Find The Best Healthy Chip Brands At Your Grocery Store

Finding the Healthiest Chip Options at the Grocery Store

Chips and crispy snacks have always been a popular, beloved treat. But traditional potato and corn chips are typically fried and heavily processed, landing them squarely in the junk food category. Thankfully, recent years have brought an influx of healthier chip brands using creative ingredients and cooking methods to cut calories, fat, and sodium without sacrificing crunch and flavor.

What Makes a Chip Healthy

When judging if a chip can be considered healthy, there are a few key factors to evaluate:

• Ingredients - Veggies, beans, lentils and whole grains are better bases than white potatoes or corn.
• Cooking method - Baked or dehydrated is better than fried.
• Nutritional profile - Look for options lower in calories, fat (especially saturated fat), sodium and carbs compared to classic chips.
• Added sugars - Keep an eye out for added sugars which can cancel out other healthy qualities.

In this article, well share some of the top-rated healthy chip brands and products that balance crunch and flavor with nutrition. We evaluated chips that are increasingly available on grocery store shelves based on their ingredients, cooking methods and nutritional details to compile this list of genuinely healthy options.

Bean-Based Chips

Black, pinto, garbanzo and other beans serve as excellent hearty, protein-packed ingredients for guilt-free snacking. Here are some nutritious bean-based chip brands to peruse in the grocery aisle.

Simply 7 Lentil Chips

The Simply 7 brand offers chips, crisps and crackers focused on just 7 ingredients or less. Their lentil chips deliver a hefty 5 grams protein and 4 grams fiber for only 130 calories per serving. With just lentils, canola oil and sea salt, they have an impressively short ingredients list free of anything artificial. Baking instead of frying keeps the saturated fat under 1 gram per serving as well.

Beanfields Bean Chips

Beanfields makes bean chips and crisps using high protein navy beans and black beans. Per serving, their navy bean chips contain 130 calories, 5 grams protein, 5 grams fiber and are free of gluten, trans fats, cholesterol. With only beans, sunflower oil, water and sea salt, these baked chips keep it healthy and simple in terms of ingredients. Varieties like their Black Bean Chips also deliver extra protein, iron and antioxidants.

Good Health Veggie Chips

The aptly named Good Health brand offers avocado and black bean veggie chips baked with a tasty blend of spices. A 28 gram serving packs in 2 grams protein and 3 grams fiber for only 110 calories and 1.5 grams of fat. With only 9 core ingredients like beans, corn and sunflower oil, this MSG-free product can fill a craving for your next Netflix binge.

Vegetable-Based Chips

Veggies from sweet potatoes to jicama to parsnips can transform into tasty low calorie chips when thinly sliced and baked or dehydrated. These are some delectable veggie chip options for snacking:

RW Garcia Sweet Potato Chips

This small brand makes veggie tortilla chips and crackers out of wholesome ingredients sustainably produced in their California factory. Their mineral-rich sweet potato chips are particularly craveable. With just sweet potatoes, canola oil and salt, a 28 gram serving contains 120 calories, 10 grams carbs and 2 grams of protein thanks to the potatos fiber and nutrients.

Brads Plantain Chips

Unripe green plantains are the unexpected delicious ingredient in Brads baked plantain chips. Low glycemic and high in vitamins and minerals, plantains create a guilt-free crispy snack. A 28 gram serving of these vegan chips packs in 3 grams of fiber for 110 calories and only 1 gram of fat, plus exotic flavors like Thai Barbeque.

Sensible Portions Veggie Straws

A longstanding fan favorite snack, Sensible Portions delivers satisfaction without going overboard on calories or fat. Their Garden Veggie Straws transform potatoes and veggies like spinach, tomatoes and beet into crispy baked straw-shaped crackers. With only 110 calories and 2 grams of fat per serving, you can munch through a whole bag.

Lesser Known Healthy Chip Brands

In addition to nationally popular snacks, numerous smaller chip brands are cooking up impressively nutritious snacks. Here are some healthier chip companies you may not have discovered yet in the grocery aisle:

Flock Freestyle Popcorn Chips

This unique brand makes crunchy snack chips out of chickpeas and popcorn rather than corn or potatoes. By rebuilding snacks from scratch with nutrient-rich plants, their chips offer better nutrition for the calories. Per 28 gram serving, Flock's Mesquite BBQ popcorn chips deliver nearly 5 grams protein and 70 calories. With only 9 ingredient and net zero grams sugar, this rising brand keeps it simple and healthy.

Poppy Seed Crisps

Founded by a chef and dietitian duo focused on flavorful plant-based fare, Poppy Seed Crisps start with a surprising base of poppy seeds. Transforming the tiny but mighty seeds into crispy baked snacks, they offer a gluten-free snack packing in flavor along with fiber, protein, calcium and zinc. A 28 gram serving of their Chili Lime poppy chips contains 110 calories and 1 grams saturated fat, plus unique nutrition from the poppy seeds.

The Bean Counter Snacks

As the name hints, The Bean Counter uses fiber and protein-packed beans in savory crisps and crackers free of corn, wheat and potatoes. Garbanzo beans and black-eyed peas drive flavors from Smoky Barbecue to Zesty Ranch. A quarter cup serving of their black bean snacks provides nearly half the days fiber for 130 calories. This tasty snack celebrates high nutrition rather than low calories specifically.

What to Look for When Buying Healthy Chips

Now that you know some of the best healthy chip brands widely available, keep an eye out for their products or similar ones next snack run. Here are some useful tips for picking the healthiest chips at the grocery store:

• Seek out chips made from beans, lentils, veggies and alternative whole grains like quinoa or chickpeas rather than white potatoes or corn.
• Look for key phrases like baked, not fried and non-GMO to choose less processed snacks.
• Flip bags over and read ingredients lists the fewer the better, with whole foods instead of anything artificial.
• Compare nutrition labels and pick options lower in calories, fat, carbs and sodium whenever possible.
• Skip chips dusted in suspicious spices or salty seasonings and seek more natural flavors.

While no snack food is extremely nutritious, moderation is key. Enjoying a sensible serving of a thoughtfully made healthy chip option is an easy way to indulge cravings while providing satisfying crunch and flavor from quality ingredients.

Meal Pairings for Healthy Chips

Chips shouldnt just be relegated to snack time. Incorporating crunchy baked or roasted veggie bites into meals balances flavors and textures beautifully. Here are some delicious ideas for integrating healthy chips and crisps into wholesome recipes:

Buddha Bowls

The mix-and-match potential of hearty grain bowls is perfect for topping with some crunch. Sprinkle RW Garcias sweet potato chips or simply 7 lentil crisps over quinoa or farro piles packed with sauteed veggies and marinated chickpeas for contrasting tastes and textures.

Chicken Salad Croissant Sandwiches

Crunchy, fresh chicken salad stuffed into flaky croissants makes an already craveable lunch even more irresistible. Mix some crumbled Good Health black bean veggie chips into your chicken filling for a satisfying sandwich with extra fiber and protein.

Vegetable Soup

No soup is complete without a few salty, crisp crackers sprinkled over the top. Rather thanSaltines or oyster crackers,

Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice. Always consult with a healthcare professional before starting any new treatment regimen.