Review: The new Flavor Swap wave of chips puts a ‘tasty twist’ on Cheetos, Ruffles and Doritos

Wanna know how to make me feel super old? Hand me three bags of limited-edition chips featuring a bunch of social media stars.

That’s exactly what happened when I got bags of Lay’s Sweet Southern Heat Barbecue on Cheetos Crunchy, Doritos Cool Ranch on Ruffles and Ruffles Cheddar & Sour Cream on Doritos. The crossover flavors are all part of PepsiCo’s ambitious new Flavor Swap lineup — and each flavor comes with its own social media personality or personalities attached to it.

I can break down chip flavors without breaking a sweat (unless the chips getting taste tested are Flamin’ Hot Cheetos), but having to figure out why Madison Beer, IShowSpeed and Dude Perfect are famous made this edition of Snackology a much bigger challenge.

But let’s get back to Flavor Swap itself.

This isn’t the first time PepsiCo has rolled out a Flavor Swap lineup. In the past, we’ve gotten exciting mashups like Lay’s Doritos Cool Ranch, Lay’s Wavy Funyuns Onion, Lay’s Kettle Cooked Fritos Chili Cheese, Lay’s Cheetos and even Lay's Kettle Cooked Ruffles All Dressed. (I missed those but desperately want to eat them now.) The 2026 edition of Flavor Swap, though, is the first time that the snack giant “is swapping flavors across three of its fan-favorite chip brands, mixing things up to deliver unexpected combinations that have never been seen before.”

In other words, it’s not just Lay’s potato chips that get to be part of this mix this year. In fact, PepsiCo skipped the trusty Lay’s potato chip altogether, instead featuring Cheetos Crunchy, Ruffles and Doritos as the foundation of this flavorful experiment.

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What they cost

Based on the prices on the bags, Lay’s Sweet Southern Heat Barbecue on Cheetos Crunchy, Ruffles Cheddar & Sour Cream on Doritos and Doritos Cool Ranch on Ruffles should all be $5.49.

Ruffles Cheddar & Sour Cream on Doritos, Lay’s Sweet Southern Heat Barbecue on Cheetos Crunchy and Doritos Cool Ranch on Ruffles

My thoughts

I love a review like this one since it means I get to open three bags of chips at once, a move my daughter loves. (I’m sure I’m setting a good example.)

Lay’s Sweet Southern Heat Barbecue on Cheetos Crunchy

A barbecue flavor of Cheetos had my attention. Who doesn’t love Cheetos, whether they’re Crunchy or Puffs. (I won’t say “no” to either option, but I did recently find that a bag of Baked Crunchy Cheetos just didn’t pack the same tasty punch that I remembered it once had.) I’ve also long been a fan of barbecue chips. They were probably the first flavor I remember snacking on as a kid after your standard potato chip.

Unlike the other two Flavor Swap varieties, Lay’s Sweet Southern Heat Barbecue on Cheetos Crunchy had a social media personality that I was at least kind of familiar with. Madison Beer, who has an impressive 40.2 million followers on Instagram, was recently on Hot Ones. And unlike chumps like DJ Khaled, the musical artist made it through all ten wings.

Lay’s Sweet Southern Heat Barbecue on Cheetos Crunchy up close

I’m not sure why they didn’t think of making barbecue Cheetos sooner. Why did it take a Flavor Swap promotion to make this happen? Fritos Flavor Twists Honey BBQ have been around forever — no one ever thought to send a batch of Crunchy Cheetos through that seasoning machine?

I hope we see a version of Lay’s Sweet Southern Heat Barbecue on Cheetos Crunchy become a regular item in the chip aisle. Perfect pairing of flavor and crunch.

“When I'm on tour, Cheetos is one of my go-to snacks,” Madison Beer said in the Flavor Swap announcement. “It was fun to be part of the new Flavor Swap. Sweet Southern Heat Barbeque on Cheetos Crunchy. It’s a little sweet, smoky and a bit spicy.”

Snack Score

Lay’s Sweet Southern Heat Barbecue on Cheetos Crunchy

🍪🍪🍪🍪 (4 out of 5)

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Doritos Cool Ranch on Ruffles

This might be the first time that we’ve seen Ruffles in a Flavor Swap lineup, but it’s definitely not the first time that Cool Ranch has been in the mix. It makes a ton of sense why PepsiCo keeps finding new ways to feature one of the most iconic flavors in the entire world of snacks.

There’s a good chance you could put Cool Ranch seasoning on anything and it would taste good. Doritos Simply NKD Cool Ranch was a standout in the Simply NKD lineup. I’ll even admit to pairing Doritos Cool Ranch chips with Oreos after one of my buddies and I found them side by side in his parents’ kitchen cupboard.

Of course Cool Ranch works on Ruffles. You get the crunchy texture of a Ruffles chip — I need someone to explain the legal difference between Ruffles and Lay’s Wavy — and the mysterious mixture of whatever herbs, spices and space-grade technology goes into Cool Ranch seasoning.

PepsiCo, here’s a free idea for the next Flavor Swap lineup: Cool Ranch Cheetos. Just put the Snackology logo on the bags.

According to Wikipedia, Dude Perfect — the influencers featured on the bag of Doritos Cool Ranch on Ruffles — are “an American sports and comedy group and YouTube channel,” and their “content predominantly consists of videos depicting various trick shots, stereotypes, and stunts.” Huh. They have 61.8 million subscribers on YouTube, so I guess they’re doing something ... popular.

“At Dude Perfect, we’ve always been huge fans of Ruffles, but our crew is a bit of a house divided. Some of us go all-in for Doritos Cool Ranch, while others are loyal to Ruffles through and through,” the group said. “This bold, tangy Cool Ranch flavor on that classic Ruffles crunch is as daring as our trick shots and the perfect snack for our group that lives for the game.”

Snack Score

Doritos Cool Ranch on Ruffles

🍪🍪🍪🍪 (4 out of 5)

Ruffles Cheddar & Sour Cream on Doritos

Ah, Ruffles Cheddar & Sour Cream. PepsiCo says that the flavor is the No. 1 variety of Ruffles, which makes sense. It seems like there’s always a bag of Cheddar & Sour Cream right alongside classic Lay’s in a lineup of chips. The flavor is comforting. It’s friendly. It’s safe.

And that’s why Ruffles Cheddar & Sour Cream on Doritos is the least effective entry in this bunch of Flavor Swap chips.

The Cheddar & Sour Cream flavor works so well with a Ruffles chip. They’re two equally cozy snacking elements. That balance is thrown off, though, when you put Ruffles Cheddar & Sour Cream flavor onto a bunch of Doritos.

Ruffles Cheddar & Sour Cream on Doritos up close

If I’m eating Doritos, my tastebuds are ready to go crazy. They want Nacho Cheese. Cool Ranch. Golden Sriracha. They’ll even take Late Night Sizzlin’ Cheese Burger.

When I put a Dorito into my mouth and it tastes like a Cheddar & Sour Cream Ruffles chip, my tastebuds are lost. They’re not mad, they’re just wondering what happened to the party.

IShowSpeed has 51.1 million YouTube subscribers, and he feels that, “This snack is perfect for anyone who is always pushing boundaries, whether I am streaming for hours or on an adventure.”