The “So Freaking Delicious” New Potato Chips You Should Always Have in Your Snack Drawer (They Keep Selling Out!)

When it comes to the perfect snack, a good potato chip is hard to beat. For me, it’s gotta be sturdy enough to withstand dipping without crumbling into a million little pieces and well-seasoned. Plain, simply salted potato chips might be sufficient for slaking the vague hunger of a party crowd, but when I’m in snack mode I want a chip with a point of view. 

That’s why I usually find my favorite chips at international grocery stores — the best chips are the ones that come from around the world. 

So I was delighted when my dear friend, chef, entrepreneur, and Food Network Spring Baking Championship Season 7 winner, Keya Wingfield, launched her eponymous chip brand, Keya’s Snacks, with two very lovable flavors — Bombay Spice and Black Salt — earlier this year. The chips deluged the local market at every grocery store and specialty shop in Richmond, Virginia, where they could hardly stay in stock. Luckily for shoppers near and far, Wingfield just launched online shipping.

I first encountered Keya’s Snacks’ Bombay Spice chips during the pandemic, when Wingfield began selling meals and treats (like her tikka masala hand pies that I still dream about) to folks here in Richmond. The chips were an add-on that quickly became the star. They were kettle-fried and dusted with a heady blend of spices including ginger, garlic, cumin, dry mango powder, fenugreek, dry pomegranate, clove, and cinnamon. 

Since then, Wingfield has honed her masala blend to perfection, sourcing spices from farmer partners in Northwest India who employ local women and offer them a living wage: “Given that I grew up in India, the bar that was set for flavor and spice quality was extremely high,” says Wingfield. “I knew what the chips could and should taste like. It was very important to me to bring that pure flavor and ingredients from the motherland.”

Keya’s Chips are more than just potato chips — they’re a story in a bag. It’s a story of immigration, love, loss, and perseverance. Designed by Pop & Zebra, a Hong Kong-based design firm co-run by Wingfield’s brother, Abhishek Desai, every detail on the eye-catching pink-and-orange chip bags tell part of Wingfield’s story. The bold, bright colors evoke the colors of her homeland and the spices she uses, while the seam of the bag mimics a border from one of her mother’s saris. The design also gives a nod to Annapurna, the four-armed Hindu goddess of food, through the four-pronged lettering. 

Flip the bag over, and you’ll find a poem by Wingfield’s husband, David, and a founder’s note written by Wingfield that ends with a shoutout to her mom (who Wingfield credits for her impeccable palate). Each bag also carries the name of Wingfield’s son Daksh, who passed away at two months old: “A small way this mother can spread his pixie dust and keep his memory alive,” Wingfield says.

Both the Bombay Spice and Black Salt chips have earned a regular spot in my snack drawer, but my favorite are the Black Salt chips, which Wingfield calls, “the cultural cousin of salt and vinegar chips” because of their salty, tangy flavor. It’s the kind of chip that can stand on its own or cozy up to a nice, creamy dip, like French onion dip or something cool and refreshing, like tzatziki.

Wingfield says the choice to use black salt was an intentional one: “Black salt is such an underdog of the salt world,” Wingfield explains. “Himalayan pink salt gets all the love and attention — the belle of the ball, the prom queen, the cat’s pajamas — which is great, but I was looking to bring a salt that was naturally occurring in my homeland. A salt I grew up eating. A salt that is heavily used by the home cooks in India.”

Whenever I make Indian food at home, I like to serve the Bombay Spice chips with a side of mint chutney, playing on the idea of the papadums that are served with chutney at Indian restaurants in the United States. The bright, neon-green chutney is the perfect foil for the sultry, amply spiced chips, and I find myself reaching for just one more bite until the whole bag has disappeared.

With these chips (and this brand), Wingfield has created something unique and irresistible — a third-space chip for our America, one that’s made infinitely more delicious by the people who come here to share their stories and perspectives. “I wanted to create a product that was half Indian and half American, much like me, much like my household,” Wingfield says. “And this all fit together perfectly — my Indian American dream!” 

Buy: Keya’s Black Salt Potato Chips, $10.00 for 2 (6-ounces) bags at Keya’s Snacks

This article originally published on The Kitchn. See it there: The “So Freaking Delicious” New Potato Chips You Should Always Have in Your Snack Drawer (I Get Why They Keep Selling Out)