I continue with more Super Bowl party coverage and more potato chip options. I previously discussed the new popularity of beef tallow chips. There are many other seed oil free options with use of such oils as avocado, coconut, palm, and olive. Potato chips fried in these oils are great options for parties with vegetarians/vegans attending.
In alphabetical order, here are the 14 best seed oil free chips:
Boulder Canyon
In 1994, brothers John and Mark Maggio founded Boulder Canyon to create snacks which were both healthy and delicious. The two learned how to make potato chips and soon started frying them in better oils, such as avocado oil. Boulder Canyon’s potato chips come in both ridged and thin textures and in the flavors of sea salt, malt vinegar and sea salt, cheddar sour cream, jalapeño, and limited edition offerings.
Enso
The world’s longest living culture is Okinawa Japan. And the Okinowan sweet potato is a food that the population has relied on for generations. At one point, more than half of their daily calories consisted of sweet potatoes. Enso Chips is inspired by the Okinawan culture and fries Okinawan sweet potatoes in avocado oil. Their sweet chip potato chips come in sea salt, rosemary & garlic, and sweet chili.
FC Snacks
FC Snacks was formed in 2007 as a family owned importer and distributor of natural snacks. They support local farmers, many of whom are direct descendants of families who first settled in the lands. Some of them even came before the Spanish conquest. FC Snacks is also involved in an initiative to engage local manufacturers in bringing back endemic plants and trees to help restore the diversity of native species. There are three labels for FC Snacks: Andean Gourmet, Samai, and Shegraa. All of the brands use palm olein. Their Andean Gourmet label has a sweet potato option.
Good Health
Good Health prides themselves on innovative ingredients and great tasting tasting flavors. Their slogan is “Enjoy Being Good”. Good Health makes a number of avocado and olive oil potato chip flavors from sea salt to lime ranch to barbecue.
Hardbite
Originating in British Columbia, the folks at Hardbite were determined to handcraft an all natural chip which tasted as good as the big brands but didn’t have any artificial flavors or preservatives. They experimented with cooking them until they got the perfect crunch, taste, and flavor. Along with using all natural ingredients, they were advocates of non-GMO before the movement was well known. Hardbite also buys the highest quality potatoes from like-minded farmers. As the company has grown, its product line has grown too. More recently, Hardbite introduced its potato chips cooked in avocado oil, coming in the flavors of apple cider vinegar, black truffle sea salt, spicy honey dijon, and sweet ghost pepper.
Jackson’s Chips
The story of Jackson’s Chips starts with the Megan and Scott Reamers’ son Jackson getting diagnosed with a rare autoimmune disorder. After trying various methods to improve his health and quality of life, they found that a high fat low carb diet worked the best. The entire family began living a HFLC lifestyle, but they missed eating snack foods. So they attempted cooking locally sourced and thinly sliced sweet potatoes over their stovetop. They loved how the sweet potato chips tasted. Their son Jackson’s legacy lives on through the chips he inspired and the company. Jackson’s Chips has regular potato chips in sea salt variety and sweet potato chips fried in avocado oil in the flavors of sea salt, spicy jalapeño, habanero nacho, and cheddar & sour cream.
Kettle Brand
Cameron Healy founded Kettle Brand in 1978 with the vision of going the extra mile to make great tasting real foods available to everybody. At the beginning, Cameron was selling the food out of the back of his van. 40 years later, Kettle Brand continues with its effort to be bold with practices such as using whole potatoes cut extra thick. Recently, they also began offering avocado oil potato chips in the varieties of sea salt pink peppercorn, apple cider vinegar, and special sauce.
Keya’s
Founder Keya Wingfield moved to the U.S. from Mumbai, India and learned everything she knew about cooking from enrolling in a culinary school. After graduating, she became a pastry chef and started a desserts company. She then competed and won the Food Network TV series Baking Championship. When the pandemic hit, Keya shifted to Indian American to-go meals. With each meal, she included a bag of Bombay chips. While the chips were originally for her caucasian husband, everybody began ordering just the chips within a week. Then the chips were spread by word of mouth and retailers approached her. Keya’s flavors are black salt and Bombay spice.
Kiwa
Kiwa founder Martin Acosta had a calling to change the world. At the beginning, he had just five employees and basic plantain chip machinery, but he also had a room filled with dreams. It took the company a year and a half to figure out what exactly they were going to do, to put the basics of the business into practice, and to get selling. In 2009, Kiwa introduced their first product, the vegetable chips mix. Presently, Kiwa is a global leader with their vegetable chips sold in over 30 countries. They take part in the Direct Trade program. This program connects farmers to manufacturers, building long term trusting relationships between the two sides, guaranteeing better working conditions, technical support, and a higher pay for the farmers. Kiwa has also shifted from its traditional farming practices to regenerative agriculture. They work directly with farmers in eight of Ecuador’s 24 provinces and northern regions of Peru. Kiwa’s offerings are all cooked in palm and have a Native Andean potato chip choice.
Jans
Since 1998, Jans Enterprises‘ mission has been to improve people’s quality of life by providing them with better food products. Their product line consists of everything from beverages to dairy products to desserts to chips. Among Jans’ chips are organic yellow and purple sweet potato chips fried in coconut oil.
Nantucket Crisps
The inspiration for Nantucket Crisps comes from growing up on Nantucket’s beaches with memories of sun, surf, and, most importantly, chips. Nantucket Crisp’s chips are cooked in small batches with properly sourced seasonings. Since the end of last year, they’ve been cooking a portion of their chips in avocado oil and their chips have been sold at 350+ Sprouts Farmers Markets as part of their Innovation Program. If enough people buy their avocado oil varieties, Nantucket Crisps will switch all of their products to avocado oil nationwide. Their flavors all include New England themed names. Flavors for their avocado oil chips include Sconset sea salt, Cisco Beach BBQ, Polpis Pickle, and Hummock hot honey.
Roots Potato Chips
Roots Potato Chips‘ mission statement is to source the best ingredients, healthier oils, and farm fresh potatoes while being transparent at every stage. Their Idaho grown potatoes use methods of regenerative agriculture, including cover crops, pollination, crop rotation, soil health, composting, and animal integration. They’re certified regenerative by the Soil & Climate Initiative. Roots reduces its food waste by using the entire potatoes, skin and all. They’re also certified plastic neutral by rePurpose as they support global waste recovery projects to fund the recovery of the same amount of plastic waste as their footprint while supporting waste workers. They include a QR code to learn about the farmer where the potatoes came from in that specific bag. Roots began with avocado oil potato chips and more recently added 100% grass fed beef tallow chips to their line. Their avocado oil chips come in sea salt, sea salt & vinegar, barbecue, and jalapeño, and red and purple potato options in sea salt.
Siete
Siete‘s formation can be traced to founder Veronica Garza’s family of seven (or siete in Spanish) helping her overcome numerous health challenges. As a teen, Veronica was diagnosed with multiple autoimmune conditions which made her fatigued, overweight, and depressed. So her family began exercising and joined her in following a low-inflammation, grain free diet. Being a Mexican American family in South Texas, using lettuce in place of the flour and corn tortillas for tacos and fajitas wasn’t cutting it. Veronica began making grain free tortillas. When her Grandmother Campos told her that the grain free tortillas tasted better than the flour tortillas her grandmother had been making for decades, Veronica knew she had a winning product she could sell on the market. The first products were tortillas and tortilla chips made from cassava flour and fried in avocado oil. Siete has since delved into avocado oil potato chips available in the flavors of sea salt, fuego, queso, sea salt & vinegar, chipotle BBQ, chile lime, spicy dill pickle, habanero hot honey, and sour crema & onion.
Torres
Founder Manuel Torres, who opened a potato chip stand with his wife Ángeles Medel in Premià de Mar, Spain in 1969. The Torres business soon grew and their children moved the production of the chips to Premià de Dalt while still operating the stand. In 1995, in order to cater to increasing demands, they relocated to their current facilities in Dosrius. In 2012, the Torres introduced their 100% extra virgin olive oil potato chips. More recently Torres launched avocado oil chips in the choices of sea salt and lime and black pepper.