Taste Test: The Best Tortilla Chips
BEST ODDBALL
Food Should Taste Good Cinnamon
Tortilla chips for dessert? Try these salty-sweet, cinnamon-infused chips and, like one of our judges, you'll be saying, "Yes! Yes! Yes!" This snack ("a cross between cinnamon toast and a tortilla," gushed one taster) is delicious either solo or paired with vanilla ice cream or hot chocolate. ($2.99 for 5.5 ounces, at grocery stores)
BEST HEALTHY
Tostitos Baked Scoops
No greasy hands here! These crispy, cup-shaped chips are baked, so they've got half the fat of the fried variety -- yet our judges swear they taste just as good. AS on panelist pointed out, the snacks are "the perfect little vehicle for guacamole." Since they've got only 3 grams of fat per serving, we say, bring on the toppings! ($.379 for 9 ounces, at most grocery stores)
BEST SPICY
Garden of Eatin' Red Hot Blues
The blue color of the corn comes from the same substance that gives purple berries their healthy kick, so you can feel good about eating a handful...or more. Tasters raved about the snack's "smokin' hot" flavor, a result of cayenne pepper, paprika and onion. One panelist claimed they tingled her tongue, while another wanted to dunk them in a cooling blue cheese dip. ($4.49 for 16 ounces, at grocery stores)
BEST CLASSIC
Xochitl Totopos de Maiz White Corn
The small, Dallas-based company -- pronounced "so-cheel" -- adds only oil and sea salt to amplify the white corn in its handcrafted chips. They still use the ancient Aztec method of stone-grinding kernels, then mixing them with water, which creates a light flaky chip. "Whisper-thin and almost airy," in the words of one taster, the chips are "so perfectly salted, I couldn't put them down." ($4.99 for 16 ounces, at speciality markets)
BEST CITRUS
Grande Salsa Limón
These large, spiced yellow corn chips are a fiesta all on their own. One judge said, "It tastes like I dropped it in my margarita -- in a good way," while another wondered if a fresh lime had just been squeezed over the chips. Thanks to the bold flavors of paprika, cumin and lime, "no dip is needed; just crunch and enjoy." ($3.49 for 13 ounces, at most grocery stores)
Prices and other details were accurate when we published this article in February 2010.