Review: Wilde Protein Chips - Buffalo Flavor

Wilde Protein Chips, as the package will tell you, are a type of snack chip made from ingredients like chicken breast, egg whites, and bone broth – all things that people are trying to get into them if they’re eating a primarily protein diet. Full product breakdown at the bottom of this post.

DISCLOSURE: I lean heavily into spicy snacks when I’m cutting calories, so these caught my eye from the supermarket shelf.

Expectations

The bag heavily leans into buffalo flavor, which is what got my attention. It also shouts “20g PROTEIN” at you. That number is per bag, not per serving. The chips are made partly of chicken, and that was intriguing. How would that work? I wondered whether they would be crispy at all.

Impressions

The chips looked Buffalo-wing-colored. Slightly smaller than a Pringle, and very round when they are whole, with a gentle wave to them, which enhances their structure. Dispelling any worries about crispiness, these chips are aggressively crisp. I ate each serving on separate days, keeping them in a zipper bag for freshness, and they were just as crisp the second day as they were when I opened the bag. The texture is not like a potato chip; these are more brittle. They’re not hard. The crispiness is very satisfying.

Flavor

The first flavor impression that hit me was tangy-mild-hot-cheesy. The cheese confused me momentarily until it hit me that these chips incorporated blue cheese flavoring. No cheese in the bag art or ingredients list (see below). I’m guessing cheese is simulated in the natural flavorings or with the yeast extract. The chips are cheesy-forward; the cheese flavor isn’t overpowering, but it is the dominant flavor. It’s not a Hot Cheetos cheesiness, it’s definitely more blue cheese cheesy.

As for the spiciness, the chips are mild compared to the Buffalo wings these aspire to emulate. Mild Buffalo is a preference for some. Not so much for me. Less spicy than Andy Capp Hot Fries.

Satiety

It was hard to stop at half a bag, which may sound silly once you see my verdict at the end, but I have to hold savory, crispy snacks to a high standard. In any case, they only kind of hit the spot because their calorie density at 160 calories doesn’t feel filling. I hedge on this one, though, because satiety is so subjective. If you eat this at the right time, it might scratch your insistent snack food itch.

Nutrition

The way this is marketed puts it into the nutrition-food bin of my tier list (see explanation on tier list page). That simply means it doesn’t get the pass that more obviously unhealthy snacks get, since it markets itself to people looking to address a nutrition issue.

I’m going to talk strictly macros here. Per serving, 40 calories of the 160 are coming from protein. At 25% calories from protein, this snack won’t significantly push you toward your protein goal if that protein goal is higher than 25% of your overall diet. That’s going to vary per-person, but one rule of thumb puts the target at 40% in order to call the food itself “a protein.” These are a snack that won’t ruin you on your other macros. On the other hand, some people are happy with any snack that’s over 20% calories from protein. As always, your mileage may vary. But this isn’t “a protein” like, say nonfat Greek yogurt¹ is.

Verdict

C

Wilde Chips Buffalo →

I feel like someone worked hard on this flavor balance. Based on my own expectations and preferences, I would call this a high C tier, but still C tier. You may rank this higher if you are excited by a Buffalo-flavored chip that puts cheesiness forward, now that I’ve told you about it. However, on the expectation of bold Buffalo wing flavor, bolstered by the fact that it’s made of actual chicken, I can’t give it a B because of the disappointment I felt. And the 25% calories from protein is too mediocre to propel this snack into the upper echelons on macros alone.

If someone offered these to me as a snack, I’d probably eat them, especially if the alternative was regular potato chips or whatever and I wasn’t on a cheat day. But the unmet spiciness expectation and the less-than-desired cheesiness push this to the “I wish I’d had something else” that I use to describe tier C.

See where this ranks against every other review on the full Snack Tier List. OK, well, at the time of this posting, this is the only snack on the list.

Product Breakdown

Feature	Details
Product Name	Wilde Protein Chips
Brand	Wilde Brands Inc.
Flavor	Buffalo
Category	High-Protein Savory Chip
Key Ingredients	Chicken breast, tapioca starch, sunflower oil, egg whites, chicken bone broth
Full Ingredients	Antibiotic-Free Chicken Breast, Native Tapioca Starch, High Oleic Expeller Pressed Sunflower Oil, Egg Whites, Chicken Bone Broth. Contains less than 2% of: Aged Cayenne Pepper Sauce, Paprika Extract, Sea Salt, Vinegar, Spices, Citric Acid, Maltodextrin, Yeast Extract, Sodium Citrate, Natural Flavors, Salt, Sugar
Selling Point	20g protein per bag, made from real chicken breast
Net Weight	2.25 oz (64g)
Calories	160 kcal / serving (345 kcal / bag)
Macros (Per Bag)	Protein: 20g | Fat: 21g | Carbs: 15g (4g Fiber)
Sodium	530 mg (22% DV per bag)
Dietary Badges	Certified Gluten-Free, Antibiotic-Free Chicken, Made in USA
Allergens	Contains: Egg

AI Disclosure: Language models were used to check the spelling and grammar on this post, and also for formatting/CSS generation. Always follow up on sources when a result has any AI involved, including with Google searches. All writing, math, perceptions, and reasoning on this post are my own.

1. Nonfat Greek Yogurt is about 67% protein calories. There’s your ideal protein snack! But, alas, it’s not crispy. ↩