Trader Joe's Sea Salt & Vinegar Potato Chips Vs Kettle Chips: Which Is Better?

Welcome to Dupe Detective, a column where I'll be reviewing a name brand food product's competitor product to find out how well it compares to, or even beats, the original.

Despite a famously bold, sometimes mouth-numbing flavor, salt and vinegar chips are surprisingly versatile. Starbucks salt and vinegar chips, for example, can be paired with coffee for a combo as satisfying as it is unconventional. In another instance of chain restaurant chip innovation, Red Lobster once added salt and vinegar chips to breaded shrimp. Simply put, there's something distinctly gratifying about a robust vinegary tang amplified by almost too much salt on crispy potato that has inspired these and other adventurous eats.

Kettle has arguably become one America's most beloved potato chip brands, producing what may well be the most iconic salt and vinegar chip available in grocery stores. Competing directly with Kettle Chips is Trader Joes, which sells Sea Salt & Vinegar Potato Chips with Avocado Oil. The Trader Joe's product even comes in a blue bag, reminiscent of the equivalent Kettle Chips packaging. I picked both brands' takes on the classic chip flavor from stores near my home in the suburbs of Las Vegas and tried them back-to-back. Ahead is a brief rundown of each item, before my thoughts on how Trader Joe's holds up against its name-brand competition.

While the info isn't spotlighted on the front of the bag, Trader Joe's Sea Salt & Vinegar Potato Chips are, in fact, kettle-cooked. One of the foremost qualities that sets kettle-cooked chips apart from standard potato chips is their pronounced crunch, which is satisfying on its own, or even swapped into a nacho recipe for the crunchiest take on nachos possible. My Trader Joe's salt and vinegar chips were certainly crunchy, and I noticed they were the slightest bit thicker than the average potato chip too. In other words, I had nothing but positive thoughts about my Trader Joe's chips' texture.

Foremost in my Trader Joe's Sea Salt & Vinegar Chips' flavor was malt vinegar. The fact I could taste that malty sweetness, more complex than a plain white vinegar, was a significant plus. Whereas some salt and vinegar chips are so bold they cause a tingling sensation from the get-go, I did notice a certain level of restraint from Trader Joe's — it took maybe a few pinch-fuls of chips before I started noticing that signature buildup up salty tang. 

Finally, rounding out my Trader Joe's experience was a potato flavor I found closer to that of a french fry than, say, a more vegetal baked potato. While the distinction was subtle, it was a quality I appreciated all the same.

Had I compared Trader Joe's Sea Salt & Vinegar Chip and their Kettle Chips equivalent in a more casual setting, I likely would have found them difficult to distinguish from one another. With that said, I did pick up on a few subtle differences after a deep dive on both products. First off, while extra thickness is part of what sets Kettle Chips apart from regular potato chips, I thought my Trader Joe's chips were just the slightest bit thicker, whereas my name-brand Kettle Chips were a tad airier. That meant the former remained crunchy for a little longer, whereas my Kettle Chips' crunch wore off faster.

In the flavor department, I found Kettle Chips' ratio of its two core ingredients slightly higher in salt — vinegar dominated the experience of my Trader Joe's chips, while the Kettle Chips formula featured salt and vinegar in roughly equivalent quantities. I also found Kettle Chips' vinegar flavor simpler, closer to a straight-up white vinegar. Plus, I picked up the slightest vegetal flavor from their potato component, contrasting with the more fried potato character of my Trader Joe's chips. Over time, I also noticed that the vinegar flavor had a tendency to fade, leaving a less complex salty potato aftertaste.

There's no wrong choice between Trader Joe's Sea Salt & Vinegar Potato Chips and Seal Salt & Vinegar Kettle Chips — anyone craving a high-quality salt and vinegar chip would probably find both products satisfying. Nevertheless, true tingly chip-heads looking for the very best salt and vinegar chips on grocery store shelves should pick Trader Joe's over Kettle Chips. Previously, Trader Joe's Baked Cheese Crunchies beat Cheetos in a head-to-head, so for what it's worth, Trader Joe's remains a heavy hitter in the snack department.

The qualities I preferred in my Trader Joe's salt and vinegar chips included their pronounced crunch, a more complex malt vinegar that lingered longer, and a fried potato flavor. For clarity's sake, those were all subtle elements that I was able to identify because my critical brain was actively looking for them, as opposed to glaring differences. That said, those differences were significant enough that, with both products in my pantry for a few days, I really only ever snacked on the Trader Joe's chips –leaving the slightly inferior Kettle Chips practically untouched. As much as both products are solid, then, it's fair to say that Trader Joe's makes the superior salt and vinegar chip.

At my local Trader Joe's, in the Las Vegas-adjacent Henderson, Nevada, a 7-ounce bag of Sea Salt & Vinegar Potato Chips is $2.99. At an Albertsons between that Trader Joe's and my home, a 7.5-ounce bag of Seal Salt & Vinegar Kettle Chips is $4.29.

Nutritionally, a 1-ounce serving of Trader Joe's salt and vinegar chips totals 140 calories, 7 grams of fat, 1 gram of which is saturated fat, 200 milligrams of sodium, 17 grams of carbs, 1 gram of fiber, and 2 grams of protein. An equivalent 1-ounce serving of salt and vinegar Kettle Chips equals 140 calories, 9 grams of fat, 1 gram of which is saturated fat, 180 milligrams of sodium, 15 grams of carbs, 2 grams of fiber, and 2 grams of protein. Altogether, then, the Trader Joe's chips are quite a bit cheaper but technically higher in sodium and carbs — those latter numbers, however, are minor enough to consider negligible.

I picked up my Trader Joe's Sea Salt & Vinegar Potato Chips from one of the two stores closest to my home in the suburbs of Las Vegas, and then stopped at an Albertsons on the way back to my house for my bag of Seal Salt & Vinegar Kettle Chips. Since both products are meant to be enjoyed at room temperature, I tried them both pretty much as soon as I was home.

I started with a few Trader Joe's chips, noting down my thoughts on their texture and flavor as I ate. Then I did the same with a few Kettle Chips. After I recorded my initial impressions, I alternated more of each kind of chip in order to better understand the qualities that set them apart from one another. Over the course of the next few days, I snacked on some leftover chips, and I made sure to keep my critical brain slightly active to ensure my impressions held up over time. My assessments are based entirely on this experience and not any past thoughts I may have had on the featured brands or products.