Best salt and vinegar crisps: Kettle, Pipers and Tyrrells vs premium supermarket labels

There's lots of choice on supermarket shelves if you're a fan of salt and vinegar crisps, but which taste the best? Should you buy crisps made by Kettle, Pipers or Tyrrells, or pick up an own-label packet?

To find out, we asked a group of 72 crisp enthusiasts to blind-taste and rate 10 different premium salt and vinegar crisps. Our taste test included crisps from the three big brands mentioned, as well as supermarket own-label crisps from Aldi, Asda, Sainsbury's, Tesco and more.

We uncovered two Best Buys that delivered a zingy crispy crunch that tickled taste buds – and both were supermarket own-label crisps.

So how did the brands fare? Keep reading to see our full results.

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Best salt and vinegar crisps

Own-label crisps from Asda and Co-op topped the rankings in our taste test. 

And premium salt and vinegar crisps from Aldi, Morrisons and M&S were popular, too.

They all scored higher than crisps made by Kettle, Pipers and Tyrrells.

Most of the crisps we tested come in 150g sharing packs, aside from Kettle (130g) and Morrisons (125g).

Best Buy and Great Value: Asda Extra Special Sea Salt & Chardonnay Wine Vinegar Hand Cooked Crisps – 78%

£1.34 for 150g (89p per 100g)

Our tasters loved Asda's sea salt and chardonnay wine vinegar crisps. So much so, they're the top choice in our blind-taste test – and a worthy Best Buy. 

The crisps looked good and they smelled great, too. The majority of tasters said their colour and crispness were perfect, and they were just the right thickness.

Most people also approved of the salt levels, while more than half said the sharp vinegar flavour worked for them.

While Asda's crisps are not the cheapest on test, they cost a good deal less than the well-known branded crisps. They're our Great Value pick.

Available from Asda.

Best Buy: Co-op Irresistible Hand Cooked Sea Salt & Chardonnay Wine Vinegar Crisps – 75%

 £1.70 for 150g (£1.13 per 100g)

Co-op’s tangy salt and vinegar crisps are also a Best Buy. Our tasters thought they had an appetising aroma and appearance, and most agreed they were the right thickness and crispiness.

Getting the salt and vinegar flavour to work for everyone is tricky, but these crisps did well. The majority of tasters said the saltiness was good – though it's worth nothing that Co-op's crisps had the highest salt levels of all the crisps on test. 

The vinegar tang appealed to most people, too. But nearly a third of our crisp lovers said the vinegar was slightly overdone, so these could be a good choice for fans of zingy crisps.

Available from Co-op.

Aldi Specially Selected Sea Salt & Chardonnay Vinegar Hand Cooked Crisps – 69%

£1.09 for 150g (73p per 100g)

Aldi's crisps were the cheapest on test – and a popular choice among our tasters.

They had an enticing aroma, and the crispness and thickness impressed most of our regular crisp eaters.

There was also general agreement that the seasoning was about right, although some wanted them to be a bit more salty, and some would have liked the crisps to be more vinegary.

Available in-store at Aldi. 

Morrisons The Best Hand Cooked Sea Salt & Suffolk Cider Vinegar Crisps – 67%

£1.30 for 125g (1.04p per 100g)

While not quite ‘the best’, the salt and vinegar crisps from Morrisons looked appealing and two thirds of our tasters thought they were the perfect thickness.

They also contained the least salt of all the crisps on test, with most people saying they hit the right salty spot – half of them felt the vinegar tang and crispness were just right, too.

Available from Morrisons.

M&S Hand Cooked Sea Salt & Balsamic Vinegar Crisps – 66%

£1.80 for 150g (£1.20 per 100g)

The sea salt and balsamic vinegar crisps from Marks and Spencer were reasonably well-liked overall. More than half of our tasters said their colour and crispness were just right, and many praised their thickness, too.

Half of our tasters also found the salt levels of these crisps to be perfect, though others wanted an extra shake or two. A third said that a sharper vinegar kick would be good.

Available in-store at M&S and from Ocado.

If a spicy kick is more your bag, check out the results of our sweet chilli crisps taste test to find out which one topped the rankings

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How Kettle, Pipers, Tyrrells and the rest of the crisps compare

Among the rest of the premium salt and vinegar crisps on test, those from Sainsbury’s and Tesco did best.

The three brands that market themselves as more premium or artisanal-style snacks ended up with the lowest scores overall – with Pipers crisps rated the least popular by our tasters.

• Sainsbury’s Take the Difference Sea Salt & Suffolk Cider Vinegar Hand Cooked Crisps – 65%. These crisps were a good thickness and most of our tasters liked their crispness, too. However, seasoning divided opinion: more salt was wanted by many, while half of our tasters found the vinegar eye-wateringly overpowering. £1.25 for 150g (83p per 100g). Available from Sainsbury's.
• Tesco Finest Sea Salt & Chardonnay Vinegar Hand Cooked Crisps – 64%. Two thirds of our tasters approved of the colour and thickness of these crisps and half said salt levels were good. Most felt they could do with a punchier vinegar hit, though, and a third wanted them crispier. £1.25 for 150g (83p per 100g). Available from Tesco.
• Tyrrells Sea Salt & Cider Vinegar Crisps – 63%. The quirky British brand found in most supermarkets didn’t wow our tasters. Most enjoyed their thickness and crispness, however nearly half found these crisps pale-looking and bland-tasting. From £1.75 for 150g (£1.17 per 100g). Available from Amazon, Asda, Co-op, Iceland, Morrisons, Ocado, Sainsbury's, Tesco and Waitrose.
• Kettle Sea Salt & Balsamic Vinegar of Modena Potato Chips – 60%. These widely available Kettle crisps were all-round mediocre, with thickness and crispiness being their stronger points. Many of our tasters thought they were bland, and would have liked them to be more salty and more vinegary. From £2.40 for 130g (£1.85 per 100g). Available from Amazon, Asda, Iceland, Morrisons, Ocado, Sainsbury's, Tesco and Waitrose.
• Pipers Burrow Hill Cider Vinegar & Sea Salt Crisps – 57%. Good thickness and crispiness, but very few tasters felt the salt and vinegar flavour hit the spot. Most wanted more flavour out of these pricey crisps. £3 for 150g (£2 per 100g). Available from Ocado and Sainsbury's.

Best cheap food and drink – find out the supermarket own labels that beat pricier well-known brands in our taste tests

How healthy are salt and vinegar crisps?

It won't be a surprise to read that crisps are a high-calorie combination of carbs, fat and salt, and it can be all too easy to keep eating a whole bag once it's open.

On average, a small (25g) serving of crisps is around 125 calories – most of the crisps we tasted come in 150g bags, so have six servings. 

A 25g serving contains about 7g of fat, mostly unsaturated fat (usually sunflower or rapeseed oil). It also contains around 0.5g of salt. NHS recommends adults should have no more than 6g of salt intake a day. 

In our taste test, Co-op crisps were the saltiest with nearly 3g of salt per 100g. Tesco, the lowest, had just 1g of salt per 100g.

Most of the crisps we tested were low in sugar – on average 2.5g per 100g. Morrisons had the least (1g per 100g), while Co-op was sweetest by a long way, containing 6g per 100g. 

How we tested salt and vinegar crisps

All the crisps were blind-tasted and rated by a panel of 72 people in July 2025 at our specialist test lab.

We recruited tasters who buy and eat crisps, and who broadly represent the demographic profile of adults in the UK (age range, gender split and more). 

The taste test was blind, so our testers didn’t know which brand they were trying. They tasted the crisps in a fully rotated order to avoid any bias. Each tester had a private tasting booth so they couldn’t discuss what they were tasting or be influenced by others.

The tasters rated the flavour, aroma, appearance and texture of each brand of crisps, and told us what they liked and disliked. 

The overall score was based on:

• 50% flavour
• 20% texture
• 20% aroma
• 10% appearance

These weightings are based on what people ranked as the most important attributes when tasting salt and vinegar crisps. All our results are checked and analysed by our in-house statistical team.

From baked beans to marmalade and pork sausages to strawberry ice cream, discover which everyday supermarket items our taste testers rated highest

Can you recycle crisp packets?

Crisp packets can't be put in standard kerbside recycling because a plastic film lines the inside of the bags. 

There are two options for recycling. You can take them to a large supermarket that collects crisp packets and other 'flexible plastics', such as biscuit wrappers, pet food pouches and toilet roll wrap. Check the Recycle Now website to find your nearest supermarket that does this.

Another option is to use Terracycle, which offers drop-off points in places such as community centres, churches and schools, as well as individual addresses.

Price and availability checked: 24 July 2025