If you want to start an intense discussion among fans of Nashville hot chicken, I can suggest a couple topics that will get the ball rolling. One is to ask for opinions on “Nashville hot” anything that isn’t chicken (particularly anything that isn't specifically fried chicken made by someone born in a local hospital). Another way to stir passions is to suggest that Hattie B’s Hot Chicken has done a lot to popularize the dish and increase its culinary importance in the national culinary conscience. So before I go any further with this, remember the comments section is open below.
There have been a few varieties of Nashville-hot potato chips in the market for a while now, including offerings from big brands like Lays and Kroger. While they may have made an impact on the taste buds of outlanders whose palates have not been inured to the fiery spice profile of authentic hot chicken, mostly they have been met with a resounding “meh” from local hotheads.
So when SF-based Flock Foods, a subsidiary of The Naked Market, decided they wanted to dip a claw into the hot chicken market as part of their line of keto-friendly low-carb chicken chips, they knew they would need to reach out for some expert talent to develop their flavor profile. In the corporate version of sliding into somebody’s DMs, Flock Chicken Chips reached out to Hattie B’s via Instagram in the middle of the pandemic, and the two companies spent six months developing a new product together — the Nashville Hot-style chicken chip.
Harrison Fugman, the CEO of Flock Foods, explains why his company chose this particular partner. “Hattie B’s has built an iconic brand around the best fried chicken in America, so the ability to combine the signature flavors of this legendary establishment with our innovative product delivers a home run snack experience. Not to mention, it’s my favorite restaurant in the country,”
Sounds like a real fan! I’ll admit that when I was offered the chance to try a couple of bags of the new product, I didn’t pay close enough attention to what the product was. Chicken chips aren’t chicken-flavored potato chips, as I had assumed. They are indeed made out of chicken, really closer to jerky in texture than a chip, per se. I’m not sure if the keto-inspired jerky craze is still as crazy as it was a few years ago, but I do know that gourmet jerky still costs more per ounce than filet mignon.
A single bag of Flock Nashville Hot style chicken chips would seem to be a fairly healthy snack, with 190 calories, 1 gram of carbs and 13 grams of protein in a 1-ounce serving. One thing I noticed about my sample bags was a definite variation in texture from chip to chip. Some were chewy like jerky, while others had the crunch of a pork rind or a nice crispy piece of chicken skin. (Pro tip: Don’t accidentally eat the small package of desiccant inside the bag, even if it does look like a spicy poultry Skoal Bandit.) I’m not sure I would consider Flock Chips as a side dish to a sandwich like I would a bag of Lays. But as an energy-boosting snack or jerky substitute, they make sense.
So most importantly, how does the Hattie B’s half of the equation taste? In a word, fine. While I’d put the spice level at somewhere between Mild and Medium on the Hattie B’s heat continuum, they do pack a lot of flavor into their spice blend. You can certainly detect the cayenne and black pepper along with perhaps a hint of brown sugar? I’m guessing there’s some smoked paprika somewhere in the mix and some garlic salt and/or garlic powder. But of course that’s all a guess, as I can imagine the NDA these two companies signed to protect Flock’s rotisserie chicken jerky prep methods and Hattie B’s secret spice recipe has got to be pretty ironclad.
Flock Nashville Hot-style chicken chips are now available at all Hattie B’s restaurants, and they also sell them online from their own website for $26 for an eight-bag box. In a nice gesture, for every order of Flock they receive, the company will donate one meal to hungry families, people experiencing homelessness and impoverished elders in the San Francisco community through a partnership with the SF Marin Foodbank. A low-carb energy snack that’s also philanthropic? Sounds like a winner to me.
But again, comments are welcome. Nothing like hot chicken to start a flame war, eh?
