The Popular Condiment That Belongs On Potato Chips

While classic dips like French onion and buffalo chicken may always have a place in our hearts, there's a popular condiment that you may want to try on your potato chips. Drizzling or dipping ketchup may sound odd on potato chips, but it's more popular than you'd think, with some countries, like Canada, even selling ketchup-flavored chips.

Ketchup is tangy, sweet, and, most importantly, affordable. If you have a deep love for salt and vinegar chips, you shouldn't write it off as a possible accoutrement to your midday snack. Unlike regular vinegar, ketchup has a slightly more complex flavor to it, checking the same boxes while still providing a bit more taste overall. It's also a criminally underrated ingredient, and even the likes of Jacques Pépin use ketchup as a thickener, flavor enhancer, or marinade base. Plus, modern ketchup brands release tons of varieties, from earthy mushroom to Germany's favorite curry ketchup.

While room temperature chips and cold ketchup may not sound appealing, most brands have tons of vinegar, so you don't necessarily need to store bottles in the fridge. While you can always drizzle some ketchup over a bowl of chips, it might be better to dip them instead to avoid your snack growing soggy. However, if you like your chips a bit on the fancier side, there are tons of ways to incorporate ketchup into wildly flavorful two-ingredient dips, keeping things easy but delicious.

If you don't want to make anything complicated, your best bet for a ketchup-based dip is to find a way to change its texture. Ketchup is quite thick, so you shouldn't have to worry about it thinning out too much, but you'll want to avoid additional acidic ingredients, or you might end up with a bowl of something too tangy for your taste buds.

Your best bet is to go shopping in the dairy section first and take some inspiration from Utah's simple sauce treasure: ketchup and mayonnaise. Mayonnaise is creamy and full of fat, two elements that do a great job neutralizing acid. Soft cheeses and queso neutralize ketchup's vinegar enough that you might need to bump it back up with a squeeze of lemon, giving you something tangy, fruity, and creamy with next to no effort. 

Once you have something creamy and acidic, it's time to decide on your chip of choice. Classic salt is great, but the slightly richer, oilier flavor of kettle-cooked varieties may cut through a bit better. If you have a particularly tangy dip, look for strong flavors without much vinegar, like jalapeño or cheddar. Of course, if you're just going with just straight ketchup, then sour cream and onion or barbecue might be good since both have enough flavor and a bit of acidity of their own, pairing wonderfully with plain ketchup.