Trader Joe's Sweet Potato Tortilla Chips

It's another brand-new Trader Joe's item! They have really been rolling them out rapidly lately. We've featured eight in the last 12 days.

This one I have known was coming for a couple of months. That's because I caught TJ's announcement that they were retiring the most excellent Sweet Potato Tortilla Chip Rounds for a similar but allegedly better product. The old ones are now gone, and the new ones are on the shelves in their place.

I am here to testify that they are not an improvement. They are not nearly as good. They're good, and I'll keep buying them, but every time I do I will curse the TJ's executives who made this decision.

Both versions are made from a blend of corn and sweet potato flours, but I thought the old version was much more weighted toward sweet potato flavor, while the new ones can best be described as "corn, with a little sweet potato if you pay attention."

Both versions are fried, but it shows much more in the new ones. They show their oil more. Is this because they're thinner? I don't know. Maybe. But I preferred the old style, with thicker chips that were sufficiently drained of oil that one could almost fool oneself into thinking they were baked. I also just generally prefer round chips to triangular ones.

In short, all the characteristics that made me love, love, love the old ones have been changed--for the worse. Despite that, they're still pretty good, and among the better tortilla chips that TJ's sells. I'm sure I would like them a lot more than I do if the predecessor product had never shown me how good sweet potato tortilla chips can be. *snif*

Will I buy it again? 

Yes, but with mourning for what has been lost.

Nina's View

Everything about Bob's assessment of these chips is correct  except the issue of sweet-potatoeyness. These have more sweet potato and less corn flavor. I preferred the previous balance, in part because it was—say it with me, folks—a tad less sweet. 

The big fail here is the fragile super-oiliness of these chips. 

They're still edible, for sure. But I, too, liked the old version much better.