To get an idea of what the Dollar General-exclusive Nashville Hot Chicken Pringles tastes like, you can look at the front of the can that features a sandwich with a sauced up piece of fried chicken topped with pickles. There are also cowboy hats involved, but I’m 100 percent sure there won’t be any cowboy hat flavor.
We can probably thank KFC for this, which rolled out its version of Nashville Hot Chicken two years ago and put the dish, which has been around for decades, into our culinary conscious.
While KFC’s Nashville Hot Chicken is spicy, greasy, pickle-y, and finger lickin’ good, these Nashville Hot Chicken Pringles are a little spicy with a mild pickle flavor, not greasy at all, and did cause some finger lickin’.
The pickle is the most striking, not because it’s the most pungent, but because it gives me flashbacks of Cheeseburger Pringles and all the other cheeseburger-flavored snacks I’ve had. I can’t get that out of my mind as I eat each crisp, which kind of messes with my head trying to wrap itself around the idea that these are Nashville Hot Chicken-flavored Pringles. The vinegar and onion powder don’t help either, as they also make it taste more like a burger.
The only ingredients that prevent me from thoroughly thinking these are Cheeseburger Pringles are the cayenne and paprika, which do well to represent the chicken dish’s spiciness. The mild heat doesn’t instantly hit me. It takes eating a few before it builds up to a simmer, which is as high as it goes.
There’s also a bit of bread flavor, but I don’t get any poultry or fried flavoring initially. I like what I taste, especially the tickle of pickle mixed with some spice, and it’s worth a try. But I don’t know if does authentic Nashville Hot Chicken justice. My only experience with the dish is what KFC offers, and these crisps don’t exactly taste like that.
With all that said, I wrote most of this review before I ate two-thirds of the can. Since passing that mark, I’ve noticed the crisps I’ve eaten since then have an almost negligible pickle flavor, a stronger hot sauce flavor, and a little chicken/meatiness comes though.
I don’t know if this is some production error or something, so your can may vary. But I enjoyed the crisps a lot less this way because I want to taste the pickle’s tang.
DISCLOSURE: I received a free sample from Pringles to review. Being given samples did not influence my review in any way.
(Nutrition Facts – about 15 crisps – 150 calories, 9 grams of fat, 2.5 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 0 milligrams of cholesterol, 240 milligrams of sodium, 16 grams of carbohydrates, less than 1 gram of fiber, less than 1 gram of sugar, and 1 gram of protein.)
Purchased Price: FREE
Size: 5.5 oz. can
Purchased at: Available at Dollar General
Rating: 7 out of 10
Pros: Decent tasting flavor. Nice combo of spicy and tangy. Not as messy as actual Nashville Hot Chicken.
Cons: Inconsistent seasoning with the can I received — 2/3 of the can have a strong pickle flavor, while the last 1/3 has barely any pickle flavor. Dollar General exclusive.
These aren’t that spicy to me either.