We tasted Lidl’s USA snacks as an American and a Brit

You really never know what you’re going to find when you walk into Lidl. But amongst the shelves of cheap fruit and veg, lawnmowers and knockoff fizzy drinks, you can sometimes find a real hidden gem – especially when there’s a good Flavour of the Week deal involved. 

The budget supermarket often pulls in some interesting snacks and drinks from all over the world, and recently it was all about the United States. As someone who has lived in the UK forever, they looked pretty intriguing, since there were a lot of flavour combinations I’d never seen before. And who better to conduct a taste test with, than my American colleague Ketsuda?

We picked up a selection of snacks, sweet treats and a drink to wash it all down with. Some of these items Ketsuda was already familiar with, but I was going in completely blind, with no idea what I’d got myself in for. 

On our menu was mac and cheese flavoured crisps, chilli and lime tortilla rolls, buffalo ranch dip, jalapeno popper dip, a chocolate brownie milkshake and hazelnut stuffed cookies. A few of these looked tasty — and some, very much less so. 

I wasn’t expecting to love any of it, but there was one thing in particular that surprised us both with how delicious it tasted, and it’s something we would both buy again. On the other hand, some things didn’t fare so well, tasting of nothing but chemicals and disappointment. 

Here’s our ranking of Lidl’s USA week offerings, starting with the absolute worst. 

Brownie Flavour Milk Drink

It’s too bad that the drink was nearly inedible, as we really needed something to wash down the rest of the salty snacks. However, we only had to have one small sip to know the truth — this was not a good product. 

It actually tricked us a little, as it tasted fine at first, but had a really bizarre lingering aftertaste that was reminiscent of watered-down cake batter and chemicals. 

Although it was meant to be chocolate flavour, we could only taste the tiniest hint of it. This made sense when I checked the back of the bottle and saw that there was a mere 1% of cocoa powder in it. Never again. 

Rating: 1/10 

Mac and cheese crisps

On paper, this sounds like the perfect crisp. Sadly, our expectations were quickly dashed as we crunched into a crisp and instantly pulled a face at each other. 

Again, nothing but chemicals. This tasted like the most processed cheese you’ve ever eaten in your life, and I also noted a bizarre creamy taste that had absolutely no place in a packet of crisps. 

The only reason this didn’t come in last place is because the texture and bite of the crisps were actually really good. Crunchy but light, it’s a shame that the key component – the flavour – was such a huge let-down. 

Rating: 2/10

Buffalo ranch dip

Ranch is really having its moment here in the UK right now, but it’s something I hadn’t really had too often. Lidl’s offering, however, was very much middle-of-the-road for both of us. 

It was fairly light and creamy, but had more of a garlic dip flavour, like the kind you get free with your Dominos pizza. Not necessarily a bad thing, but not really what we were expecting either. 

We wouldn’t be rushing to buy this again, as there are definitely better ranch brands out there. But it did the trick, and it sits comfortably in the middle of our ranking. 

Rating: 5/10

Hazelnut creme filled cookies 

We tried these last, as somewhat of a reward for getting through the rest of the taste test. Immediately after taking them out of the packet, I noticed they looked just like Maryland cookies, whilst Ketsuda compared them to Chips Ahoy. 

They were pretty nice. The hazelnut filling was generous, yet for both of us, there was still a little something missing. I thought they tasted a bit on the cheap side, but you can’t really complain when they were, in fact, cheap. Ketsuda agreed, thinking there was “something not quite right”.

I ate the rest of them that night, so clearly didn’t mind them that much. 

Rating: 6/10

Peanut butter pretzel sticks 

Peanut butter and pretzels just screams America to me, and Ketsuda agreed that this is something you’d find on the shelves of Trader Joe’s. 

They were satisfyingly thin and crunchy, with a yummy peanut butter filling. Salty and sweet is a combo that just always works, and this snack was no different. Addictive is the word we’d use to describe them, with Ketsuda saying that they would be an excellent snack for the cinema. 

My only complaint was that they’d make your mouth quite dry after eating a lot, but it’s nothing a drink can’t fix. 

Rating: 7/10

Chilli lime tortilla rolls 

Coming in second place were these fun-shaped crisps that were basically just Doritos, but rolled up. Interestingly, we weren’t blown away at first, but the flavour really came to life when you paired it with the dips. 

They’re very easy to snack on and became more and more addictive the more that you ate. The spice of the chilli was balanced out perfectly by the sweet tang of the lime, and they weren’t too sharply flavoured either, which made them all the more easy to eat. 

Their rolled-up shape made them the ideal vessel for dipping, and I know if I served these at a party they’d be the most popular snack there.

Rating: 9/10

Winner – Jalapeno popper dip

Ketsuda said this item was the one she was most excited about trying, and that it also seemed to be the “most American” thing on the list. Upon smelling it, there was a very strong whiff of fresh chillies, which was actually quite reassuring. 

What was not reassuring was the strange, jelly-like texture of the dip itself. However, looks can be deceiving, and this was actually the most delicious thing in our haul by far. 

It was warm and spicy yet creamy at the same time, and it paired perfectly with the chilli and lime tortilla rolls. There was a definite cheese flavour in there, but it wasn’t overpowering like I’d feared, nor did it taste too processed — even though it definitely was. 

Rating: 10/10