Distinguishing themselves from the average potato chip by their namesake texture, Ruffles have been a favorite snack staple since the mid-20th century. Keeping up with the growing competition of creative and diverse seasonings, the chips come in many flavors. We tasted and ranked 12 Ruffles flavors to find the best options (as well as the worst). We discovered that the worst Ruffles chip variety to snack on was the Queso flavor.
Since all Ruffles have that similarly ridged, wavy texture, we based our ranking off of taste and how accurately the flavor mimicked the real thing. In the case of Queso, we hoped for that trifecta of zesty, salty, and cheesy goodness you taste when dipping a tortilla chip into a melted bowl of queso dip. To our dismay, the cheese flavor tasted as processed and fake as the Easy Cheese we used to spray on crackers as kids. Plus, the artificial cheese flavor was so strong that it lingered in our mouths long after taking a bite of the chip. We needed to drink copious amounts of water to cleanse our palates after this taste test!
If you’re looking for a better cheese-flavored Ruffles chip, we ranked Ruffles Cheddar & Sour Cream flavor as our second favorite out of eight cheddar and sour cream chips. Of course, you can always skip cheese-flavored potato chips and buy Cheddar Jalapeño Crunchy Cheetos, which also received our seal of approval in our ranking of Cheetos flavors.
The complaints are many for Queso flavored Ruffles
We found that reviews from customers online echoed our flavor complaints that landed Queso Ruffles a last-place ranking. Walmart customers said the flavor tasted nothing like queso dip but instead likened it to moldy cheese or a general sour punch that left them questioning if the chips had gone bad. Many commented that they were overcome with the aroma of feet or dirty gym socks upon opening a bag of Queso Ruffles before venturing to taste them at all. A Target customer wrote a one-star review that described Queso Ruffles as “stinky butter” that smells and tastes disgusting.
If you have your heart set on queso-flavored potato chips, you should simply buy some plain original Ruffles to dip in a bowl of queso. You don’t even have to make cheese sauce from scratch when you can find a jar of queso that’s probably located on the same chip aisle as the Ruffles themselves. Another idea is to finish off store-bought potato chips with shredded cheese and any additional seasonings you might want. Spread the potato chips over a baking sheet, add your toppings, and bake them at 400 degrees Fahrenheit until the cheese melts into an all-natural coating.
