Do the Simply NKD versions of Cheetos and Doritos still pack the flavorful punch we love?

It’s 1976 and red M&M’s have been discontinued over concerns about the dye that gives them their distinctive red color.

It’s the 1990s and people are kids joking about avoiding Mountain Dew because of the alleged effects of the yellow dye that makes it almost glow in the dark.

It’s 2025 and brands are once again removing dyes and artificial flavors from their products.

As part of this latest wave, PepsiCo is rolling out its Simply NKD line of Cheetos and Doritos. All those artificial dyes and flavors that have made it impossible to stop shoving those brands of chips into your face? Gone.

“Rest assured, our iconic Cheetos and Doritos remain unchanged. NKD is an additive option, not a replacement, introduced to meet consumer demand,” Rachel Ferdinando, CEO of PepsiCo Foods, said in a statement. “This move underscores our commitment to flavor leadership, demonstrating that our taste remains strong even without visual cues. As part of our broader transformation, we are expanding choices while still protecting our iconic brands. More choices, same flavor, same brand power.”

The first products hitting shelves under this new initiative are Doritos Simply NKD Nacho Cheese, Doritos Simply NKD Cool Ranch, Cheetos Simply NKD Puffs and Cheetos Simply NKD Flamin’ Hot. (Sorry, Fritos. Maybe next time.) These are some pretty iconic flavors, and PepsiCo swears that fans won’t even be able to taste the difference.

“No color, no artificial flavors, same intensity — that’s Simply NKD. Doritos and Cheetos are pioneering a snacking revolution, or a renaissance, if you will,” Hernán Tantardini, CMO of PepsiCo Foods, said in a statement. “We are reinventing our iconic — and most famous — brands to deliver options with the bold flavors fans know and love, now reimagined without any colors or artificial flavors.”

Hmmm, can the Simply NKD line live up to that promise? Can the food wizards over at PepsiCo actually change the formula of something like Doritos — a snack food that came to represent the entire topic of food engineering itself — and deliver the same iconic taste?

Love reading Snackology? Become a subscriber to receive every edition in your inbox.

Subscribe

What they cost

There are a few different ways to get your hands on the first wave of Simply NKD products as they slowly roll out. Walmart is currently the only retailer carrying them (this feels like a future Whole Foods product, right?), selling the Simply NKD Doritos and Cheetos Chips Taste Test Bundle for $14.97 and bags of Doritos Simply NKD Cool Ranch and Cheetos Simply NKD Puffs for $3.97 each.

My thoughts

The Simply NKD Doritos and Cheetos Chips Taste Test Bundle feels like a good place to start for this edition of Snackology. This is, by far, the largest item I’ve reviewed for the newsletter, so big that the box didn’t fit in the lightbox that I use for Snackology photos. (Please enjoy the quick glimpse at my kitchen cabinets and floor.)

The Taste Test Bundle comes with four bags of chips: Doritos Simply NKD Nacho Cheese, Doritos Nacho Cheese, Cheetos Simply NKD Flamin’ Hot and Cheetos Flamin’ Hot.

The bundle also comes with a pair of red-hued glasses to disguise the identities of the chips during your taste test in addition to a score card to keep track of the guesses made by you and your friends and family participating in the taste test.

In my case, everyone in my household rejected my invitation to give my collection of Simply NKD chips a try, so I skipped the blind taste test and dove into these new flavors on my own …

Doritos Simply NKD Nacho Cheese

I’m sure there’s a divide over which flavor of Doritos is the most true representative of the brand, but for me, it’s Nacho Cheese. This flavor was the first kind of Doritos I ever ate. I don’t remember when or where they finally entered my life, but like all Americans, Nacho Cheese Doritos have always been. (They were “Nacho Cheesier” for a brief period, but their omnipresence remains the same.)

With the artificial colors stripped out, Doritos Simply NKD Nacho Cheese could be confused for Doritos Cool Ranch chips. Even with the red filter of those glasses in play, you can still tell the difference between the version of Doritos blessed with chemical goodness and the version without.

Taste wise, the Simply NKD version of Nacho Cheese Doritos is definitely not as strong as the original flavor. They just don’t have that same pop that you expect from the flavor, with whatever flavor does come through almost instantly disappearing after you eat them.

Snack score

🍪🍪 (2 out of 5 cookies)

Cheetos Simply NKD Flamin‘ Hot

Flamin’ Hot Cheetos are dangerous. Flamin’ Hot Cheetos are delicious. (Good luck convincing yourself to stop eating them, no matter what the future consequences are.) They launched an entire subgenre of Cheetos and Doritos. But can a Simply NKD version of Flamin’ Hot coexist in that group?

Cheetos Flamin’ Hot are by far the most extreme example of what happens when you strip artificial colors from these chips. Sure, Doritos Nacho Cheese need their orange hue, but Flamin’ Hot Cheetos that aren’t violently red?

Unlike Doritos Simply NKD Nacho Cheese, the flavor of the Simply NKD version of Flamin’ Hot Cheetos doesn’t fade. I don’t think it builds at the same level as the classic version of the spicy Cheetos, but the Simply NKD version does a much better job replicating the experience fans of Flamin’ Hot expect.

Snack score

🍪🍪🍪 (3 out of 5 cookies)

Cheetos Simply NKD Puffs

OK, we’re out of the Simply NKD Doritos and Cheetos Chips Taste Test Bundle and into the standalone bags.

I love Cheetos Puffs. Pretty much any gathering with my longtime friends involves a heated discussion over which version of Cheetos — Puffs or Crunchy — is the one, true style of Cheetos. (The secret is that they’re both fantastic and parties should offer both.) The Simply NKD line checks off both boxes, giving us Flamin’ Hot to cover Crunchy and the traditional cheesy version for Puffs.

At least that’s what PepsiCo was trying to do.

I’m not sure what the company’s plans are for the Simply line of chips that they already produce now that Simply NKD is rolling out, but Cheetos Simply NKD Puffs remind me a ton of the white cheddar flavor of Cheetos Simply Puffs. That’s not a good thing.

The proper way to eat Cheetos Puffs is to do so in a fugue state. You should lose track of time as you pop puff after puff into your mouth. The bag should go from full to crumbly bits without you realizing what’s happened. Cheetos Puffs are pure joy, a gift from the snack gods.

Cheetos Simply NKD Puffs don’t offer that experience. I don’t know why I would eat Cheetos Puffs if that magic is absent.

Snack score

🍪🍪 (2 out of 5 cookies)

Doritos Simply NKD Cool Ranch

We’re down to the final flavor that got the Simply NKD treatment. If Doritos Nacho Cheese are the elder statesman of flavorful tortilla chips, Doritos Cool Ranch are the wild sibling who arrived on the scene a decade or so later. (Sorry, I’m not exactly sure how the political/family hierarchy of Doritos works.)

Everyone knows what “Nacho Cheese” flavor is supposed to taste like, but “Cool Ranch” is something much more mythical and aspirational. (The flavor was even upgraded to “Cooler Ranch” for a period, an era of branding that is probably stuck in the memories of every millennial.)

Despite my bag of Doritos Simply NKD Cool Ranch being full of broken chips, the color was right. The smell was right. Was the final stop in my journey through the four-chip launch of the Simply NKD line going to be the flavor that finally nailed it?

I don’t know how they did it, but the Simply NKD version of Cool Ranch Doritos — a flavor that absolutely does not exist in nature — somehow matched the original, doing so without the usual dyes and artificial flavors.

I don’t think I could tell the difference between normal Cool Ranch Doritos and Simply NKD Cool Ranch Doritos if they were offered to me side by side.

Snack score

🍪🍪🍪🍪 (4 out of 5 cookies)

I’m sure there’s going to be a market for the Simply NKD line of chips, especially as governments of all sizes push to ban or restrict the use of artificial dyes and flavors, but something like Flamin’ Hot Cheetos are never going to be a healthy food.

If you’ve given yourself permission to enjoy some chips with a sandwich or while hanging out at the beach, do you really want to sacrifice the tastes that made Doritos and Cheetos legendary snack foods?