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The Healthiest Chips, Graded A to F. One Outsider Embarrassed the Aisle.

The healthiest chip in the aisle is barely a chip in the traditional sense, and that is the whole finding. Walk the chip aisle and almost everything is the same product in a different bag: fried, refined-carb, salted, near-zero protein. So we ran the lineup through the same 6-dimension Labelgrade we use on everything else, and one outsider broke the pattern. Quest’s engineered protein chip posted a B+ while most of the household names clustered in the C range, refined-carb snacks dressed up in marketing. The seasoned pretzel pieces finished dead last, dragged down by sodium and a long additive list. This isn’t 'all chips are bad'; it’s that one of these is a fundamentally different animal, and the receipts say so.

The verdict

We graded 9 chips A–F: the category averages 68/100 (C+), from 80 (B+) at the top down to 54 (D) at the bottom.

Quest Protein Chips Sea Salt towered over the aisle at B+ (80), a full eight points clear of anything else. Snyder’s of Hanover Jalapeño Pretzel Pieces anchored the bottom at D (54), with Doritos Nacho Cheese not far above at C (64), sunk by sodium and additives rather than flavor.

Top of the class B+ Quest Protein Chips Sea Salt 80/100
Bottom of the class D Snyder's of Hanover Jalapeño Pretzel Pieces 54/100

The top picks, with the receipts

#1 Quest Protein Chips Sea Salt B+ 80/100

Pros

  • 21 g protein per serving
  • No added sugar
  • No saturated fat

Cons

  • No fiber

#2 Fritos Scoops! Corn Chips B- 72/100

Pros

  • Clean, short ingredient list

Cons

  • Only 1 g fiber
  • Only 2 g protein per serving

#3 Tostitos Original Restaurant Style Tortilla Chips B- 72/100

Pros

  • Clean, short ingredient list

Cons

  • Only 1 g fiber
  • Only 2 g protein per serving

#4 SunChips Harvest Cheddar Multigrain Snacks C+ 69/100

Pros

  • Low saturated fat at 0.5 g

Cons

  • 200 mg sodium per serving
  • Only 2 g protein per serving

#5 Ruffles Original Potato Chips C+ 68/100

Pros

  • Clean, short ingredient list

Cons

  • Only 1 g fiber
  • Only 2 g protein per serving

Pros and cons come straight from each product’s own label. A dimension is listed only when its sub-score is decisive (78 or above for a pro, 62 or below for a con), so a merely-average number never gets sold as a strength. Every figure is per labeled serving — full panels on each product page.

The full report card — all 9 chips, ranked

#ChipGradeScoreWeakest link
1 Quest — Protein Chips Sea Salt B+ 80 fiber (30/100)
2 Fritos — Scoops! Corn Chips B- 72 fiber (55/100)
3 Tostitos — Original Restaurant Style Tortilla Chips B- 72 sodium (54/100)
4 SunChips — Harvest Cheddar Multigrain Snacks C+ 69 sodium (29/100)
5 Ruffles — Original Potato Chips C+ 68 sodium (42/100)
6 Lay's — Classic Potato Chips C+ 66 sodium (35/100)
7 Doritos — Nacho Cheese Tortilla Chips C 64 sodium (27/100)
8 Rold Gold — Tiny Twists Cheddar Pretzels C 63 sodium (0/100)
9 Snyder's of Hanover — Jalapeño Pretzel Pieces D 54 sodium (4/100)

Worth a closer look

The two ends of the list tell the story. Quest Protein Chips Sea Salt tops the class at 80/100 (B+); Snyder's of Hanover Jalapeño Pretzel Pieces anchors the bottom at 54/100 (D). Click any product for its full fact sheet — the six dimension sub-scores, the per-serving label, and what would move its grade. Prefer to slice it yourself? Filter every graded product by the dimension you care about.

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How we graded these

Each product is scored on six dimensions — protein density, ingredient quality, added sugar, sodium, fiber, and saturated fat — combined into a 0–100 score and a letter grade. Every number comes from the product’s own label, verified against USDA FoodData Central. The grade is absolute (relative to all packaged foods), which is why a whole category can land in the same band. See the full methodology. Last graded 2026-06-04.

Frequently Asked Questions

Which chip scored highest?

Quest Protein Chips (Sea Salt), the only chip here built around protein rather than refined starch, took a clear B+ (80), eight points ahead of the next best. Fritos Scoops and Tostitos Original followed at B- (72). See the ranked table above for the full order and each chip’s weakest dimension.

Which chip scored lowest?

Snyder’s of Hanover Jalapeño Pretzel Pieces landed last at D (54). Seasoned pretzel pieces pile on sodium and a longer additive list, and those are two of our six dimensions. With near-zero protein and no fiber to offset them, the composite settled at the bottom. Doritos Nacho Cheese sits a little above it at C (64).

Are regular chips actually unhealthy?

Mostly, yes — a C here is honest: fried, refined carbs, lots of sodium, and almost no protein or fiber. That’s a snack, not a food group. The lone exception is the protein chip, which is a genuinely different animal — everything else is a treat best eaten as one.

How is the grade calculated?

Six dimensions — protein density, ingredient quality, added sugar, sodium, fiber, and saturated fat — combine into a 0–100 score and a letter grade. Every number is from the product’s own label, verified against USDA data. Full method on our methodology page.

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