Review: New Ritz Crisp & Thin

Thank you to Ritz who sent me their new range of Ritz Crisp & Thin snacks (and an awesome personalised bowl too!). There are four flavours in the range; Cream Cheese & Onion, Sea Salt & Black Pepper, Sweet Red Chilli, and Sea Salt & Vinegar. They are available in two sizes; 100g sharing bags and also smaller 30g individual servings. 

The Ritz Crisp & Thin are oven-baked potato snacks that have a deliciously crispy texture and crunch. I really enjoyed just how crunchy and light these snacks are - they're very different to the classic Ritz Crackers, but seriously just as tasty!

Cream Cheese & Onion: These actually had the strongest taste of the bunch, with plenty of visible seasoning. They have a strong and sweet onion taste with plenty of creamy cheese flavouring too. It's a classic combination but one that works extremely well with these lightly crunchy potato thins. 

Sea Salt & Vinegar: This was my favourite flavour of all, and I'm not usually the biggest fan of salt and vinegar, just because it has such a unique and different flavour. They're not too salty and the vinegar is tangy but very sweet too. The sweet and malty vinegar flavour here is just absolutely perfect.

Sweet Red Chilli:  The flavour here was also very different and impressive.  It's not just another sweet chilli flavour, this one is more multi-layered, with sweet spices, a subtle kick of heat and background spices too. These are incredibly delicious and were actually our second favourite of the range. Even though these have a strong flavour on their own, we especially enjoyed these alongside a houmous dip.

Sea Salt & Black Pepper: Like the Cream Cheese & Onion, these are very generously flavoured, with plenty of seasoning. The black pepper here is within the seasoning in a fine powder, rather than being a 'cracked black pepper'. Again, this makes the flavour quite different and unique compared to other black pepper flavoured crisps. 

Overall I was extremely impressed with just how tasty and moreish the new Ritz Crisp & Thin range is (and I promise you it's not just because they sent me a personalised bowl - even though that's awesome!). The texture is lovely, crunchy and light, and creates a snack that can be enjoyed on it's own or with dips. The flavours are all delicious but our clear favourites were the Sea Salt & Vinegar and the Sweet Red Chilli which both offered a different twist to these ubiquitous crisp flavours. 

Grocery Gems Review: Ritz Crisp & Thin

RATING: 9 out of 10.
Buy them again?: Yes - especially the Sea Salt & Vinegar!
Nutrition (per 30g):  134 calories.

Price: RRP £2.19 (large bags).

PR Samples - product sent for an honest review.

New Ritz Breaks: Rosemary & Olive Oil and Original

Ritz have recently launched a new range of on the go products called Ritz Breaks. They're available in two flavours, Original and new Rosemary & Olive Oil.

Inside each multipack are 6 individually sealed portions. Each individual pack has a generously sized portion of five strips of Ritz Breaks. These are made up of three Ritz crackers which are attached together and easy to snap off.

Ritz Breaks Original: I'm sure I don't really need to describe the Original flavour Ritz. The cracker base has a sweetness that works well with the small salt crystals on the outside. These are crackers that taste really good on their own, rather than just being a base for cheese or other toppings. I can easily snack on Ritz crackers by themselves so I like the idea of this out and about pack. 

Ritz Breaks Rosemary & Olive Oil: As soon as I opened the pack, I could see the little flecks of rosemary and herbs within each cracker. The rosemary flavour is quite delicately done, it provides an initial burst of herby flavour but then gives way to the olive oil notes of the cracker base. I really enjoyed the addition of rosemary here, it works deliciously with the salty crackers. It makes me wish that Ritz would make more flavoured versions like they do in the US.

Overall I'm really impressed with these Ritz Breaks. As a Mum with two active boys I'm always carrying snacks around with me and these are ones that I know they will both enjoy. Both the flavours are delicious and they make a nice alternative to other savoury snacks.

Twitter: @RitzUK #OutAndAbout

Grocery Gems Verdict: Ritz Breaks

RATING: 8 out of 10.

Buy them again?: Definitely! Original for the boys, Rosemary & Olive Oil for me.

Nutrition: 146 calories per pack.

Vegetarian: Suitable for Vegetarians.
Purchased: Available at all major supermarkets.

Price: £1.89 per pack of 6.

Products sent for an honest review.

Review: Cadbury Dairy Milk Ritz and Dairy Milk LU

The new Cadbury Dairy Milk Ritz and Dairy Milk LU are a welcome British version of the European Milka with Tuc and Milka with LU that I reviewed last year (see HERE). The Cadbury products are almost identical, also featuring sweet and savoury crackers added to milk chocolate. For the Cadbury versions we get Dairy Milk with Ritz crackers (instead of Tuc), but also get the same LU biscuits, which are a popular type of simple buttery biscuit.

Both bars are quite small at 35g which amounts to four squares of chocolate and eight crackers (there are four crackers on each side). They look identical to the Milka versions, and I find the appearance very appealing. 

The Dairy Milk Ritz is my personal favourite, since I'm inclined towards sweet and salty flavours. The combination of Ritz crackers with chocolate is not as strange as it might sound, the crackers used here don't seem as salty as the real thing, and just provide a slightly savoury background, and subtle salty edge, to the sweet Cadbury chocolate. The only problem is that these are very moreish so I found the serving quite small, although that's no doubt a good thing for my waistline!

The Dairy Milk LU is a far more standard confection in terms of flavour. The combination of sweet and buttery biscuit with milk chocolate is one that we can find in any of the supermarket biscuit aisles, however that doesn't detract from the fact that this is a wonderfully delicious version. The LU biscuit has a sweet vanilla flavour which isn't overpowered by the rest of the ingredients and tastes fantastic with the milk chocolate. It's like eating a lovely biscuit that is covered in super thick chocolate - just gorgeous!

Grocery Gems Verdict: Cadbury Dairy Milk Ritz and Dairy Milk LU

RATING: Ritz - 9 out of 10, LU - 8.5 out of 10.
Buy them again?: Yes, especially the Ritz.
Purchased: Tesco (a special stand in the freezer section of all places).
Nutrition per 35g: (Ritz) 183 calories (LU) 180 calories.
Price: £0.50p each.