I was recently given the opportunity to try out a relatively new snacking product on the scene – Dang Onion Chips. I am not a total newbie to Dang – I have tried their coconut chips, which come in a variety of flavours (chili lime FTW!), and given my love of savoury snacks I was super keen to check these out.
They come in four flavours – Sea Salt, Salt-n-Pepper, Chipotle Garlic and Applewood BBQ. Y’all know I had my eye on Chipotle Garlic FROM THE GET GO. They are also labelled as vegan, gluten-free and non-GMO. Unfortunately, it was not until after I had eaten these (in fact, not until I was cropping the photo!) did I actually read the ingredients list on them, and found that the Applewood BBQ flavour contain honey granules. As honey is not vegan, the labeling on the package is misleading. This is unfortunate, as I’m sure many people like myself see the ‘vegan’ symbol on a product and assume it’s all systems go. Also unfortunate is that the Applewood BBQ with its strong smokiness was one of my preferred flavours. Anyway, the review must go on…!
The chips themselves are quite unusual – they are whole slices of caramelised onion, coated in the various seasonings. The light, crispy and almost puffy slices are totally moreish, and I could easily down a bowl of them without a second thought.
That being said, I do need to comment on the strong aftertaste these bad boys leave behind. Perhaps that’s not surprising, considering they are, well, slices of onion. As a beer snack, this is fine as a good beer takes care of that aftertaste pretty fast, but you are still left with some pretty serious onion-breath. If this doesn’t bother you (it doesn’t me – onion and garlic breath for life!) that’s fine, just don’t say I didn’t warn you.
The package recommends trying these on soups, salads and sandwiches. When topping on soup or other hot meals, I found that they became soggy very quickly, after which the were not particularly pleasing. They did however work well sprinkled sparingly on salads, as they provided some extra texture and flavour like crispy little onion croutons. I haven’t attempted these on sandwiches, so y’all are going to have to try that one for yourselves. The Dang Foods website also have some recipes up which provide some other ideas about how you might use them.
Dang Onion Chips are something a little different from your regular savoury snack. Overall they can be a little intense and overpowering in large quantities, though they work well in salads or as an intermittent beer snack. If I had to pick a favourite flavour, I’d probably go with Salt-n-Pepper, though if Chipotle Garlic was a bit smokier and spicier I’d give it my votes.
FULL DISCLOSURE: These Dang Onion Chips were provided to me free of charge from iHerb in exchange for my honest review. All opinions within this post are my own. If you’d like to give Dang Onion Chips or any other iHerb product a try, click here to use my rewards code JNN776 and get $5USD off your first order, with no minimum purchase. When you make a purchase with my code, I also receive a small referral fee, which I will undoubtedly spend on more snacks.
oooh they look nice (and I love me some iHerb purchases) but oh noooo about the honey! Not good for the not-as-common-but-still-serious honey allergy folks! I do like some onion flavour chips though but anything chipotle and I’m happyyyy.
Chipotle anything is THE BEST.
I had to laugh when you mentioned the aftertaste and onion/garlic breath. Ha! That’s okay with me, too. The chips sound like they might be a great way to scoop up some dip while adding a little extra onion flavor and crunch.
Yes! I’ll have to give them a go with dip – I think that might help with mellowing out the intensity of the onion flavour.
I love onions so I suspect that I would like these chips!
I’m an onion fan too 🙂
I’ve never heard of onion-based chips! What a cool idea, although I can imagine some mints would be handy afterwards 😛 It’s a shame about the vegan labelling with honey though. I will have honey but it’s a slippery slope if companies label honey as vegan as it suggests they’re not entirely clued up on what veganism is!
These were new to me too! I know honey is one of those debated issues in the vegan world, but I think you need to take the safe route and omit it if you are putting the ‘vegan’ label on it. I agree about the mints 😉
Ugh. I hate when honey sneaks into things.
Me tooooo 😦
Noooooo! Why go to the trouble of considering the vegan side of things, putting vegan on the label, then putting honey in the recipe? Much oddness. Interesting idea for a snack though, just one I’ll be trying when I’m not planning on breathing on anyone any time soon.
I know right? Perhaps simply unaware? You would hope they did their research a bit better!
I love how this is a such an honest review! So many bloggers just gush. You mentioned pros and cons and even brought up the sticky honey situation! I’m going to follow your blog now because I’ve found another honest vegan blogger! 🙂
Thanks Catherine! I think it’s best to give as balanced view as possible – if I love something I will certainly talk it up, but I try to provide the kind of info that I would want to read as well 🙂
guess what! I contacted iherb about the honey granules-vegan thing and they replied today saying the honey granules aren’t real honey and are plant based!