Snak Club Hot Ones Snack Mix Lineup Review: A Spicy Snack For Hot Sauce Lovers
If you love hot sauces and spicy snacks, you'll likely want to try Snak Club's Hot Ones snack mixes. Snak Club has collaborated with well-liked brands before, such as Hidden Valley Ranch and Tajín, to create unique treats. This time around, it's partnered with popular hot sauce-based show Hot Ones to make a lineup to fuel your spicy snack craving.
I received three flavors of Snak Club Hot Ones snack mix packs in the mail to try: Tangy Chili, Smoky Sweet, and Hot Habanero. The mildest one is Tangy Chili, which is based on the Hot Ones Classic Original Hot Sauce and with a main flavor profile of red chili and cider vinegar. The Smoky Sweet, based on the Hot Ones Los Calientes Verde Hot Sauce, features medium heat and the flavors of green chili peppers and sweet fruit. The hottest one is the Hot Habanero, which is based on the Hot Ones Los Calientes Rojo Hot Sauce. Its heat level is medium-hot, and its flavors are habanero peppers and sweet apricots.
To give a thorough analysis of these Snak Club Hot Ones snack mixes, I looked at the contents, ingredients, and nutrition information for each mix. Plus, I've outlined where you can find it and how much you can expect to spend. With a full picture of what to expect from Hot Ones snack mixes, you can make a more informed choice next time you're shopping for spicy snacks.
Ingredients in Hot Ones snack mixes
When you open a Hot Ones snack mMix, you'll find peanuts, toasted corn, mini pretzels, sesame sticks, and cashews no matter which mix you choose. However, the spice mix is different for each flavor. The Tangy Chili version contains vinegar and vinegar powder, chili peppers, red pepper, garlic powder, paprika extract, and capsicum extract. The Smoky Sweet flavor includes apple cider vinegar and apple cider vinegar powder, jalapeño powder, natural smoke flavor, onion powder, parsley, cumin, and black pepper. Meanwhile, the Hot Habanero variety contains apple cider vinegar and powder, chili peppers, natural smoke flavor, onion powder, cilantro, cumin, capsicum extract, and paprika extract.
You will likely want to avoid these snacks if you have a cashew, soy, wheat, or sesame allergy since all of them contain these ingredients. The pretzels and sesame sticks have added vitamins and minerals since they contain enriched wheat flour. They also all contain sugar as well as canola oil and possibly peanut oil. Other than canola oil (which is highly refined, usually made from GMOs, and contains omega-6 fats), the only potentially questionable ingredient that appears on the labels of all three snack flavors is maltodextrin. While maltodextrin is safe, it's highly processed, has a high glycemic index, and may affect gut health.
Where you can get Hot Ones snack mixes
Getting into the Hot Ones Snak Club can be a little confusing. Despite the name, Snak Club is not one of those box-of-the-month clubs that autmoatically sends you a regular snack delivery, which might make its products a lot more accessible. Instead, you can more easily find Snak Club products online or search its website to find local retailers near you that might have these Hot Ones snack mixes in stock.
Currently, it's easiest to find them online. Having these treats arrive straight at your door rather than having to search store shelves is convenient anyway, especially if you qualify for free shipping through your online store of choice. There are currently options to buy them online at Amazon, Candy Closet, Snack Attack, and FYE if you can't find them locally. In the future, they may also be available online from Target or Walmart.
When I searched near me using the Snak Club product locator, I found Snak Club products available at CVS, Target, and Walmart. While I don't see Hot Ones snack mixes available near me yet, they're fairly new, so it might take some time.
How much Hot Ones snack mixes cost
How much a Snak Club Hot Ones snack mix will cost you depends on where you buy them and if you choose to buy individual packs or in bulk. If you already know you like a Hot One hot sauce flavor, buying in bulk can be a good idea to get a better per-ounce price.
If you purchase them from Amazon, you can either buy six 10-ounce packs or 12 two-ounce packs. As of this writing, the 12-pack costs $15.48, while the six-pack costs $39. Both options come in at $0.65 per ounce, so you're getting the same price deal no your choice. Additionally, the Candy Closet is selling 2-ounce individual bags for $3 each, Snack Attack is selling 2-ounce individual bags for $5.99 each, and FYE is selling 4.5-ounce individual bags for $5.99 each.
While I couldn't find any Hot Ones snack mixes available in my area from Target, Walmart, or CVS, it's reasonable to assume that, once these hit the shelves, the price point will be similar to other Snak Club items. Singular Snak Club products cost $2.67 from Walmart and $4.99 from CVS. At Target, Snak Club products cost $3.99 a bag. I would expect these snack crackers to cost somewhere between $2.67 and $4.99 a bag locally, depending on where you find them and the size of the packet.
Nutritional information for Hot Ones snack mixes
No matter which Snak Club Hot Ones snack mix you choose, the nutritional information is essentially the same. Pick the flavor you like best without worrying that one is better or worse than the others.
A serving size is one-fourth of a cup, or about a small handful, and contains 160 calories. With oil, cashews, and sesame seeds among the ingredients, it has 10 grams of fat per serving, though only 1.5 grams of that is saturated fat. Each serving has 230 milligrams of sodium and 13 grams of carbs, while there are only 2 grams of fiber per serving. Meanwhile, the added sugar in the mix only adds up to one gram.
Each serving also contains four grams of protein, 30 milligrams of calcium, 1.2 milligrams of iron, and 120 milligrams of potassium. So, you can reasonably feel like you're getting something at least sort of nutritious other than just a tasty snack that can fulfill your spicy, carby cravings.
How the mixes compare to similar products
When you look at the products that Snak Club produces, they tend to fall into one of three categories: trail mix; nuts, seeds, and corn; or Tajín candy. The Hot Ones snack mixes compare the best to the line's other trail mixes. Currently, there are only two other trail mixes available from Snak Club, and they're also collaborations with two well-known brands: Hidden Valley Ranch and Tajín. These are a Hidden Valley Ranch Crunch Mix and a Tajín Fiesta snack mix. The Hidden Valley Ranch one is the closest to the Hot Ones mixes since it also contains nuts, roasted corn, and sesame sticks (among other snack mix pieces).
Meanwhile, the Hidden Valley Ranch Crunch Mix has 10 fewer calories than the Hot Ones mixes, as well as slightly less fat, carbs, fiber, protein, and iron. It also has a little more calcium. Hidden Valley Ranch Crunch Mix has no sugar at all. However, it does have more salt, given that the Hot Ones snack mixes have 220 fewer milligrams of sodium. However, the Hot Ones mixes also have 64 fewer milligrams of potassium. Other than the sodium and potassium content, Hidden Valley Ranch Crunch Mix is arguably the slightly healthier choice.
Verdict: Interesting, but room for improvement
I found the Hot Ones Snak Club snack mix lineup to be interesting and tasty, though not perfect. True to its name, tanginess is at the forefront of the Tangy Chili flavor. It's all vinegar and mild heat with a flavor that reminds me of Tabasco and contrasts well with the snack-piece flavors. The Smoky Sweet flavor is slightly hotter, with hints of smokiness and sweetness at the first crunch, and the heat hitting your tongue later. It's also tangy with cumin rounding it out for balance.
The hottest variety, Hot Habanero, is even more tangy and smoky with a richer flavor than the Smoky Sweet variety. I rarely like habanero hot sauces, but this one didn't have the flavor I associate with habanero. And while I was hoping to detect cilantro, it was blended too well into the mix for me to detect it. However, I did taste the cumin. The heat in Hot Habanero sneaks up on you in a big way, lingering on your tongue after you've finished your mouthful.
While I like them all, Smoky Sweet is my favorite, followed by Hot Habanero, then Tangy Chili. My main gripe is that I wish it contained rye chips like the Hidden Valley Ranch Crunch Mix — these would add crunch and complexity. Also, based on a friend's reaction, I don't think the flavors are universal to all hot sauce lovers. I give them 4 out of 5 stars.