12 Discontinued Lay's Flavors You May Never Eat Again

If there's one thing fans of Lay's potato chips understand, it's that no one should get too attached to the specialty flavors that show up throughout the year. Few of these intriguing and sometimes boundary-pushing inventions last beyond a quick promotional period. But more often than not, they turn out to be special editions or product tie-ins that weren't meant to last.

Part of the fascination for Lay's lovers is how the specialty flavors come to be in the first place. The company frequently sponsors contests in which customers are invited to submit their ideas for new flavors. Often, the submissions bring regional dishes like lobster rolls and deep dish pizza into the world of potato chip seasoning. Lay's takes a few months to hype the contest and test the finalists before announcing the winner. But the untold truth about Lay's and its wild flavors is that the championship chip almost never makes it to the permanent lineup, leaving fans pining for the chips they lost.

Which flavors have come and gone, never to be picked up by Lay's again? They don't have to be the most popular potato chip flavor in the U.S. ever to have staying power. Alas, aside from a few lucky combinations that make occasional returns every few years, the list of permanently discontinued chips is growing all the time. The following flavors made a brief appearance and bowed out gracefully, with pretty much no hope of returning to the snack aisle.

Few chips ever aim for a classic Italian flavor blend. So when Lay's introduced Garden Tomato and Basil, it felt like something new had been achieved in the world of snack options. The possibility of having a bruschetta-like treat without having to slice bread or buy basil sounds like a winner of a time. That's whether you're slinging finger foods at a party or just pairing up the perfect chip with your ideal sandwich or pasta.

This thoughtful flavor is remembered by Facebook users as being available as far back as 2011. It's a tempting combination for sure, but it seems a little upscale for a ground-level snack like Lay's potato chips. It was a highly-ranked flavor among reviewers, popular enough to inspire a petition to bring it back, but it's received fewer than 4,000 signatures so far. Maybe there's hope for it yet, but don't count on this flavor resurgence to come through. With the prices of potato chips rising on the regular, Lay's is more likely to keep cranking out flavors that move like hot potatoes.

There's no reason a classic Mexican chip adornment like fresh salsa has to be reserved for tortilla chips. Lay's figured this out when it released a pico de gallo flavored potato crisp that piled all the zesty flavor onto the chips in powdered form rather than using diced vegetables. The combination of vegetables and spices took fried potato slices into a realm where Doritos and Tostitos usually hold court. For a brief, shining time, Lay's invaded that space, luring potato chip lovers in a new yet familiar direction.

When Pico de Gallo Lay's popped up in grocery stores in 2014, it was thanks to a recommendation made by Samuel Oliveros, a Lay's employee, as the description on the bag explained. Tomatoes and peppers were the primary tasting notes here, with onion being more of a background player.

Despite the zesty fun it added to the chips, the flavor wasn't destined to last long-term, even though some fans fell deeply in love with it. One Reddit user wrote to Lay's to ask about the absence and learned that bags may have been pulled due to low sales, that age-old driver of business decisions.

A potato chip that tastes like a deep dish pizza could handle two of your most savage appetites in one swoop. This Chicago-centric flavor, inspired by the famous Giordano's pizza creations, stacked the essences of sauce, seasonings, and cheese with a meaty layer to give every trait fair representation. It came about as part of Lay's Tastes of America collection released in 2018, representing one of the Midwest's most beloved dishes. And other than piling Lay's original potato chips onto a pizza pie, it was as close as snack fiends could come to combining two of their most prized treats.

Reviewers were impressed with how completely the pizza flavor shone through in these crisps, and some Reddit fans rated the bag a nine out of 10. Regardless, Lay's mashup flavor of a popular product with restaurant-level prestige didn't catch fire as expected. The flavor popped back up in 2019 and in 2022; a 2024 resurgence was a similarly limited-time event that may not be repeated for a while, if ever again.

One of those wild outlying flavors that seemed destined not to last, Lay's actually chose to launch a cross promotion with IHOP by emulating the breakfast chain's Rooty Tooty Fresh 'N Fruity specialty plate. In layman's terms, that means somehow combining the flavor of bacon, maple syrup, and strawberries. It's perfectly delicious when served in its original format, but when all of those elements are smashed together to create potato chip seasoning, it sounds a little far-fetched, even to daring snackers who love trying strange and unexpected flavors.

It wasn't entirely shunned by the public; those with adventurous palates found something to love in this corporate crossover. Others weren't looking for strawberry flavoring in their chips. All in all, it seems like a wash, as well as a one-time attempt at bringing a national brand restaurant into the grocery store. It may have seemed like a good idea to the marketing at the time, but it doesn't seem likely to be repeated. The truth about IHOP's famous pancakes is that they don't make great potato chips. Duly noted.

Sweet, savory, and spicy is a combination usually saved for the salsa bowl, especially when it shows up as mango salsa. Bravo to Lay's for figuring out how to swirl them all together on top of potato chips. Not everyone has the taste buds for blending sweet flavors like mango with earthy elements like onions and tomato, but Lay's was willing to take a chance and see how the market reacted. It definitely sounds better suited for a corn chip or a tortilla chip, but stranger things have happened in the snack world.

In this instance, reviewers didn't take too kindly to the overly sweet mango essence in the chips. As a finalist in the 2014 Lay's flavor contest, it represented a sugary turn that chips shouldn't take. So the fact that it has never made a return appearance is probably for the best, and sends a message that there's not likely to be a resurgence in the near future. Sometimes, it's best that Lay's lets its discontinued flavors stay in the past. This is one of those moments.

As a representative seafood dish, fish and chips have owned the seafood spotlight for so long that when New England Lobster Roll Lay's hit the market, it felt like a different kind of seafood specialty had finally gotten its day in the sun. And for super fans who can't have enough lobster in their lives, these chips paired with an actual lobster roll must have been the height of culinary euphoria.

This pescatarian pick was part of Lay's Tastes of America roll-out way back in 2018, but those who tasted them said the chips didn't represent the truest version of a lobster roll moment. Despite this pretty essential fact, the chips were featured as part of the Maine Lobster Festival that year. There's been no sign of the flavor since, which means it was probably a one-time deal meant to celebrate a Northeastern seaside favorite only for a brief spell.

Yeah, so Lay's had the brilliant idea of turning a timeless coffee beverage into a novelty chip flavor that doesn't really sound or taste like a good idea no matter how the company tried to spin it. That's what happens when you let chip lovers recommend flavors that introduce sweeter tastes into a specifically savory sphere. When the company opens the floodgates for its famous Do Us a Flavor contests, things like Cappuccino Lay's happen, for better or worse (mostly worse).

But did it get snackers salivating? That's the real test of a specialty chip flavor, and in the case of cappuccino Lay's, it doesn't appear to have been a smashing success. Those who sampled them remember them as some of the worst chips ever packaged. In the standings of the most popular chip brands offering flavors that feel like wild miscalculations, Lay's is better off keeping its coffee-flavored snacks on the discontinued list.

Another swing at incorporating sweet flavors into the chip world, Maple Moose was a Canadian Lay's creation that played fast and loose with two emblems of the Great White North. Unsuspecting chip fans may not have realized at first that the seasoning was a blend of maple syrup and moose meat flavorings. However, this regional recipe came out on top during a 2013 Canadian Lay's potato chip flavor contest and was turned into bags soon afterward.

As you might suspect, the flavor did not go over well, even with Canadians who might be familiar with what moose meat tastes like when dressed with sweet maple notes. The chips were pulled by the following spring due to lack of sales, crushing the dreams of flavor inventor Tyler LeFrense, who was pretty disappointed to learn that his creation wouldn't survive. The $50,000 prize he was awarded for his efforts undoubtedly helped to ease the pain.

Anyone who loves the idea of sweet and salty snacks recognizes that the genius of Lay's Wavy potato chips dipped in milk chocolate is an innovation that took too long to arrive. Even though they were only chocolate-coated on one side, these crisps were well-received as a one-of-a-kind treat when they showed up in 2013. They stood in the gap between the candy and chip aisles and let customers spend once while enjoying two distinctly different treats in one.

This flavor made occasional reappearances, most notably as a special giveaway from Lay's for Valentine's Day 2021. Then, the company tucked this chapter away in its history books, and Milk Chocolate Wavy Lay's haven't been seen since. In the event that the snack never makes a comeback, know that you can easily melt your pick of the most popular chocolate bars on the block and make your own chocolate-covered chips. You'll be covered even if the company keeps these indulgent bites as a distant memory, and you'll probably save money in the process.

The $1 million prize offered by Lay's in its 2015 Do Us a Flavor contest was inspiration enough for Californian Angie Fu to jump into the fray and offer West Coast Truffle Fries Wavy Lay's as a possibility. It was enough to get Fu to the final four flavors and let customers vote with their dollars, which the food flavor dreamer-upper hoped would net her the big prize.

According to snackers who gave them a taste, the flavor was closer to sour cream and cheddar than anything truffle-related. Ultimately, West Coast Truffle Fries lost out to Southern Biscuits and Gravy, though no one can fault Fu for trying and getting as far as she did. There's no indication that this flavor will come back into play, despite the addition of truffle and garlic Lay's as an Italian chip representative in the South African market, which is a long haul from Cali.

A stalwart Southern favorite combination, chicken and waffles joined the Lay's flavor family all the way back in 2013 as a contender for the Do Us a Flavor crown. The competition that year included Sriracha and Cheesy Garlic Bread, a tasting note threesome that couldn't have been more diverse. But it wasn't meant to be for this clever incorporation of savory and sweet in crispy chip form, which may have been for the best considering the mixed reception the flavor received.

Devoted fans were able to get their hands on bags once more when the flavor returned in 2016, and in a clever online promo in 2024, when Lay's included the flavor in its Flavor Vault sweepstakes. As for grabbing a bag as you cruise through the chip section in search of something intriguing to nosh on, you might as well choose another flavor. Who knows if chicken and waffles will ever be plated up in the Lay's house of flavor again.

What could be better than topping a potato chip with the flavor of beer and brats? Chances are, you were going to combine them all at your next cookout. Lay's saved grill masters and pool party attendees the trouble with its Beer and Brats flavor, a 2017 novelty that swapped flavors in a tasty promotion. It sounds like one of those wacky ideas you might have when hunger hits at 3 a.m., but it was a reality for a lucky few who latched on while the flavor was available.

Reviewers noted the chicken-and-cheese ingredients on the label that made the flavors sing — a good word for the tailgaters in search of a simpler dish to serve. Despite the praise, the flavor vanished, resurging briefly in 2020 as part of Lay's Flavor Trip, a set of international-themed flavors that aimed to take your taste buds around the world. Don't bother booking a flight this year, though; there's no listing for beer and brats in the upcoming potato chip agenda. You'll just have to keep enjoying your brats, chips, and beer separately.