Crackers are nice, crusty bread is great, but sometimes you need the crunch, the grease, the caloric abandon that is a cheese and potato chip combination. From classic Lay’s to the seafood boil-inspired insanity that is Zapp’s Spicy Cajun Crawtator, artisan cheeses can be the perfect match for the salty salvation of potato chips. But walk softly with your big ol’ bag of chips: A little goes a long way. These pairings are so over-the-top you’ll need to find an alibi for your diet. But as long as it’s not an everyday event, no worries.
Not every chip complements every cheese, as I’ve discovered through extensive research including multiple bodega runs, last-minute Hail Mary’s at my local cheese shop, and a career experimenting with artisan cheeses. Proceed with appropriate abandon and be rewarded with the magic that is all that butterfat, and a bag of chips.
An uber-creamy Bavarian blue is lashed by hot paprika in this piquant pairing. A sobering option when your favorite Buffalo wing joint closes at 2 and it’s 2:05.
This pairing’s all about texture; Flory’s has the crystalline crunch of an aged clothbound cheddar and Cheetos has crunch for days. Consider this pairing as consolation on a night when the only action you’ll see is cheese on cheese.
A funky aged ricotta crusted with chives alongside everyone’s favorite chip-in-a-can is an animally allium bomb that might leave you in a need of a breath mint. Enjoy when the ramp craze is giving you major FOMO but you’re too lazy to get to the farmers' market at 6 a.m.
Inspired by a classic ploughman’s lunch, this pairing of tangy, buttery, Welsh-style cheese (think Cheddar, but milder and creamier) and a puckering pickled chip is a working-class hero. A fitting reward after a long day of not telling your boss what you really think about his new boat.
This beer-washed, cakey sheep’s milk beaut is so close to perfection only a pairing with an iconic chip will do. Enjoy on a day when you wake up looking amazing, even though you only got four hours of sleep.
Where there’s smoke there’s fire in this combo of meaty, slightly smoky sheep’s milk cheese and classic BBQ chip. A fitting snack for that rainy-day marathon of BBQ Pitmasters.
Who says cheese and seafood don’t pair well? This is straight up chips and dip, with a zippy, creole twist. A perfect way to celebrate Fat Tuesday, otherwise known as “Tuesday.”
Photography: Noah Fecks
Styling: Tia Keenan
Production: AH! | Kindly Productions