On a recent trip to Montreal, I discovered an amazing Canadian invention: all dressed potato chips. The flavor combines a bunch of common chip flavors into one, and instead of tasting weird or muddled, the combo really works. In Canada, all dressed Ruffles are ubiquitous; at home in Minnesota, I tracked down Clancy's brand all dressed chips at Aldi.
How do they compare? I did a side-by-side taste test of All Dressed Ruffles imported from Montreal in my luggage and Clancy's All Dressed Flavored Wavy Potato Chips and crowned a winner.
Note: After I finished my taste test, I spotted Old Dutch Ripples All Dressed Potato Chips at Cub Foods. I hope to do another side-by-side taste test including Old Dutch after my next trip to Canada.
Clancy's All Dressed Flavored Wavy Potato Chips
Description from package: "A mixture of barbecue, salt & vinegar, and ketchup"
Ingredients: Potatoes, vegetable oil (cottonseed, corn), seasoning (sugar, corn maltodextrin, sodium diacetate, salt, malic acid, paprika powder, garlic powder, onion powder, citric acid, paprika extract, natural flavor, natural smoke flavor, garlic extract, onion extract), salt
Tasting notes: These are much sweeter than the Ruffles chips—they're barbecue-forward, with a hint of vinegar at the end. I couldn't detect the ketchup flavor mentioned on the packaging. The ridges of the chips are spaced farther apart, giving the chips an airier texture.
Ruffles All Dressed
Description from package: "sweet AND salty AND savoury...all in ONE bag"
Ingredients: Specially selected potatoes, vegetable oil, seasoning (maltodextrin, salt, sugar, sodium acetate, dextrose, yeast, potassium chloride, acetic acid, monosodium glutamate, spices, malic acid, paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, disodium inosinate, disodium guanylate, natural flavour)
Tasting notes: These have a more savory, smoky flavor than Clancy's. It's harder to pick out individual flavor notes—they combine into something more complex. When I really concentrated, I could detect ketchup and barbecue, but neither flavor is as obvious as they are in the Clancy's chips. (According to Wikipedia, Ruffles has previously described the flavor as a mixture of ketchup, barbecue sauce, sour cream and onion, and salt & vinegar.) The ridges are spaces quite close together and the chips are thinner, leading to a crispier texture.
The winner: Ruffles—I preferred the nuanced, layered flavor and more dialed-in sweetness level.
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