Lay's New Regional Chips Line Includes Old Bay and Lobster Roll Flavors
What’s your region’s specialty chip?
Image: Pepsico
If you’ve got a road trip on your bucket list, these chips won’t really take you around the country, but at least they might give you a taste for the travels ahead.
On Wednesday, chipmaker Lay’s announced its largest product release ever: eight new flavors, inspired by eight different geographical regions of these here United States of America. As a “flavor celebration” of the “Tastes of America” line, Lay’s will visit eight different cities to give the regions a taste of their own medicine.
For the Central Gulf region, Lay’s has concocted the Cajun Spice flavor in honor of dishes like jambalaya and Cajun chicken. A Chile Con Queso-flavored chip was crafted for the folks in Southwest. Chesapeake Bay Crab Spice chips are basically Old Bay-flavored for the Mid-Atlantic, minus the sponsorship deal.
Moving on over to the Heartlands and Mid-America, there’s Deep Dish Pizza chips that celebrate the pie pizzas of the iconic Giordano’s. The Midwest gets Fried Pickles with Ranch chips, while the Southeast gets Pimento Cheese-flavored chips. The Northeastern Lobster Roll gets a crunchy makeover, and the Pacific Northwest’s iconic chip flavor will be Thai Sweet Chili.
The new products are being presented at appearances around the country by internet celeb and Food Network star Hannah Hart, who went on a road trip to find inspiration for the flavors. (A disclosure: Genius Kitchen and the Food Network share a parent company). Hart will make appearances at some of the summer celebrations around the country.
"I have had the privilege of being able to travel coast-to-coast in search of the best local dishes, and that experience has proven to me how important local flavor is to Americans" said Hart in a statement. I've seen firsthand how proud people can be of their hometown ingredients that have been used for generations—and I'm looking forward to hitting the road with Lay's to connect with locals firsthand and celebrate their flavors!"
All the chips are now available for pre-order and will be released on July 30th in stores and online. Lay’s will also be bringing back West Coast Truffle Fry chips, Ketchup chips and Fried Green Tomato chips, so keep your eyes open for those as well.
Can’t get your fill of regional foods? Here are 50 more recipes from all the 50 states. Do you agree with your home state’s signature dish?
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