KFC Original Recipe Chicken Ruffles potato chips - Taste Test Comparison

Is it a little bit of a stretch to call this a holiday treat? I'm going to say no because back in the 1970s, KFC started marketing their Fried Chicken as a traditional Christmas Dinner to Japan. It caught on and now, eating KFC Chicken for Christmas is widely popular all over Japan!

And so, today, we're going to be having some of the colonel's Original Recipe Famous Fried Chicken along with another special treat I picked up.  

While traveling in Canada, I came across a bag of Ruffles Potato Chips that are flavored like the KFC Original Recipe Chicken! Definitely have to try this one!

After a bike ride together, we all met up at our local Kentucky Fried. 

Honestly, it's not a place we eat that often. Theresa didn't even know we had one nearby, despite it being a couple miles away. Our typical experience has been ordering and waiting way too long for someone to pull food out of a warming drawer, but today we were pleasantly surprised! Everything came out quickly, accurately, and hot! 

You've gotta love that special flavor of KFC.

The back of the bag says:

Buckets of Flavour! (this bag is from Canada)

We're bringing the flavor of KFC's Famous Original Recipe Chicken to the iconic ridges of Ruffles potato chips. We're keeping the 11 herbs and spices recipe top secret, but are sharing KFC's iconic taste in this limited time collaboration! Don't miss out! 

There also appears to be a coupon SAVE20 that anyone can use in the KFC app, but it looks like that might just be in Canada. It didn't work when I tried it here. 

Before we get to the chips, let's enjoy our lunch. 

The kids got original recipe chicken strips which Ian thought were great! 

And their mashed potatoes and gravy are fantastic! I haven't had their french fries in a while and I was blown away by how overly salty they were. 

Now, time to try the Ruffles!

Ian - Interesting! I hope it has a bit of spice to it!
Jacob - It should definitely have salt! 

Theresa - That tastes like nothing that I just ate. 

Jacob - It's more BBQ. But not BBQ. 

Theresa - It's like a peppery chicken. 

Ian - I know that one. It's that Salt and Pepper Lay's Chips we had. 

Theresa - Yep, that's a salt and pepper potato chip, Joe. 

Alli - You're right. 

Alli - Is it Kettle cooked? 

Joe - No, that's just the ridges. 

Let's go to the back of the bag to get some insight. 

Salt, sugar, MSG, ... , corn protein? 

And then keeping things generic just "Spices and Herbs". 

Hmm. 

Theresa - It's good, but it doesn't taste like the chicken. It tastes like salt and pepper chips. 

Joe - I don't dislike them. But they don't have a very strong flavor either. It's a subtle flavor. 

Jacob - It doesn't taste like the chicken or the french fries. I get that fake BBQ flavor. 

Ian - It doesn't taste unique. 

Alli - It tastes good, but it doesn't taste like the chicken at all. But it's pretty good. 

Theresa - To be honest, probably my least favorite Ruffles. Cheddar and Sour Cream is great. Regular Ruffles are okay. These are behind that. (ignoring the fact that Ruffles makes a bunch more flavors of chips). I would eat this over any bag of Lay's though. 

So, do we think they taste like the chicken when we compared them side by side? No. 

Are they still good tasting chips? Yes. We just don't think calling them KFC Original Recipe Chicken flavored is correct. 

If you happen to see a bag and want to try them for yourself, go for it! Eat them on Christmas!