The Puffy '90s Snack That Was Abruptly Discontinued

Those of us who grew up in the '90s have gotten used to our favorite childhood snacks disappearing without warning. Many of us want back the things that made us sprint home from the bus stop every day, from retro pudding treats like Jell-O Pudding Pops to discontinued Philadelphia snacks like Cheesecake Snack Bars. Add to that number Doritos 3Ds, which debuted in 1998. Frito-Lay took the craveable flavors of Doritos and turned the flat tortilla chips into puffy, hollow, three-dimensional corn chips in a variety of flavors, including Nacho Cheese and Zesty Ranch. For a while, it seemed like everyone was eating them, but at some point, the powers that be concluded that they weren't worth producing anymore and axed Doritos 3D in 2004. The reason for their cancellation isn't clear so it's likely that sales were declining, customers got bored with them, they were expensive to produce, or a combination of all these factors.

Doritos 3Ds's shape made them super crunchy snacks, although they weren't very conducive for scooping up dip or putting on lunch meat sandwiches. But unlike many other discontinued snacks, Doritos 3Ds got a second chance when they were re-released in 2020 under the new name of Doritos 3D Crunch. Frito-Lay even hired Oscar winner Matthew McConaughey to star in a commercial promoting the throwback snack, which now came in two new flavors: Spicy Ranch and Chili Cheese Nacho. Alas, these also vanished from American store shelves sometime in 2023.

There are plenty of puffy, light-as-air snacks on the market, although none of them rise to the same flavor standard as Doritos 3D. Cheetos Puffs may give you the cheese factor, but they aren't hollow in the middle; it also has a discontinued flavor (Honey BBQ) we want back. Bugles corn snacks differ in shape (cones, not pillows) but are more similar in texture to Doritos 3Ds because of the hollow center (and they even have a nacho cheese flavor), but the closest analog to Doritos 3D on the market today is Lay's Poppables.

Both Poppables and Doritos 3D have a distinctive pillow shape with a hollow middle and strong crunch. However, Poppables have a vented, waffle-like texture, and taste more like a potato chip than a tortilla chip. All of this might be more than a coincidence, since Lay's and Doritos, along with all other Frito-Lay snack products, are owned by Pepsi-Co. Obviously, the equipment and technology to make such a snack is still in the hands of Frito-Lay, but only time will tell if the chip giant will give the discontinued favorite a third shot on the market.