The Best Tortilla Chips, According to Our Taste Test

Tortilla chips don’t often get the recognition they deserve. Sure, they’re a vehicle for dipping and a base for nachos. But a great tortilla chip not only adds a much-needed crunch to whatever you’re pairing it with, it can also amplify the flavor — those sweet, toasty corn notes playing harmoniously with your chili, queso, or guacamole. 

We tasted nine tortilla chips side by side to determine which ones are worthy of taco nights, game days, or snack time. Read on to discover our four favorite tortilla chips for snacking and dipping.

How we selected the tortilla chips

Many of the tortilla chip manufacturers on the market make a wide variety of products. They vary in shape, seasonings, density, and even the type of corn they use. To even the playing field, we only tasted “salted” chips, with no additional seasonings or flavors, such as lime, chile or cheese powder. We strove to select the most standard chip — whatever each brand considers its “original” or “classic” product. We only tried triangle-cut chips (no scoopers), but allowed for variation in the type of corn used. All nine bags of tortilla chips we selected are widely available nationwide, sold online and in supermarkets.

How we tested

For this taste test, we placed tortilla chips in individual bowls, so that our editors were unaware of the participating brands. We instructed editors to taste each chip on its own and then to taste it with a variety of dips — we provided pico de gallo, a thin chipotle salsa, and guacamole. 

We scored each tortilla chip on taste and texture. For taste, we considered the chip’s complexity, prominence of corn flavor, the level of salt, and how well the flavor held up to various dips. For texture, we evaluated the snappiness, crunchiness, textural variability, and how dips impacted these qualities (did they get soggy or break easily?). Additionally, we gave every chip an “overall” score that reflected our personal preferences and how likely we’d be to purchase them again. We added and averaged the scores to land on these four standouts.

Best overall: Siete Maíz Corn Tortilla Chips Sea Salt

Siete Foods has seemingly done the impossible — it has created a tortilla chip that is both satisfyingly thin and reliably sturdy. “Although this one is light and thinner than the others, it can still handle a substantial amount of guac,” said photo editor Doan Nguyen. “It’s strong and doesn’t feel like it will shatter under normal scooping conditions and it’s a bit flaky, almost like a well-cooked puff pastry,” added editorial director Dylan Garret. Every single one of these avocado oil–fried tortilla chips was unique, full of bent ridges and air bubbles, which added some exciting variation. 

Flavor-wise, these chips — made from a combination of white and yellow corn — had a sweet and subtle toasty flavor. We’d be perfectly happy munching on them plain, but, thanks to the generous amount of salt, the chips actually enhanced everything we dipped them into. At $6 for a 7.5-ounce bag, these were the most expensive tortilla chips that we tasted, but we found them to be genuinely worth the splurge. 

Most like homemade: 365 Organic Restaurant Style Tortilla Chips

Whole Foods’ white corn tortilla chips are the only ones we tried that tasted ridiculously fresh — as if they had been fried that afternoon, then immediately dumped in a bag for us to enjoy. That crispy, almost greasy (in a good way!) quality gave the chips a nice crunch. Eaten plain, the chips had a buttery sweetness that lingered on the tongue, reminiscent of movie theater popcorn. 

“It’s neutral enough that I could bring it to any kind of party and no one would avoid it for being too hipstery and overly artisanal,” noted Garret. Some of our editors thought this chip was a bit too neutral, getting “lost in the sauce” when dipped into salsa and guacamole. Still, at just $3.50 for a 14-ounce bag, these tortilla chips are an excellent option for your next game night or everyday snacking. 

Best budget chip: Tostitos Original Restaurant Style Tortilla Chips

There’s nothing complex about Tostitos tortilla chips. We found them to be pleasantly salty, a little bit toasty, thick, and durable. At only $3.50 for a 17-ounce bag (the least expensive chips we tried), there isn’t much more we could ask for. “They’re a bit thick, but they have a good crunch,” said associate social media editor Bianca Trinidad.

Tostitos’ “Restaurant Style” chips, made with exclusively white corn, are uniformly triangular and as large as the palm of your hand. Before I was even aware of the brand, I noted that the chips seemed like they were designed in a lab to be the perfect vessel for dunking into dips. If you’re looking for an affordable option to pair with your favorite jar of chunky salsa, Tostitos won’t disappoint. 

Best flavor: Garden of Eatin’ Organic Yellow Chips

During the taste test, we found that the tortilla chips made with yellow corn tasted the most like real, sweet corn, and Garden of Eatin’s was a prime example. Its Organic Yellow Chips, which we purchased at $7 for a 14-ounce bag, were toasty with a pronounced nixtamalized flavor and a touch of sweetness. “It sort of tastes like a less salty Frito,” said senior editor Audrey Morgan. One downside: Many of our editors wished that they had more salt, as our dips easily overpowered their unique flavor. 

Texturally, the Yellow Chips had a rustic appearance — thick with rough edges, plentiful grooves, and a varied texture. Use these chips as an accompaniment to a creamy or hot dip that deserves to be the main character, like spinach and artichoke or buffalo chicken.

The full list of contenders, ranked from highest to lowest

1. Siete Maíz Corn Tortilla Chips Sea Salt
2. 365 Organic Restaurant Style Tortilla Chips
3. Tostitos Original Restaurant Style Tortilla Chips
4. Garden of Eatin’ Organic Yellow Chips
5. Xochitl Tortilla Chips Sea Salt
6. Brad’s Yellow Corn Organic Tortilla Chips
7. Que Pasa Organic Yellow Corn Volcanic Stone Ground Tortilla Chips
8. Mi Niña Organic Sea Salt Tortilla Chips
9. Late July Organic Sea Salt Tortilla Chips