Applies to most other things as well. More often than not “original” are the best tasting.

  • TragicNotCute@lemmy.world
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    4 months ago

    I’m not sure this is unpopular. Regular Lays are pretty amazing and personally I think it’s cool that there are only three ingredients.

    Potatoes, oil, salt.

    Not to say chips are healthy, but at least you know what you’re eating.

  • southsamurai@sh.itjust.works
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    4 months ago

    Ehhh, I’m not sure this constitutes an unpopular opinion. If you go by sales, “plain” chips are number one. The next closest flavor is bbq, but the sales are half what plain are.

    Now, it certainly isn’t the guaranteed most accurate metric to use. Plain chips being plain, they’re the go-to for dipping and when you want something that everyone that’s going to have chips at all can at least tolerate. So the sales vs actual preferences are probably skewed. But are they skewed to the degree that double the sales would end up being reduced enough to even tie with bbq?

    I doubt that.

    What I wouldn’t be surprised to find out is that specific brands of plain vs bbq vs cheese or whatever might shift things. An example might be that Lays bbq ends up being the most popular chip overall by brand and flavor, but plain lays would be a close second. And lays is the top selling potato chip brand, or was the last time I looked (you’d be surprised how often people wonder about the general subject at parties while nibbling on chips, so it’s nice to be able to make conversation).

    I tend to agree with you overall, btw. With only minor exceptions, if I want potato chips, I want to taste potato. There are times when a specific flavor goes better with something (bbq with burgers, imo is better than other flavors), but plain, salted potato chips can go with damn near anything. And they’re good by themselves, depending on brand (I am not a lays fan by themselves).

    Mind you, salt & vinegar is essentially the same as “plain”, imo. Yeah, the vinegar makes them not what you called plain, but truly plain chips without salt are pretty damn great, as are plain with salt & pepper. So there’s a little wiggle room in what exactly can be a plain chip or not. I say it can’t be a blended flavor, but can be simple additions you might make at a fry/chip stand. Salt, pepper, vinegar (usually malt). Any combination of those doesn’t require any extra effort to make happen, whereas any other flavors I can think of would mean having to prepare multiple other ingredients, or would constitute a dip/condiment.

    • Admiral Patrick@dubvee.orgM
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      4 months ago

      What I wouldn’t be surprised to find out is that specific brands of plain vs bbq vs cheese or whatever might shift things.

      I agree with OP, but also think that Lays plain chips are the absolute worst: too thin and basically in a soup of oil and salt in the bag. I just think they’re gross. Utz is much better, but generally I prefer the heartier kettle style.

      Mind you, salt & vinegar is essentially the same as “plain”, imo

      Now there’s the real unpopular opinion here. Lol.

      • southsamurai@sh.itjust.works
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        4 months ago

        I’m with you. Lays is grease in a bag with some potatoes mixed in.

        Utz makes great chips for sure. I’m more of a ruffles fan overall, with Pringles being a kind of specific use case choice.

        The great thing about utz, imo, is that they can dip as well as stand on their own.

        • Admiral Patrick@dubvee.orgM
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          4 months ago

          I’m more of a ruffles fan overall,

          Haven’t had those in a good while, at least the plain ones. For a national / mass-market brand, they’re pretty good, though.

  • glimse@lemmy.world
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    4 months ago

    Taste is a tricky one. I’d say it’s more “personal preference” than opinion

    Not much to argue about or a way to convince someone their tastebuds are wrong

    • Thorny_Insight@lemm.eeOP
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      4 months ago

      Aren’t most opinions like that? You can’t really have an opinion about something that can be scientifically proven to be one way or another.

      Yeah it can’t be proven wrong but judging by my observation about the type of potato chips that are popular in my friend group, my preference for plain, salted ones seems unpopular.

      • essell@lemmy.world
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        4 months ago

        Opinions about personal experiences are like that, yes.

        Opinions about the world we share, less so. You’re welcome to have an opinion that the sky is green or that the earth is flat, however these are far more likely to come into reasonable conflict than a preference.

  • Admiral Patrick@dubvee.orgM
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    4 months ago

    Have you tried unsalted regular potato chips? I didn’t think I’d like them, but hot damn, they’re pretty tasty.

    • Thorny_Insight@lemm.eeOP
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      4 months ago

      No, I haven’t, but I can imagine. I didn’t expect air-fried French fries to be as good as deep-fried ones either, but to my surprise, they’re pretty much just as good but less unhealthy.