Canadians like ketchup and put it on a lot of food items. Or because Canada was influenced by the U.K. when it comes to chip flavors. Honestly, it doesn’t matter. Wherever they came from or why they are popular, ketchup chips are in the Great White North to stay.

While the U.S. was stuck with the same three flavors for decades and Canada was experimenting with unique flavors, the United Kingdom was essentially owning the flavored potato chip game. Since Joe “Spud” Murphy figured out in the 1950s a new way to add flavor to potato chips and used that to launch brand Tayto in Ireland, more and more chip (or crisp) companies began introducing new flavors. The ’70s brought an explosion of new tastes, including prawn cocktail.

Considered the British version of the shrimp cocktail, the prawn cocktail became popular across the pond in the ’70s, which led to the brand Walkers introducing the flavor in its potato chips in the same decade. Following them, other brands introduced prawn cocktail into their lineups. It’s an interesting flavor to introduce as a chip, but experts have a theory on that. A recent marketing director for Tayto said that early flavors were inspired by things people could put in a sandwich. This explains a few of the entries on our list.

Prawn cocktail is still considered a popular flavor today. Surprisingly, they don’t taste fishy or like seafood. Rather, they use prawn seasoning that includes dried onion, dried tomato, salt, and other ingredients commonly found in cocktail sauce. And like cocktail sauce, you can store your chips in the fridge to keep them crunchy after you open a bag.

Shortly after Walkers introduced prawn cocktail potato chips, it introduced its roast chicken flavor. At the time, you could only find this flavor in the U.K., though it’s now more widely available. It follows the trend of creating flavors inspired by things you can put on a sandwich, though other experts have noted that roast chicken and other related potato chips were also inspired by dinner. You could easily make an argument that roast chicken potato chips would definitely elevate a sandwich.

It didn’t take long for other crisp brands to jump on the bandwagon. Not long after, others like Smith’s and Taytos introduced their own takes on the roast chicken flavor. While a lot of new flavors were introduced in the ’70s, it was in the ’80s that more brands got experimental. And well, nowadays, there are easily hundreds of available potato chip flavors.

Roast chicken potato chips are still available today, and they’ve also made their way to the U.S. and other countries. There are also variations on the flavor, with some brands adding thyme and other herbs. Some reviews have said that they actually do taste like a roast chicken dinner, though the rating varies with the brand.

While bacon didn’t become widely available as a potato chip flavor until a bit later, it was first introduced in the 1970s by yet another U.K. chip brand. Golden Wonder started in the 1940s and by the 1960s, had become one of the biggest crisp brands in the country. It likes to claim that it was the first brand to introduce flavored potato chips in the U.K. in 1962 (it was cheese and onion); However, as mentioned earlier, it was actually Spud Murphy of Tayto fame. Regardless, Golden Wonder first introduced bacon as a flavor in the ’70s as one of three for its Rock’N Roller chips.

But as much as Golden Wonder rose to fame in the U.K., it was eventually surpassed by Walkers, which is known for rotating flavors in and out. It was eventually bought by Irish chip brand Tayto in 2006. Today, it’s known for tasty flavors such as roast chicken, beef and onion, chip shop curry, and salt and vinegar. And yes, smoky bacon is still on the roster. You can enjoy them along with more unique flavors like pickled onion. Also, you can take your potato chips to the next level by popping them into the oven.

Yes, you read that correctly. The Age of Disco brought the world fruit-flavored potato chips. What’s more, they were created by the brand that also gave us Twinkies and Ho-Hos — Hostess. While there are probably some fruit flavors that could pair well with the saltiness of potato chips, the ones that came out were not it. That’s why you’ve likely never heard of them; They didn’t last very long. Hostess Chips released three fruit-flavored potato chips — Orange, Cherry, and Grape. While Americans may know Hostess as the sweet snack company, in Canada, they were a big part of the chip market in the 1970s. They took a major gamble by introducing the fruit-flavored chips, and it ultimately didn’t pay off.

According to most records, the chips were only available for a few months before they quickly disappeared from shelves. Most people hated the taste, not wanting to get a mouthful of sweet when they were hoping to get something savory. Probably the only time that works out is when you use potato chips to take your cookies to the next level.

Some have said that they tasted similar to Kool-Aid, while others claim there was an odd aftertaste. We can only imagine that flavor mash-up. Combining fruit and potato chips is truly an odd combo that you’ll only see during the ’70s.